If You Don't Like the Weather....Part 2

Harlingen, TX.     High: 26, low: 12!!!!     Site: 437 

WE-L-L-L...Last time Sparky said if you don't like the weather, you can just move. So we did, from Lake Conroe, TX, to Harlingen, TX, less than 30 miles to the Mexican border, where we thought it would be warmer and where the arctic vortex wouldn't find us.

WRONG! The arctic vortex is here in Harlingen. Here are the temps for a few days this week....We wouldn't have sweated these temperatures as we have a 4 season rig. It's supposed to handle temperatures down to 15 degrees.  We weren't too worried about Monday night until....The power started going off and on on Sunday.

It went off Monday morning at 3:00 AM. After 1:00 Monday afternoon, the power stayed off. O-o-o-k-a-a-ay....We do have two house batteries and they can run heat and lights, the water pump, the residential fridge, etc. for about 12-16 hours (?) before running down and getting low. In severe temperatures, you have to pick and choose very carefully what you are going to run and whether it uses 12 Volt battery or 110 electric. On battery power, we can't use a toaster or the microwave, for example. (Which is not a big problem, because Sparky doesn't cook as much as I thought she would, laughs E). A residential fridge which is entirely electric (instead of another type of fridge that is capable of using propane OR electric)

uses a LOT of battery power. We spent our first arctic night with the heat set to come on at 50 degrees. We didn't use lights, we used flashlights. By 4:00 in the morning, the batteries were down considerably and the house was 48 degrees inside. 

You are not supposed to let your house batteries (if you have deep cycle batteries) get below 50% power. If they do, they are damaged and will have to be replaced sooner rather than later. We don't know if that happened or not, we just know that some protective action occurred during the wee hours of the morning which alerted Eldy that the batteries were getting low. He heard a beep and got up at 4:00 AM and noticed some of our notification lights were out. We are thinking that the system went into a lower power mode of some sort so we shut the furnace off to protect the remaining battery power. (Sparky is not scientific or knowledgable enough to know how much amperage is needed for a residential fridge but you can look that up.) We are still learning how to manage our batteries and read the codes on the displays! They are NOT very user friendly!

We don't have a generator....many class A motorhomes (the ones that look like a deluxe bus going down the road towing a car behind) have one, but fifth wheels (a rig towed by a truck) that seems to be more of an option. Eldo has been researching them for a long time. They are kind of expensive and heavy, so we thought, nah, we won't be needing one. (Sparky has some large heavy craft supplies, so she MAY have give some more up, thinks Eldo). NO-O-O-O-O-o-o, say it isn't so! Sigh.....

We aren't going to be boon docking (camping without power/sewer hookup) and we are going to be chasing the warmer temperatures all year, so we haven't gotten a generator. (Yeah, right...how's that worked out for us? fusses Eldo.) Not too well. Sparky has gotten a TON of cooler weather, some snow, and sub freezing temperatures and Eldo, not so much of the warmth and sun.

So we are freezing our butts off here at the Tropic Winds RV Resort in Harlingen, TX, just a few miles north of the Mexican border, WA-A-A-Y down in the SE corner of Texas. It's nice park. It has lots of amenities, but none available at this time, both due to the weather and COVID. We'll show you more of the park next blog...but here's the rest of the saga.

After running our batteries dangerously low, and the power being out for over 20 hours, we had to figure out a way to charge up the batteries without park power. Possibility #1. buy a generator....buy gas cans, figure out a way to keep the generator secure (people steal them), and add more weight to the already heavy rig. Decided the troubles of finding one and securing it were not necessary for 1-2 days of cold weather. We kept thinking the power would come back on before we did all that. NOPE! 

Possibility #2. Use the truck to charge up the batteries as if we were towing the rig down the road. Just hook up the electric cord to the second truck plug in the tailgate. Keep the truck running or you'll run the truck battery down. So we did that for an hour or so each day, which brought the temperature up in the rig, and kept the bays heated during the coldest part of the day.

Possibility #3..Encounter a wonderful neighbor--he loaned us his generator for couple of hours while he ran errands. That gave us some warmth during the second coldest day in the cold spell.

Possibility #4...Go get a hotel room. O-o-o-oh, YES! A real tub bath! Woo-hoo! Yeah, right. Everybody and their brother were trying to get one. We tried for two nights in a row...All hotels in the area for up to 25 miles were booked solid. Eldy booked the first night thru Booking.com. It said he got the last room. We arrived at the hotel, and they said, "Sorry, no rooms available." Sparky booked the second night for a hotel thru Expedia, they took her money immediately from her bank account, we arrived at the motel, and it was closed due to power outages. Back to the rig we went. On the way, we saw panic buying of gasoline, as quite a few stations were closed due to pumps not working because no electricity. Cars were lined up 25-30 cars in a row, blocking city streets, trying to get gas at the few stations open. We were glad we purchased gas before the arctic freeze hit. Maybe people were having to sleep in their cars, as 60% of the homes down here are all electric. It reminded us of the time we drove back thru the remnants of a hurricane and people were stranded on the highways because there was no gas to be had anywhere. Tonight's temperatures are supposed to be high thirties.

Ice crystals on our street sign

Life is an adventure for us on the road, that's for sure! See you later!

Wintering in Texas-the Beginning

Site: G-31    High: 62  Low: 37 

We are settled in Lake Conroe Thousand Trails RV Park and campground for three weeks, FREE with our membership in the Thousand Trails program. This is a very nice park in the Thousand Trails system. There are 300 sites, a big lake (22,000 acres), fishing ponds and you are close to civilization. (Which, for Sparky, is Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Joann Fabrics) Hey, now, it's crafting season/holiday gift giving season, and Sparky has to be ready! 

There are many good sites to choose from, but many of the pull throughs are very close, side to opposite side. There are some shady sites but many are taken with the seasonal rentals. 

The amenities are closed for the most part due to Covid, so we can't take advantage of them, but they are doing some limited activities outdoors and with masks.

This particular park has updated amenities--a beautiful pool which is UNHEATED all year, so you take your chances if you want to swim in the cooler, make that COLDEST months of the winter. Sparky stuck her hand in the water, and it was FREEZING! No swimming for this gal! Phooey!

It's December, and we've had quite a few nights in the 30's, with daytime highs in the 50's to 60's. Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the low seventies. The pool is gorgeous, the bath house adjoining the pool is terrific, there are VERY nice basketball and tennis courts, nice playground, swings, a dog park, a boat launch, propane, paddleboat rentals when Covid is not prevalent, a fitness center, fishing (catch and release), mini golf, laundromats and a couple of pickle ball courts as well.

This park has lots of cabins of varying sizes, park models and a park model residential portion if you are interested in seasonal or annual living options. They have added a new section with VERY large concrete patio sections/sites with both back in and pull throughs. You would think a park this nice would have decent interior roads, but NOPE! They are terrible, and every time it rains, the roads wash out and become even worse. It's been raining quite a bit while we are here. They do try to grade the roads after storms, but the gravel and patch jobs aren't keeping up with the destruction of the roads. You can't ride bikes around the park without dodging severe potholes and washouts. 

Sparky's daughter and grandson live in the area, so they are here in a cabin for a week. We've made a gingerbread house outdoors (those kits are terrible-the frosting is so hard to work with and what a mess we made!) But we had fun.

Sparky attempted to make ginger molasses roll out cookies from an old family recipe, but that was ALMOST a fail, because she accidentally measured five HALF cups of flour instead of five full cups and wondered why the batter was so runny. She figured it out and on we persisted. Had some trouble with the propane oven maintaining accurate temperature and cooking evenly, but hey--they turned out decently. Plus, Sparky had a little help from her grandson.

We shot a few baskets.....Eldo used to coach sports teams and Sparky and grandson got some good tips today....

Sparky's grandson got to play a little golf with Eldy...He's wearing a Buc-ees tee shirt. Buc-ees is the largest convenience gas station in the US and they have locations all over Texas. He looks so festive! And cute. He made it through 9 holes and then got a tummy ache. We think he was tuckered out!

Everything is bigger in Texas, right? We saw this license plate on a cute VW.  "Texas Golf Cart"..haha... Cute!

Sparky does a LOT of walking around the park, she was hoping for a rails to trails or great hiking, but not when you are this close to Houston. No biking on city roads, thank you. Lots of places nearby for shopping and groceries and hobbies. (insert HUGE smiley emoji)

We hope your holiday was a peaceful and safe one. Blessings to you in the coming year. Thank you for following us along our journey.

Happy holidays, and Happy New Year! from Sparky and Eldo