2011 Trip across the US
2012 Trip across the US
2014 Trip across the US
2015 Trip to Alaska
2015-16 Southwest Trip
2016 New England Trip
2016 - 17 Southwest Trip
2017 - 18 Trip to Pick Up a New Escape 21 Trailer & More
2018 - 19 Trip to Winnipeg & the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
2019 - 20 Trip to the Southwest
Thursday, November 18, 2021 - Rio Grande Village Campground, Big Bend National Park, Big Bend, TX, Day 5 - 0 Miles, 2,641.3 Miles for the Trip
An interesting night! Around 10:00 my new neighbor set their tent up in the dark. While it has been calm for the last 4 days, not last night. The wind got stronger and stronger throughout the night, and is still blowing strong this morning. My trailer was shaking, however many of the tent campers didn't fair well. My neighbor did OK, but during my morning walk I saw a number of tents collapsed, some shredded. There are others that are standing around planning to leave this morning, but don't want to try to take down their tent in the wind. While it is slowing down, there are still 30 - 40MPH gusts.
It reminds me of a trip in 2011 when friends Anne & Guido flew out to the southwest to join me traveling with my first trailer. They brought their tent, set it up at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada (If you haven't been, go!). The ground was too hard for their tent pegs, so they tied one side to my trailer and the other to the weight distribution tongue (weighs 40 - 50 pounds) from my RAV4. All was well until around 2:00AM when the wind got really bad. Guido got out to see if he could tie the tent to something else, and Anne told him he had to get back in - after he got off the mattress, she, the air mattress & the tent were floating off the ground. They (and the tent) survived the night.
All that happened to me here at Big Bend is one of the corners of my entry mat came loose. It is still too windy to fold it up, so I left it with a chair holding it down. I also took down my site sign & hummingbird mobile since both don't do well in the wind. Since I usually fold up my large mat the day before leaving &, if necessary, put down a small one, I hope the wind dies down enough for that to happen. If I tried it right now, I might be sailing over the Rio Grande!
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| Wind Blown Tents | ||
They do flood irrigation at the campground, putting up signs and labels on the site number posts indicating what areas they are going to flood. Some enterprising camper floated his canoe on the "flood".
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| The Canoe |
I don't know if it is going to get into the 90's today since the front that went through causing the wind might have been a warm or cold one. It caused warmer overnight temperatures (my furnace never came on and I never saw it go below 54°F outside), but right now at 11:00 it is still only 55°F outside so it may be cooler. There are some clouds that may tone down the sun (but also slow down my battery charging from the panels). I'm not all that worried ( I am still at 85% after using the microwave for both dinner & breakfast, along with my pot of coffee).
On my second walk, I went through the no generator section back in the bushes, and found a Casita 17. Nobody home so I didn't say hi...
The afternoon has been a mix of sun & clouds. Still very gusty winds, although a bit more time between gusts. 59°F and very low humidity - 24% in the trailer. Sparks every time I touch anything. It looks like rain, but with the low humidity, I doubt it.
Since it appears that the wind is not going to stop, I put the grill away & plan to make a sandwich and cook some soup on the stove inside.
Until The Next Internet Connection -
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Last Update:
November 19, 2021