Taking the holiday off

I’ll be taking a few days to celebrate that time we threw out a tyrant. Good times. We had a good run. 

-Sixbears

RV living

I happened to run into an old friend who’ve I’ve know since he was a baby. That’s a pretty weird feeling as the guy’s in his early 50s now. Also, he’s says he’s going to retire in January from the fire department. 

One of his goals was to buy a big RV and see the country. His wife, on the other hand, has a different plan. They get a huge discount from a major hotel chain. Her idea is to forget about the RV and to stay in hotels instead. Actually, with their discount, it’s probably a lot cheaper than the whole RV thing.

Even without the discount it might be cheaper than the RV option. 

In my travels I’ve seen and talked with a lot of RV campers. It used to be a pretty economical way to travel but decent RV parks ain’t cheap. Boondocking is still an option but your rig better be set up for it. That usually involves solar electric and generators for power. Large holding tanks and sizable fresh water tanks are necessary. 

It used to be easy to find a free place to park for the night. There are a lot fewer now. Part of the reason is the number of people who’ve abused the privilege. 

The idea of traveling around the country without an RV is more attractive. Personally, I’m still happy tossing a tent in the car and calling it good. It’s easy and cheap plus a few nights in a hotel now and then doesn’t hurt either. 

This time of year there are a lot of tourists visiting the mountains. I’m horrified when meeting overloaded RVs trying to navigate narrow mountain roads. 

Personally, I’m not interesting in driving a a mobile apartment. I used to get paid for driving trucks. I’m not going to do it for recreation. 

My friend’s wife might be saving him some headaches. 

-Sixbears

Hurricane Beryl

Hurricane Beryl is churning away in the southern Caribbean. It looks nasty. Some of the islands are in for it. We won’t know for days if it’s going to hit Texas or not. Some early models show it making landfall in the Galveston area. Of course, a storm this big doesn’t have to to hit directly to cause widespread problems. 

Just to add insult to injury there’s a chance other weather disturbances could develop in the area. There’s even a chance a second hurricane could follow the same path of Beryl. Imagine getting hit by a hurricane only to have a second one hit a few days later. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen. 

My own weather in New Hampshire is kinda weird. Not only have we been getting thunderstorm warnings there are also tornado warnings. What was once a very rare event in this state is becoming a regular thing. 

I was doing some shopping a few towns to the south of me and got caught in the rain. It was a near miss by a truly massive black cloud. In my travels through the Midwest and South I’ve encountered tornadoes a few times. That big black cloud looked disturbingly familiar. Of course, not every storm cranks out tornadoes but it sure looked like it had potential.

There are serious weather systems on the move this summer. Keep a wise weather eye on the conditions. 

-Sixbears