When we first hit the road one of the must-have items we kept hearing about was a decent pair of walkie talkies. We were told these were vital for communicating to avoid mishaps while backing up the trailer. I’m glad we opted for a decent set of radios, but not so I can hear the navigator telling me to turn right when the trailer needs to point left. She shouts plenty loud enough.
Ever since that Wisconsin tornado warning, Rene cannot stand the sound of that voice on the NOAA weather band. But many a time it has saved us getting into a sticky situation. And since we spend our summers in Colorado, with solar panels on the roof of our rig, it has provided ample warning for us to protect them more than once.
That way they’re always ready to pick up the nearest weather broadcast, and keep us informed of impending doom with that ever so soothing voice.
Very rarely have we ever been in a spot where our trusty Motorola Talkabout radios haven’t picked up the local weather report. And with 22 channels to scan, much fun can be had eavesdropping on others trying not to run into each other in a busy RV park.
Keep Motorola TalkAbout Radios in Your RV Toolbox
Do yourself a favor and pick up a pair of radios to make parking easy and keep an eye ear on the weather. Newer models have a range up to 35 miles! Save on these Talkabouts at Best Buy, or check out the selection of Motorola radios at Amazon.
Home is where the heart is. And the food. Oh, and my Mom and Dad.
No matter how far we wander, or off track we get, there is nothing nicer than knowing we always have a place at Casa Agredano.
Christmas is a big deal here, loaded with pan dulce, tamales and multiple festivities. From the tamalada to Mom’s New Year’s Day homemade menudo brunch, we cram a year’s worth of visits into one solid month.
My four sisters and all of their kids and grandkids (I stopped counting at 12), keep us busy and entertained, especially on Christmas eve during the White Elephant exchange.
Yesterday we had a blast boating with three dogs on Newport harbor, on a classic Southern California winter’s day. I felt kinda guilty having so much fun on the ocean after hearing about the horrible blizzards back east. California Dreamin’ indeed!
Meanwhile, the rig sits outside with birds poopin on the roof, and black streaks accumulating from all of the rain. Inside, it’s cold and lonely, waiting for our return.
We’ll be leaving here soon, and off to our wintertime adventures. Leaving my family will be just as hard as ever.
Since we can’t go any further West, we’ll be heading east toward the Slabs for a spell, then off to Quartzsite for our first snowbird experience. We’ve avoided a Quartzsite pilgrimage for this long, since the snowbirds there mostly consist of old timers and it just seemed too conservative and boring for our taste.
This year, however, we changed our mind, since the hipsters from NuRVers and the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous will be there to add a little life to that party. Or more like a lot of life! Good times are in the works!
René recently cut out another quote and taped it inside our bathroom cabinet door:
“At its core, adventure is the willingness to commit to an uncertain outcome with and open heart and an open mind.”
I don’t know where she got that one or who said it, but her timing is impeccable as it certainly applies to our latest adventure.
Had we known of the uncertain outcome that awaited us at By The River RV Park in Ingram, Texas, alongside the lazy Guadalupe River, we might have left after our first night. But who would have thought this pretty park could be covered in water within the next 24 hours? And after nearly three years on the road, we’ve come to expect the unexpected. Without such an outlook, panic may have set in even earlier than it did the other night.
No, that first photo is not a picture of the park. It’s just where we ended up spending the night, along with all the other rigs from the park, which is a very good thing considering how events of the evening unfolded …
Earlier in the day, we had walked across a spillway path over to an island on the river across from the park. It’s where they allow tent campers – of which there were none, fortunately – and the path was clear of water. We later took the short drive to nearby Hunt, TX to see Stonehenge II – noticing along the way various river crossings that would clearly become impassable with the slightest rise of the river. A sign of things to come. Later that night, three people would be washed downstream after trying to cross the river there. One has yet to be found, another spent most of the evening up a tree crying for help.
Upon returning to the park, I noticed only an inch or so of water covering the path we had walked. That would soon change.
At about 10:00 p.m., the park manager showed up only suggesting that we “may want to hitch up and be prepared to leave” – a high water advisory was in effect until midnight. I figured we had plenty of time and decided to dump our sewer, not knowing where we might be in the morning. While doing so, I walked over to the river bank and noticed it was much closer.
The water was about 8′ higher than it was, and only about 5′ lower than our site. I poked my head in the trailer and told Rene, “Uhh… we might just want to leave now and beat the rush. Come check this out!”
Our pace hastened, we disconnected our power and water, and proceeded to get going. That’s when we heard the sirens, saw the fire truck and noticed emergency personnel suggesting we hurry up because, “This end of the park floods first.”
Gee, thanks for letting us know now, I thought.
A look over their shoulder showed the water about another two feet higher. Everything was fine, it was pretty exciting, but that was it. Then we couldn’t hitch up.
This is when it started to get scary. Multiple attempts to connect the trailer resulted only in a frightening clunk. Apparently I had bent something while trying to hook up in such a hurry. Fearing the damage was permanent and we would be forced to leave the trailer, Renee scrambled to determine which belongings we absolutely needed to grab and I remembered something I learned when getting SCUBA certified: Panic = Death.
Each time I jumped out to adjust the legs of the trailer up or down, there were more volunteers trying to help. One wearing a safety vest and helmet, diligently tried to calm down René. Another tried to assist me by holding our hitch plate level. Clunk. I panicked and tried to force the hook up.
That’s how I pushed the trailer legs off their blocks, causing the fifth wheel kingpin box to slam down on top of our truck bed rails. Doing my best to remain calm, it was clearly time to poop my pants. But no time for that. I wasn’t leaving without our home. The water was another foot higher. I raised the trailer, pulled out from under it and started dismantling our hitch. I think that’s when René really started freaking out.
I quickly confirmed the hitch was still functional and put it back together. One last attempt after adjusting the trailer height again – with the park manager holding the hitch, and me holding my breath – we connected, but it didn’t feel like it. I knew something was wrong. The manager insisted he heard it click, and he must have. I was clearly out of my mind and the water was another foot hgher.
Side Note: Old time RVers throughout our travels have more than once made the same comment one fireman did as we waited for our trailer’s legs to retract: “Are those things moving?” he said. The Arctic Fox may indeed have the slowest retracting legs in the RV industry. But this time it seemed to take an eternity. With water lapping at our site, we were on our way, just in time.
We joined dozens of other RVs up the hill in a church parking lot for the night, hoping the trailer wouldn’t fall off, wondering if we would be able to unhitch. As more continued to show up, one frantic woman asked if I had a fifth wheel. She said someone needed help getting their trailer out because they had no way to pull it. My heart shrank as I had to say no. Our Pullrite Superglide requires a kingpin adapter to function without damaging the hitch and/or trailer.
Walking down to survey the damage the next morning, I noticed our site had clearly been under at least a couple feet of water. All the RVs and trailers did get out, some with their sewer hoses draped over their bike racks. Others who left theirs behind. With only our end of the park truly getting flooded, we feel very fortunate to have our home with us. We moved on to a park down the road a in Bourne called Top Of The Hill RV Resort, thinking we might need to be there a while waiting for hitch parks. But upon further investigation, the damage done was nothing a few whacks from a hammer couldn’t fix.
Epilogue: As we were leaving the morning after, I noticed a trailer tire was low. Pulling away in hopes that we would find a service station soon, we immediately pulled into a tire shop right across the road. We had not one, but two punctured tires.
I guess when it rains, it really does pour. Especially in Texas. After all the excitement, I did little math and calculated that the river was rising a foot every five minutes. That may not sound all that fast, but consider the gentle slope of the terrain and it’s easy to imagine that flood approaching like an incoming tide – we don’t need to, we were there!
Angelenos are getting all worked up over the rain that’s been falling on Southern California. Yesterday, a tornado warning was announced, and minutes later a small “tornadic-like” formation touched down and blew over a car. The hills are sliding and freeways are a mess. Parents are keeping their kids home from school.
Even though this kind of weather action is mild in comparison to our old stomping grounds of rainy, wet Humboldt County, we’re still glad to be staying in a stick house while riding this episode out.
The Los Angeles area hasn’t seen rain since Christmas. I was hoping we wouldn’t see any bad weather this winter, but it is January after all. When the rain started falling, I had to dig our rain jackets out of storage in the RV. Even funnel clouds and heavy rain won’t stop us from going outside every day. That’s because Wyatt Ray just won’t cut us any slack. If our one year-old puppy doesn’t get three walks a day, he will eat the furniture. Morning, noon and night, he begs to go outside for a walk, and we comply. Dogs are great at getting you to break away from work and into the great outdoors.
One morning, as Wyatt led me on a walk during a heavy downpour, my soaking wet clothes were an unpleasant reminder that the Gore-tex water-resistance on my gear is fading away.
Gear lust started whispering in my ear again; I want . . . I want . . . I want. . .
Time to start looking for something else, like maybe a new Berghaus jacket?
By the time we left our mountain home in between snowstorms, it felt like an episode of M*A*S*H with us bugging out and heading South before getting hit hard. On a side note, a weather report from Red Feather lakes last week said it was -2 degrees back home.
But we did have time to winterize the place, which based on that report, we are very glad we did.
In addition to a few minor exterior repairs, below are the steps we took to ensure our house survives the severe Colorado winter.
Steps for Winterizing Mountain Home:
Close and/or cover all heating vents.
Remove all food from premises.
Clean out refrigerator.
Remove all ice from freezer and shut off water supply to ice maker.
Turn heater thermostat off.
Turn off fuel supply and/or electricity to furnace.
Turn off fuel supply and/or electricity to water heater.
Turn off well pump.
Drain well water pressure tank.
Drain hot water heater.
Drain water from and insulate any outdoor hose bibs.
Drain water from all interior faucets.
Flush toilets to drain tanks and remove excess water in bowls.
Plunge out excess water from all waste water traps.
Plug dry toilet bowls with rags.
Plug all sink and tub drains.
Expel water from lines using air pressure, if equipped.
Lock all windows and close blinds/curtains.
Deploy preferred rodent deterrence.
Plug any exterior holes with steel wool to prevent rodent entrance.
Set nail mats in front of all windows and doors to deter bears.
Unplug any phantom load items, TVs, stereos etc.
Provide contact information to neighbors.
Pray that all is well when you return.
What is a nail mat you ask? We wondered the same thing when we discovered the picket fence looking things with nails sticking out of them in the garage when we bought the place. (See photo above.) Turns out the previous owner made these bear unwelcome mats to place in front of all the windows and doors, with the screws pointing up. Let’s hope they work!
The previous owner also told us he never winterized the place, but he was often up there on winter weekends. We told this to a couple neighbors, and they both said, “He was lucky!” We’ll be gone a few months. And considering this was the first time we ever had to do anything like this, we’ll see if these steps did the trick. Talk to us next Spring.
Back when Lilla and Neal visited us at Jerry’s Acres, Neal suggested that we were in for a winter of heavy snow. His reasoning was based on a news story he had seen about the local Skunk Cactus — or at least he thinks that’s what the newscaster called this weed, and I think that’s what he called it.
Neal mentioned how the height at which the seed pods begin is an indication of that season’s snowfall depth. Based on a recent weather report from home, sent to us by Codie Rae’s people, I’m starting to believe him…
Red Feather Lakes: Snow and areas of blowing snow before midnight, then snow likely and areas of blowing snow after midnight. Low around 14. Wind chill values as low as -5. North northwest wind between 14 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.
Needless to say, I believe we left just in time. Based on the reports we’re getting from back home, we would have likely been stuck there quite a while – if not all winter – had we not pulled away when we did. That, or we would have been digging out the trailer to hit the road.
But we haven’t exactly headed to warmer climes, yet. Our second night here in Fernley, our hose froze. We had forgotten to leave a faucet dripping overnight. Keeping the water moving through the hose will help it from freezing solid and ensure you have running water in the morning. Insulating the hose with foam pipe-wrap available in the plumbing section of any home supply store also helps. As does having water in your fresh water tank as a backup.
How quickly we forget these things after staying put for a few months. I remember first seeing an RVer fuss with a frozen hose at a riverside park in Ashville, NC two years ago and laughing. The other morning it was my turn. After struggling to thaw things out enough to get our water flowing, we have now practiced these precautionary measures I preach. Good thing René hadn’t yet begun her early morning shifts at the Amazon warehouse!
Bonus! Two video posts in a row… At least this one is ours.
But since René mentioned the weather here at Jerry’s Acres and our impending need to head south for the winter – not just once, but twice – I figured I would let everyone see for themselves how beautiful it is here, how much fun we’re having, and just how cold it really is getting…
Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of living in a Georgia O’Keefe painting as much as any good ol’ country boy. And it is nice and comfy in our new home. But did I mention it is only October!
We do love it here, but the road beckons. It would mean one thing if we were settling down here for good. That time will come. But we’ve got our winter home sitting out front, with a lot of miles yet to put under its new tires. And that means we need to get those tires rolling before they are totally covered in snow.
Good thing I was proactive and washed the rig last week. I put roof protectant on that day too, which made it nice and slippery today when I got up there to shove a foot of snow of the roof.
I don’t know how much snow load our rig is rated for, but something tells me that this much snow is not a good thing.
Does anyone have good tips for pushing snow off a RV roof without breaking your neck?
The patio is closed. Hopefully in about two weeks, we’ll be on to warmer climates.
I think that boat left without us. This is supposed the first day of Autumn. But I think Autumn got scared, and flew south too. Looks like winter is here.
This is the scene outside today. A winter storm warning has been issued for the next few days. Lucky for us, we’ve got food, booze and Internet. And Wyatt Ray really loves playing all this white stuff.
I’ll never forget the look on his face when we took him outside in the morning. Jim opened the door, and Wyatt’s ears went straight up. His eyes bugged out of his skull. He jumped and romped and spun around and just couldn’t understand what all of that white stuff was!
The Farmers Almanac is predicting a cold, hard winter in these parts. I look outside at our snow-covered rig, and thank Dog that we are in the house right now. The outside temperature is in the low 30s, but it’s warm and toasty inside the house with our fire going.
Aside from our episode with the drunkards, the Missile Site park felt like the safest place to be during our stay in Greeley. The same cannot be said for the sole tornado fatality from the one that touched down there last year. We were parked in the same spot as that poor soul.
But while we could see the wild storms coming and going all around Weld County, and we had our NOAA weather radio tuned in and handy, it was Pete who gave us the most confidence come time for the daily tornado warning. With his house blown away by the twister last year, Mr. Ambrose wasn’t about to let anyone else be taken by another storm on his watch.
We knew one warning was particularly dangerous when we saw Pete rounding up campers. And we can’t thank him enough for letting us all drive into the old decommissioned Atlas-E Missile Silo he knows so well.
What better place to sit out a tornado warning?
See for yourself in this personal tour Park Manager Pete Ambrose gave us of the Weld County Atlas-E Missile Site:
When we first hit the road one of the must-have items we kept hearing about was a decent pair of walkie talkies. We were told these were vital for communicating to avoid mishaps while backing up the trailer. I’m glad we opted for a decent set of radios, but not so I can hear the navigator telling me to turn right when the trailer needs to point left. She shouts plenty loud enough.
When boondocking, we’ll often keep the radios charged with our Xantrex solar battery pack accessory charger we won from the fine folks at RVParking.com.
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