Well, you could call it a bat cave, or a man cave, but seeing that I’m not a mammal, just a Transit Trail campervan, the cave demands a more appropriate name. Trail Cave. I like it.
My place is dry and cozy, even though it’s not hollowed out of a hillside or a mountain. Good news – it’s entirely free of hobbits and dragons. Those are always a worry, yes? My overlords have rented a big, covered, and enclosed RV parking space just up the road from their home in San Antonio. Most of the other rigs around the neighborhood here are ginormous, like 90 feet long, 40 wheels, three big screen TVs. I’m just a baby. No, not really an infant, maybe a pre-teen. I know I’m not yet an adolescent as the angst and hormones have not yet demanded fealty.
Yes, I’m worried about my overlords. They are making lists: one is for repairs, another is for upcoming trips. Who knows if anything will get done. Their track records are not enviable! On the repair side, I need a new water heater, and some water lines are busted. Not my fault! Somewhere between Alberta and Wyoming, it got to minus 20 Fahrenheit. Yikes. By the time we got to Utah and the temps rose, the damage was noticeable. We got a new water pump there, and the sink started draining again. When that sink gets gummed up, I get gassy and nasty. You can’t dump your grey water just anywhere, you know.
Oh you didn’t know that. I mean, you gotta have some standards. Hygiene is the foundation of self-respect.
So earlier this week the ubermensch had me parked on the street, but at the first sign of thunder with possible hail he took me up to my “Trail Cave” to wait out the storm. Here I have 120 volt electric, not a 30 ampere hook up but it’s fine, and racks of supplies, and equipment – lanterns and stoves, TP and Kleenex, ropes, wires, hammocks and tents and folding chairs, buckets, water purification. The newest piece of bling is a beautiful Adler hatchet, Forst und Gartenwerkzeuge, German steel and craftsmanship. Less likely to be useful in Big Bend, but there is some gratification in the heft of it.
The fresh water is topped off, the grey water tank empty. The March rain falls. There has been idle talk of going off the grid. Interesting, but how long will that last?
Scott D. McLean, MD 