Colder Weather.

____ Day 12: A calm misty morning gave the prospect of a bicycle ride into Port Lavaca to replenish supplies but by the time breakfast had finished; the wind was whipping-up white-caps on Magnolia Bay. A low pressure weather system was sweeping snow into Northern Texas and headed our way. Magnolia Beach is north-facing and unusual for the Gulf Coast; with a north wind it reminded me of bitterly cold expeditions to the North Norfolk Coast and childhood memories of Brancaster and Wells-next-to-Sea. The town of Magnolia Beach stirred up ghosts-past from Jaywick-on-Sea; where the dilapidated and ramshackle holiday homes were the pride and joy of so many. Another day of relentless pegging on the crib board and the generator powering the fan-heater.

____ Day 13: First casualty of the motor-home’s infrastructure is when the shower pump seizes solid. It was exactly the same model as the sink-water supply’s pump but always twice as noisy. Stripping it down; it was a wonder that it ever worked at all, with the pump bearing jammed in at an alarming angle. It was a day to re-stock with food and water; so we packed everything on board and swung by the Tractor Supply Company after a tour of Walmart and a free Wi-fi breakfast at McDonalds. TSC had the correct 2 gallon per minute sprayer pump but at a price that had before included 15 gallon tank. But the new pump proudly boasts “Made in the USA.” The old one had “Made in China” stamped on the bottom.

____ Day 14: I have suffered a lot of uncomfortable hours while living in a truck over the years but was determined to keep discomfort at bay for my time in the Mack. A tank full of fuel for the generator cost $10 and it ran for over nine hours; powering the fan heater, the fluorescent lights and charging the house batteries at the same time. Another cold day with a biting northerly wind and not what we came here for.

____ Day 15: At last! Sunshine, a chance get on the bikes and go for a ride to Alamo Beach. It sounds like it should be on the list of D-Day destinations but is just along the coast from Magnolia Beach; a better class of coastal properties and nowhere to park an RV for free. Then back to the Mack and sit in the Sun; chatting to everyone walking their dogs and a bloke from Bournemouth and his Texan girlfriend. Everybody is very friendly and waves when they pass, even the council workmen; who have been repairing pot-holes in the beach. I am not joking. A proper road runs parallel to the beach, less than 50 yards away, but most traffic uses the beach; just to see what’s going on.

Pelicans and rough sea of Magnolia Bay

Alamo Beach, looking towards Port Lavaca.

Watching ships pass by while supervising the solar power intake.

Indianola Cemetery; no Arbons interred.

Sunsets come too early.

_____ Volvos

____ Day 16:  Two big Volvo rigs arrived within a few hours of each other, coincidence as they did not know each other. Both fully loaded with all the toys, bells and whistles. Kings of the beach and any other place they cared to park with RVs. We might see them again as they are heading to Arizona for the Winter. Size is not everything but most people go big if they are wintering in the South. Long travel trailers and 5^th wheelers pulled by big pick-up trucks are the most common. Followed by big motor-homes; the motor-coach variety and those based on extended-chassis pick-ups. There is a smattering of all other shapes and sizes including slide-in campers and van conversions plus the stealth-campers; panel vans that don’t appear to be live-aboard vehicles.

____ Day 17: Neighbours come and go; there is a general shuffling of the pack every day. Some big motor-homes have a small car in tow; the pick-ups can drop what they are pulling and go for supplies. But we have to pack-up and go into town every so often. Today’s trip is for laundry with a chance to stock-up on food also. Seventeen days between the washing of our clothes seems about right. In the afternoon we cycle to the village of Powderhorn, on the Powderhorn Bayou; calling in at the Indianola Cemetery on the way back. Burial site of both Union and Confederate soldiers from the Civil War as they battled for control of the Intracoastal Waterway. 1867 seemed a particularly bad year for infant deaths as cholera and yellow fever took a heavy toll.

____ Day 18: As we are now settled in at Magnolia Beach; there is plenty of time to catch up on all those little jobs that need doing on the truck. Squeaky doors and cupboards that are now more noticeable and irritating. Bathroom door oiled, rubbish chute door re-aligned; all other door and locks oiled and cleaned. Someone could now come in while we slept; take a dump in the bathroom, steal our garbage and we would not hear a thing. But after three days of good weather; the wind picks up on Sunday afternoon and rain comes in across the white-capped Magnolia Bay.

Watching coasters.

Both big rigs had small wheelers with them; a Smart Car and a Jeep.

The Smart Car could be alternated with a pair of Can-Am Spyders.

The Mack is a distant third.

First impressions of Magnolia Beach are not good.

Boondocking.

Red flag: Magnolia Beach, Texas.

____ Day 8: Away from Schulenburg, mid-morning, onto Victoria with a long shopping list of everything we will need for the next installment of the adventure. We are entering the World of Boondocking with supplies from Wally’s World. Boondocking is the name given to living off the grid in a RV without paying anything for your parking spot. Facilities will be sparse, distant or non-existent and all food and water has to be taken for the planned length of stay in your chosen wilderness. Boondocking sites were once passed on by word of mouth or found by chance but now there is an app for your phone and plenty of information on the Internet. Magnolia Beach is on Google Maps along-side the words “Free RV Camping.” We arrived at 2.30 in the afternoon and neatly split the 200 yard gap between two travel trailers. 

____ Day 9: Our arrival in warm sunshine was followed by a stormy night and the worry of possible beach erosion. Parked only 20 yards from the high-tide line; I got dressed and went out to check the safety of the Mack, twice. Fortunately the beach is made up of hard-packed crushed sea-shells and very little sand; there was no noticeable difference to the shore-line throughout the day as the rain and strong winds continued until dusk. Magnolia Beach is on the mainland side of the Intra-Coastal Waterway and sheltered from the Gulf of Mexico by Matagorda Island. It was a day to stay inside, play crib and wonder if we had picked a good time to visit the South Texas coast.

____ Day 10: There are two types of Boondocker: the Nomad and the Snowbird. The Snowbirds are from the frozen North and escaping from the cold, harsh North American Winters; the Nomads are living full-time in RVs and each and every one is escaping from something or other. With an overcast but dry Saturday; we had a chance to meet many of our neighbours as Snowbirds and Nomads came to check-out the ex-fire truck on the beach.

____ Day 11: Another dull but dry day as we rode the bikes to the nearby village of Indianola; once the largest seaport in Texas before hurricanes destroyed the town in the 1860’s and Galveston took away the sea traffic. Now it is the site of a few scattered houses on stilts and the Indianola Fishing Marina. We took advantage of the all-you–can-eat pancake breakfast as plenty of veterans came to fish-free on Remembrance Day. The solar panels struggled to keep up with the demand of the last few cloudy days and the generator was needed to give the house batteries a charge; the first time since the system’s installation. Probably due to the shorter daylight hours of November with the interior lights being used so much more. Might need to get some candles. 

Parked by the shore at Magnolia Beach

The first camels in America arrived at Indianola shortly before the Ameican Civil War. They fought for the South.

Our neighbours on the hard-packed shingle beach.

Many local buildings have suffered from the ravages of the wind.

Big ships and barges pass close to shore as they navigate the Intracoastal Waterway.

              

Into Oklahoma.

Days 4,5,6 and 7.

____ Day 4: Out of the Love's at McPherson and down to the only bit of toll-road on the trip; $2.50 for the Kansas Turnpike from Wichita to the Oklahoma state border. Good Wi-Fi connection at the Belle Plaine Service Area helps soften the blow. Bright sunshine all day as we  make our way to the Flying'J at Oklahoma City for the overnight stop and a shower. Fifty gallons of fuel gets you a free shower but with just a 48 gallon fuel tank on the Mack; we have to do two fills of over 25 gallons to qualify.

____ Day 5: Flying'J and Pilot are very accommodating to motor homes and it is never a problem to tuck the Mack into a parking spot on the car park. I don't want to take a spot in among the big-rigs as I know how some places get full and the last thing that an over-worked and over-tired trucker needs is to find that a motor-home has taken the last empty stall when their hours are about to run out. We are the only motor-home staying over-night but there are at least twenty people sleeping in their cars and pick-up trucks. In the morning we take the bikes off the rack and ride the nearby river trail. Seven miles of paved cycle track between the Oklahoma River and Interstate 40 terminating at the state-of-the-art rowing facility of the US Olympic team. On the road again in early afternoon; the day's drive is just a short hop down to the Winstar Casino at the OK/TX state line.

____ Day 6: A rest-day in the finely manicured grounds of Winstar's own RV park. Very posh with very posh clientele but very good value. The first night is free for first-timers, $20 a night for casino club members; this includes electrical, water and sewer hook-ups. All very nice and with sunshine all day; some quiet country roads to ride the bikes and hot showers afterwards. The only disappointment was the end of the free breakfast buffets for over 55's on Wednesday and Thursdays; it now takes far too much gambling on your members club card to qualify. It seems far too many local seniors had been rocking-up just for the free grub and never playing the machines.

____ Day 7: Interstate 35 West is now virtually road-works free through Fort Worth after I had continually been held-up for the past twelve years. The tolled express lanes are finally up and running! After Waco we take the US Highway 77 for a night at the Pilot at Schulenburg; temperatures of 29 degrees C make the truck too hot and uncomfortable when we stop but the fact that I had left the heater running in the living quarters might have had something to do with it.

Self-catering is the key to economic road-trips.

Out of Kansas into Oklahoma.

The Mack, parked among high-end RVs at the Winstar.

Cycle track beside the river in Oklahoma City.

Wind turbines. I wonder if a small one would help power the house-batteries in the Mack.

Cycling the back roads in Southern Oklahoma.

The Adventure Begins................

Day 1 to Day 3.

____ Day 1: Heading South for the Winter in a re-configured fire-rescue truck maybe not everybody's idea of retirement but that is what I have chosen. October was full of bureaucratic bullshit as I battled to get my five pension-plans to pay me what I had planned for. It was like getting blood out of a stone with endless paperwork. The end result will not amount to enough for a pot to piss-in but I'm sure I can have one winter in the Sun and reconsider my future afterwards. Meanwhile the Mack went into Integrity Ventures for new leaf springs on the back and a new fuel tank.

So it was November the First when Cheryl and I finally left home on a frosty morning. Final banking, insurance and  wheel-nut re-torques meant it was late into the afternoon when we crossed into North Dakota. Fuel at the Grand Forks Flying'J and into the Petro at Fargo for the night; slipping into a bob-tail spot as the rain settled in for the night.

____ Day 2: Rain for most of the day as we took Interstate 29 to Watertown, South Dakota, and our first visit to Walmart for supplies and drinking water. Then US Highway 81 to Norfolk, Nebraska, but not before soaking myself with diesel when the pump blew-back at Casey's in Freeman. Just what I did not want; the living-quarters reeking of fuel-oil after just Day 2.

____ Day 3: Love's at Norfolk didn't have a laundry so the clothes didn't get washed until the Petro at York. From there, the weather brightened-up and we reached McPherson just before dusk. Much warmer already but not hot enough for shorts.

It's not everyday that you get to park next to a legend.

 

Slideshow Of The Mack Build.

The Road to Silver Beach.

After finishing the build, I needed to test the "Off-the-Grid" capabilities of the Mack. The opportunity came my way in the shape of job; working as a Park Operator for BC Parks. Based at the remote Silver Beach Provincial Park in Seymour Arm.

Nearly two thousand kilometres is a long way to go to work but it was for 2 months; mid-July to mid-September. The journey was during the hottest days of the Summer. Worrying about over-heating tyres kept the speed down and it took three days to get there.

The last fifty kilometres were on Forestry Service Roads. Rough gravel beside the Shuswap Lake that filled the living quarters with a fine coating of dust, even with the windows closed.

I camped next to the storage shed and park compound; just a stone's-throw from the beach. It was the best spot to catch the sun for the solar panels. All the campground was shaded by tall trees.

I arrived in mid-season, so everywhere was busy. The lay-out of the campground was old-fashioned and not suited to today's huge RVs. They were very close to each other and I was glad to be away from the main camping area. 

The village of Seymour Arm has a marina and floating convenience store. It was the source of all my food and drink during my stay; apart from the Wheelhouse Pub and the Country Kitchen restaurant.

Seymour Arm is not connected to BC Hydro, the provincial electricity supply company. All power comes from private generators and solar panel systems. Tap water has to be boiled before drinking although there is one drinking water tap for the village, supplied by the community's water purification plant. The campground has three taps but no flushing toilets or showers. The lake water temperature was pretty warm when I arrived so I made do with a daily swim to keep clean.

Besides the Silver Beach campground; I had another drive-in campground and seven marine access provincial parks to look-after. There was a speedboat for the park operator to use; moored at the marina which also supplied the fuel on-account. It was 14 foot long with an 80 horse-power Mercury outboard; made of aluminium, it was ideal for beaching at the boat-only parks.

Luxury house-boats are a very big part of the tourism on Shuswap Lake. Four big rental fleets are frequent visitors to the marine parks. My job was to keep these areas litter-free and tidy. I visited boat-only sites every other day and the drive-in campgrounds every day.  

Another part of the job was to check on the Albas Falls. This is a series of five cascades on Celista Creek with footpath running from the lake-shore; up one bank of the creek, across a bridge at the top and down the other side. I had to collect litter, check on signage and report any fallen trees or damage.

The Albas Falls are a very popular hike; both with boaters and the campers at the drive-in Albas campsite. I didn't get to hike the picturesque falls as many times as I would have liked; the work-load was so heavy that I didn't even have time to shave.

Overall, the weather was very good during my stay. Only one big storm hit the beach although smoke from forest fires in British Columbia did cut visibility for three weeks at the end of August. 

The storm brought down a big tree on one of the Silver Beach pit-toilets. Luckily, nobody was inside at the time. Cleaning the pit-toilets was also part of the job; it was a bit more than holding your nose, kicking open the door and lobbing-in a couple of toilet rolls. But not much.

My day started at 7 o'clock in the morning with an early morning trip down the lake to the furthest of the day's marine parks. The best part of the day with no-one else out on the water. The high-light of my time on the Shuswap was when I came across a moose, swimming across the lake in the early morning.  Black bear, beaver, eagle and osprey could also be regularly seen from the boat.

After the 20th of August; the campground was nearly always empty during the week. The Kawasaki side-by-side was invaluable in collecting rubbish from the bear-proof bins and for running to the marina. 

With less work to do, I was able to relax more and do touristy stuff for myself. This included watching the sockeye salmon run in the Seymour River.

By September, the marine parks were almost always deserted. Beautiful places with names like Encounter Point, Two Mile Creek, Wright's Landing, Beach Bay, Fowler Point and Bug House Bay; etched in my memory forever.

The view from the window of the truck. Silver Beach, Shuswap Lake and the jetty of the Wheelhouse Pub.

Two Mile Dump; the lumber operation of Canoe Forestry Products. Logs floating in the lake, waiting to be towed to the sawmill.

When it came time to leave; I took a chance by heading back to the Trans-Canada Highway on the Forestry Service Road known as the Gorge. Follow the power lines that come from the Mica Dam were my instructions. 80 kilometres of gravel instead of  50 but saving a hundred kays overall.

I knew it was only re-opened recently after some land-slides but didn't realize that construction crews were still finishing the clear-up. The track was really rough but dry enough for two-wheel drive vehicles. 

The hills were steep and single track. Meeting a loaded logging truck was a distinct possibility on the twisting hillsides but didn't happen. 

Shuswap Lake is in the shape of an "H" with four arms that join at "The Narrows."
Salmon Arm, south to the town of the same name.
Main Arm that goes towards Sorrento.
Anstey Arm that goes north from Salmon Arm at the Narrows
and
Seymour Arm is what you have with short sleeve shirts.

On checking the Mack at the end of the dirt road revealed it had taken it's toll on the underside of the motor-home. Broken rear leaf-spring, weeping diesel tank and leaking front hub seal; probably costing two months wages to repair.

The road in from the West: Squilax to Seymour Arm. The final 50 km is gravel.
The road out to the East. Seymour Arm to Craigellachie. All gravel and rocks and terrible.