Phannie

Phannie
Photo taken near Monument Valley, Utah

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Prisoners in Texas (Prisoners of Air Conditioning, That Is)

At Cicada Springs RV Park, Killeen, Texas...

I knew it would be bad. During our reentry into Texas, my gaze fixed on the outside air temp gauge on Phannie's dash as we crossed the New Mexico/Texas state line. I had already seen 96 degrees at Roswell, so I was fearful that it could get much worse. We cruised through Midland, San Angelo, Brady and San Saba into Killeen, during which the temperature only increased to 99, so at least we didn't make it into triple digits. But 99 was bad enough.

I wouldn't have been so obsessed about the temperature had it not been for our being spoiled by the idyllic summer spent in Colorado and New Mexico, where we often ran the heater in the mornings. But, the longer we're here, the more accustomed I am becoming to being coachbound, as Phannie's air conditioners seem to run incessantly, keeping us from a certain death by heatstroke. Spending any time outdoors is out of the question for a few weeks longer, I'm afraid.

We overnighted in Midland at the Midland RV Park, a dusty, gravelly place with lots of long term trailers and a howling wind that caught Phannie's entry door as I opened it and jerked it out of my hand, testing the integrity of the door stops. They held with no damage, but I looked at them closely to see if anything had pulled loose. The wind had been blowing like crazy out of the south since we left Roswell and, needless to say, Phannie's fuel economy was abysmal. I didn't even check the computer to see what it was; I really didn't want to know.

We are visiting friends and relatives in the Killeen area before heading up to Fort Worth for medical/dental appointments and to attend the wedding that is the purpose of our early return to our beloved state. (Although you couldn't tell from my constant complaining about the weather here, we still love Texas, although perhaps not quite as much from June through September, when it is largely uninhabitable.)

Phannie's windshield and front cap are very bug-spattered after our dash from Santa Fe. In my mind, this makes the coach look unkempt--something like this classy rig:



Okay, that may be a bit overblown, but I notice this coach has its cockpit door open, which probably means that they, too, are in Texas in September.

I'm still working up the courage to go outside and wash off the bugs. On the other hand, I may just wait until we get to Fort Worth and get the mobile wash folks to do the whole rig. That would make more sense than calling the paramedics, I think.

Trapped inside Phannie as we were, we decided to to a little housecleaning. (Well, just to be accurate, it wasn't WE who decided that.) I was put in charge of vacuuming the floor and polishing the woodwork. Here's a photo of Sandy, showing me how it was to be done:


She had to show me over and over, because I was having trouble understanding the concept. She said that I was perhaps the poorest student she had ever had in her 30 years of teaching. I actually took a bit of pride in this, as I really hadn't exceeded any of my teachers' expectations back when I was in school. I finally figured out the process, however, but it didn't take long for this to become a real chore. There is much more wood in Phannie than I realized!

Well, that's enough for now; I have to rest up. Check back in a few days to see if we're still alive.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.



18 comments:

  1. We will attempt to steal some of the cool air and haul it down to the DFW area in a couple of weeks. Hang in there, and don't get over worked on polishing the wood!

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    1. You are my new best friend! We miss the mountains so much. And as far as the wood polishing goes, I'm thinking that may be enough of that to last, say, five years. I wonder if I'll get away with that?

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  2. I am even running the AC up here in the Davis Mountains State Park.

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    1. Oh my, that's too bad! I figured you would be high enough there to warrant open windows.

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  3. Come on down to the Austin hill country.... It only got up to 92 today and we actually sat outside. We did have a fan on. Maybe we are more used to the heat than we thought! It was beautiful outside in the evening. Rain this weekend with cooler temps, hope you all get some as well! Welcome home, we miss you!

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    1. Thanks, Jackie; we miss y'all, too, and it'll be good to visit again. I guess I shouldn't mind your good fortune with the cooler air, if you can call it that. You certainly owe us a little comeuppance after all the times we lorded over you the cool temps in Colorado.

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  4. Most of our temps are usually below 100 so very seldom need to run our Ac, I guess we just lucky.

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    1. That's because you were smart, George, and stayed up north during the summer. We, well, not so smart.

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  5. We seldom use our ac but surprisingly have used it a fair bit this summer. Had it on yesterday even though there was a breeze. The humidity was very thick in the air and we don't mind the extra hydro used to feel comfortable in the Suite. We've found to set it around 75 we are perfect.

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    1. I think we're becoming more heat intolerant as we get older. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around.

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  6. We are running the heat right now. Don't think we're going to need any a/c til we get much further south. Stay cool. And no paramedics.

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  7. We're in the upper 80's but the humidity is in the 90's. Tomorrow it's suppose to be in the 70's. Not sure we're ready to head south yet.

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    1. I would hang around in the relative cool. The summertime is very lengthy here in the South.

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  8. Hey Mike, I don't remember giving you permission to post that picture of my MH! Besides, I haven't had the time to patent that roof rack/Stuff Carrier yet!!

    See you at the next rally. We had a good one this past weekend, and it was not too hot!!

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    1. Hi, Richard! We're looking forward to seeing Patsy. I thought you'd like the pic of that fine rig. Makes you want to trade up to something like that, doesn't it?

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  9. If you have to be a prisoner, that is the best kind:)

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    1. I suppose so. But I'm ready for some fall weather!

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