18-21 February 2025 Deep Freeze 2025

 We had four very cold days for Texas. We prepared ahead of time by filling up the fresh water tank and topping off the Propane Tanks on Friday. On Tuesday morning before the rain moved in, we disconnected the water line and put the hoses up. Then dumped the grey and black tanks. The low Wednesday morning was 12F with snow flurries and wind chills below zero. David had to go into the plant Wednesday and Thursday for work. We were initially concerned Wednesday morning that there might be ice on the roads, but fortunately it stopped raining before temperatures dropped below freezing Tuesday and the north winds dried up the roads. Between the electric fire place on the propane heat, we stayed warm and cozy. Thursday morning the temperature dipped down to 8F. When David got up in the morning, he found that no hot water was coming out of the faucets in the bathroom, but cold water was running. When he went downstairs, no water was coming out of the faucet at all and the trailer was chilly. A quick check showed only one furnace was running and the stove burners would barely lite.  After taking Keirra for a quick walk (no she did not want to be out in the cold either), David checked the propane tank and found it was frozen up. The lower half of the tank was covered in ice and the pressure gauge showed a very low level even though the tank was half full. When the temperature of propane tanks is low and the level of liquid propane in the tank is below a half, the propane does not flash into gas as easily, this results in a pressure drop in the tank and can ice up the gas valves. With the pressure low, only one furnace could run. David swapped us over to the backup propane tank and reset the furnaces. We also suspect that the low temperatures in the basement had resulted in the water in the valve tree freezing up and cutting off water. We had learned about these issues from a fellow New Horizon owner that winters over in Missoula Montana. He had told us how his propane tanks had iced up and his valve tree froze. He had to buy special electric tank warmers to keep his propane warm in the below zero weather in Montana. With both our furnaces now running, the trailer quickly warmed up but it took a couple of hours for the water lines to unfreeze and water flow freely. Fortunately, there are no water leaks. Later that night, while trying to close the front door, the lock was very stiff from the cold, David was pulling hard on the door lock handle and it broke off! There was just enough handle left in one corner that we were able to get the door to close and latch. David replaced the lock and handle over the weekend with a better version. We were very happy for the warmer weather to come back for the weekend! Meanwhile, we continue our search for our next home. 

Broken Lock Handle

13 January 2025 Conroe to Granbury, TX

 Today we left our adopted southern home, Leisure Lane RV resort for Granbury. We ended up getting a late start when it took almost an hour to air up the trailer tires to the required pressure due to the cold temperatures. The Leisure Lane staff was sorry to see us leave since we have been a winter fixture there for the last five years. We are staying at Bennett’s RV Ranch ($500 per month plus electric) until we find a home to move into. The drive was uneventful and we pulled into Bennett’s just before sundown. We have a long term back in site near the entrance. We chose Granbury since it is central to the area we are looking for a home. The RV Park is close to everything in Granbury and only 30 minutes to Fort Worth, but it is a long drive (1.5 to 2 hours) over to Dallas to see Leslie’s Mom. Leslie plans to try and get over to her Mom’s at least once per week. It has helped us figure out we may want to be more to the east in the Godly area to reduce that drive when we find our home. 

11 January 2025 Happy Birthday Leslie

 To celebrate Leslie’s latest Birthday we had two parties. One on 10 January at Cynthia’s and Felix’s House with the Family, including Lauren, Bryan and the Grand Nieces. Avery picked out some flowers and insisted that there had to be a Birthday Cake! Everyone had a fun evening that ended when Avery stuck herself in her eye with a plastic straw that she was playing with. Luckily, no serious damage was done. On Saturday night, David treated her, Cynthia and Felix to dinner at Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen for some wonderful Cajun cuisine. On Sunday we went to church and said goodbye to our adopted church family. 

3 January 2025 Trip to Dallas

 Leslie and Cynthia took the opportunity to drive up to Dallas and visit with their mother, Diane, for the afternoon (before driving back). The took her out to lunch at Nordstrom’s and spent time catching up. Not to mention the 6 hours in the vehicle to catch up with each other. 

1 January 2025 Happy New Years 2025

 We spent our New Years enjoying a fire in our fire pit in the RV Park. The neighborhoods around us set off plenty of fireworks in celebration we did not feel like we missed out. Poor Keira does not like fireworks and spent the evening hiding in her kennel. We tried to bring her out by the fire, but the fireworks were too much for her.

2024 Summary

It has been an eventful year. We knocked off three bucket list destinations (New Zealand, Australia, and American Samoa), revisited past destinations, visited with family and friends and found several out of the way surprises.  We can summarize this year’s travels with:

1. Drove over 18,000 Miles in the Behemoth (Our F-350), 2349

miles in our New Zealand Caravan and another 1200 miles in our rental car in Australia.

2. Visited the National Park of America Samoa (total so far of 57

out of 63 American National Parks).

3. Visited 9 National Parks in New Zealand (out of 13)

4. Visited 8 National Parks in Australia (out of 726)

5. Visited 29 other interesting and historic places in the USA.

6. Visited with friends and family along the way.

7. Posted over 140 entries to our Blog.

8. Tasted wine in an additional 5 states (28 out of 50).

 

Our quest is not over yet! But after 7 years of living in our wonderful Wanderer, we are ready for something bigger and less bouncy. So, we will spend the next few months looking for our forever home in central Texas. We still plan to travel but are going to establish a home base to come back too. 

31 December 2024 Hello 2025

 Most of Leslie’s injuries from her face plant have fully healed except for her ribs. The ribs are no longer popping when she moves and her range of motion is much better. We spent New Years Eve like we have the past several years. We hung around the RV park, enjoyed a fire in our firepit and watched the neighborhood fireworks shoot off around us, much to Keira’s chagrin.  It has been an extremely memorable year and we have been very blessed to enjoy it!