Today is the day we remember those who gave all so that the rest of us wouldn't have to.
DX Conditions
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Gremlins and water
Over the last day or two we have been the recipients of a copious amout of rainfall here at the gate. Yesterday at the height of the storm we had about an inch of standing water on the road and a river a few inches deep running underneath and behind the rv. Resulting in the left front leveling jack sinking a few inches into the mud. After the rain subsided a bit I stuck a measuring tape into the bucket I keep sitting outside (that was empty at the beginning of the rainstorm) and found that there were 4 inches of water there. That is a whole lot of rainfall in a short period of time. San Antonio Airport received about 7 inches of rain in about an hour period from the same line of storms that affected us so we are counting ourselves lucky. Looking out the window I can see it has started sprinkling again and the radar is showing a storm coming at us from the northwest. We continue to be under a flash flood warning for the time being.
On the subject of Gremlins. I'm not sure if this place is haunted or what but it seems that everytime we solve a problem here, two more pop up. It has become a constaant back and forth between us and the rig, We fix an issue, they have a problem. They get their problem fixed and we start having issues again. The latest is the water pump for our external water tank suddenly stopped working, I keep a backup in the basement for just such an emergency, and in a few minutes I had water restored to the rv and we were back in business. Well they started having problems down on the pad this morning, something about a piece of stuck equipment. I'm sure when they get that resolved, something will hiccup up here at the gate. Stuff like this have been going on as long as we've been here and it has become a running joke between us and some of the righands.
Hopefully we wont float away!!!
Happy Memorial Everyone!
I'm gonna go see about leveling this ole bitch back up.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
It's been a year (sort of).
I've been had this rattling around in the old noggin for the last few weeks.
Its been just a bit over a year since we made the jump into full-time RV living. It was April of last year when our lives were in what seemed a huge amount of turmoil, some of it planned, some not so much. Everything seemed to have hit us at once, loss of a job, unexpected surgery, making the transition from the stick & bricks to the RV and making arrangements to stay in a friends yard while I recovered, all seemed to be an insurmountable mountain of things to over come. Some events caused us to accelerate our plans for others and we always didn't accomplish things with as much grace as we may have liked, but we got through it.
The excitement and trepidation felt when we pulled our old 1978 NuWa class C out of the yard in Iowa and pointed it south towards Texas in July was almost overwhelming. As the miles went by the nervousness went away and I could enjoy the un-folding journey. Looking back now we made so many choices on that first trip that weren't necessarily mistakes but I wouldn't do them again quite the same way, such as what had seemed like a good first day route on paper was more suited for a smaller vehicle than the 25ft length and top heavy nature of the NuWa.
This first year has been a huge learning experience of the ins and outs of RV living. Sometimes finding just the right spot for something, that won't allow it to become a projectile while driving down the road, can present a small challenge from time to time. Glamorous chores such as dumping the tanks or checking the batteries has replaced mowing the lawn, although at times I do miss my lawnmower. We tend to keep a closer eye on the weather, being particularly vigilant for severe weather. Upkeep is a bit more intense and at present I have two projects that need completed with a third possibly in the works. We are still learning to slow down and enjoy being in the moment.
We haven't moved very long distances since we became gate guards, mostly moving less than 50 miles at a time but we keep moving. The scenery still changes every few weeks and that is just fine with us.
Its been just a bit over a year since we made the jump into full-time RV living. It was April of last year when our lives were in what seemed a huge amount of turmoil, some of it planned, some not so much. Everything seemed to have hit us at once, loss of a job, unexpected surgery, making the transition from the stick & bricks to the RV and making arrangements to stay in a friends yard while I recovered, all seemed to be an insurmountable mountain of things to over come. Some events caused us to accelerate our plans for others and we always didn't accomplish things with as much grace as we may have liked, but we got through it.
The excitement and trepidation felt when we pulled our old 1978 NuWa class C out of the yard in Iowa and pointed it south towards Texas in July was almost overwhelming. As the miles went by the nervousness went away and I could enjoy the un-folding journey. Looking back now we made so many choices on that first trip that weren't necessarily mistakes but I wouldn't do them again quite the same way, such as what had seemed like a good first day route on paper was more suited for a smaller vehicle than the 25ft length and top heavy nature of the NuWa.
This first year has been a huge learning experience of the ins and outs of RV living. Sometimes finding just the right spot for something, that won't allow it to become a projectile while driving down the road, can present a small challenge from time to time. Glamorous chores such as dumping the tanks or checking the batteries has replaced mowing the lawn, although at times I do miss my lawnmower. We tend to keep a closer eye on the weather, being particularly vigilant for severe weather. Upkeep is a bit more intense and at present I have two projects that need completed with a third possibly in the works. We are still learning to slow down and enjoy being in the moment.
We haven't moved very long distances since we became gate guards, mostly moving less than 50 miles at a time but we keep moving. The scenery still changes every few weeks and that is just fine with us.
Monday, April 8, 2013
The perils of gate guarding/Easter storm damage.
One of the perils of doing this kind of work is the rapidly changing weather conditions. Andy Jones from My Old RV suffered significant damage late Easter due to a storm over in the Millet/Los Angeles area. He has posted pictures on his blog as well as a description of events during the storm.
Andy has been a guiding light to many a gate guard and unfortunately is unable to financially absorb all the costs of the damage incurred to his RV. I want to ask all of my readers in the gate guard community to please head over to Andy's blog and make use of the donate button there.
Andy has been a guiding light to many a gate guard and unfortunately is unable to financially absorb all the costs of the damage incurred to his RV. I want to ask all of my readers in the gate guard community to please head over to Andy's blog and make use of the donate button there.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Time flies when your having... fun?
It has been close to a year since been started fulltime rv'ing in our friends front yard. From a moving to Texas and becoming oil field gate guards to having to replace the rv unexpectantly in October and the recent birth of our granddaughter Aria, it has been quite the adventure.
Little did we know what challenges awaited, from generator problems to emptying the tanks without making a huge mess. getting sunburnt, freezing temperatures, tire blow outs and the occasional wild animal we have risen to the occasion each and every time.
One of the biggest lessons we have learned is that this lifestyle is definitely not for the weak hearted or the insecure. This is not a vacation but rather a lifestyle choice, we work just as hard, if not harder than some to be able to enjoy the "perks."
Another lesson learned was to slow down and enjoy the journey. Society has become so focused on goals and destinations we often forget that the journey itself is part of the adventure and many times we miss out on what happens along the way. We may not move long distances as often as some but in this line of work we move much more often than others.
As we had begin our second year a whole new set of challenges will need to be met. We hope that the experience we have gained will make these mere speed bumps in our road.
Little did we know what challenges awaited, from generator problems to emptying the tanks without making a huge mess. getting sunburnt, freezing temperatures, tire blow outs and the occasional wild animal we have risen to the occasion each and every time.
One of the biggest lessons we have learned is that this lifestyle is definitely not for the weak hearted or the insecure. This is not a vacation but rather a lifestyle choice, we work just as hard, if not harder than some to be able to enjoy the "perks."
Another lesson learned was to slow down and enjoy the journey. Society has become so focused on goals and destinations we often forget that the journey itself is part of the adventure and many times we miss out on what happens along the way. We may not move long distances as often as some but in this line of work we move much more often than others.
As we had begin our second year a whole new set of challenges will need to be met. We hope that the experience we have gained will make these mere speed bumps in our road.
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