Sometimes I think of our projects as a battle- a battle against
The "fixed" water crossing
the elements and a battle against the terrain. Having access to earth moving equipment gives me an advantage of “fixing” things to make life easier. The drive way into this location was a mess when I first pulled the Old Girl into the property. An improper culvert installation had caused the driveway to be cut by a fast flowing creek. I applied a quick, temporary fix in short order with the Deere 750B dozer as seen in the first picture.
My "fix" is washed away in short order
It wasn’t a day or two later that Mother Nature trumped my “fix” and washed my improved driveway somewhere down the creek. We can control alot of things on these jobs but the weather is not one of these items.
Boondocking with no amenities is tough. Boondocking when the weather precludes most outside activities is mentally tough. Boondocking when you are stranded by high water and can’t even leave the property just sucks.
My bother and I had a timetable when we pulled out of the mostly completed job in Newton County, TX. I always want to know how long I will have to do the extreme boondocking. The Old Girl does have her limits – and so do I.
The time line looked like this:
- Septic install in 2-3 days.
- Power ran into the RV parking area within 2 weeks.
- Water — most likely never
Well, 2 weeks into the new project and nada. The weather was not cooperating at all! It was too wet to dig the holes and trenches necessary for the septic tank and leach line install. It was too wet to clear additional right of way with the dozer for the power company. 3″ of rain earlier this week and additional rain forecast forced me to re-assess my situation. After 10 days in the Old Girl, the black tank is almost at capacity. If I remained there, I would have to either use a portable tote to pump the tank or take the Old Girl off location to dump the tank. Neither option appealed to me. I have serious doubts as to whether I can even negotiate the low water crossing in the RV. I am using 4 wheel drive to cross it in the Suburban. I am using $7 – $9 worth of propane per day and it is getting expensive with no income to offset it. The weather report says more rain forecast in the next 7 days.
Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor and I decided I needed to retire from the field of battle for awhile. Seriously, the stick house in South Dallas is only 130 miles away with home cooking and a big screen TV. I am outta here! Plans are to return in 4 days to check on everything and install some new tires on the Suburban at Discount Tire in College Station. Navigating this mud with 2 year old, worn tires is just a little too much of an adrenaline rush. I need to get some fresh tires on the Suburban ASAP.
End Note: The most played song on my Zune is Out of Control by Dave Alvin off the Ashgrove album.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Aerial Photos
- Batteries and Boondocking – The Last Piece of the Puzzle
- Batteries and Boondocking – The Final Installment
- More Snow In Texas!
- I have the biggest campfire
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