Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Night Moves

We evacuated from our gate at the Booth Ranch located between Gonzales and Cuero due to flooding danger from the nearby Guadalupe river. Our security company had been watching the hurricane updates and quashed our plans to ride out the storm in Gonzales; they said there was a chance that the winds and flooding might be too much for our RV. So; after finally getting our release from  our Company Man, I began to break camp with plans to head to Elmendorf, close to San Antonio. Both Missy and I had both been up for a day or two, napping periodically, worried about the storm and I let her get another hour or two of rest before breaking the news to her. 

For me there s little worse than setting up or breaking camp in the dark (rain is a close second). When we left our gate we packed up between 3 and 6 a.m. Age has deteriorated my vision and memory and things left setting in the dark easily get forgot, adding to the frustration. Then there is my connection paranoia. Fifth wheel trailers use a system similar to 18 wheelers with a 5th wheel and kingpin connection to connect the tug to the trailer. Even though we follow a procedure to ensure the jaws on the fifth wheel are wrapper around the  kingpin and locked; including a tug check, I still have this unwarranted fear that we will come unhooked. Maybe a dose of worry is a good thing when you're towing 8 tons around. After fumbling around camp and with frayed nerves we finally headed out to Elmendorf. After riding out the storm for three days we received the all clear to head back to our gate. Of course, it was late afternoon and that meant setting up in the dark. After a nearly 90 mile drive, we ran into our worse fear; road blocks manned by Texas DOT folks who informed us the road into our gate was flooded. We were given directions to try to go around the water covered roads and struck out. Half and hour or so later, via two lane back roads, we topped the hill overlooking our gate and there was water as far as you could see. Frustrated and disappointed we had no alternative but to head back to Gonzales and to await instructions from our security company. Late the next afternoon we were directed to return to the company yard south of San Antonio. Shortly after arriving we were informed that there was a gate available the next morning, located just south of Fowlerton. That meant we would have to break camp and travel again in the dark! Somewhere around three hundred miles later, mostly navigated in the dark, I am sharing this with you. By the way, the 5th wheel hitch did its job and we arrived safely.

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