A Whole New Chapter in Audrey's Great RV Adventure

[audreyh1]

Congratulations! But I would've expected you guys to be more excited about a dedicated black-water discharge station.

I'm also surprised that your parking spot wasn't already taken up by squatters like REWahoo or Rich_in_Tampa...

Hah! I hadn't given them the gate access code! There is a reason why we live in a gated community.

We do indeed have our own very official looking sewer connection right in our covered parking.

Audrey

 

[Nords]

Hah! I hadn't given them the gate access code! There is a reason why we live in a gated community.
We do indeed have our own very official looking sewer connection.

So you have all sorts of ways of getting rid of the... eh, never mind.

It must be a lot of fun to go to a party in your neighborhood and start a discussion about "Why I think RVing sucks!"

 

[Ronstar]

Hah! I hadn't given them the gate access code! There is a reason why we live in a gated community.

We do indeed have our own very official looking sewer connection right in our covered parking.

Audrey

That may or may not be your sewer connection - looks like a cleanout cover that is opened and used as point where you can clean or rod out a sewer line. I really like your RV setup.

 

[REWahoo]

Audrey, looks like TS-soon-to-be-hurricane Alex may give your new roof a good test.

BTW, you did spring for the roll bar option on your Alpine, right?

 

[audreyh1]

That may or may not be your sewer connection - looks like a cleanout cover that is opened and used as point where you can clean or rod out a sewer line. I really like your RV setup.

Yes, that is what it is. But that is what they decided to use for the RV sewer connection. It'll work. A bit odd - but it'll work.

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

Audrey, looks like TS-soon-to-be-hurricane Alex may give your new roof a good test.

BTW, you did spring for the roll bar option on your Alpine, right?

We decided to clear out of here and head up your way this afternoon. Don't be surprised if we knock on your door!

The covered parking is supposedly hurricane proof - built out of 2x8s - the framing is very impressive.

Still, it might get up to 70mph around here. We decided we didn't want to wait around to experience it personally.

Audrey

 

[DeborahB]

So... you just backed up the RV... are you planning to furnish the house, too? After you evade the hurricane, I mean...

 

[audreyh1]

So... you just backed up the RV... are you planning to furnish the house, too? After you evade the hurricane, I mean...

Of course we'll furnish the house. It'll just take quite a while as we own no furniture.

Audrey

 

[DeborahB]

Of course we'll furnish the house. It'll just take quite a while as we own no furniture.

Audrey

Details, details..

 

[audreyh1]

Details, details..

Oh, yeah! I seem to be drowning in details!

 

[W2R]

We decided to clear out of here and head up your way this afternoon. Don't be surprised if we knock on your door!

The covered parking is supposedly hurricane proof - built out of 2x8s - the framing is very impressive.

Still, it might get up to 70mph around here. We decided we didn't want to wait around to experience it personally.

Audrey

I think it's one of those "rites of passage" things for anyone buying a house near the Gulf of Mexico. Within a week or weeks of closing on the house, a hurricane simply MUST head straight for the new house.

In my case, back in 2002, it was Hurricane Lilli, a cat 4 hurricane dancing along down our coastline a bit offshore, and trying to make up her mind where to veer in to make landfall. Scare the wits out of me , though Lilli ended up making landfall further west.

 

[audreyh1]

I think it's one of those "rites of passage" things for anyone buying a house near the Gulf of Mexico. Within a week or weeks of closing on the house, a hurricane simply MUST head straight for the new house.

In my case, back in 2002, it was Hurricane Lilli, a cat 4 hurricane dancing along down our coastline a bit offshore, and trying to make up her mind where to veer in to make landfall. Scare the wits out of me , though Lilli ended up making landfall further west.

Apparently so! We still can't believe we were chased out of our place after only 2 nights spent there. If we had furniture so we could stay inside the house and there wasn't construction down the road, we probably would have stayed as there is only a tropical storm warning for the area. But staying in a motorhome rocked by high winds gets old after a few hours.

We made it to Choke Canyon TX, (near Three Rivers TX). We'll get some of the rain bands here, but winds should be moderate. Seriously, with Alex you would have to go north of Dallas to get out of the storms! Some really heavy weather north and west of us yesterday!

Audrey

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

From the looks of this pic, I imagine that the citizens of Choke Canyon are delighted to be getting some rain, storm or no storm.

The time stamp on your post belies a long, tiring day. Hope you sleep in and catch up on lost ZZZs.

 

[audreyh1]

From the looks of this pic, I imagine that the citizens of Choke Canyon are delighted to be getting some rain, storm or no storm.
View attachment 9570
The time stamp on your post belies a long, tiring day. Hope you sleep in and catch up on lost ZZZs.

Nope! Just up early.

I don't think that pic is anywhere near the state park. It's real green and a lot more scenic around here.

Audrey

 

[W2R]

Glad to hear that you are out of harm's way, and I hope your house suffers no damage. It's great that you haven't furnished it completely yet.

 

[Sue J]

Good luck, I hope all your new landscaping can handle the rough weather.

 

[Nords]

We made it to Choke Canyon TX, (near Three Rivers TX).

Hey, it's not a total loss. You could surf the greater metropolitan Choke Canyon Craigslist, shop for a few furniture bargains or kitchen tools, and haul them home in the Class A!

 

[audreyh1]

Hey, it's not a total loss. You could surf the greater metropolitan Choke Canyon Craigslist, shop for a few furniture bargains or kitchen tools, and haul them home in the Class A!

Well, if we had gotten closer to San Antonio, we would have done just that. But late Tuesday, as it appeared that Alex would come in south of the border we decided not to go as far. It looked like the bad weather was going to extend all the way to Dallas anyway, so we just needed to get out of the tropical storm warning area to avoid high winds.

Choke Canyon is out in the middle of nowhere - not craigs list around here! The cellphone-based internet is very flaky. But the State Park has raised paved roads and paved RV sites and is off a good state highway - important considerations when there might be heavy rain.

We're busy finishing our taxes anyway, now that we finally closed.

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

We made it back yesterday. We're glad we didn't go all the way to San Antonio and further north, because they were just hammered with rain yesterday. We managed to miss most of it.

Everything was fine back in the neighborhood. They'd already had at least 24 hours to dry out, but there wasn't even as much standing water as the last storm we had. I'm not sure we got all the 7.5 inches reported for the area.

The grass and plants look very happy.

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

We made it back yesterday. We're glad we didn't go all the way to San Antonio and further north, because they were just hammered with rain yesterday.

Yes we were.

Glad to hear all is well back at your bus shed.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes we were.

Glad to hear all is well back at your bus shed.

Thanks!

We were at least expecting to have to shovel some mud off our parking area as there is a large earth pile next door, but none of that flowed in our direction, and all the concrete around the house was sparkling clean! In fact we've never seen the back patio so clean.

Audrey

 

[W2R]

Wonderful!! Glad to hear it.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

We were camping on the Emerald Coast (Topsail/Grayton/Destin area) last week and got soaked with outer bands from Alex, too. Still managed to have an enjoyable week, but without the beach time. NO sign of oil or tar so far.

For those who enjoy the "new urbanism" type communities, Seaside is very interesting though a bit densely developed than some others. But that is a beautiful part of the state if you like beach living.

This was our first trip towing the car and there was nothing to it. We're beginning to think about a longer RV trip in the fall, maybe 6-8 weeks or so., I10 to Tucson, then Vegas, Central Valley of Ca, and then SF Bay near the kids.

 

[audreyh1]

We were camping on the Emerald Coast (Topsail/Grayton/Destin area) last week and got soaked with outer bands from Alex, too. Still managed to have an enjoyable week, but without the beach time. NO sign of oil or tar so far.

For those who enjoy the "new urbanism" type communities, Seaside is very interesting though a bit densely developed than some others. But that is a beautiful part of the state if you like beach living.

This was our first trip towing the car and there was nothing to it. We're beginning to think about a longer RV trip in the fall, maybe 6-8 weeks or so., I10 to Tucson, then Vegas, Central Valley of Ca, and then SF Bay near the kids.

We've enjoyed camping at Topsail Hill State RV Resort a couple of times. Beautiful beaches and area and very nice camping.

Glad the towing went easy. The main trick is to get a system down, and then you get pretty fast at hooking and unhooking, as well as minimizing errors. Usually takes 2 adults, but I see a lot where just one person does it. It is so nice having a car available.

Audrey

 

[Sue J]

Audrey,

I see on the news that there is serious flooding on the Rio Grande. What's your elevation compared to the river? It looks like you're not that far away and Texas sure is flat.