EARLY 2021 - THREE QUICK TRIPS

Preamble to this medley of quick trips

Trip 1

I like to watch the sun come up on the first of the year.

Last year, I was a little frustrated in this endeavor as mist and light rain were all that greeted me at sunrise on the beach in Mustang State Park on the Texas Gulf of Mexico shoreline, just south of Corpus Christi.

With a better weather forecast for New Year's Day 2021, I booked a campground just west of Galveston for New Year's Eve to be on the spot for sunrise on New Year's Day.

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Trip 2

My wheels rolling again early February on a rather different mission...

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Trip 3

More rolling wheels in the middle of April...

A QUICK TEXAS TRIP

Thursday, December 31, 2020 – Navasota, TX, to Galveston, TX

At the end of my 2020 meandering - brief as it was, due to Covid restrictions - I got back to my parking spot at Black Jack Springs just before Thanksgiving.

Following Thanksgiving, it was time to get down to the many administrative chores involved in moving my official US base from Connecticut (where it's been for the past 20 years) to Navasota, and then notifying the many organizations with whom I seem to have relationships.

Getting my Texas Diver License in early December was a critical step in this process, as in the US this is the underpinning document for many state and federal relocation tasks, such as switching vehicle registrations, moving between state tax regimes...

So by the end of December I was feeling in need of a change of scenery and activity and decided to try again for a New Year's Day sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico (frustrated in this on January 1, 2020, by clouds, mist and light rain).

With a better weather forecast for New Year's Day 2021, I booked a campground spot just west of Galveston for New Year's Eve and had a fairly uneventful run with the Airstream through Houston and on down to Galveston.

Friday, January 1, 2021 – Galveston, TX, to Navasota, TX

Stayed up just long enough to see in the New Year last night before turning in to get some sleep before the 6:00am alarm call this morning.

Snatched a hurried bite of breakfast before driving the 15 minutes east to Galveston Pleasure Pier, arriving and getting parked in time to do some scouting of the best positions to see the sunrise over the end of the pier.

Although cloud cover on the horizon threatened to spoil any photos, the final results were probably more interesting than a plain blue sky - clouds, in the right place, usually adding depth and interest.

I walked up and down the beach and promenade for about an hour until the expanding cloud cover and altitude of the sun left little more photography to be done.

And then, despite the rather chilly weather and the breeze, against both of which I had been well wrapped up while taking pictures, I changed into my running gear in the car and took the opportunity for a New Year's day run two miles up and two miles back along the promenade.

A short drive back to the campground, via a stop for a well-earned Starbucks coffee and breakfast sandwich, a quick shower in the Airstream and then I pulled out of the campground late morning for the drive back through Houston to Navasota.

TEXAS TO FLORIDA AND BACK

A little sprinkle of wet snow in Navasota on January 10 gave a foretaste of what was to come in February.

But the forecast for the February event was rather more severe... 3-4 days of temperatures well below freezing and staying there, even during the day when it might have been expected that temperatures would creep back above freezing.

In the event the weather was even more severe than forecast, with 6-8 inches of snow in Navasota and temperatures not only below freezing for days on end but lows of 3 degrees (-16 Celsius).

The extended freeze would have been too much for the Airstream's freshwater system to survive without running the propane heater full time, and even that might not have been enough. So I decided that the best course of action was to avoid the challenge and head to warmer weather - coinciding happily with a building desire to look at a new RV solution, the reasons for a change - and this trip to Florida - explained below...

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The set-up of the F-150 towing the Airstream was perfect for traveling, comfortable to drive (the F-150 having all the modern car conveniences and comforts) and very nimble, the Airstream relatively small and able to be maneuvered into - and out of - tight spaces when necessary.

However, the ratio of traveling to being stationary has gradually changed, particularly so since early 2020 when Covid shut down so many campgrounds in the US, and so the confines of the Airstream's interior were becoming increasingly challenging.

The solution was either a larger Airstream or a switch to a very different vehicle in the form of a "Class A" motorhome (essentially a configuration where a bare truck chassis is bought and the RV manufacturer builds a complete accommodation "box" that is placed on top).

Desk research had identified a candidate motorhome - the floor plan being a key consideration - within an "acceptable" quality and price range.

However, as the Covid pandemic had simultaneously increased demand for RVs and reduced production, only three of the model I was focused on were available in the US in early 2021 - one in California, one in Iowa (where temperatures were below freezing) and one in Florida.

With the additional draw of the number of RV dealerships located there to view alternativess, Florida got the vote.

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Friday, February 12, 2021 – Navasota, TX, to Lafayette, LA

No sightseeing on this trip, just the most efficient drive to Florida, essentially barreling down I-10 for a couple of long days, a little swinging around in Florida, and then barreling back down I-10 to Texas.

And that pretty much covers today's drive, starting off on two-lane highways until joining I-10 and then settling into the drive eastward.

Saturday, February 13, 2021 – Lafayette, LA, to Perry, FL

A long day in the saddle today...

Out and on the road early, with an interim destination of Dad's Camper Outlet in Picayune, MS, to look at a Winnebago the dealer had in inventory.

This viewing was more intended to "get my eye in" on Winnebago Class A motorhomes than because the RV was a serious contender - and given the state of the unit, it was just as well my hopes weren't high... flat batteries, dirty inside and out, various pieces of interior trim peeling and falling off... on a new RV.

I couldn't get out of there fast enough (literally, given the 400 miles of driving still ahead of me) but still somehow managed to become unnecessarily delayed.

From then on, I continued my blast along I-10, stops only for coffee, lunch and gas, finally heading south from I-10 onto Route 19 towards the end of a long day's driving, and turning into a campground on the southern side of Perry as darkness (and rain) was falling.

Sunday, February 14, 2021 – Perry, FL, to Bradenton, FL

A much shorter driving day today - Perry to Bradenton - with a detour via the Lazydays RV dealership in Tampa.

Unlike yesterday's "good old boys" dealership in Picayune, the Tampa Lazydays dealership is modern, professional and massive... acres of RVs, multiple service bays, and an RV resort on site.

And also unlike yesterday, there was at least one RV that was a contender as a replacement for the Airstream, although during my pre-trip research it hadn't seemed to offer the best floorplan (on the PC screen, at least).

Greeted professionally by a sales guy, several other units viewed in addition to the contender I had gone specifically to see, and I came away with plenty of information and food for thought, to be digested overnight at a campground a short distance south of Tampa in Bradenton.

Monday, February 15, 2021 – Bradenton, FL

So, this is what I'm missing back in Navasota... temperatures well below freezing and more than a sprinkling of snow.

By contrast, the northern Florida weather is in the high 70s.

Headed out of the campground with the Airstream in tow so that I could get some trade-in values against it should the RV I was going to view turn out to be the fit (floor plan, in particular) that I hoped based on my online research.

The RV dealership in Bradenton (with one of three Winnebago Adventurer 27Ns in inventory in the USA) turned out to be something in between the good old boys in Picayune and the mega-dealership in Tampa.

And the RV I had gone to see was parked prominently facing the street frontage of their lot, slides out to maximize interior spaciousness.

Fortunately, as often in similar situations previously, my research meant I knew as much as the sales guy...

...possibly more, my focus being very tightly on this one RV whereas a sales guy needs to have a reasonable, but perhaps not in-depth, understanding of a large range of manufacturers and models.

I made sure that I had plenty of time to have a thorough look around the RV by myself and confirm that, in the metal and fiberglass, it met the expectations set up by my on-line research.

And so on to the grubby business of starting to negotiate a deal...

Tuesday, February 16, 2021 – Bradenton, FL

Overnight ruminations confirmed that switching from the Airstream to the Winnebago was the right move, and that the deal parameters were sufficiently within an acceptable range to press ahead.

An hour spent at the dealership going through the Winnebago and its systems, creating a (short) punch list of items to be attended to.

And then the final arm-wrestling over a deal to trade in the Airstream against the Winnebago... with an agreement finally reached and a deposit placed.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 – Bradenton, FL

The day spent preparing to move out of the Airstream... a surprising number of banker's boxes filled as all the storage areas were emptied out.

Plenty of interior cleaning needed, also, once all the packing up was done.

Managed to find a coin car wash in Bradenton that was large enough to get the Airstream in, rain during the drive down to Perry having left plenty of road grime on the Airstream and not wanting to hand it over in anything other than prime condition.

And so, after 4 years and 3 months of loyal service, more than 50,000 miles covered from coast to coast across the US, the time had come to spend my final night in the Airstream.

Thursday, February 18, 2021 – Bradenton, FL

Arrived at the dealership mid-morning to finalize paperwork and receive a technical orientation from their service manager where, once again, my research-based knowledge of the RV and its systems seemed at times to exceed that of the dealership personnel.

A busy day moving out of the Airstream and into the Winnebago - parked side by side, doors facing each other.

The transfer process took several hours in the heat of the Florida afternoon - a good chunk of the day having been stolen from me as the service department had not installed the new batteries I had agreed with the sales department and had to take the RV out to a battery shop to get this done.

Although I could, in principle, have towed the F-150 back to Texas behind the Winnebago it would have required a scramble to try to source and install the necessary towing hardware on the truck, only to have much of it eventually redundant, as I planned to trade the F-150 for a Jeep Wrangler.

So the F-150 was parked out of the way behind the RV dealership, with the plan being for me to fly back from Texas to Florida to retrieve it once I had the Winnebago safely tucked up at Black Jack Springs.

Eventually, not long before sunset, I was back in my spot in the campground with the new Winnebago, the evening spent redistributing contents of boxes moved over from the Airstream.

Friday, February 19, 2021 – Bradenton, FL, to Orlando, FL

The plan for the weekend was to slowly make my way north while checking out the systems on the new RV, not getting so far away from the dealership in Bradenton that I couldn't head back there after the weekend for any remedial work to be undertaken.

Today also focused on shopping for additional equipment for the new rig... 30Amp to 50Amp adaptor, GPS, linens, galley items, storage containers...

It was not until the very end of the day that I found myself on a four-lane highway where I wasn't bunched up in heavy traffic... only then to discover that the cruise control on the Winnebago wouldn't work. Not totally disabling, but the prospect of a 1,000 mile drive west on I-10 without cruise control was not appealing.

Fortunately, I thought, there was another branch of the RV dealership from which I had bought the Winnebago not far from my planned overnight stop, but by the time I reached them the service department had gone home. Despite some reluctance on the part of the office staff still there, I arranged to return tomorrow morning to see if anything could be done, or at least discovered.

Saturday, February 20, 2021 – Orlando, FL, to Silver Lake Campground, Brooksville, FL

My low expectations for a solution to the cruise control problem were fully met when I returned to the dealership... a basic diagnostic tool gave no useful information and the service tech had no suggestions to offer. And a call back to the selling dealership in Bradenton was equally unhelpful, as all they could suggest was setting up an appointment with the Ford dealership they use in Tampa, which wouldn't be until next Tuesday.

Not wanting to hang around until then, when a diagnosis - if successfully made - might still mean waiting for a part to be delivered, I agreed that I would keep the dealership manager apprised of my return journey and he would try to call ahead to find a Ford dealership that could take a look.

More shopping during the day to continue outfitting the Winnebago on my meander up to a state campground on my way north... taking the only remaining spot in the campground which was a little tight, with overhanging tree branches and quite a slope at the entry, but I managed to back in and get settled reasonably comfortably.

Although shorepower was available at the campsite, I opted to run the RV overnight just on the coach batteries to see how they fared.

Sunday, February 21, 2021 – Silver Lake Campground, Brooksville, FL, to Jennings, FL

Not having taken any exercise since leaving Texas - other than the work involved in packing up, unloading, loading and redistributing gear from Airstream to Winnebago - I took advantage of being in a campground with an internal road system to head out for a run first thing.

The RV batteries held up moderately well overnight, but clearly wouldn't be sufficient for multi-day dry camping without running the genset for an hour or two each day. So a larger battery bank, and a second solar panel, will be going onto my "additional equipment" list.

A couple more stops during the day to source items for the new RV as I continued heading slowly north towards Texas, though still wanting to remain within reasonable distance to Bradenton should anything come up that meant I needed to return there.

On I-75 for most of the day, arriving at the KOA campground in Jennings, just north of I-10, late afternoon.

Monday, February 22, 2021 – Jennings, FL, to Baton Rouge, LA

A long day of driving - 500 miles - with only one moderately helpful suggestion from the RV dealership as to where I might be able to have someone look at the defective cruise control, in Mobile, AL.

Unfortunately, I wasn't far enough west on I-10 to be able to get to that particular Ford dealer in time to grab a service slot that had come up, so no choice but to carry on with the tedious and uncomfortable drive west along I-10 without a cruise control.

Another KOA conveniently off the highway for the night, just outside Baton Rouge.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021 – Baton Rouge, LA, to Navasota, TX

A further 350 miles today along I-10, the road getting progressively slower with construction as I neared Houston.

Winding through Houston itself not much more fun... a convoluted route, conflicting advice from my new GPS and my iPhone, short notice lane changes, lots of traffic...

Finally onto more familiar roads, heading west out of Houston on Route 290 and north on Route 6 to Navasota, pulling into Black Jack Springs late afternoon.

Slightly surreal, tucking the Winnebago into the slot under the shed roof only recently vacated by the Airstream...

...or maybe I was just feeling lightheaded from two long days of driving...

Follow this link to see more detail on the new Winnebago

FREDERICKSBURG AND BACK

Sunday, April 18, 2021 – Navasota, TX, to Fredericksburg, TX

With most of my modifications and installations completed on the new Winnebago, and a Jeep Wrangler bought and set up for towing, it was time for a dry run of the full set-up before embarking on a longer trip to the Great Lakes.

At my good friend Les's suggestion, since he also had a new rig that he wanted to road test a little, we headed out to the Texas Hill Country in our rigs to spend a few days in Fredericksburg.

I took the opportunity on the way there to stop at a set of truck scales to get the Winnebago and Jeep weighed - important to understand the axle weight of the fully set up rig, for reassurance that I was well within the various maximum load parameters but also to allow me to adjust tire pressures to accurately reflect their loads.

With full fuel and something over half a fresh water tank, the axle loads were well within the specifications and gave me confidence in reducing tire pressures - best set by using tire load tables rather than being set at the specified maximum for the tire, and because lower pressures offer a much more comfortable ride.

It was also helpful to have the weight of the Jeep Wrangler confirmed. 5,000lbs is the maximum towing capacity of the Winnebago, and the Jeep with half a tank of fuel was shown to be 4,600lbs.

That was the good news...

...the bad news being that as soon as the engine in the RV was started the image from the newly-installed rear view camera would be lost from the monitor.

The standard rear view camera on the Winnebago only comes on with transmission put in reverse and looks straight down at the rear bumper, whereas I wanted (and had installed) a system that would show the Jeep being towed as well as looking the road behind me, and would be on full time.

The new rear view camera set-up had worked perfectly when tested at Black Jack Springs, and was fine with the engine turned off. But as soon as the engine was cranked, the image was lost from the monitor. All rather puzzling, and fiddling with the camera connections to the antenna on the roof made no difference.

So the 200 miles to Fredericksburg were driven cautiously, and without the benefit of a rear view camera.

Les and Melanie had set out well ahead of me and were relaxing in the comfort of their 45' motorhome when I arrived mid-afternoon.

Celebratory cocktails were enjoyed late afternoon before heading into Fredericksburg to scout out a particular restaurant for dinner Tuesday and then stopping at the "Crossroads Saloon" restaurant for dinner.

Monday, April 19, 2021 – Fredericksburg, TX

A good deal of the day taken up trying to diagnose the odd behavior of the rear view camera system I had installed, including time spent on the phone with customer service at the supplier, multiple trips up and down my extending ladder to the camera on the rear cap of the RV and extensive use of my multimeter.

To cut a tedious story short - particularly the misdirection and poor advice from the supplier - it appears that the rear view camera drops out when the engine starts as the voltage of the rear clearance light circuit, into which the camera is wired (per directions), drops to 11.2 volts.

As this is still within the stated operating voltage range specifications of the camera, it was agreed that a replacement camera would be shipped to me.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 – Fredericksburg, TX

Out for a run around the park roads in the cool of the morning, with some rather steep, though short, hills encountered en route.

Rewarded with a fine breakfast rustled up by Melanie and enjoyed in the comfort of their bus.

A visit downtown to stroll up and down Main Street - Melanie popping into stores while Les and I waiting dutifully outside and, when lucky, able to sit in the shade contemplating the attractive old stone buildings - completed the day's gentle activities.

The short 3-day visit to Fredericksburg rounded off with a fine dinner at August E's in town - great steaks, seafood and sushi on the menu, enjoyed in chic and sophisticated indoor decor.

Accompanying the food, and chosen from the wine menu somewhat by accident, a very tasty Chardonnay from a local producer, Becker Vineyards.

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 – Fredericksburg, TX, to Navasota, TX

Before hooking up the Jeep to the RV for the drive back to Navasota, the (theoretically) defective rear view camera was dropped off in town to be shipped back to the supplier.

And then - still rear-camera-less - the 200-mile drive back to Navasota, topping off the gas tank just before pulling into Black Jack Springs to save that small chore when heading out on the next adventure... which will see me looping through the mountains of Colorado on the way to Iowa (see link below for this next chapter).

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