Headlights

January 16, 2007 -- Last night at Braunig Lake RV Park in San Antonio, TX

The bus has been the our focus the past few days. As you've probably read in a previous blog posting we found a problem with our headlights during a light check one morning a month or more ago. The low-beams don't stay on reliably. Even though the headlight switch is on, they'll go off and come on intermittently. It's not been a problem up to this point as we haven't had to travel at night yet. But that day will come and, after all, isn't this one of those basic systems, like brakes and the I.R.S., that you trust will always work and will always be there when you need them?

To make a long story short, the problem turned out to be the high beam/low beam switch in the steering column. After some difficulty in finding the exact cause of the problem, and the manufacturer shipping the wrong part once, we finally resolved the issue and have full, reliable headlights once again. When the bus wasn't in the shop, we were cooling our heels at the ol' RV Park getting caught up on some basic chores... laundry, cleaning, paperwork, bills, website, blogs, and keeping up with Hillary's latest conspiracy theory. But as of this afternoon, the lights are working and both Dar and I are smiling, ready to move on with our adventure.

Tomorrow, Thursday the 17th, we leave San Antonio and head west on US Hwy 90 toward Del Rio. Most of the time up to now we've made reservations as we move from one place to the next. Tomorrow will be different... no reservations and we really don't know how far we'll get before we stop for the night. Many fulltimers travel this way and we thought it's time we get in that mode as it enhances spontaneity and gives you more options during your travel day. Besides, we and the bus are a little like the 800 pound gorilla.... where does he sleep?.... anywhere he wants!

Our objective within the next two or three days is to make it to Big Bend National Park. If you'd look at our map page, you'd see a big dip in the blue line that represents our travel plan. The bottom of that dip, right along the southern border of Texas and the USA, is the park. It's supposed to be a scenic feast and a photographers dream. The only downside is that it's been colder than a well-diggers, ah, rear-end. After a few days in that area we'll try to watch the weather forecast and pick a few back-to-back sunny days to make the run through New Mexico and down, into Arizona.

So off we go, with a full diesel fuel tank, a full load of LP gas, and fully charged batteries. I'm told both internet and cell phone coverage is very spotty. It may be a few days before I can update anything.

Celebrate Life!

T