Saturday September 28th 2019

I tend to write about the weather too much, but I need to vent about winter in September. The temperature went down all day from the starting point in the fifties. Around noon clouds started to appear over the mountains to the west. A little over an hour later it was raining hard. Three hours later the sun was back out and the temperature was in the thirties. It has showered off and on since. One of the showers sounded more like sleet.

When I took a walk before darkness, I saw snow on the foothills to the north. There was a clear line between the brown ground and the think layer of snow. Checking a detailed forecast online indicated snow is possible down to 4500 feet in elevation in this area. Checking my altitude brought the added insight that I’m above 4800 feet. I guess I may see snow before this early winter weather episode ends on Monday. The temperature is only supposed to get down to around thirty in this area during the period around dawn. That shouldn’t be enough to freeze water lines inside the RV basement.

The cold weather and a little bit of snow aren’t a big problem when your prepared. The problem is I’m only half prepared. My current campsite only has 30amp electric service. I can not run multiple electric heat sources at that amperage. Running the propane furnace is the alternative, but I haven’t filled the tank recently. I only have a quarter of a tank. All this means I have to conserve. I’ll use one electric heater and turn it off when I need to run other big draws like the microwave. The gas furnace will only get used early in the morning or when I need to make a quick change in the temperature. Leaving my site to get more propane is a last resort.

Before the weather deteriorated this afternoon, I spent some time shopping in the nearby Cabelas sporting goods store. This store provided the full Cabelas experience. Large areas of the store were filled with stuffed wild animals and aquariums filled with native fish. Viewing the museum like exhibits breaks up the shopping experience. I didn’t find anything that I wanted to buy today, but I may be back before I leave the area. I want to check out a couple of other places first.