Still Packing Up

Thursday - Today was “run the Ural out of gas” day. I had 160km on the odometer and didn’t switch to reserve until 225km. I now have 240km and I’ll drain any remaining gas into a gas can including draining the carb bowls. I guess gas mileage is pretty good if you are just running back and forth to Hondo. So 80km of riding today and didn’t really go anywhere. The picture was taken at the nice rest area between D’Hanis and Sabinal. I stopped there to re-hydrate as it was pretty warm. 

Later - There was still almost ¾ gal of gas in the tank so 250-260km is possible. I’ve never run it all the way to empty before. So good to know, 25km after switching to reserve. Hopefully this will be a better storage location over the summer. The motorcycle cover I used to have was destroyed by the sun last year. 

Getting Packed

Friday - This morning, they were looking for volunteers to load broken tree limbs onto a trailer then into a large dumpster.

Saturday - Today’s task was installing a UPS for all of the electronics up front. I figured that the electrical “blinks” weren’t good for them. Since there are three cabinets up front, which includes the space behind the television, I ran outlet strips to the other two cabinets. Hopefully, this helps extend their lifespan.

Sunday - A few more tasks done today. Replaced the Jeep wiper blades and found bug cleaner washer fluid. The underhood reservoir takes almost a full gallon! The Shelly WiFi switch for the chassis battery charger needed to be rebooted. This was because the WiFi SSID it connected to got bumped before we went to IL and it timed out looking for it. IMHO, a poor design. It should keep searching forever…

Monday - This morning, I brought the class C to our lot to start getting things packed. I put in the portable refrigerator/freezer to see how much power it drew. 

The UPS was a good addition. With all of the short power outages we’ve been having, I think our electronics may last longer. 

Wednesday - This morning, we went to the San Antonio Shoe factory. This place actually makes high quality shoes branded as SAS. I wasn’t shopping for anything but they did have soda for 10¢ and popcorn for 5¢. Bottled water was $1 if you didn’t like/want Coke products. It was a large store with a lot of shoes priced at more than I am willing to spend.

We still have the class C in front of our lot and plugged into an outlet on the class A. Between them, we have three A/C units running as it is really hot at 94°F with 51% RH.

Last night, I checked the portable fridge and the GFCI was tripped. I didn’t check after our power was shut off to inspect our electrical boxes. That may be when it tripped. 

Deciding what to bring on this trip is more challenging than last time as we will be gone for a while. 

Heavy Rain and Wind

Wednesday - Really strong winds last night along with several hours of rain. The neighbor had 3½" of rain in his rain gauge this morning and one of the other residents mentioned that their weather station had wind gusts of 80mph. We had a branch break off of our tree. Fortunately, it didn't damage anything. 

The other casualty we had is a bent windshield wiper on the RV. The wind blew the MagnaShade off of the windshield and it caught on the wiper arm. I simply removed the wiper arm and bent it back using the neighbors bench vise. All of this happened right around midnight and the storm lasted several hours. I probably should've brought the slides in but didn't think of that until we were really getting dumped on (rain and wind).

This morning, I rode the Ural into town and there were quite a few crews out cutting up tree branches that had fallen into the road. One of lots here had their tree completely blow down. It didn't hit their RV or shed.

The Ural gets used to haul yard debris again. It’s easier than hooking up the trailer but requires more trips. We were told that someone would pick up yard debris but no time was given. We only had the one branch.

In San Antonio

Monday - An early morning drive into SA this morning. Not much traffic at 5am, which is a good thing. And no horrendous storm like the last early morning trip when I flew up to AK. 

I think there are only a couple of tasks before our next RV trip. The repeater for the TPMS needs to be installed. The challenge is to find convenient 12V power. The Unistrut on the passenger side roof still needs a couple more screws. Locating the metal roof “beams” is proving to be difficult. I was talking to someone else in the park who installed Unistrut on his RV last fall, and he said it was trial and error. And he patched a lot of “errors”. It would be great to avoid that.

Tuesday - We got back to the RV around noon. Traffic was moving and we only needed to stop at Walmart on the way back. 

Later - Here we go again. It’s ~10:30pm and the lightning show is going yet again. At least it’s supposed to be just heavy rain and not tornados. 

Repair Projects

Thursday - I brought the class C over to our lot to plug it into shore power to run the A/C. The thin paneling in the bedroom was loose, so I stapled it back to the underlying wood frame. The wall was thin enough that the tips of the staples stuck through the bathroom wall. These were 1⅝" crown staples. This wall may need to be rebuilt as it isn’t straight. I also moved the kitchen sink as it wasn't centered in its opening, and water leaked from the countertop into the drawer. I need to pick up some silicone to seal the edge of the sink to the countertop. The flange on the sink barely covers the cut opening in the counter.

While working on these projects, I ran the A/C and it cooled the RV off nicely.

Friday - We needed to drive into SA again today for another appointment. The humidity isn’t as high as it’s been so it was “not bad” outside. I really need to figure out a good way to move the water softener somewhere out of the sun. The water temperature coming into the RV is pretty warm. 

We are planning to head out in about two weeks so I need to focus on class C projects. 

Saturday - There was an early morning test session with an overseas candidate. After the test, I replaced the pressure relief valve on my Lowe’s air compressor since it was releasing all the air at around 100psi. The max pressure of the compressor is 125psi. I also added caulk to the kitchen sink. We’ll see how well it works as the sink rim is barely larger than the countertop opening. 

It’s too hot to do much outside especially with high humidity. This morning, it was 80%. And, it looks like things won’t be getting much better over the next several days. 

Lots of Running Around

Monday - I saw a garter snake near the clubhouse this evening. Just worked on chores today in between the test sessions. 

Tuesday - We went towards San Antonio this morning and one stop was near Duck Donuts. They serve custom donuts decorated to order. This was chocolate with peanuts and toasted coconut. I don’t remember the name but it went well with some coffee. 

We then headed to Costco, Kohl’s, Walmart, and a diner somewhere and in the middle. We were back by mid-afternoon and it was hot and humid. At least there aren’t any storms on the way. 

Wednesday - We went into Kerrville for an appointment and stopped at Brewdawgz Grille and Ale for a snack. We ended up having dinner. I had their spicy brisket sandwich with onion rings. It was phenomenal! The barbecue brisket was fantastic and piled high. Even the onion rings were exceptional. We’ve passed this place dozens of times but have never stopped. 

Kerrville was a good 10°F cooler than Hondo. And possibly less humid.