Pondering Propane

Lots of stuff going on these days, most of which isn't particularly newsworthy. But, some will provide good fuel for future campground stories. I can hear us now: Did we tell you about the day we drove to our POD in the cold and the place was closed?

No, no. The big story for us today is the temperature. As predicted, a windy wave of cold blew through Kansas City today. For the next week or so the daytime highs are predicted to be in the 30s. Nighttime lows will dip into the teens. There's even a chance of snow.

Can someone remind me again, why are we here?

Oh yeah, now I remember. Spending the holidays with family and friends. Right?

Actually, as far as Kansas City winter weather goes, the forecast isn't all that bad. But, for a couple of former Californians - and self-proclaimed weather wimps - this is more than enough chill for us. After all, we have our propane to consider.

One important distinction of motorhomes is that, unlike their other RV cousins, the propane tanks are integrated into the rig. They can't be carted off to some handy dandy propane place for a quick refill. And, as we have discovered, many localities (including this one) prohibit dispensing propane from a truck to an internal tank (like ours).

Curses!

At our last stop before heading into Kansas City, we topped off our propane tank. Our 30-gallon tank contained about 24 gallons of the heat producing stuff when we checked in for our five-week winter stay. We crossed our fingers that our supply would last.

Our heat pump can generally keep the place warm enough until the mercury drops to just about freezing. And, our heat pump has been busy! Add to that our wonderful new fireplace, and a small electric heater we brought along "just in case". We will happily pay for all the electricity we can use. But, when it comes to propane, that's another story. With a limited amount of LP on board, we're watching that like a couple of hawks. Every time our gas heat kicks on, I swear I hear ticking! And, Paul swears he can hear it, too! We are so mindful that every toasty blast from either one of our gas furnaces lowers the level in our on-board tank. We're doing our very best to manage it. I'm writing this from under the warmth of our laptop and a quilt. And, Paul is actually wearing long pants! (Now, that's serious!) The dropping temperatures and this very wintry forecast have us concerned, but we'll manage.

Of course, if we had to, we could pack everything away, put in the slides, pull up the jacks and fire up the moose and seek out a local source of the liquified gas. Then, we'd head back to the campground, back in, level up, pop out the slides and settle in for the duration.

Or, we could just wait for the propane tank to run dry. Then, we'll head for Texas.