We have experienced weather you would never think you would find in Texas. I am grateful that we have not lost power or water here in the RV. We turned our hydroponic heater on, I laid towels, pillows and blankets along the bottom of the slides. We never realized how much air came in at the floor but it was so cold you couldn’t ignore it. Those two things kept us very comfortable. We also have a generator we can use if power ever goes down. Ted put diesel kleen in our tank to keep the fuel from gelling in the cold temps then ran the motor with a load on it and then through the generator too. Next up was the water situation. We get water in two ways. First is a hose connection right to the faucets or a heated tank that is filled with a hose and is used with a built in pump. We also use a pressure regulator between the faucet and hose.
Our pressure regulator froze so Ted unhooked it and brought it in to defrost. He also took the hose off the bib. We had to use bottled water to drink and cook and the water pump with the filled tank for other tasks. It worked fine. There is a pump switch at every sink so it is easy to flip the switch to wash your hands or fill the sink to wash dishes. Flushing is a little more thought provoking in that you have to remember to push the switch to flush and it might be a bit out of reach from your seat!
We have a weather station so watched it religiously. We had no precipitation so no ice or slippery steps. But we couldn’t put the hose back on until the temp was above 32 degrees. Ted did not get to shoot due to the weather but we continued to play mahjong in the clubhouse
Things had gotten worse at home and I was monitoring our thermostat there. I knew the power was on as long as I could get the temperature. Then the inevitable happened, the app went off line. It took 13 hours before the heat came back on. Now we were concerned about what had happened over those 13 hours. The streets were too bad to ask anyone to drive far so I called a friend across the highway. She and her husband went over the following morning. It was determined we had no water coming in. Something was frozen somewhere and it seemed to be stopping all water flow. Ted asked them to turn off the main water valve in the garage. We had two outside faucets opened a tiny bit to deal with pressure, vacuum, and thawing. The jury was still out.
Our clubhouse was offered up as a warming spot or overnight shelter to the folks next door in the park with no power or water. So we moved our mahjong to Sue’s house. We are not prepared to go in there for awhile until it has been thoroughly cleaned. Our bubble is very careful and unknown people sleeping and using the bathrooms just didn’t sit well with our plans.
On Tuesday morning when I knew we had power I asked a friend close by to go over. She and her husband went in and checked our water. Nothing coming through. Ted told them to turn the water off at the main valve in the garage and open a faucet a bit. On Wednesday Nancy went over and checked for stained ceilings and walls, water on the floor or sounds indicating running water. Nothing at all was found. But still nothing came out of the faucet. Both she and my friend from Tuesday had burst water pipes so I am hoping if there was any water languishing in the pipes for two months, perhaps it had “disappeared.” We will keep an eye on it. If a pipe bursts it can’t be too much water left in there.
Out temp went to 57 today so we walked to the mailbox and then stopped at Marissa and Steve’s to ask a question. We ended up staying with another couple for a visit. Everyone is starved for social contact. Ted’s gun guys and my mahjong ladies have been our life savers.
A bright spot was a photo and short video of CeCe helping Kelly make breakfast. She spent the weekend with Grammie so her parents could have a Valentine’s weekend. In the video she stirs, then applauds her effort, picks up the spoon and flips Bisquick into her hair. Kelly could not contain her laughter and neither could we.
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I hope everyone is weathering this storm. The stories we are hearing are heartbreaking. I guess it isn’t nice to fool Mother Nature whether it be a virus or a storm.
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