As you guys know we are living in a 23' pull behind camper as we travel around and eventually look for our sailboat home. The camper is not insulated so warm weather calls--dealing with frozen pipes is bad enough in a house but in a camper, well, NO THANKS! :-)
Thankfully we have time (sort-of) on our side. We want to arrive in the Pacific Northwest in March/April because the average temperatures at that time look manageable in the camper (40's and 50's). Now keep in mind, we lived at 10,800 feet with 8 months of winter and shoveling feet of snow weekly for 20 years so we aren't weather whimps. We are however, finding that we like the easy living that warm weather brings.
Anyway, starting in February we planned to spend 1 week in Texas, 1 week in New Mexico, 1 week in Arizona, and then 1 week in California which would put us in Oregon the first part of March.
You know what they say about plans...in Neil Young's words, "The devil fools with the best laid plans".
So here we are in the middle of February and still in Texas, actually planning on being here about another week. Why? Plain and simple the answer is because weather trumps plans.
A cold front is moving in and snow is predicted for where we were camping, the beautiful Davis Mountains in western Texas where just yesterday they were breaking record high temperatures for this time of year. So we turned tail and drove further south. Currently we are "hiding out" in Big Bend National Park where the low temperatures are predicted to dip into the 50's with some rain. Totally doable.
This is good practice for sailing, right? We've always read that the single biggest mistake you can make sailing is to be in a hurry. You have to watch the weather and go with the winds.
Thankfully western Texas is actually quite beautiful and there are lots of things to see and do. So far we've learned about the Fort Davis, Buffalo Soldiers, Apache Indians, and how they all came together in the 1800's, the Civilian Conservation Corps (what a great program, I would have signed up if I was a guy!), and viewed the full moon up close and personal at the McDonald Observatory, and played in the minimalist outdoor sculptures at the Chianti Foundation.
And the natural beauty of the area, well, it's breathtaking and the changing light showcases something new every time I look. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the desert in rainy weather.
But we are both anxious to get to the coast and start looking for the sailboat. Hm...please reference lesson learned above...watch the weather and go where the winds go. We'll just wait and see what happens next. :-)