North Texas and Oklahoma

                                                                                                                                                                  1/12/19 Dennison, TX Birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower.  One of the things you do not get to unless you slow down.  

Hanging out with Dwight in Dennison on a cold day!

1/18/19 We spent the last nine days at the Thousand Trails RV Park in Gordonville, TX.  It is part of the Thousand Trails System where you pay a fixed fee and camp for free for a year within the network.  A membership in the network was part of the deal when we bought the travel trailer from the dealership.  The Thousand Trails campgrounds are not ubiquitous, and not always sited the most conveniently for your given situation.  I had to drive an hour and a half into Dallas to make calls, and then back home.  It was certainly a decent facility with a hot tub and a clean, brightly lit, warm coin laundry and we enjoyed our stay.  We have paid for membership in the Texas State Park System, and generally, those facilities are more spacious, with roomier campsites.  They often do not have sewer dumps at the campsite, which necessitates breaking camp every five days to dump the tanks. 

 Doing laundry after getting out of the hot tub on a cold day

1/19/19  I am on the plane fly to Las Vegas for World of Concrete.  I am reflecting on the trip thus far, and would say it has been a learning experience.  We certainly have more to learn, but I am curious whether the second month will be easier and more efficient. Generally, it is turning out pretty much as I expected, given a few caveats, some of which have already been mentioned:

1.      I cannot move as fast and efficiently as when you are doing “normal sales travel”.

2.      I did not really anticipate having to do certain tasks that must be taken care of whether I am in the office or on the road. 

3.      I did not anticipate the time it takes to properly document and follow up on sales calls.

4.      I did not anticipate the effort it takes to make and break “camp”.  I am understanding I must be careful in planning where to land at each move, in order to be able to make calls efficiently and to avoid excessive moves. 

5.      There are some things dealing with our basic life functions that we take for granted at home.  These things take extra effort on the road.  The travel trailer has a two heat sources, an electric heater and a propane furnace.  Both have thermostats.  Nevertheless, they both have to be managed.  Use the heater when plugged in at a campground to avoid burning propane that comes in refillable five gallon tanks.  Kick in the furnace when the heater will not keep up.  Make sure the refrigerator is switched to propane when you are traveling, and that it is on electricity when plugged in.  While the trailer is a “four-season” unit, it is not as well insulated as a house.  It cools rapidly when the sun goes down and the wind blows, and heats rapidly when the sun comes out.  Despite thermostats, the process is far from automatic.

6.      Mary Jane and I have both seen our situation as “being like a turtle” where you are carrying your home on your back.

While I am discovering things I did not expect, there is nothing that is an undue hardship or a “deal-killer”.  I am not certain MJ feels the same. 

                                                                                It is nice to see a lot of Mar-Mac product in a customer warehouse!

Texas Images:

Note the planters at the church -->

Looks to me like the turn of the century (the last one)

                                                                              

Good Designs:  I have always been impressed at how quickly a professional can do his work compared to how much time it takes me to do it myself.  I long ago understood that much of that efficiency comes from his experience and proper set-up or shop to do it.  It also has to do with having the correct well-designed tools to do the job.  As I have collected my own limited set of tools for various jobs, I have come to admire good tool design.  You might ask what this has to do in the context of “living in a trailer down by the river”.  When you are at home, you have your own bathroom, and you have it set up just like you want it.  When you live in state parks or RV “resorts”, you use the bathhouses.  If you are not properly equipped, the trip to the bathhouse can be inconvenient and clumsy.  Enter the WalMart bath caddy.  It will handle taller bottles of soap and “condiments”, wet washcloth, razor, hair brushes, etc.  After you learn what not to wear to the bathhouse, and have all your “stuff” in the caddy, you can actually make a trip to the bathhouse reasonably efficient.  Hats off to a well-designed shower caddy.  By the way, you might ask, "why use the bathhouse when you have hot water, tub and shower in the trailer?".  The answer is, "its a tight fit in a camper shower!"