It's HOT!

We have a knack for visiting places during unseasonable, usually record-breaking, weather. And, Big Bend is no exception. It's flippin' hot!!! Down here on the banks of the Rio Grande it gets pretty darn toasty, of course. But, not usually this early. Our arrival apparently gave Mother Nature the all clear to heat up the place.

Alpine was a pleasant 64 degrees when we left mid-morning yesterday. As we made our descent on the two-hour drive the sun was blazing and the temperatures were on the rise. By the time we pulled into Maverick Ranch RV Park here in Lajitas the mercury had reached the mid-80s.

We pulled into our site with amazing views and started setting up. As soon as we had power I turned on the AC. For a few blissful minutes the polar air filled the moose. Then, in an instant, there was nothing. No AC. No power.

Ugh.

Our neighbors were in the same situation. Turns out many of the sites had lost juice. Park management assured us they were on the case and would keep us posted. When the temperature inside the moose hit 85 degrees (which didn't take long) we fired up the generator. And, our neighbors did the same. With the gennie runnin' and the AC hummin' we sat and waited. We put a pause on our setup in case we had to move. An hour or so later the park manager came by and gave us a big thumbs up. Power had been restored.

It was over 90 degrees outside when we were back on park power. We finished our setup and kept every shade drawn. Bullwinkle felt like a cave, except it was hot! With the moose's nose pointed south and our patio side on the west, there was no shade to be had, even with both of our awnings out. As much as we would have loved to get outside and explore, we cocooned in the moose and kept a watchful eye on our indoor/outdoor thermometer. At cocktail time the inside temperature was 81 degrees, and on our patio it was 105!

Nobody in our house was very happy.

We've never been so happy to see the sun go down! As soon as it dropped behind the mountains, we popped outside to enjoy the steadily cooling temperatures. When things got comfortable, Paul fired up the grill and we sat down to dinner about 10. Now, we like to eat late. But, not that late!

After dinner, cooler heads prevailed and we hatched a game plan. With brutally hot and sunny days in the forecast for the duration of our stay, we needed to turn our moose around. If we could point to the north, the IMAX windshield would avoid direct sun. And, if our patio faced east, we could make our own much-needed shade. During the cool mornings we could be free to get out early, explore and make it home by early-afternoon to check on the kitties who should be OK until then if the power fails again. We went to bed to the sound of the AC still humming and hopes for a better day today.

This morning, Paul went to the office and worked his magic. Just after noon, the park manager came by with our new site assignment. You've never seen two people ready an RV for travel so quickly! We had slides in, jacks up and engine running before we shut off the AC and unplugged from our soon-to-be-former site. Two minutes later the moose was one row and three sites over, pointing north. Just like we wanted! First things first, Paul plugged Bullwinkle into his new home and the AC was humming once again.

We spent the afternoon making plans for several upcoming early morning outings to the park while we watched the first "real" day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Of course, our AC has hummed continuously, and thankfully we've had no interruption in power. We have a few shades open and while it's still warm in here, it's much less cave-like and more comfortable. Our patio is well shaded and is looking like an inviting spot to sit and enjoy a cold one soon. I just checked the thermometer. It's only 92 degrees out there.

Good thing we have plenty of ice!