Day 76, 77 - Whitney, TX - TT

Thursday (76) - I drove into Cleburne for the COVID-19 test. I’m now waiting at the clinic. And waiting. And waiting... Actually, only 30min past my appointment time. They took the sample so it’ll get sent out in time. They said that my temperature was ½° high and told me to check it every day. When I got back, it was a degree low.

The inside temperature of the RV was still 64°F which is what it was when I left. I guess the heat pump wasn't cutting it given the 42°F outside temperature. I turned on the furnace as well as the space heater in the bedroom and within an hour, it was back up to 69°F. 

The project of the day was to clean the black tank. I turned on both the electric and propane heaters for the water heater and added ½ cup of Dawn dish soap and  about a cup of Calgon water softener to the black tank. I then started adding hot water until I used all 10 gallons in the hot water heater. I did this twice and the SeeLevel II read 81%. BTW, Calgon water softener was difficult to find.

This mixture of Calgon and Dawn is referred to as the GEO method of cleaning the black tank. It appears to have done something. I may finish filling the tank with hot water once the hot water heater finishes heating it's 10 gallon tank. This is not a substitute for proper chemicals as this combination will kill any helpful bacteria inside the tank. I then drained and flushed the tank a couple of times and the SeeLevel II gauge read properly both times. With an RV, there is always something that needs doing. 

Friday (77) - Nice and sunny today though the temperature never made it out of the 50s (°F). It was almost freezing last night so we've been using the propane furnace. It doesn't seem to put out much heat. I picked up a small 250watt heater for the wet bay. There is a small heater in there connected to a thermostat but it doesn't seem to put out any heat. The fan runs but, as far as I can tell, no heat. 

The plan is to add a relay to the ESP8266 that I have in the wet bay to switch on the heater when the temperature in the bay is near freezing. This seems to be a reasonable project for when I get back from Fairbanks.

The testing location, Integrity Urgent Care, gave me a web site to check on the status of my test. I created my ID this afternoon and the status showed "received" by the lab. At least it made it that far. It'a supposed to be around freezing again tonight so I'll be packing up the sewer and water hoses later today. I also brought in two of the slides to help reduce propane use. Plus, it makes it much easier to pack up the hoses.

Friday Evening Update - By 9pm, I already had my negative test result and completed the travelers declaration or whatever it's called by the state.