Happy Valentine’s day!! I am currently at Lake Corpus Christi State Park about 30 miles north of Corpus Christi, Texas. I knew cold weather was coming, so I wanted to get a site with hookups. I was able to get reservations at this state park. I will have to site – hop, but I will have water and electricity and at some of the sites, sewer hookup. As long as I have water and electricity I can get through the cold weather coming.

Why cold is a problem with an RV

I know on the surface, it looks like it should not be a problem to stay warm in cold weather in an RV. Well, that is true, “up to a point!” (As my father-in-law used to say 😊) The RV works well in all areas until we start getting near the freezing point.

This example may explain it. Picture yourself stranded on snow covered roads in your car in the evening. The roads are not going to be opened until morning and it is 20° with 20 mph winds out of the North northwest. (Coincidentally, this is what we will have tonight! ) But say you also have water, blankets and some food and drinks along. So you can get through the night. But will it be comfortable? And that depends. One of the ways you can stay warm, is by running the engine and heater. How much you want to run it will depend on how warm you want to have it. And then the decision is, will the gas last until morning? That is the biggest decision with the RV and it’s propane tanks. How much to run it, how warm to keep it, and will the LP last? And of course you will be losing heat through the car windows and walls because it is not insulated for this kind of incident. Likewise with an RV. Plus the RV has slide outs which is an extra area to catch the wind and lose heat. In addition, the furnace will only run if there is enough charge in the two RV batteries or if it is plugged into electricity. As with the car, how many times can you start the car before the battery starts to go down? Without electricity or battery power, another limiting RV factor, we can’t heat at all either.

and I don’t even want to get into freezing water pipes. 😳

So those are the types of challenges I have before me in order to keep warm in the RV through this coming polar vortex hitting Texas. Losing electricity would not be good!

My inner child.

This morning it was windy, 30° and a 97% humidity. Think of a windy, rainy and cold November day in Wisconsin! Worst combination and miserable out. This was the morning I had to move sites. Fortunately there was no rain at the time I had to start getting the RV ready. I realized this morning that I have two conversations going on in my head at times like this! I decided to call one my Inner Child 😃 and the other (surprise! ) my Inner Adult. 🤔

Honest to gosh, I am going to try to share what I went through in my mind this morning while getting the RV ready in less than Ideal weather. You may enjoy it , or you may want to skip it.😁 But I am not making any of this up!

So, as I’m beginning to get ready to go outside my Inner Child begins IC: you’re not really going to go out in this are you?! It’s so nice in here! Stay in! (Inner Adult) IA: I have to. I have to move sites. IC: You’re nuts in this weather. Did you check to see if this site may be open? Maybe someone canceled? Then you could stay right here! IA: Good idea. I’ll do that. Nope. It’s open today but reserved for tomorrow. It’s supposed to be worse tomorrow, I don’t want to move then. IC: Are you kidding me!? Who is going to be coming into this site today in weather like this? Look how many empty spaces there are already! Stay and take a chance. Nobody will probably show up. IA: Someone may have to move sites just like I am. So they will show up. And then what? IC: Really? I doubt it! IA: it’s supposed to be worse tomorrow. I’d rather move today than tomorrow. We’re going outside,!

So now I’m outside and I’m starting to bring up the jacks, unhook the water hoses etc. IC: You know you could claim you can’t move because you have vertigo. Because you do still have symptoms. They would let you stay then. IA: I know but that wouldn’t be right. It’s not that bad. Listen! Would you just stop it and let me concentrate!? I’m going to do this so let’s just do it! IC: Boy I wish we had someone to help us. This is hard when it’s so cold. IA: I know. That’s the downside of traveling alone. You can’t get out of it. IC: I know. So how is that working out for you? IA: you are not helping! IC: Look, that older lady in the RV right in front of us is sitting at the table, facing us and not even looking at us. IA: I know, I saw that. I’d like to be inside like that right now. IC: wave at her. IA: What?! IC: Get her attention. She should be watching you work outside in this cold weather and be impressed! IA: I don’t need her to be watching me. I don’t need her to be impressed. IC: Yeah, but it still would be cool. IA : Okay. Let’s just do this and get it done! 🤯

Finally I am prepared to hook up and go! The site I was in was difficult to pull into. Primarily because they have wooden posts on both sides of you that increase the difficulty! I even had to measure my slides to make sure I could get them out without hitting the utility post! So it was a real challenge to back up and connect the hitch with those limitations. 😬

I only had to drive over to the next Campground which is right next door. The site I went to ended up being another challenging site to drive into and adjust on the space provided, but it went better than the past one . IC: hey, this site is really nice! I’m glad we left that other site. IA: Me too! It was worth the work. IC: and look at the little private area we have with a picnic table and roof. This is way cooler! IA: now aren’t you glad we left after all? IC: yes and no wind either! That site was way windier! IA: yeah it was closer to the lake and more open. It would be nice in the summer, but not now!

There were no more internal conversations after that . I think because the inner child and the inner adult were both on the same track . Honest to gosh! I always have that inner child come out when I have to move sites, the weather is bad and I really don’t want to do it!! 😂

Maximizing my warmth tonight

Tonight , the 14th, we are going to have winds out of the north northwest between 19 to 21 mph with gusts. The temperature is going to drop to 20° with some sleet. by 7:00 a.m. the wind chill will be 4 above. In an RV!! Near the Gulf of Mexico!! So I already have taken a number of steps to be as efficient with my propane as I can! And I am fortunate to have two filled tanks!! 👍

Finding Propane!!

Yesterday I discovered I was out of propane in one tank and the other one stopped working! I started calling places around here, and they were already out of propane! They said lines had started forming yesterday already! Oh my god! So I called Tractor Supply company, which is like our Fleet Farm, down on the north side of Corpus christi. Thank God they had 700 gallons of propane! Glory hallelujah! A full tank but they had lines all day. 🤪 So I pulled both tanks, loaded them up and I was on my way. 35 minutes later I was there and it was hard to find a place to park! A line of men and one other woman were outside with their propane tanks. Everyone had at least two tanks and they were all sizes. So I joined in. One guy ahead of me had a relatively tall tank and I began to worry that they may be out of propane before I could get mine filled. It was the same cold, damp and windy weather! It was slow going. We all wore masks. And we all were getting chilled, 😯.

So, while we are waiting, I started talking to a heavy set Hispanic man next to me, probably in his fifties. He had come from Mexico and had lived his whole life in the Texas area. We chatted for about 15 minutes off and on and then he said “you’re not from around here are you ?” I asked him if he could tell because of my accent. He said ” no, because you talked to me” . Well I was surprised and asked him about that and he said ” you talk to me. Most people around here don’t like to talk to me.” So I asked “why? ” And he said ” because I’m Mexican.”and I said “Here?! But you were here first! That doesn’t make sense! ” He said ” I know. But it’s true. ” I was not going to get in a conversation about that so I didn’t press it. Not the time or the place. It could be the way he presents himself too. I mean this is Corpus Christi. This is a heavily Mexican and Hispanic area! Since we were standing and waiting about 45 minutes, I also had a good conversation with a young guy in line behind him. Turns out he had worked in the Dakota fields when they were fracking. He was there in the mid-2000s. I was curious about their living situations because at one time housing was so scarce they actually had RVs inside sheds that were built to protect them from the elements. He said he had a nice apartment that he shared with another worker. There were also other apartments that were made of double wide trailers, with three bedrooms on each side and then a living room and kitchen down the middle. Sounded like barracks. 😏 His job was to monitor the propane as it heated the water that continuously flowed through a huge tank to the fracking equipment. I always find these unusual jobs interesting. He also mentioned the continuous winds in the Dakotas!!

After a while, I kiddingly said that we should all watch each other’s propane tanks and take turns warming up in our vehicles. They immediately said it was a good idea and I should go warm up. 😃👍 Away I went! And it sure felt good! And who is going to take an empty propane tank?. 😅 When I came back the older guy went then. So then it actually was my turn to finally get my tanks filled!! And this lady came out and said it was time for the operator to take a lunch break!! 🤦 I kid you not! But they took my cart with the propane tanks in it and she told me ” yours will be the very first ones to get filled” 😄 Then everyone else was told to put their propane tanks inside the fenced in area and then it was locked up. I shopped and warmed up in the store and found some sales on RV supplies as they were discontinuing the items! 45 minutes later, when they came back to begin filling, there was ANOTHER line outside with propane tanks! Mine were filled immediately. 💃 One tank was not working, so it only took one gallon. But she bled It off really well afterwards. I just had it filled a couple days before. But it was an older man who did it and I don’t think he bled it off well enough so it might have had vapor lock. The guy was really nice and even put it right into my slot in the rv, which they NEVER do. So that was nice but I think he made a mistake.

Next stop was Sonic! This had taken nearly 2 hours already and I was hungry! It was dark before I got back home. I lugged the full tanks and set them into their RV spots, and hooked them up with the use of the flashlight. Believe it or not there was no inner child arguing this time! And then I checked for heat. It was 48° inside the living area and 40° in the bedroom area when I got into the RV.

No Heat.

The furnace was not running. The temperature was way below the thermostat setting so it should have kicked in. I changed the modes on the thermostat. Still didn’t start. Then I thought of something I must have done a long time ago but don’t remember. I got down on my hands and knees to where the fuses were ( yeah, really great design with comfort in mind 🙄) the fuses in an RV are the small rectangular ones like autos have. The furnace is a 20 amp. I used tweezers to pull it out and with my fingers I put it right back in. Bingo! It starts right up and I have heat!! 👍

🤔 are you trying to figure out why that would work like I am? It feels like a trick. I’m thinking there must be a switch that turns off that fuse. This might stop the furnace from continuing to fire when there is not propane. Perhaps taking it out and putting it back in is like resetting a switch. What do you think? Or is the fuse going?

So, today I feel prepared with enough propane to make it through the next two nights. Just to be on the safe side, I took a good shower this afternoon, made supper and even did the dishes. By that time around 5:00 p.m. I found the water flow was only pencil thin! My hose was already freezing. After dishes, I went outside to turn off the water and found my steps were already all ice! Unbeknowns to me it had started sleeting! My truck was coated in ice! I disconnected my water hose and set the outside faucet to a drip which the ranger had requested. He was going to check on all of them tonight. He said “they’re not insulated. We usually never freeze !” 😏

The wind had really picked up and the gusting was vibrating the rv. So I decided to bring in my slides. That would make for much less wind resistance and a lot smaller area to heat. So I moved things around so I could still get around with the living room / kitchen slide in. The bedroom slide was already in. When I pulled it in I saw there was ice on the top roof section already! Then I pulled down all the drapes. It’s like I’m in a cave but with electricity! But it has already eliminated a lot of drafts.

So, I feel prepared for the cold spell coming into Texas! You know, I went rving so I could be where it is sunny, warm, and relaxing during the winter!! IC: So how is that working out for you? IA: Shut up!