Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Friday, October 12, 2012

Planning my way south.......

I will be leaving Mesa Verde 2 weeks from today.


This is my first workamping job and there are mixed emotions with leaving.  I work with a great group of ladies, but I am getting anxious to travel and to visit with my daughter. The lodge at Mesa Verde closes on October 20th, there would be no work for me here anyway, so it is time to move on. And it snows here...don't want to stay the winter in a snowy place.

I will be starting a volunteer job in Texas on November 4th. I will have 10 days for travel, RV maintenance and visiting.  My daughter lives around 25 miles from my new job, hopefully we can coordinate our days off of work.

There aren't too many workamping jobs available near my daughters house and the volunteer job will provide a nice, quiet RV site in exchange for the hours I work in the Visitor Center. I am only scheduled to work for 2 months, but I am hoping they will have a space for me to stay longer. 

When I leave here, I will go east a bit, then head down into New Mexico. I'll go east across New Mexico and then cut across the panhandle of Texas and down into the Hill Country area of Texas.

I will probably be driving between 200-275 miles a day.



I'm making notes, on index cards, of RV parks along the route.  I make a card for each park that I would consider staying at. I list the address, phone number, rates, discounts and notes about any reviews that I have found.  Each day, during my travels, I make notes on the cards about how far the next set of parks are from my current location. No need to drag out the computer along the route.  I sometimes still refer to some apps on the iPhone, but usually the phone is too slow when I am in the "middle of nowhere".

I also make cards for places of interest along the route. I will usually note the addresses and phone numbers of "Travel Information" locations. I also make a card listing the mile markers of rest stops along the highways - this information is easy to find on the internet ahead of time.

Having these cards makes it easy to make a decision when I get tired of driving.  I can look over the cards at a rest stop and decide how much further I want to go. Sometimes I program the addresses of several parks into my GPS and then I just have to choose the location and I am set to go. If I arrive at a park and don't like the looks of it, I have more parks to choose from.  

We all know that the GPS can take us in the wrong direction. Having basic directions on the index cards will help me out when the GPS is lost.

It takes a long time to drive across Texas


I'm going to make an appointment at the Camping World in New Braunfels, TX. I'm planning a few updates and some routine maintenance for the RV. Having the appointment will help me to stay on schedule, but it will cut back on the amount of sightseeing I will do on this trip.

I have a head start on the RV maintenance today. The water heater would not stay on, it turned out the be the PC board. When the mobile mechanic was here to fix that, he also changed out the valve that was leaking on the water heater.

I asked him to remove the propane furnace and to cap off the propane. The furnace was too big for my small rig and it was noisy. I prefer my Eden Pure electric heater. Removing the furnace gives me additional storage space, too.

My extended service plan covered the water heater repair, after the deductible, of course. My extended service plan is through Cornerstone, this is the 2nd time I have used it without any complications or problems.








17 comments:

  1. I just love planning a road trip. The index cards sound like a good idea.

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  2. I remember Texas as a two day driving state. We left Houston and after driving all day we stopped for the night at Fort Stockton Tx. The next day was pretty well shot by the time we got to New Mexico.Have safe travels and be safe out there , if you take I-10 you will see plenty of trains. Sam & Donna..

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  3. I consider Texas more than a two day driving state for me. There are over 800 miles of I-10 just to get from west to east! And it's a long way down to Laguna Atascosa. :)

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  4. I love the planning part of the journey. And Jim is glad I do it. He just goes where I tell him to go and stops when I holler. But it's still hard to believe it's time for you to leave already.

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  5. The planning and anticipation is part of the fun, isn't it? I bet it's been a blast being at Mesa Verde.

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  6. IT's such a pretty drive thru NM into TX. I love the hill country.If you pass thru my area (Katy area, I-10) let me know.
    I don't use my furnace either.

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  7. Safe travels... hope we get to take that hike next year :))
    Box Canyon Mark and Bobbie

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  8. Sounds like you lead an interesting life...I also love your header photo and the quote at top.

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  9. When we try to use the furnace, it scares the cats bald. Our strategy is to follow the Sun and use our Mr. Heater when we must.

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  10. Teri, we're waiting for you. I arrived in Mission today and am settled in. The temperature was 93, Just a little warmer than you're used to, but you'll adjust.

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  11. Have a safe trip. Where are you staying in Texas?

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  12. Sounds like you really plan out your trips. A good thing to mark choices.

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  13. I like the idea of using index cards for your travel information. We usually make reservations, but I use index cards for making lists of things to see in each area. I'm looking forward to reading about your next adventure.

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  14. Oh what a perfect idea...I'm purchasing some index cards for sure! Love following you!

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  15. Oh joy! so glad you're going to Texas ... hope to see you somewhere along the line... the Hill Country is something else! don't remember if you said you have been in that area of the world before or not...

    if not? hahaaa get ready ... what a todo ol Texas is...

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  16. Congrats on completing your first seasonal job (almost)! So, what national park next summer????

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  17. We were at the Mesa Verde Lodge September 19-21. I wonder if we saw each other?
    I hope you get to spend some time in the Hill Country. It's beautiful! In fact, we're there now at our place in Medina. The last 2 years we volunteered at LBJ State Park in Stonewall, just down the road from Fredericksberg, also a very nice place to visit.
    Teri

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Hi, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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