Our November Trip from Indiana to New Mexico

We left Indiana on the morning of November 2nd, heading south and west for the winter. It had already snowed a couple of days before, and the dampness and chill were still in the air. It wasn't quite foggy, but very overcast and dreary. We knew there was going to be several months of weather like that ahead if we had stayed up north...anywhere!

On our way out of our host's driveway!

On the road again, for the winter!

Our first stop for the night was the Marion, IL Walmart. We had stayed there a few weeks before, on our return trip from our storage unit in Arkansas. On the way down, we drove straight through, but with pulling a trailer in strong head winds, making potty stops for Angel (and ourselves), stopping to eat, and going out of our way a couple times because I waited too long to get gas, the trip took us nearly 13 hours...WAY longer than I ever want to drive again! We needed a halfway stop!

The Walmart at Marion was not exactly on the main highway (I-57), but once we found it, getting to it a second time was easier, even after taking a wrong street. As with most Walmarts (not all) we were able to park along the outside perimeter so that our side door opened to a grassy area... much safer for Angel going out. It also keeps us from having noisy vehicles parking right next to us, although we have become accustomed to noisy parking lots and sleep right through most commotions.

The sun and weather on the way there was in a hazy bright mode most of the way, so the solar, combined with charging from the van had our trailer batteries topped off very well. But normally, the 225 amps of power from the large AGM batteries would last part way through the night with the fridge running and our normal cell phone and lights usage. That night, the power didn't even last until 9 PM. We ended up shutting the fridge down early.

After gassing up the van the next morning, we continued our drive to north central Arkansas, and arrived well before dark. It was mostly sunny, and again, our batteries were topped off when we arrived. But again, we had to shut the fridge down early due to insufficient power.

The next day, we went to our storage unit, and managed to get all our excess out of the trailer and van while we rearranged the contents of the storage unit to make space for it all. I wouldn't say it was overcrowded, but I'm glad we didn't bring any more with us! Again, we returned to our Walmart parking spot well before dark, and again, had to shut the fridge down before 8 PM, but not before seeking out a solution.

The two batteries that I had paid over $574 for not even four years ago had apparently been damaged from lack of use. The solar had been keeping their charge up the entire time, but ever since we bought the RV in April of '16, the trailer had become nothing more than a storage vessel. There wasn't enough power going out on a regular basis to "exercise" the batteries, so they became "lazy". This was NOT the fault of the batteries!

After we returned from the storage unit, we decided to bite the bullet and go across the street to O'Reilly's and see what they had. The batteries that we decided on were the blue-top Optima batteries, in 12V instead of 6V. These are multi-use AGM batteries, so they are rated in cranking amps (700) as well as amp hours (70). By being able to handle heavy loads like an engine starter (or in our case, like the microwave) as well as the normal lighting and electronic loads, they can perform under all circumstances that we would need. They obviously don't have the plate size or capacity that our old ones had, but we had used a similar battery before. Our truck camper had a single yellow-top Optima in it and I was amazed at the performance of it.

These batteries were again nearly the same cost as the VMaxTanks batteries that I had purchased the first time! If I had the money available, I would have bought two more, though! With running 500 watts of solar power, rule of thumb is that I should have roughly half of that in amp hours, or 250. As it is, I only have 140 amp hours, and again, that is not enough to keep the fridge on all night...but it is doing better. And the increased solar charge recovers quickly in the morning, such that I can maintain a 12-hour on and 12-hour off duty cycle on the fridge... as long as we have sunshine from daybreak to dusk. If we don't, I have had to run the van for a few hours to keep the batteries charged. I hate to do that, but right now, it's cheaper and more convenient than having to spend money for a generator and it's accompanying maintenance and fuel! Still, I have on my want list, a Honda EU2200i generator, so that we can eventually be able to use the air conditioner, an electric heater, or even larger power tools when we are out boondocking!

So anyway, the trailer batteries were our first major expenses on this trip. From there to Paris, Texas was an easy drive and uneventful. But I made the mistake of pulling the trailer plug from the van that night, and forgot to plug it in again the next morning! I didn't realize it until we stopped for lunch near Gainesville, TX and by then, the end of the plug was destroyed from dragging on the pavement. I tried to straighten some of the damaged clips, but when I plugged it into the receptacle, I heard a slight electrical "pop", but didn't realize what had happened. (I found out the next morning, that something had popped the fuse on the tail light converter. It was probably my own doing.) We had no choice but to continue on with no trailer lights at all.

Near Haskell, TX we found a trailer shop, where I was able to buy an add-on 7-pin plug. (Normally, I carry a spare, but had no idea where to find it. Anyone who tows a trailer should always carry spare plugs and even receptacles.) I should have put it on myself, but I allowed one of their employees to install it, which he did correctly. But when connected, the trailer lights still wouldn't work. He and another employee spent nearly two hours trying to find out why, and even their boss came out to assure me they knew what they were doing, as all they do every day is work on trailers.... but they didn't. I paid the $136 bill (which he said he discounted to only an hour of labor) and left with still no trailer lights.

Fortunately, the Haskell, Walmart wasn't far down the road, and we parked for the night. The next morning, I went out to troubleshoot the wiring problem myself. I knew the lighting converter was behind the left van tail light (where I saw it the day before), so I started there. In checking the fuse on the converter, I found that it was blown, so I changed it. Still no lights. But I knew the trailer guys had been underneath the back of the van and had disconnected some plugs on the wiring harness. Without even looking, I reached up under the bumper and found a connector. Suspecting there had to be another half of it, I kept feeling around until I found the mate to it and I plugged them together! Sure enough, all the lights worked as they were supposed to! And those guys were supposed to be "professionals" at trailer wiring! I don't think so!

Again, we were back on the road, with Graham being our next overnight stop. Everything was going well until we reached the little town of Rule, TX, where we stopped for gas. While I was pumping gas, I noticed the left trailer tire was half-way flat. They had a "pay-as-you-go" air pump out front, so I pulled around there in case I needed it, which I did. I saw something in the tire near the outside edge, and about that time, a good Samaritan pulled up to see if he could help. He pulled a shard of bone out of the tire with his pliers, and with a plugging kit from the convenience store he plugged the tire for me. I sprayed it with Windex and got no bubbles, so I thought we were good to go, but before I even got through the town, I could see in my mirror that the tire was going flat again.

The small bone shard that cost us big bucks!

I turned around and went back to the same station and parked in back to change the trailer tire to the spare. I knew the spare wasn't in great shape, but this was a Sunday, and I needed to get to the next larger town, Post, TX to even find a new tire. I could see this spare wobbling as we progressed west, but took it slow and easy. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. The tire blew about 8 miles east of Post, and cut a big gash in my aluminum trailer fender. Ouch! Another repair to do down the road!

The left trailer fender damage from the blown tire!

The inside of the fender damage! It was worse, until it was pulled back out again!

We were out in the middle of nowhere, with no safety burm on the edge of the road. We saw a fancy gate about a hundred yards ahead on the south side, with enough room to park without going in. Unfortunately, we had no cell signal! With no other alternative, we slowly drove over the cattle guard and up a hill another 500 feet, where we found another sign, and a fork in the road. We were at the Dalby Quarterhorse Ranch! It appeared that the ranch house might be to the left, so we continued on another 500 feet until we were able to pull into their residence driveway. By then, the trailer rim was trash as well as the tire.

What was left of the trailer tire!

Mendy Dalby came to the door and could see our problem. She invited us in to use their phone, and even suggested who to call on a Sunday. Within an hour, a service truck arrived with a new tire, which he proceeded to put on the original good wheel, and then changed the bad spare for us. But by then it was nearly dark, and Mendy suggested we just park in their driveway for the night. Her husband and son were out hunting, but assured us it would be all right. She even brought us out a small loaf of fresh warm banana bread she had just made. You can't beat that for hospitality! Thank you Mendy!

It went down to 29 degrees that night, with wind picking up to over 30 mph by lunchtime! Mendy's husband, Giles, and son were home the next morning (she had to work) so we stopped to introduce ourselves and say a quick hello and goodbye when he invited us in for a hot cup of coffee and to visit for a bit. As soon as we finished, we were off to the tire dealer in Post to settle up with him, and then on to Roswell. But that wasn't the end of our troubles!

We had been parked at the Roswell Walmart for about three days, waiting for a new tire (to replace the bad spare) from them and a new wheel from Tractor Supply, when I happened to look up after walking Angel, and realized our front section of solar panels had tipped the gutter brackets backward and they had punched through the aluminum rain gutter on the trailer and literally ripped pieces out! Also, the center panel had lost a side screw in the left front mounting foot, and had settled into a twist... never a good thing for tempered glass!

The passenger side roof mounts through the gutter!

The driver's side roof mounts through the gutter!

The middle solar panel left front mounting screw missing!

I bought some cheap rope at Walmart and rigged up a sling from each front corner of the roof brackets to the tongue of the trailer. The rope had stretch to it, so I pulled it tight and tied it. Then I loosened the gutter clamps all around and was able to lift the rack back in place. The rope tension automatically pulled everything forward for me. I was able to slide it forward onto a new section of gutter before clamping it down again. I also found a temporary screw to put back in the panel foot, so that it would set level again, and then checked the screws that went into the cross members. Some were "slightly" loose, so I gave them about a quarter turn.

The front right bracket in it's new position, and the damage it did!

The right rear gutter damage!

The left rear gutter damage!

In coming up with a "fix" with limited tools to work with, I bought a 20-foot, welded link tie-out chain for a dog, screw links and turnbuckles to rig up crossed chains for each side, from the bottom of the front gutter bracket to the top of the back bracket and vice versa. That will keep the brackets from tilting either direction, and keep them from punching through the gutter again... hopefully! Next spring, I can replace the temporary chains with some solid pieces of flat stock steel or aluminum, and repair the gutters, once I have a place to work and the tools with which to do it!

We thought this trip was going to be uneventful, but so far, it has been anything but! We aren't done with the story of mishaps! The worst and most expensive one was yet to come, after nearly three weeks at Roswell, but this is getting long already, so let's continue that in the next post.

As always, if you have questions or comments, please speak up! I'll continue the story in a few days. Maybe I'll have more news on the solution by then!