Our RV Adventures

or An Unexpected Roadtrip.

Jan and I were just starting on our walk this morning when our son Chris called. He was coming back from Burnet and had stopped for lunch at the Whataburger up in La Grange and noticed the rear tire on his bike was starting to come apart.

He asked if he could leave his bike here at our site while we took him home to Friendswood. Then he’ll come back up here tomorrow with a trailer and take it back home.

ROADTRIP!

Waiting for Chris to show up, we finished up our walk, making 1.1 miles. Getting back to the rig, we finished up our coffee and muffins just about the time Chris showed up.

And about 1pm we were on the road down to Clear Lake, getting to Chris’ a little before 3. Then with his wife Linda, we were off right down the road to Barcenas Mexican Restaurant, one of our favorite Mexican places in the Clear Lake area.

We’ve been eating here since they opened in 1998, and it’s one of our go-to places, especially since they’re only about a mile from our house. And in fact, when we were living in an apartment the year before we started RV’ing, we were right across the street and could just walk over.

Everyone got something different, with Linda getting the Taco Salad, Chris’ Beef Fajita Nachos, Jan’s Tex-Mex Enchiladas, and my Fajitas con Enchiladas.

It had a large piece of Fajita steak, two cheese enchiladas, rice, beans, and pico de gallo. Barcenas is known for their fajitas, and it’s easy to see why, Very tender, and very delicious

Our trip down to Chris’ worked out great for another reason, since I had finished cleaning Piper’s computer so I was able to bring it with us. And it gave us a chance to take care of a couple of other errands.

There’s a car wash place down here called Ocean Car Wash that we’ve really liked for for years. They give the absolute best car wash we’ve ever gotten anywhere in the US. Their brushes will get any dirt, grime, or grunge off.

In fact, on our 2014 gate, when we got showered by a drilling mud explosion at the nearby drilling rig, it was the only car wash we tried that got it off the truck. And I don’t know what wax they used, but the truck literally glows white afterwards. So a car wash was first on our list.

Then it was right across the street to the Krogers for a few things, some of which was their coffee. We really like their Private Selection house brands of Toasted Hazelnut and Vanilla Biscotti, and wanted to pick some up since there’s not a Krogers near Columbus.

Now heading toward home we made quick stop for lattes at the Baybrook Starbuck’s, and I got a free one. I asked for Chesnutt Praline, and they were out, so we got Cinnamon Dolce’s. But since they were out, we got one of them free. Neat!

We were back on I-45 heading home by about 5pm, with a quick potty stop at the Brookshire Flying J, finally getting back to the rig about 7:15. We were coming home right in the middle of the Houston rush hour, but we only lost about 20 minutes along the way, so it wasn’t bad.

Wrapping up, I’m about 90% certain I know what’s causing my clogged black tank. As happens sometimes, I woke up in the middle of the night with a idea.

Putting together, all the symptoms, the fact it will drain slowly and then stop, which means it’s not a solid clog, and more importantly, the fact that when you do flush it, it bubbles and gurgles.

So I’m pretty sure I have a clogged vent pipe, causing a vacuum in the tank, keeping it from emptying completely.

We got back too late tonight to fool with it, but tomorrow I’m going to open the black valve and then flush the toilet. This should break the vacuum and let the tank drain.

Then tomorrow I’ll get up on the roof and use a long fiberglass rod I have to rod out the vent pipe.

The only thing to watch out for is that the water in the toilet bowl may kick back when we flush it the first time and erupt out. So I’ll partially cover the bowl with a garbage bag and put the lid down. Hopefully this will contain the problem.

I’ll let you know more tomorrow.

Thought for the Day:

We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. – Ray Bradbury

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