One positive to life on the road is it’s unpredictability. Growth and learning continue, organically, for each individual throughout the course of their lives, but I think the whole process slows a bit with age. Unpredictability is something I avoid in my “real life “, but out here it comes with some regularity whether I like it or not. We left Big Bend on a 70° day and arrived at Davis Mountains State Park (just 100 miles away) to forecasts of snow. We have had plenty of below freezing temps, while camping, but the higher elevation at this park promised we’d have our coldest night yet. We weren’t sure how we’d do with the 19°temps forecast. The first thing we did, to prepare, was fill our fresh water tank so we wouldn’t have to worry about our hose freezing if we attached to the city water the park provides. Next, Mark computed how much wattage our little ceramic heater uses and realized we could go to the hardware store and get another one. Our current configuration allows us to use 3,600 watts of energy for heating, the fridge, lights, water pump, etc. If we run a 1500 watt heater on low, it only pulls 700 watts so two heaters on low work great to heat the small space uniformly. Our camper can be heated with the factory propane furnace it came with, but because of the age of our trailer, it’s almost impossible to regulate without producing lots of condensation or getting up all through the night to adjust the thermostat.
We weathered the night beautifully, and felt like we learned a little more about our trailer and solved a problem too. Of course it wasn’t a big problem, but living in a small home on wheels, at the mercy of the elements, reminds me to be thankful for so many of the things I ordinarily take for granted.
 |
| No need for our trucks sun reflector |
 |
| Wool blanket nest |
No comments:
Post a Comment