1/1/2025 - Happy New Year, Again!!!
So, let's start out with some musings, I've been having recently.
I've been thinking a lot about whether I'd like to have a different rig. One that I can hook up and be able to shower and more freely use water. I could still have a composting toilet so that I don't need to deal with sewage and divert the urine into the black tank. That would be the best of both worlds. I would love to easily shower in my rig, have more space (the only thing I really miss is a couch - something more comfortable than my bench seat), and have a separate vehicle. This would work well for staying places longer. I got caught up in the whole "vanlife" thing and be able to be off grid, which is nice, but I think if I want to travel slower and stay places longer, then a class C with a car or a truck and travel trailer. I really struggle with manufactured RVs. The quality typically sucks and the decor is so blah and cheap. I think I'd really like a converted bus. I just learned that Skooliepalooza is going to be in Quartzite in Feb, so I think I'm going to try to go!
I have been struggling with this life since I left the comfort of living in houses. There are probably many things contributing to it -
- Zoe and her hind end affecting her jumping into the van (she REALLY doesn't want to jump in anymore). This is making me really sad. I know there are things I can try to help her, but it still sucks. This seems to have gotten better, but I know that it will eventually get worse.
- I'm quite sure that Zoe would prefer to be in a house instead of the van.
- If I was stationary, vet care would be easier. I could have follow up appointments.
- It is often quite a bit colder than I had hoped/planned. I learned that the tank for my diesel heater is only about 1.3 gallons and though the heater doesn't use a lot of fuel, when there is this small of a reservoir, it would be easy to run out after several days, so I have to keep checking on it. This is the one reason I wish I had a diesel van, but I'm very happy with the gas version otherwise.
- Volunteering is much more difficult with Zoe than I had expected. I just cannot bring myself to leave her in the van for long periods on a regular basis. I was in Western NC area to volunteer, and did some, but then I ended up with a cold for four days that prevented me from doing more.
- Because of the temps and the floods there aren't the campgrounds to stay and/or shower at. I don't typically shower in my van, but could... But, I have much less water than I had wanted because of the design. I realize that my water splashes back out of the tank, so have been putting in only 15 gallons or so (30 gallon tank). I knew it happened occasionally, but I now know it happens a lot more than occasionally, which is why I stopped putting in so much water. This needs to be adjusted - just now sure how.
- I looked into Habitat for Humanity and realize that it isn't a good fit with Zoe and the van at least in the areas in NM that I am looking into. And leaving her in the van for 6+ hours every days seems unfair. I have never worked out of the home for long periods since I had her and leaving her in the van, vs a home (or bigger RV) just doesn't seem right.
- My stomach is still not normal, but I'm managing pretty well most of the time. I'd just like it to go back to normal!
- What would I prefer to do? I think about Trusted Housesitters or renting airbnbs for a month or more at a time (expensive!) to explore different areas instead of living in the van. But, having Zoe is a challenge for both options, which is ultimately why I have the van!
Jan 1, 2025
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| Good morning! I like the size of this step for her! |
I had forgotten that this park I stayed at had some walking paths near water and was reminded on my way out. Since we weren't in a rush to get anywhere, we went for a walk here and saw turtles, an alligator, Great Egrets, Blue heron. And it was sunny and lovely.
We headed to Bravos Bend SP for 2 nights. I should have bought the TX state park pass ($70) as I would have gotten $26.50 discount. The discount is good for the entry fee and a 2nd night's camping. I don't know how much I'll stay more than one night. It seemed that many sites weren't particularly level, but mine was, so that was nice and I just loved the live oak over my van.
When we arrived at the park, there were about 20 cars ahead of me to get in and I wondered what was going on, but it was a holiday and it's a very popular park as it is very close to Houston. I was glad to have a remote place to go and relax away from the crowds. Though we did go for a long walk from the site to Elm Lake, but didn't do the trail around it as it was warm and Zoe had had enough.
I ended up sticking my nose in someone's business when I saw a young girl climbing all over their golden retriever. I had seen her climbing on him when I walked by and then when I came back, probably at least 15 minutes later, she was still (or again) doing it. I told that I know it is none of my business, but I really would hate for their daughter to be bitten and told them the story of me being bitten in the face after annoying my very calm Labrador after annoying him for too long, then sticking my face in his to kiss him. They said she wasn't actually sitting on the dog, but I said that didn't really matter. They thanked me and I went on my way. I just couldn't not say anything. Hopefully they took my advice...
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| Parking spot in Bravos Bend State Park (TX) |
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| 11 AM and still in bed |
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| Green Heron - not too common |
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| I've never seen a Little Blue Heron before. Better photo from Merlin App below |
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| Another gaitor. |
After our morning walk in Brazos Bend SP, I ran some errands and then we went to Galveston. We walked around The Strand, which I guess is famous.
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| Cool sculpture of toys. |
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| Buildings on The Strand |
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| Gorgeous mural where I had a bite to eat at the Shark Shack |
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| The chipolte mayo was sooo good. Rice too. And veggies, though greasy and overcooked were good too. I got two meals out of this! |
We stayed the night at the beach. There were 5 other campers there overnight. It is right next to nice houses, so I'm surprised they allow the overnight parking. So glad they do. Just steps from the beach. So we took an evening walk on the beach and then another in the morning. In the evening, there were so many ships out on the water in the distance that I thought I was seeing lights from land, but when I looked at the maps, and when I saw in the morning, land is too far away and it was just ships. I imagine it was a mix of cruise ships and cargo ships.
Other than saying, Hi, I didn't really chat with any of the other campers.
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| It is a super flat beach. I wonder how long it takes to get out where you can swim. I decided not to try to find out! |
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| All 6 of us in the morning. |
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| I guess this is where the lights were coming from in a previous photo |
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| Beautiful Old homes. These are from a walk we took, but I didn't capture some of the amazing old homes that I passed while driving. |
1/4 - After doing some dog laundry at a laundromat, we headed to Charlie and Jan's in the Woodlands. Fortunately they are willing to put up with us for a bit as I have van maintenance scheduled, plus ordered parts for the van. Squeaky fan and a remote that eats batteries - they're sending me a new motor, PC board, and remote. Basically a new fan! I was supposed to find someone to try to troubleshoot my fridge freezer that frosts super fast. I had done the dollar bill test in the door and it pulls out really easily. Anyway, I was trying to schedule this and figured I'd have them replace the motor (need to do it from above), but one place said they were booking out 3 weeks, so he gave me a number of someone else. He said he's far away, so someone was supposed to call me and schedule, but I haven't heard from him. And now, I'm getting close to leaving...
I took my van to Mercedes of the Woodlands for the B service. They did brake fluid replacement, transmission fluid replacement, new spark plugs. Over $1800! I mentioned a noise leak in the passenger door, so they adjusted it (hope it's an improvement) and that my slider sometimes is hard to open and hard to close. They said they couldn't work on the slider due to the kitchen being in the way... I wonder why the guy in Albany was able to adjust it when it wouldn't open at all. They didn't mention the kitchen at all. I just pray that it doesn't get stuck again!!!
My toilet drawer hasn't worked properly since the builder replaced the rails. Oh, why did I have them do this (because who knew it would be worse than the original broken ones)??? Over time, the drawer opened less and less until the top of the toilet started to hit the handle on the drawer above and I was nervous that I wouldn't even be able to get the drawer out. Thankfully I was able to force the drawer open and get the drawer out. The slides seem to work fine until I am attaching the drawer on the non locking side and it's super tight between the rails, so likely putting pressure on the rails. The original ones worked. I did order a replacement just in case, so maybe I'll have to try the new ones. I'm worried about wearing out the wood for the screw holes...
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| I was super excited that I managed to get the drawer out. But not excited when having problems once the drawer was back in... |
Other than van maintenance, not too much going on while I'm here. I took Zoe to a nearby park one day for a walk, but other than that we've just been walking around the neighborhoods. Some of them are very fancy!
Interestingly, my belly has been in really good shape since being here - well, after the first night when it was not good. I wonder why that is. I think stress plays a huge role, but I've been fairly stressed since here due to the van issues. But maybe having reduced stress in other ways is helping me out. Maybe Charlie's good cooking is doing the trick. I've been drinking wine since I've been here and I had thought that was a trigger, but I guess not.
I just chatted with Tifin (Vermonter I met in White Sands last year) on the phone. She's living in Brazil, but is visiting her beau in Fort Worth right now. They're having snow/ice right now, while we're having rain. She is heading back to Brazil in 2 days, so I'm not going to get to see her. Bummer! Also, Sue and Bruce are in Carlsbad, NM, heading to El Paso, and I might miss them. And in addition, Mike is picking up and RV in St George, UT and is passing thru TX as well. We might have been able to meet up, but he has to rush back to FL for shoulder surgery on Monday (today is Thursday) and he's currently stuck in Amarillo, TX due to the snow/ice storm!
On Saturday, my last day, I put in the new non-locking rail for the toilet drawer and that seemed to do the trick. Yay! I'm still a bit anxious because it sometimes seems a bit hard to release the lock from the open position, but hopefully it will all be good. Today when I put the toilet in place and plugging in the power to the fan, I closed and tried opening and it wouldn't open. Fortunately it was just the wire for the fan getting hung up on the rail and I was able to remedy that, but you can imagine that I almost went into a panic.
Charlie and Jan's friends Bev and Jeff came over for dinner and that was fun. Super nice folks. And Zoe did pretty well with them there. Actually, she didn't even hear them come in and once she saw them, she didn't seem to care at all. (But I was giving her cheese...) After a bit, she started barking, but I think it was mostly demanding more cheese, which she did not get for barking! Charlie cooked dinner (Baked Ziti), Jan made a salad (brussel sprouts and kale with toasted pecans and parmesan), I made a spinach dip for an appetizer, and Bev and Jeff brought a nice wine and yummy cheesecake for dessert. Thankfully my belly is still cooperating which makes me INCREDIBLY happy!
1/12 - Today I left after getting everything back in the van and organized. Made a quick trip to Trader Joe's, which is about 1/2 mile from Charlie and Jan's (I would be there all the time!). It was raining lightly, so I didn't end up walking Zoe before we left. We drove just under 3 hours to McKinney Falls State Park and arrived in time to take a nice walk. There are upper falls and lower falls. I was expecting some big falls, but they aren't very big or high. Upper falls had a ton of people fishing there. Zoe and I walked across the lower falls, but she slipped at one point and in sneakers, I found the rock to be kinda slippery. On the way back, I asked a guy to give me a hand once I got Zoe across. It wasn't a big deal, but you cross very close to the edge, so I really didn't want either of us to go over the falls, even though they were small!
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| We crossed the falls here |
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| Old grist mill |
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| Cool whirlpool hole in the rock with tree. |
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| Looks like the moon surface |
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| Almost full moon |
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| Site 28 |
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| Site 28, pretty secluded |
1/13 - Sue had texted me that she and Bruce were heading across TX and were disappointed that we wouldn't be able to catch up. We quickly realized that we are only about an hour from each other and decided we are going to meet up tomorrow night. Yay! I am glad that it will work out with one of the three friends also in TX while I'm here. It's such a big state, that it's actually surprising we're so close. So we decided to camp at Blanco State Park, which is a small park, within walking distance to town (Blanco). We did some walks around the park and river and into town with the pups. Then we walked back into town without Zoe and Lucy and had dinner at the Texas Cannon Brewing Company. We all had the same IPA and the same yummy brisket sandwich. It was really fun to catch up and share stories and places to go. They have traveled across the bottom of Canada, to Alaska and back, then down from WA and OR and are heading to the south east while I'm heading the opposite direction.
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| Our two vans and the RV behind mine is also from VT. Also the park host was a Vermonter too! |
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| three Egyptian geese (?) and a "regular" goose on the right |
1/14 - After showering (good shower! 😀) and packing up, we took the scenic route via Marble Falls. I was told it was a place to go. It was OK and a good place for Zoe to get a walk. What is the deal with Texas - I was in Dripping Springs, TX, but I couldn't find any dripping springs around and here in Marble Falls, TX, there are no falls to see. Apparently, when the Army Corps of Engineers did work, they created a lake and flooded the falls. They do sometimes lower the lake and the falls are visible. This town is on the Colorado River, but not the one I was thinking of - the Texas Colorado River which flows all the way through TX to the Gulf.
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| Zoe waiting patiently in Marble Falls while I chatted someone. |
Menard County RV Park - looks like a lot of full time folks there and one was in a tent and another in a pop up camper. I can't imagine how cold they are when it gets chilly like it's supposed to get soon (mid teens!). I parked near the river, though the woman checking me in said that it was much colder there... I took my chance to have the river view rather than views of other RVs. I paid $20, but when I was leaving, she said if she had known I was going to park there, she would have only charged me $10. Oh, well.
1/15 - I drove through the town of Menard on the way out, which looked like it was a decent town at some point, but most stores were closed. Very sad.
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| Driving through TX gets old! So brown, so dry, nothing to see. |
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| Lots of windmills. Very impressed, Texas! |
I drove another long day to Balmorhea State Park. I didn't really know what was there and I'm bummed because I missed out swimming in the springs pool. "
More than 15 million gallons of water flow through the pool each day, gushing from the San Solomon Springs. The pool is up to 25 feet deep, covers 1.3 acres, and holds 3.5 million gallons of water. The water temperature stays at 72 to 76 degrees year-round."
I walked over to check it out (it felt very warm to my hand), but the pool was going to close shortly for the day and it was so cold the next morning I didn't swim. I felt I needed to leave by 11 and it was still cold. I should have done it, but I would have felt rushed and then it wouldn't have been enjoyable. What I should have done was stay another night and enjoy it for the day. And had I known what the park offered, I could have gotten there earlier and taken an afternoon swim. I was even prepared with my mask and snorkel this year (didn't have it last year and, of course, wished I did.) Oh, well. Next time...
I felt rushed due to the cold weather coming in. I'm trying to get to southern AZ to get away from the 15 degree temps, which is making me have long drive days, which is hard on both me and Zoe. It's silly. Basically, I'm rushing just because of my tiny diesel tank for my heater, which I'd have to keep refilling and each time I have the possibility of spilling diesel inside my van. It really stinks and I'm realizing as I write this how it is affecting/limiting my travel and increasing stress. This is the one reason I wish I had a diesel powered van, so that the heater would run off the van's fuel tank.
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| The beautiful clear spring water in a cienega (desert wetland) |
1/16 - After leaving Balmorhea, we drove to El Paso, took a walk for Zoe, ran a couple of errands, then headed to Columbus, NM. I stopped to get gas after crossing into NM, which was a mistake because I have to buy midgrade in TX because regular is on 85 or 86 and my van requires 87 at a minimum. Apparently due to the elevation, most cars will do fine on the lower octane due to the reduced oxygen, but my understanding is that because of the turbos in my engine, I must always use 87 or higher.
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| You can't see it very well, but that's the border wall where you see the dark spot on the horizon. |
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| Finally some mountains to see in the distance - New Mexico |
