6:36 am - Wednesday - January 22nd - Amarillo, TX - 21º F (feels like 10º F), 56% humidity, wind 10 mph out of the west by northwest.......clear, but still dark.....forecast high in Amarillo for today is 50º F. We roll our wheels in 3 hours!
Not much to write about Tuesday......the winds remained steady in the 30's most of the day, and the temp never got above 32º F, while the 'feels like' temp was in the high teens all day long. I had planned to disconnect from city water sometime Tuesday as we knew it would be below freezingTuesday night, but we were not expecting it to be so cold during the day. As a result our water line froze necessitating me going outside to disconnect it, and then drag the hose into into what sun so the frozen water inside might unfreeze and drain out, which it did eventually. To say it was bitter cold outside does not adequately describe it.
Because of the high winds we just stayed inside (except for two, or three outdoor forays for me) with all electric heaters running non-stop all day long. We had planned to do some more sightseeing Tuesday, but the wind and the 'feels like' temperature quickly put to rest any such notions.
We spent the entire day watching a backlog of recorded shows from our DVR, as well as the Hallmark channel (there where at least three naps for moi). Eventually the heavy cloud cover dissipated and the sun did come out for a few hours at the very end of the day. By 8 pm the winds began to abate.
We knew it would be very windy Tuesday, which is why we opted to stay here until Wednesday, but we were not expecting the super cold temperatures. Weather.com says it is 21º F as I write (7:02 am), and that by 9 am (our projected departure time) it should rise all the way to 26º F. If we were just 509 miles south of here in San Antonio we would be experiencing 40º F right now with a forecast high of 60º F.....now that is more like it. It is what it is, and we shall make the best of this arctic blast and continue westward to Flagstaff over the next few days.
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7:07 am - Sunday - January 20th - Vernon, TX - 26º F, 84% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south by southwest....mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 55º F, but we will not be here for that......we roll our wheels in 2 hours! In fact, our destination for today will have a high in the 60's......much more preferable!
Saturday was just a layover day, plain and simple. When the wind is blowing 25-35 mph all day out of the exact direction you must travel it is time to sit still and wait it out. We always allow enough time to get to destinations so that we can take a day, or two off to let weather conditions improve. This layover is precisely why we rarely ever make reservations. Once you make reservations you are kind of locked into a schedule which must be adhered to, or many phone calls will result in cancelling, and/or changing reservations. And that brings me to the present.
I'm sure some of you have wondered why we left I-10 back in Baton Rouge, and are gradually moving north and west to I-40 where it is windier and colder than the much preferred southern route along I-10. Well, our current destination is Flagstaff, AZ at 7,000 very cold feet in elevation. A year ago just after I had my stroke I sought a consultation with a local surgeon to have a cyst in my right cheek saliva gland removed. As far as we know it is benign, but it is getting bigger as cysts are wont to do. At the time the surgery was scheduled for early March, right after we finished our tour of duty at the Desert View (Grand Canyon) General Store. At the last minute my cardiologist (who treated me after my stroke) advised I should have no surgeries of any kind for a minimum of 9 months after my stroke. That resulted in the surgery being cancelled and put off until after October 1st, 2018. Well, we were on the east coast in October, and would not be back in the western U.S. until January, so I made a new appointment with my doctor which will be on January 29th. Once I am reexamined a new surgical date will be set, and I will have my surgery some time in early February. So, that is the reason for working our way up to I-40. The cyst causes me no discomfort of any kind, but I'm getting tired of seeing this large bulge in my cheek when I look in the mirro, and would like to get my face back to normal....whatever that is.....:-)
The local windchill factor here in Vernon on Saturday was 21º F, and it felt every bit of that. The wind and the cold kept us indoors most of Saturday until around 2 pm when we took a 2.1 mile walk around the campground and the Walmart Supercenter next door making two complete loops until we had surpassed 2 miles. That makes our 7th consecutive day of walking one, or more miles each day.
Around noon time I headed outside by myself to dump our black tank, and then put away our fresh water hose, and sewer hose. Since the overnight lows were predicted to be in the 20's (and they were/are) I would have had to disconnect the hose from the city water supply anyway, so I just put both of them away so I would not have to deal with them on Sunday when we hit the Interstate once again. I guess I could have pulled out my heated water hose, but that would be more effort than I was willing to expend Saturday. While I was at it I topped off our fresh water tank at 140 gallons once again.
Many people with RV's do not like to travel with a full water tank, because of the added weight, and no doubt that is a consideration, but I have not noticed any discernible difference in my MPG carrying a full water tank (140 gallons of water @ 8.34 lbs. per gallon weighs 1,168 lbs.). But that is not my reason for traveling with a full tank. My reason is I am always thinking about the 'what if'.......what if we break down somewhere and need to stay in the Newell while it is being fixed? Where will we get fresh water, and how difficult will it be? That is also why I always dump our gray and black water tanks whenever we have the chance......I want empty tanks if we are stranded somewhere. When it is cold like it is right now I always make sure we have enough propane on board to sustain us for a couple of weeks, or more of heating, and hot water if the need arises.
Each time I ventured outside Saturday I was happy with our decision to sit still Saturday....sometimes it was difficult to open our door the wind was blowing with such ferocity.......thanks for stopping by!
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7:45 am - Saturday - January 19th - Vernon, TX - 32º F (feels like 21º F), 68% humidity, wind 17 mph out of the north by northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 45º F. Wind blew like crazy last night, and there was rain and hail at times......not big hail, but big enough to wake up one.
We chose to leave the Dallas Elks Lodge about 9 am to miss the morning rush hour traffic, plus we needed to take advantage of a good diesel price down the street at the Kroger fuel station ($2.39/gallon). We arrived at the fuel station at the perfect time, so it was easy to pull up to one of the diesel pumps. We had 10¢/gallon fuel credit with Krogers (earned through grocery purchases at affiliated stores) so that made the first 35 gallons $2.29/gallon. I figured we would take on a total of 70-80 gallons, and I was close...we took on 79 gallons......35 at the discounted price and the balance at $2.39.
By the time we finished that task it was about 9:40 am, and time to head northwest towards Amarillo, TX. It took us 45-50 miles to extricate ourselves from the Dallas traffic vortex......
.....traffic, as you can see, was relatively light, but there were 6 lanes of it going each way for quite a distance, and at one time there were 9 lanes going north.......that's a little more congested that I prefer, to say the least......
......at last we began to be able to see a big horizon, and the freeway narrowed to only 3 lanes.......
....eventually it was down to two lanes each direction and very little traffic....now that is more like it!
It is pretty much always windy in the Texas Panhandle, and eventually we came to a large windmill farm......TLE caught a picture of one, but there were literally hundreds all the way to the big horizon.
Initially we had planned to drive only as far at Wichita Falls, but when we were about 25 miles south of our destination we decided to press on another 50+ miles to Vernon, TX where we would be just 176 miles from Amarillo. Our decision was influenced by the fact that it would be quite windy Friday afternoon, and terribly windy on Saturday. We do not like to drive in 25-35 mph winds, so we decided to drive the extra distance and sit still through Sunday morning when the winds will abate, and then continue on to Amarillo.
We arrived in Vernon, TX around 2 pm at a nice RV park situated directly next door to the local Walmart Supercenter where there is a gate allowing one to take a short cut to the store directly from the RV park.....perfect! After hooking up to the utilities TLE started a load of wash after which we took a 1.4 mile walk, which included a stop at Walmart on the way back. That's six straight days we have walked at least one mile, or more.
As we returned to the Newell the winds became more intense as the wind speed rose above 20 mph where it stayed the rest of the evening. TLE prepared some Progresso Clam Chowder and a nice salad for dinner and that was our day.
We are now back in the land of big, long views, and how I have missed them! We are also back above 1,000' elevation for the first time in a long time....by the time we reach Flagstaff we will be over 7,000' elevation!
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