Winterize

Winter Sky
Originally uploaded by offyonder

Well... ya know, plans are really just the foundation upon which change occurs. It's nice to think you have a plan, to make it appear to others as if you're all organized and you have everything sorted out... but change is the inevitable and variables are truly infinite.

In shot, I'll be in St. Louis a bit longer than expected. Gina, our National Director, just got back from Peru and was not around for the prep, buildup, launch and even the beginning weeks of this road trip. I got a call from her suggesting I stick around as she has a trip scheduled for mid-December to come to St. Louis to meet with The Principia as it is and wanted to catch up with the road trip as well.

Temperatures have dropped quite a bit here in the city of the arch and since the Serafini's have been so great to allow me to continue to stay with them and since I'll be heading to the Great Northwest for Christmas and New Years - away from the trailer it just seemed to make sense to set it up to be cold for a while and not to burst any pipes.

I found Howard RV south of the city and they had the best price after some calling around to compare. Mike and Dave took care of everything, including emptying my black tank (sewage) which I've not had to deal with... yet. Thanks boys.

They also pointed out a few tips about storing the batteries. There are a few systems that will constantly draw on the batteries. So, they suggested disconnecting them and storing them inside - on wood, not on concrete (concrete sucks the acid out of the battery). Clever.

It's all part of learning about life on the road... or rather, on and off the road in freezing conditions.

So, I'll head towards Kansas City in the New Year when I get back and then down to Oklahoma City and into Texas, where hopefully I can find warmer temperatures.

Phone calls and e-mails out to Kansas City and back up to Iowa and Nebraska have been abounding as well as connections to Detroit as we try to organize an event up there.