It was a funny old night as I kept waking up and then dropping back off to sleep. That was until the morning came and by then, I was fast asleep and very reluctant to get out to a cold RV. As is usual, the propane had run out in the night as it always does. I do not think that it has ever run out during the daytime, at least that I can remember. 

I threw on a pair of pants and sweater and went out and switched over gas bottles not bothering to change them until later. It was way too cold to stay outside in those clothes. Back inside, I gave a huge sigh of relief as the heaters kicked in. We knew it would be like this without the electric heat working. 

I thought about crawling back under the covers and decided against it and got the dogs ready to go walking. As is usual, I tied them up outside so they could “help” in bringing out the bird feeders. I glanced around and noticed that the deer had left piles of droppings all around, maybe their way of saying thanks for all of the seed they eat. Either that or the reverse punishing me for not leaving enough. 

We went out walking and ran into Daniel and Jeff who gave me a hard time as I had shorts on. I took their advice as I was already getting cold and went back to the RV and put on long pants and a heavier jacket and then we set out again. It was much colder out than I had first imagined, and I was glad to be dressed warmly. In fact, we wandered around the park just one lap and came back to The Caboose in a hurry and quickly moved back inside. Even the dogs, who normally are not in any hurry, rushed to get back indoors. 

We have another cold front coming in tonight and then it is supposed to warm up for a few days. Such are winters in my part of Texas. 

I received notification from Home Depot that my order was in and jumped in the Jeep to go pick it up as it was a heated hose and there is supposed to be heavy frost tonight. RV’s have a couple of weak spots in their design, mostly to do with water and plumbing. In our park, which is true of just about all of them, each site is equipped with a station for water and electrical hook up. Usually, the electricity works just fine but in this freezing weather, the water spigot is subject to freezing unless the owner is using a special heated hose pipe that prevents them freezing or the pipes are wrapped which does not always work. 

I had bought one of the electric heated hoses, but it was 5 feet too short to do any good. Consequently, I had to reorder the hose and it might be here on Monday. So, in the meantime we had to resort to the good old fashion method and that was to turn off the running water after filling the main tank and switch over to it. I will still have to leave the tanks dripping in the sinks to prevent a freeze up. This is supposed to be only a short cold spell and hopefully, by the time the next one gets here, I will have the water pipes heated. Always something.  

Incidentally, Malinda and Daniel both came through…again. Daniel with his help on the RV and Malinda in finding a buyer for the too short hose here within the park. So, at least, the hose is not going to be wasted or do I have the hassle of returning it? I took a $20.00 dollar loss, but it is well worth it. I cannot thank both of them enough for their help. 

Incidentally, through all of this, Delores was having her own problems and Malinda, Gary and myself went over to try to help her. As it happened, her new heated hose had literally just come in and she had retrieved it from the office. Both Gary and Malinda worked on installing it and hooking it up so at least, Delores should not have any water problems. 

With all of the excitement done for the day, we adjourned to the Commons to drink a beer and there Malinda took a look at my I phone because I was complaining that I did not get everything. She worked on it for a while and made it a little better. Thank you, Malinda…again. 

Eventually, I excused myself from the group as it was dog walking time which we did as soon as I had harnessed them up. We managed to cover 1.3 miles for the day. Not bad considering how cold it is outside. Incidentally, the dogs do fine going out and the minute we turn for home, they are pulling and tugging in an effort to get home quickly. Smart dogs. 

After all of the excitement, we settled down to some normalcy as I worked on the blog and the dogs, now well fed, found a hidey spot and hit the sack. I wish I could zonk off just anywhere and at any time. 

We spent the rest of the evening in the usual way, food and then TV. 

Written Friday, January 19, 2024, read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com