It is 6 am, January 24, 2020 and I
have already been up half hour here at Garner State Park in SW Texas. We got into the park about 7 pm, setup the
camper and unloaded after dark – although with the car lights and then the
camper lights once we got it rolled up, it wasn’t working in the dark. However, the first setup after a year of it
being parked is always complicated as we notice some mustiness and mildew. This year when I put it away, it will be in
the garage, well aired out and a couple of pillowcases with the silica gel
dessicant kitty litter to keep it dry.
We were behind nearly 2 hours from
our planned arrival at 5 pm. Two things
got in the way – a stop for grocery shopping to get the first week’s food
before we arrived rather than the next day – as the local town of Leakey (pronounced
Lakey) hasn’t much selection, and a tire blew on the camper about 4 pm, and
that took time to change.
We left Wisconsin, Monday January
20th, and drove 120 miles south to our MN home in Pine Island where
we got the snow-blower out and cleared the driveway, did a little maintenance
and then Tuesday left just at light and drove 500 miles before finding a $64
overnight Motel in Kansas SE of Kansas City an hour or so. We had driven out of the snow as we entered
KS, but Wednesday morning it has slushed about an inch and at 32 could have
been slippery, but the warmer pavement melted it and we cruised all day long
putting in just under 400 miles to stay at a $44 motel in Oklahoma (just north
of the TX border).
Getting up early on Thursday, with the intent of
making 420 miles to the park – driving SW across much of Texas, we cruised
along nicely and were on schedule to arrive at 5 pm when we heard some rumbling
behind, the car started sort of surging and looking back through the mirror I
saw a chunk of rubber fly up. Now we
were doing 70mph on a Farm to Market Road (like a county road) where the speed
limit was 75 and folks were driving 80.
We pulled over to see the rear trailer tire shredded completely.
I had a brand new spare on the
back of the camper. The tire that blew
was the last of the 30 year old originals, and I figured just a short stop to
swap tires. Well, when I got out my
wrenches, I found, like Goldilocks, one was too big and one was too small and
none were just right. And where was my 4
ended fast tire wrench? – at home on the truck seat where I left it to remind
me to put it in the camper. And where was
my 13/16 socket? Not along—I think Margo
had borrowed it to repair the kitchen Mix Master and not put it back!
So, after a thorough search, some
self-condemnations, I unhooked the trailer and was about to drive 5 miles ahead
to the next town and get a socket – buy, borrow, beg or steal. Just then an
older pickup and a gentleman inside pulled across the lane and parked behind me
and asked if I needed help. “A 13/16
wrench is what I need!”
He had one of those 4 ended tire wrenches
and helped us change the tire while visiting.
He said I could get a spare in town at the first gas station/tire
shop. I tried to give him $20 for his
help, but although he wouldn’t take that, he did take a pint of maple
syrup. We have noticed in our years of
traveling and tire troubles, that the folks who stop to help are those who undoubtedly
have had the experience of driving on tires that are not as good as they should
be; not those with nice cars or trucks and not those who can afford to call the
road-side service to bail them out.
I have had tire troubles on every
trip taken for years, sometimes of my own making as in this old tire and
letting Google maps gps take me through the shortest driving routes that put us
on too many back roads – scenic, traffic free, fast, but probably more
tire-flattening debris. No tire in
town, so drove the last hour into the park at 60 mph and got here after
hours. That way you just set up
someplace empty (the park is mostly empty this time of year) and then register
in the morning and hope the site is not reserved sometime in the future so you
have to move everything.
Absolutely no cell phone signal
and no wifi at the campsite –A36--we picked.
However, we will likely drive the 7 miles to the local town and either
hit the laundromat, restaurant or library to post that we made it to our
destination for the next few weeks.
The mileage counter says 1442
miles since the Farm. The first day was
120 to Pine Island. Then roughly 500,
400, 420. The car mileage was about 17
mpg bucking a south wind of 10-15 the whole way—which means about 85 gallons of
gas. Gas ranged from 239 in WI and MN to
1.99 in one gas station in OK, but mostly 2.20 south of Iowa. So with that estimate of about $190 for gas
to drive here. The motels add up to
$108. Meals on the road about $75. We will have to buy a new tire for the camper
– maybe $50. So to get here totals about
$425. We can guess that the return trip will be around $400. So the travel cost is not too far under
$1000.
The next cost is two weeks of
camping here at the Park. Can’t remember
the fee, but probably $20 per night – will find out later this morning. That
would mean a 30-day stay in TX would cost about $600. And while here we will do
some driving around, some shopping, etc., but that will be likely not a whole
lot different than if we were back home—so won’t count that against the
vacation. My current estimate is that
the whole month away will be about $2000. There are a lot of things that the $2000 could
have bought to make winter in WI and MN easy, but I just wouldn’t have spent
it. Now that we are here, I don’t have
much choice! For me, money was hard to
come by the first 1/2 of my life, and so after I finally got a decent paying
job, I never really felt like I should spend it on frivolities like travel.
We also bought $75 of food for the week ahead,
but that we would buy whether we were at home or not, so won’t count that
against the vacation.
Driving yesterday we had about 55F
temperatures, sunny and pleasant. Here
in the Park we are supposed to see 60s to 70 with 40s overnight. Last night and this morning the sky was absolutely
clear and even with a few nearby lights from the bathroom and a handful of
fellow campers, we could see the stars and constellations wonderfully.
Today we look for a camper tire,
look for a 13/16 deep socket, air out the camper, clean out the car and
organize it and the camper as compactly and neatly as we can, and settle in for
some day strolls, and begin vacation intently while spending frugally.
Breakfast today is toasted bagels,
coffee, and a banana, that is if I can find where the coffee maker is, where
the coffee is, where the toaster is etc.
I have them packed in camper cubbyholes and the coffee in one of my
clothes duffle bags.
