Tornado Warning at Little River Canyon

On January 11th, we woke up to severe weather warnings in Florence, AL. We checked our phones to see when and where the warnings indicated it would be worst. It appeared to be coming west to east, so we decided to head out early and stay ahead of it.

We made it to Huntsville and the wind had seemed to fade significantly. We stopped for brunch at a dog park at the Indian Creek Greenway where Aiden could get energy out as well. Around 11am the wind picked up again, checking our phones we saw that strong winds were now indicated in Huntsville as well, but not much past it.

We continued with our plan to stay ahead of the bad weather. We made it into the mountains in the northeast of Alabama and thought we were safe. We decided to set our goal for Rome, GA, for the night, but no longer felt that we were in a rush.

It wasn't very windy anymore when we reached Fort Payne, AL. Just past the town, we came across Little River Canyon and decided to take the detour to see it. It was our first actual mountains in several months. The river and waterfall were gorgeous. We struck up a conversation with some white water kayakers who were pulling out for the day.

  

 

Leaving the second overlook, it started to rain again, and shortly after started to get windy. As soon as we reached the third overlook, we got a tornado warning on our phone telling us to take cover for the next 30 minutes. At this point, there wasn't much that we could do. We positioned the RV in to overlook parking area towards the center, so that no trees could fall on us and we turned on the radio, listening for weather coverage.

After a bit of heavy winds and rains, the wind started to let up and we decided we would head back to the Fort Payne Walmart and wait out the storm there. At least if something happened to us there we would have people around.

Driving back out of the scenic drive, we came across a downed tree on the road and felt lucky to not have been driving when the warning came to our phones. We were able to clear away just enough of the tree to squeeze by and continued on to Fort Payne.

All in all, we know this could have gone worse and feel lucky we avoided an actual tornado. Below is a map of where tornados actually hit that day. We do think that we did the right thing by trying to staying ahead of the storm front. We knew we were traveling faster than it and not being in a storm at all would have been the best outcome. We did get a bit complacent after reaching the mountains. We probably should have either kept moving or stopped in a population center. 

Image from Wikipedia

Natchez Trace Parkway

At Tom and Joanne's church in Texas, one of the members told us about the Natchez Trace Parkway. He only told us that is was a pretty drive. Since part of it was on our path and we had a bit of extra time, we decided to check it out.

We met up with the Trace in Clinton, MS. We had no idea what to expect so we got on it and drove only a few miles until we saw signs for a visitor center. It happened to be the Clinton visitor center, but it had plenty of information about the Trace. In the visitor center, we met two volunteer who were reading up on the best hikes in North Cascades National Park. They were planning a trip up to the northwest, so we had a fun chat about the PNW. They recommended a restaurant along the Trace which we'll talk about later.

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 440-mile commercial free road that stretches from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN. The trail was initially forged by Native Americans and used for centuries before being used by European Americans. In the early 1800s, it was used by traders from Tennessee and Kentucky who would build flat boats to carry their goods down the Mississippi. After trading their wares, they would sell their boats for the value of the lumber and trek back along the trace. Eventually, steamboats made the return trip much easier on boats and the Trace was slowly forgotten until the 1930s when, under FDR, the U.S. government decided to commemorate the history of the trail with construction of the parkway.

There were lots of historical stops all along the trace. The older ones native American villages and burial mounds. We stopped at a few of them along the road and enjoyed reading all of the posted information.

There were also some stops with some more recent history including the old mansion location and family cemetery of the an old politician Cowles Mead. His property was destroyed during the civil war so very little remains.

Further up the Trace, in Tennessee is a monument to Meriweather Lewis. He was traveling up the trace to Washington, DC when he was found dead of a gunshot wound and is believed to have killed himself. We didn't make it that far up the trace but are hoping to loop back around and see this monument.

Along the Trace there is a historic town called French Camp. There are several things to see and do around town designed to show how early Americans lived. However we arrived fairly late and only went to the town cafe, The Council House Cafe. We had been told at the visitor center that it was run by a school for students with disabilities in French Camp. This was half true. It is run by a Christian boarding school in town, but the students were no disabled. Either way, the food was amazing and modestly priced. We had convinced ourselves to go and spend money because we were thinking of it as a charity, but the food was well worth it and we were glad we went.

We spent the night at the only free campsite along the Trace, Jeff Busby Park. For a free campsite it was rather amazing. It was fairly crowded and the spots were not well defined and hard to distinguish in the dark, but we found a place to park. There were nice flush toilets and in the morning we took a nice hike up the hill to a lookout.

Even though the parkway is not a "National Park", we decided that, like Big Cypress, it deserved its own sticker on the side of the RV.

A New Fuel Tank

Hey everyone, we know we're a bit behind on the blog. We spent Christmas with family in Austin, TX and took that time off from writing to enjoy as much as we could. We're still planning on writing about our experiences from the Everglades to Austin and will be pre-dating those posts when we get them up. For now, we're on our way to Atlanta! We're currently in Monroe, LA and are safe and everything is well. We also have an exiting new experience since Christmas to share.

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We left Austin in the afternoon on December 30th. Not wanting to go too far that night we stopped near Temple. We were committed to catching up on our blog, spending a couple hours per day at a library during our drive towards Atlanta.

On our second day, after making it the library for a couple of hours of blog work, we made sure to stock up on sauerkraut -- sauerkraut is a tradition for Andreas's family on New Years Day -- but were too tired for a festive night. We decided to call it a day in Brushie Prairie park, in Frost, TX.

In the morning we woke up to a bit of a problem; our gas tank was leaking. After calling Good Sam, they advised us to call the fire department as a dripping gas tank can be a fire hazard. They also told us given that it was New Years Day, very few places, if any, that would be open and able to work on our vehicle.

Fuel tank dripping slowly

The local volunteer fire department showed up at the park we were staying at and was able to patch up the hole with a bar of soap. They strongly advised against driving it as the soap is a very temporary fix. So, there we were, in rural Texas, in need of a fuel tank and no mechanics working on New Years nearby with the volunteer fire department of Navarro Falls: Darren, the fire chief and Joanne and Tom, an older couple who lived close by. Then, almost out of the blue, Joanne offered to put us up for as long as we needed to get someone to come out and fix the tank. She said she wouldn't want us staying there with a gas tank that could start re-leaking and in the cold. Before we knew it, Kathleen put the kids in Joanne's car and Andreas got in Tom's truck and we all drove to their house, just a few blocks down the road. On the ride over, she asked Kathleen if we liked sauerkraut. Apparently, sauerkraut was also a New Years tradition for her and she had gotten way too much for just the two of them.

  

The ceramic shed and our home for the week.

When we arrived, Joanne pulled out an air cot and some blankets and set them up in her ceramics shed. She gave us a space heater and told us to make ourselves comfortable. Just as we were settling in, they received another emergency call, their third of the day.

In the evening we ate sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and pork chops and were thankful to be in a warm home. We may have been strangers to them, but they were kind and welcoming. We met their dogs: Sammie, a super friendly Dachshund, and Duke and Duchess, two very shy Great Pyrenees mixes. We learned that Tom was a long-time trucker with over 3 million miles of accident free driving, who loved fixing things. Joanne works as a caregiver and is very active in her community. Luckily for us, they even had ESPN so we were able to watch the Rose Bowl!

Rose Bowl in the ceramics shed

After the game, Andreas and Tom discussed whether they could replace the tank themselves. The hardest parts would be making sure we found the right tank and getting most the gas we had in the old one there out before trying to lowering it.

The next day, Andreas decided to drive the RV the short distance to the house. After not hearing back from Good Sam, the idea of fixing it without a shop seemed more appealing, mostly because it would save on repair costs. After raising up the RV onto a jack stand, taking a bunch of pictures underneath,  measuring out the tank, and a lot of searching around online we went ahead and ordered one. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be there until Monday, the 6th. In the mean time, Andreas and Tom were able to remove the old fuel tank after draining most of the gas through a fuel line that used to be hooked up to a generator. 

In the next few days we got to experience life in rural Texas as well as hang out in our cosy shed. Tom and Joanne completely opened their house to us, telling us to help ourselves to anything in the fridge and having us over for dinner every night. On Sunday we went with them up to church, including the Christmas party after the service. The church community was very small, with about six adults and six kids.

At the party afterwards everyone was very friendly and welcoming. There was a potluck lunch with tuna casserole, ham and cheese sandwiches, hot dog pieces in BBQ sauce and Joanne's bean and bacon soup. As well as a million desserts. After eating we took part in a white elephant gift exchange (in which we got a new lantern and a five gallon bucket organizer) and a fun game involving trying to unwrap a present with oven mitts on. We won that game and won some candy and a Walmart gift card. We were also gifted a "Survival Kit" with a mini bible and some religious books. When you add to that the knitted blanket that Joanne insisted that we take, we left pretty loaded. Not to mention the free housing and days of food that they wouldn't let us pay them for.

 

Aside from one awkward evening in which we were trying our hardest not get drawn into a political conversation on topics ranging from Trump to global warming, we got along with them very well.

The new fuel tank didn’t show up until 8pm on Monday night. By that time, Tom had already left for work for the week and we’d have to get the new one installed by ourselves the next day. It turned out to be quite simple in principle, but not trivial physically. We removed the old sending unit (fuel gauge floater) and fuel pump from the old tank and wiggled them into place in the new one, using the new gaskets provided with the new tank. The most challenging bit was lifting up the fuel tank into a position where we could secure it to the frame of the vehicle. Once we get the bolts in, but before tightening them, we used the pictures we took before to make sure everything got connected up the right way. 

Once everything was hooked up and tightened, we got it to start after a few tries of just hearing the engine crank. To our surprise, we had no leaks at all! Everything was in and tightened up properly. Our repair bill ended up only being around $100 - the cost of the tank. It could have easily been many times that amount when you include labor. We’ve been checking for leaks at every gas station since, but haven’t found a drop! Needless to say, we’ll be keeping an eye on it a bit longer before feeling fully comfortable with it. 

With the fuel tank back in order, we loaded up the RV and got ready to leave. We were seen off by Joanne who was sad to see us go. 

We feel so incredibly fortunate that we broke down where we did and that we were welcomed and supported by strangers who housed us and fed us, wanting nothing besides that we pay it forward the next time we see someone in need of help.

Expense Report: December

December was another cheaper month. It was kind of a mixed bag as far as expenses since we spent 10 days staying with family. Even though we rushed from Southern Florida to Austin, we didn't drive too much. Our biggest expenses were a little bit of maintenance and some sightseeing in a national park.

Maintenance: After a lot of searching, we finally found a spare wheel online at hubcaphaven.com. We had the tire mounted at Discount Tire, and bought a fuel filter and some o-rings at AutoZone.

New wheel + mounting: $193.95
AutoZone: $31.37
RV running total: $19,637.86

Fuel: As always, if you're interested, go check out our Fuel log. December was a pretty light driving month since we decided to rush to Texas, but then hung out there and didn't drive the RV at all for 10 days.

Gas: $502.59

Propane: $19 - This took us from all the way empty to all the way full

Food: $544 - Again, we did a good job not eating out. We did go to quite a few restaurants in Austin, but we also did a lot of big group meals with the family that brought expenses down.

RV Stickers / Postcards / Birthday and Christmas cards: $21

Lodging: $90 - We spent a night at Days Inn and $10 for a couple of nights at Big Cypress.

Sightseeing: $127.44 - we took 2 trips onto the water at Biscayne National Park, since it really is the only way to see it.

Phone and Internet: $76 - Did a bit better than previous month staying off data. Probably had a lot to do with time with family, who had wifi, and utilizing public libraries.

Total December travel expenses: $1583.76

Total cost of the trip so far: ~$30150 - This includes the RV and all of it's repairs, insurance and maintenance
Days Traveling: 142
Cost / person / day : 106.15

Post-Christmas In Austin

The fun in Austin didn't stop after the holiday was over! Aunt Julie still had plenty of great activity for us.

December 26th we used an App called Let's Roam to do a scavenger hunt around Austin. The app designs fun scavenger hunts in cities all around the world that they send to your phone. You then walk around the city looking for landmarks and answering questions. It is a great way to learn about a city and give your wandering purpose. We also discovered that they have fun little quests in app that you can use to win a free scavenger hunt. We did a few and won a free hunt so we're looking forward to doing another one soon! (We're not sponsored by this company, but if they feel the need to hire us, we'd be happy to be!)

For dinner we went to the a local BBQ place near the house, Salt Lick. It was absolutely incredible! Luckily we won some of their rub in the Christmas Eve Texas Hold 'Em tournament. We can't wait to try it.

On the 27th John flew back to Eugene, Aubrie and Uncle Chuck had to work, and Ben P had to study for a test he had coming up. Andreas used this day to work on issues with the RV. The RV had been having trouble starting when it was warm and we decided that we needed to replace the fuel filter. Andreas made an attempt at this before Christmas but unfortunately it was leaking so he found a mobile mechanic to come to the house and take a look it. Annoyingly when the mechanic got there he wasn't allowed to work on it because it was an RV, even though the fuel filter is the same as in a Toyota pickup truck. Luckily he did leave Andreas with the part he needed to stop the leak and we got our money refunded. So maybe this was a good thing?

The other issue we had been having was that the RV was making a terrifying rushing air noise when it was getting up to speed. We thought that this had to do with the climate control because the issue seemed to be worse on cold mornings when we had the AC on to de-fog the window. However we noticed in Texas that while the noise was happening the speedometer was vibrating almost as if it was getting blown. After some searching online, and talking to Andreas's mechanically inclined friends, we came to the conclusion that we needed to grease the speedometer cable. This seems to have helped the problem but not gotten rid of it entirely.

Disassembling the dash on the RV

Instrument panel removed to reach speedometer cable

The rest of the crew went up to explore Waco that day. In Waco we walked around Baylor University and then went over to check out Magnolia. Magnolia is the brand of Chip and Joanna Gaines who have the show "Fixer Upper." They have a massive store in Waco including a coffee shop and bakery and a courtyard full of food trucks. It was super crowded which was interesting because the rest of Waco seemed a little dead.

 

On the 27th we did an escape room. Kathleen was a little nervous about the escape room because the last time she did one it was unexpectedly horror themed. That time the room was dark and involved dismembered bodies and live actors rattling cages. This one, however, was fully lit and set in a mountain cabin. We needed to figure out where we were located on a map, how to reach a rescue crew and get ourselves out of the cabin to be rescued before a blizzard took place. We made it out just in time and it was a lot of fun. 

The next two days we continued relaxing and enjoying having a house to hang out in. We deep cleaned the RV, did all of our laundry again and took a final couple of showers. We eventually took off on the 30th after 11 very fun, relaxing days with family. 

Christmas in Austin

For Christmas this year we were lucky enough to have welcoming family that had recently moved to Austin, Texas. As a last minute decision we figured out a way to change our schedule and go hang out with them. It was a great decision!

On the morning of December 19th we pulled into Buda, Texas, to the house of Kathleen's Aunt Julie and Uncle Chuck. It is also where her cousin Aubrie, and Aubrie's husband Ben P,  live in another house on the property. Half the family was at work when we arrived so we had the chance to take showers and hang out for a little while. That evening Kathleen's parents, John and Leslie, also flew down. Aubrie and Ben were so welcoming that they actually moved out of their house and into the big house, giving their space to us and Kathleen's parents. They even let our kids hang out inside, which made the kids very happy!

Aunt Julie is a super host! She had everything ready for us, including a drafted out schedule for a week of festivities.

 

The first two days were super relaxed as we were still waiting for Kathleen's other cousins, Allie and Ben D, to arrive from Portland. It was great to have down time, talking with family, using the internet and showering whenever we wanted to. Saturday evening we drove to northern San Antonio to get dinner with a former co-worker of Kathleen's mom. It was a nice drive down, and a lovely dinner, but we didn't see much of San Antonio. 

Allie and Ben arrived late on Saturday night and then the party really started. We began with breakfast tacos at Valentina's food truck. They were so good we had to go back another day!

 

Photo Credit: Cousin Allie

Then we spent Sunday driving out to Fredricksburg, Texas, to look at the holiday lights. On the way we stopped and went wine tasting, which was fun. We didn't know that Texas had a "wine scene." Fredricksburg is a "Germantown" but it wasn't played up as much as we were expecting. The lights were fun though. And they did have a giant Christmas Pyramid. 

 

On the way back to Buda we also stopped in Johnson City for more lights. It was a super cold night, but we found a Glüwien stand so that helped warm people up. The lights in Johnson City were incredible, especially this display put on by the electric company. 

On the 23rd, Aubrie, Uncle Chuck and Ben D had to work. So we had another fairly quiet day. Sugar cookies are a Conery family tradition so we baked those as well as made challah and latkes which is also something we like to do every December. It was nice to be able to contribute by being responsible for making everyone dinner one night. Cooking in a real, big, spacious kitchen with all of the necessary utensils was a nice change.

 

On the 24th we spent several hours decorating the cookies we had baked on the 23rd. This is by far the most time-consuming, but also enjoyable part of cookie making.

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Photo Credit: Cousin Allie 

Christmas Eve also involved a trip to our very first Texas Mega Church. It was definitely an experience. The church had a dog park, an amphitheater and a disk golf course on site. For the service we were seated in the over flow of the over flow where we watched the service on a TV at the front of the chapel. The music was absolutely amazing and and the chapel was beautiful but it was very different from the small Portland church where we have attended Christmas Eve service in in the past. They even had prepackage communion and electric candles.

After church we ate John's traditional Christmas Eve Paella and then had a game of high stakes Texas Hold Em Poker for a Texas prize pack. A lot of us had no idea what we were doing and it was a lot of fun. Kathleen ended up taking home the prize pack, mostly in a win of attrition. We played until after midnight at which point there were three players left in the game. The three didn't have time to restart the game before John flew out, leaving Kathleen as the winner.

Photo Credit: Cousin Allie

 

Throughout the trip we also participated in another Gatewood family tradition of Pickle hiding. Hiding the pickle is a tradition that started in the American Midwest but is widely attributed to Germany and has, to some degree migrated back. The Gatewoods picked up the tradition while they were living in Amsterdam in the 90s. The tradition involves hiding various sized pickle ornaments in the tree. When someone finds the pickle they get to pick a small wrapped gift from the "pickle prizes." It always leads to some good family competition and everyone participates.

 

On Christmas Day we opened stockings, but had all agreed that we didn't want to do gifts this year. Instead of gifts we all made the effort to come together in Texas and spent money on activities we did together. It worked well for us, since we don't have room for more stuff. Most of Christmas was spent participating in amazing games that Aunt Julie had found, making us do some crazy things. It was a ton of fun.

Photo Credit: Cousin Allie

Photo Credit: Cousin Allie

This was the perfect way for us to spend Christmas! As different as it was from previous Christmases, it had the normalcy of hanging out with family, and several Gatewood/Conery family traditions. While our Thanksgiving this year was nice, it didn't feel like Thanksgiving. This felt like Christmas. And the fun family times didn't end with holiday!