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Saturday, December 10, 2011

Almost A Giant Ice Cube

A Super Walmart in Illinois was a good place to stop, even better was the chance to pick up enough food to stuff the fridge, cabinets, and even the microwave.  One item we grabbed was a complete stew kit, the meat, veggies and gravy.  We wanted to put the stew in the crock pot and let it cook while driving down the road.  Great idea.

One small problem cam to light in the morning.  We had a little crock pot, too small to cook the meal.  Back into Walmart and shortly we had a new, larger crock pot to put the food in, plug in and place in the sink.  It made the trip smell delicious.  Now we have a new problem, where to put it.

Last night was very cold, temps dipped below 18 degrees.  We had the furnace cranked up and we were warm inside.  When we were getting ready to leave this morning, the slides moved slower than slow, the hydraulic fluid was cold, making them very sluggish.  With everything stowed, the Journey's engine running (kept the block heater on all night so it fired right up), the last thing was to open the windshield curtains.  Surprise, the windshield was frozen over with ice...from the inside!

That was a new one on us, but this cold weather living in the Journey is loaded with new experiences.
I turned on the defrosters and the windshield fans and after about ten minutes, the windshield was de-iced.  We had to wipe the glass dry, but it needed cleaning anyway.

Off like a dirty shirt we went and drove the rest of the way through Illinois where everything was dry, snow free and cold,


then through Iowa, where there was lots of snow along the roads,


and in the fields.



Iowa had dozens and dozens of giant wind generators.  They must like them because they are all over the place.  The way they are spinning, it's no wonder it was so cold in Iowa.



 
After driving all the way through Iowa, we stopped for the night at another Flying J (see a pattern here?) just west of Omaha, Nebraska.  We didn't drive as many miles as yesterday (450), we only drove 445 miles.  Have to take it a little easy. ;c)  This is not going to be our full time traveling style, we just want to get to Oregon as fast as we can to see the grandkids.  We're going to spend about 20 days with them, a new experience for all of us.

We like to overnight at Flying J's because of the availability of the free parking and have the fuel, water and dump station available first thing in the morning as we get ready to hit the road.  We won't always stay at Flying J's, but when we're trying to make time, we take advantage of what they offer.

A look down the road with the weather predictions show that we should have snow and ice free roads ahead on the route to Salt Lake City where we will turn North and head up through Idaho into Oregon.  The weather should be warmer, too, only in the thirties.  Maybe the Journey will finally thaw out.

 Marti is making good use of her new iPad  checking all the conditions along our route.  At least that's what she tells me she's doing.  I do hear all kinds of beeps, dings and other noises that I think are games...



Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

13 comments:

  1. Put the new crockpot where the old crockpot was, then put the old crockpot inside the new crockpot. Viola! Double duty space :)
    It's nice to be able to cook all day and have dinner ready, isn't it? Especially when you're driving marathon distances :)

    Be safe!

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  2. I had to de-ice just by reading your blog and looking at those pictures! Hmm .. we've never cooked in a crockpot while traveling. Actually, we've never thought of it. Text us some of that stew and I'll text you some heat!

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  3. You two are definitely road warriors. What time do you stop at night? I was figuring you'd be in NE tonight. WY or ID tomorrow. Sure is fun following you without doing any of the sitting

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  4. Looks like you're lucking out with the weather. Oh no, I know, it's good planning. I keep expecting to see Marti writing out Christmas cards.

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  5. Were thinking about trying to drive 450 miles from San Jose to San Diego for Christmas. We've done it a couple of dozen times in our car, but this will be the first time in the RV. I've located all the rest stops and a couple of Camping Worlds along the route in case we have to overnight.

    Walmart does not let you overnight in California.

    I'm trying to find some crock pot meals I like, but except for ribs, I haven't been very successful.

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  6. crockpot going while heading down the road!..now that it is roughing it!!

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  7. You two are certainly getting some miles behind you, and keeping the campground fees to a minimum (zero) so far since you hit the road as fulltimers. Don't you just love those cold, crisp midwest winter mornings?

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  8. Interesting to hear how you are managing in the cold weather. We've never driven our MH in freezing temps.

    How do you stay warm while driving? Does your dash heat keep you warm enough? Aren't you burning through a ton of propane heating with it overnight? Just curious about the logistics of winter rv'ing.

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  9. We did not get ice inside but in humid San Antonio. It was practically raining in the coach. We had to wipe all the windows down a couple of times. I used the electric heat during the day and that seemed to suck some of the moisture out of the air.

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  10. Hope your luck with no storms continues!

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  11. Yesterday, I read someplace that if you have a spray bottle with a vinegar / water mixture and spray it on the windows, the snow and ice melt immediately. But! I have yet to try it. FWIW!

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  12. Those pictures were too cold to even look at!!!

    Hope you guys find warmer weather soon

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  13. Maybe you need to check the full timer handbook again. There is a whole chapter devoted to avoiding cold and snow:)

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