Monthly Archives: March 2017
MacGyvering It . . .
Since we had a 300+ mile trip today, we pulled out of the Pecan Valley RV Park about 9am, and a few minutes later we were heading west on I-10 again.
Except for some of the roughest roads we’ve seen in a while, the trip was pretty smooth. We had some heavy misting falling from the overcast skies, but it all cleared up later in the afternoon.
We pulled into the Southern Star RV Park in Van Horn about 2:45pm, and got parked in the first available space. The office was closed until 3pm so I got plugged in, and ran into a problem.
Although my Progressive EMS (Electrical Management System) said the power was good, and it was routing it into the coach, no power was getting inside. So my next stop was the Transfer Switch under the bed.
And that was where the problem was. Power was going in to the contactor but not coming out. For some reason the contactor was not pulling in.
So using a large screwdriver I pushing the contactor in and now we had power. But it still wouldn’t latch closed. So I MacGyvered it. (Jan says I was MacGyver before there was a MacGyver.)
Using two popsicle sticks I jammed the contactor closed and we were back in business. Hopefully it will hold for a few days until we’re parked in Benson for four days. Otherwise, I have plenty of popsicle sticks left.
![Transfer Switch Problems_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Transfer-Switch-Problems_thumb1.png "Transfer Switch Problems_thumb[1]")
About 5pm we walked next door to the Van Horn Steakhouse. Or rather we tried to. When we were here two years there was a shortcut out the side fence of the park. But after we walked all the way over there we found a new fence and NO shortcut.
So it was all the way back around to the front entrance of the park, out on the sidewalk, and down the block. But it was worth the walk.
We both started with their delicious salads with their homemade dressing, Jan’s Bleu Cheese, and mine Buttermilk Ranch.
![Van Horn Steakhouse Salad_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Van-Horn-Steakhouse-Salad_thumb1.png "Van Horn Steakhouse Salad_thumb[1]")
Then we both got steaks with the Roasted Baby Carrots.
![Van Horn Steakhouse Ribeye_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Van-Horn-Steakhouse-Ribeye_thumb1.png "Van Horn Steakhouse Ribeye_thumb[1]")
My Ribeye was fantastic, as were the carrots
Then we finished up by sharing a Homemade Peach Cobbler.
![Van Horn Steakhouse Peach Cobbler_thumb[1]](https://ourrvadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Van-Horn-Steakhouse-Peach-Cobbler_thumb1.png "Van Horn Steakhouse Peach Cobbler_thumb[1]")
After that delicious meal we definitely needed the long walk back to the rig.
Tomorrow we’ve got a 165 mile trip to Las Cruces for a two day stay.
Thought for the Day:
“If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things you don’t get that you don’t want.” ― Oscar Wilde
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Baaaaaa!
I had planned for us to get up about 6:30, but we ended up sleeping in for an extra hour.
So finally up at 7:30 we got ready to roll before we headed out for breakfast at around 8:30am. As we did last week before leaving for Lake Conroe, we had Schobel’s in Columbus, and once again Jan had her Veggie Omelet while I had the Chicken and Waffles.
Getting back to the rig, we were hitched up and rolling by 10:30 heading for Junction, TX about 250 miles away.
About an hour later, we made our usual Buc-ee’s stop at the Luling. Before going inside we filled up with 90 gallons of diesel at $2.19/gallons, the lowest in the area.
While we were filling up, we were watching the travelers right across from us walk their dogs, even little ones,
while others walked their . . .
sheep?
You never know what you’ll see in Texas. Guess they’re on their way to the rodeo in Houston.
Unlike our past San Antonio pass-throughs, today’s seem to take forever, whether from the obvious construction zones, or those ‘phantom’ slowdowns. You know, those several miles of creeping along, that suddenly just disappear when everyone just speeds up.
We got into Junction and the Pecan Valley RV Park about about 3:30 and were given a nice, long pull-through site.
They even furnish leveler pad blocks if you need them. A first for us.
As it turns out Pecan Valley RV Park is in an actual pecan grove.
They were trimming and pruning the trees, and then burning the branches, making for a great smokey smell in the air.
The Junction area is known for bad cell/data service, no matter who your carrier is. Which is why I thought that posting a blog last night was questionable.
So I was happy to see a very strong park Wi-Fi signal. BUT . . . There’s always a BUT, right?
The park uses the OpenDNS content filtering service, which restricts your access to sites that are on a black list, I guess like porn sites, movie download sites, and other like places. However it doesn’t explain why I could access the New York Times website, but not the Washington Post site. In fact about half stories on Yahoo News were blocked.
And so was our OurRVAdventures.com and Nick’s GypsyJournal Blog site. Why I don’t know, but it kept me from posting the blog last night.
Tomorrow’s trip will be 310 miles to Van Horn and the Southern Star RV Park, where we stayed in 2015. And it has a really good steak place right next door.
Thought for the Day:
Nothing is more certain than death, and nothing is more uncertain than the time of dying.
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