Day 13, 14 - Athens, TX

Saturday (Day 13) - Only one more week here at the Texan RV Park and Campus. The “Campus” part is a school for RV technicians and inspectors. They have certification courses and tests for both as well as classes for RV owners who want to repair their own rig. Or at least do some minor repairs and maintenance. We were looking for someplace to park for the holidays that was reasonably close to a major airport served by Alaska Airlines. We knew that Garrett was taking the RV technician certification course and that we needed some things done.

The park has a reasonable monthly rate and allows us to receive mail and packages. We even were able to have things arrive before we checked in. This was incredibly convenient. It’s not fancy with a lot of amenities but the sites are level and dry, clean 50amp power, and a decent dog park. 

The real incentive to stay at this RV park was being able to spend the holidays with Garrett, Carolyn, and their children. They travel full-time in their 5th wheel with a chase car. We initially met them in November, 2019, at a meet up outside of Phoenix with the Loftis Party of 6, another YouTube RV family. We met them again at the TT in Chehalis, WA, last summer. That’s when we learned of their plan for the certification training here in Athens, TX, in November/December. 

Bridget gifted me with a box of 24 empty spice bottles with labels. With the spices stored in a basket, you couldn’t easily find the one you were looking for except by memory. The labels on the lids (and bottles) make it a little easier. They are not in any particular order. The basket makes it easy to move all of them in/out of the cupboard. There is another basket with lesser used seasonings plus some Costco containers of things like onion flakes and peppercorn. 

Sunday (Day 14) - Since I left with the Prius packed to the roof, it has been 499 days. Full-time RVing was never, and still isn’t, the retirement plan. It just sort of turned out that way due to the current environment. Since picking up this coach, we've put on a bit over 15k miles burning 2192 gallons of diesel. Giving us a whopping 6.8mpg. This is towing the Prius. On the initial cross country trip, it was about 1mpg better than that. During same period, we put over 20k miles on the Prius. This is just miles driven not towed. Way more than I had expected. 

I know that I've often mention RV repairs on this blog. More engine repairs were needed but "house" repairs are less than expected. The completely unexpected ones are the windshield issues. The tire replacement was planned. 

We are here for another week before heading for a TT park west of Houston. Only a couple of hours south of here.