Quick Fill

Here are three things that are sure to lift a fulltimer's spirits after a week of Arctic temps:

1. A daytime high of 39 degrees
2. Sunshine
3. A full tank of propane.

Those three key ingredients put our household in a much better mood today. We were getting pretty darn grumpy around here, and rightfully so. When the late night weather forecast for next week included back-to-back single digits, I was afraid of what heinous act we might commit! But, with the completion of our most anticipated major errand, we are back to our ol' cheery selves today.

Shortly after noon the temperature was north of freezing. The sun was beaming on our frozen slide topper, which aided in a much needed quick thaw. We packed the moose up for the five-mile trip to the propane dealer. The slide came in with ease, followed by the jacks. We were so pleased to see that everything was working properly. We navigated our way to the land of plenty of propane. Paul pulled the moose up to the pump and the good gas man gave Big Bull a quick fill. Fifty bucks and 15 minutes later we were backing into our old familiar site. As we set about the business of setting up, we felt our spirits lift as we lowered the jacks and expanded the slides. We quickly put out all the stuff that makes this place a home, including our Christmas decorations. With that, the big errand was behind us.

We have a full tank of propane! All is right with our world.

Never

Never say never, or so the saying goes. But, we'll take this bet.

We will never bring our motorhome to Kansas in December, January or February.

Ever.

The last four days have been an icy cold blur. It seems practically all of our energy has been spent managing ourselves and our motorhome in this weather. We've been busy doing this, that and the other to prevent this or that from freezing. And, when we're not doing this or that, we're busy worrying that this or that will freeze or we'll run out of propane. An assortment of annoying little things have happened that remind us that most materials are not meant to operate in, or be exposed to, single digit temperatures. We have gotten out just a wee bit, and when we do we have to dress like a couple of Michelin men to survive outside.

See what I mean?

Having experienced some 40 Decembers as Kansas City residents, we were ready for it to be chilly during our visit. But, nothing like this. Single-digit nights on end are the kind of stuff Mother Nature typically dishes up here in January or February. But, lucky us. This year, winter has arrived early in our old hometown.

And, we're doing fine. We are safe, warm, dry and have all the comforts of home. For that, we are grateful. We should have more than enough propane to last until we head out tomorrow for our refill trip. Tomorrow's high is forecasted to top the freezing mark. And, the temps for the weekend are looking even better.

We look forward to getting back to the business of enjoying the holidays in Kansas City. With any luck at all our days of obsessing about the weather are behind us.

For future reference, if we want to spend the holidays in Kansas City, we'll park the moose in some sunny spot south of here and pack the cats and couple of bags in the squirrel, drive up and spend a week or so in a warm and cozy guest room.

We like the sound of that!

Snow Day

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in these parts. Our "major winter storm" dumped a light dusting of snow - maybe an inch or two. The moose, squirrel and cats are all experiencing their first snow. The big story, though, is the cold.

Today's "official" high will likely be something like 28 degrees. But, that was at 12:01 a.m. Since then the temperature has plummeted. Currently, it's something like 16 degrees, on it's way to anywhere between 4 and -4 for tonight's low.

Yes, it's cold.

And, it's been windy. Before the howling winds began last night, we pulled in our north-facing slide. Who needs to subject a frozen slide topper to a 40 mph gust? Our slightly smaller house stayed toasty enough all night, and we were pleased to still have running water and propane this morning. At midday, our propane tank was just a hair under half. If we can make it through the next night or two, the forecast for Friday is calling for sunny skies and temps a degree or two above freezing. Now, that's propane errand weather!

With no precipitation falling this morning, we decided to bundle up, brave the sub-zero wind chill and get out. Yes, our coach is lovely, but even the walls of a new 40-footer can begin to close in. In yet another propane saving move, we headed out for a tasty hot breakfast at the nearby Bob Evans. (Love that place!) Then, we visited the local UPS store to pack and ship the original Bullwinkle's bedding back to the dealer. (It was one of the things we pulled out of our POD last week.) Back in our toasty rolling home we settled in for an afternoon movie.

Before we turn in tonight we'll pull in our other slide, which will make the moose extra cozy but still quite livable. Reducing our total cubic feet for the night should make our heat sources more efficient. At least we hope so. The top, sides and bottoms of these slides are the least protected parts of the coach, so we hope our space saving efforts pay off. Besides, with the slides in, we'll be ready to roll if we need to make a propane run. We'll just unplug the power and pull up the jacks. (Check that. We'll unplug power, press a button and pray the jacks work in the cold.)

Then, dear readers, we'll head to Texas!

Julie & Julia

For the first time in a very long time I did not step outside the coach today. Our forecasted "major winter storm" materialized as a gray, drizzly near-freezing day. I actually missed the first half of the day. With the pitter patter of freezing rain on our roof this morning, we could find no reason to hurry out of bed. With nothing but quilting on deck for the day, I decided to sleep in until noon. Noon! I haven't done that since college.

It was sure fun!

Paul ventured out in the rain to pick up a few things this afternoon, including a couple of movies from redbox. With our DirecTV out of commission during our stay here, we're opting for some cheap entertainment. Late this afternoon we popped Julie & Julia in the DVD. I had heard about Julie Powell's blog and had wanted to read her book, but never got around to it. And, we both love Meryl Streep. The movie met our expectations. We give it two thumbs up.

Julie & Julia got me thinking about our blogs. We snap a few pictures, write some words and send it out into the dark hole of cyberspace. Why? Mostly we do it to chronicle our adventures. One day we're going to want to look back on our life and times on the road, and our blogs will be here to tell the tale. We do Bullwinkle's Travels, in part, to keep our family and friends from worrying about where we are, or aren't. It's an easy way for them to keep up with us. And, we hope that our words here at The Great RV Escape entertain, inform and/or inspire fellow fulltimers or wannabes.

And, truth be told, it gives the writer in the house something to do!

Will either one of our blogs change the world or make us buckets of money? Doubtful. But, a cute little movie directed by Nora Ephron would sure be fun! Oh, yeah, and I guess that would make us a buck or two, huh?

Meanwhile, we'll just sit back and relax and watch the rain that has now turned to snow. It's really pretty! Tonight the wind is supposed to kick up and the thermometer will start a two-day fall into the single digits. That should be very interesting!

Stay tuned.

Winter Storm

This, from the National Weather Service in Kansas City:

A MAJOR WINTER STORM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT A LARGE PORTION OF THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PLAINS. THIS STORM WILL INITIALLY BRING SNOW TO ADVISORY AREA AND AS WARMER AIR ALOFT WORKS INTO THE SYSTEM A MIX OF RAIN... SNOW AND POSSIBLY SLEET IS EXPECTED.

To add insult to injury, there's an "Arctic blast" behind this storm that is expected to bring us a daytime high Wednesday of 18 degrees, and a low Wednesday night of 7.

Once again. WHY are we here?

The other day our friend Gypsy said she'd endure 0 degree temps to visit her family. Sounds good. Folks, it's official. Zero is our limit! If Mother Nature serves up weather with a minus sign in front of it, we are outta here!

After several days of judicious use of propane, we're still over two-thirds of a tank. And, nearly two weeks ago we landed with 3/4 of a tank. So, we're prepared to keep the gas furnace, fireplace and our new, improved electric space heater blasting for the next two days. Thursday's forecast is for sun and double digit temps, so we'll make a propane run then, if we need to.

We made a propane reconnaissance run this afternoon. There's a Ferrellgas facility 4.7 miles from here. And, for a mere $3.33 a gallon (Geez!) we can fill this moose up. (Isn't it interesting how the laws of supply and demand work?) The route is very moose friendly, and though the facility is a bit tight, we're confident we can maneuver our way in and out. Whatever it takes to get a full tank of propane!

Today we checked the temp in our basement bays and were impressed with the results. As promised, they are indeed vented. As long as we periodically fire up the gas furnace, everything down below should stay warm. Well, actually, it would be more accurate to say it won't freeze! Our water bay is facing the north, from whence some brutal winds are promised to accompany this forecasted Arctic blast. At this point, it seems like the most vulnerable area, so we'll add a trouble light with a warm and cozy 60-watt bulb to that area, just as we have with our glow-in-the-dark refrigerator vent, which also faces the cold Arctic north. We'll be glowing from every which way!

Actually, we're very impressed with how our new moose had stood up to chilly temps so far. If the cold north winds kick up, we'll pull in our driver's side slide. The last thing we want to deal with is a frozen slide topper whippin' in the wind. With our fireplace blazin', the new oscillating space heater doing it's thing and a periodic blast of our propane-fired furnace, this place is down right cozy!

We fired up the crock pot this afternoon to save on propane and provide us with some hearty faire for dinner tonight and leftovers during tomorrow's storm. Beginning tomorrow, our agenda is simple: Stay warm for the next 24 hours. With the home fires burning, I'm planning a day of quilting - something I haven't done since we began our journey. Paul has hopes of getting to the gym early, even if it means putting the squirrel in four-wheel-drive. They'll be plenty of space and time for reading, napping, surfing and TV watching. All provided, of course, we have enough propane.

While many of our RVing buddies have already shacked up in warmer climates, we take great comfort in knowing we're not the only crazies out here in the cold. Gordon and Juanita are experiencing record cold on the Oregon coast. And, fellow Tour owners Margie and Bruce are toughing out another winter in Washington before they head south. Mac and Netters have battened down the hatches just south of here and will, hopefully, get just a cold rain out of this much-anticipated storm.

Those folks down south are having fun in the sun while us few brave souls are braving a winter wonderland.

Stay tuned for breaking weather updates.

Watchful Eye

As promised, our sub-freezing overnight temperatures arrived. Last night's overnight low was 12 degrees, and we were graced with 17 degrees the night before last. We continue to watch our propane consumption and have pretty much accepted the fact that there's a propane errand in our future. Meanwhile, we're doing our best to manage the inside temps. The line to our icemaker is frozen, so we're going to run out and pick up a trouble light and a light bulb or two to keep it warm from here on out.

And, yes, we have thought about aborting our visit here and heading for Texas. But, heck, it's snowing down there. There's no place to escape!

We're also keeping an eye on my right eye. Yesterday it burned and itched all day, and I was quick to attribute the malady to spending too much time in sub-freezing gale force winds while we sorted through our POD. By the time we headed out for some fine Kansas City BBQ with Mac and Netters, who have stopped by to visit for a few days, my eye was red and puffy. A few eyedrops and a good night's sleep later, it was pink, puffy and, well, gross. Our household diagnosis is pink eye, or one pink eye. So, for now, I'm quarantined. I debated about heading to a clinic today, and this afternoon it is looking a wee bit better. I'm hoping another good night's sleep will do the trick. If I still look like half a crack addict tomorrow, I'll see a doctor.

We enjoyed a wonderful evening with Mac and Netters. It's such a treat that they decided to come up and pay us a visit. Good folks who will come see you in sub-freezing temps. Now, those are friends! My fingers are crossed that I'll get clearance tomorrow and we can get together. Although, they've already been exposed to whatever it is I have. My fingers are doubly crossed that they don't catch it!

I'll close with a bit of good news. Tonight's forecast low: 22 degrees.

Things are looking up.

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.