July 1, 2017 – Our RV Adventures

Daily Archives: July 1, 2017

July 1, 2017 Uncategorized

260,000 . . .

Well, our babysitting job this morning was called on account of the fact that no one really wanted to go out and sightsee.

So Brandi called before we left to let us know that our previously-scheduled 10am arrival at her house could be pushed back to a 1’ish time frame. Great since the pain reliever that Jan had taken for her back pain last night, took care of her pain, but left her very nauseous today.

So the delay allowed her to get some extra rest before we headed into Brandi’s.

And as we did head to Katy this afternoon we passed 260,000 miles on our 2004 Dodge Dakota truck. And then there’s the additional 80,000 miles it’s got on it chasing the RV around the country.

When we bought it in late 2007 it was specifically to tow. We spent several month prowling the used car lots looking for just the right truck. And when we found this one at a small family-owned lot in Pearland, it met all of our of requirements, along with nice extras.

First and most important, it was 4WD and thus easily set to tow mode.

In fact it only takes about 10 seconds. Just put the transmission into ‘N’, put your foot on the brake, and then press the little recessed ‘N’ button on the small 2WD/4WD/4WD-L panel using a ballpoint pen or something similar.

And with a click/clunk you’re in tow mode. Then put the transmission in ‘P’ and you’re ready to roll. And roll is what will happened at this point if you’re not already be hitched up or have the parking brake on, because the truck will just roll away. To exit tow mode, just reverse the procedure. Easy Peesy.

The second requirement was that Blue Ox had an easily-installed baseplate, and so they did.

Everything else was just a extra perk.

1. It already had a nice camper shell.
2. It was a 4 door model.
3. It had a V-8 engine.
4. It was white in color (important in Texas).

According to CARFAX, our Dakota was originally owned by T-Mobile, and was a supervisor’s truck. As such it had regular dealer maintenance and was in great shape. And it’s been a great vehicle for us too, he said, crossing his fingers.

Otherwise today was fairly slow, with everyone just hanging around the house, watching TV while the kids swam at the pool. Then later Curtis grilled hot dogs and hamburgers on our Weber grill. Great times.

Jan and I headed home about 7:30 and noticed the US Rig Count had been updated to 940, an increase of 7 over last week’s 933. Which was an increase of 6 over the previous week.

So based on the fact that they gained 157 rigs in the 5 months since we left on our trip, they’re averaging a gain of about 7 per week, great news for this year’s gate guarding.