Lost in Texas - Not!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

After losing WiFi access for a time, I am in business again.  Today is Tuesday, March 6, and I am catching up after a long dry spell with no Internet access, even in parks that advertised WiFi connections.  I should remember we are on vacation, I guess.

So, I am playing catch-up with the blog and going back to the Day of Delivery.  We left west Texas and Van Horn on the morning of February 28 with a goal of making it to Rice and Casita-land in time to eat dinner, sleep in a motel, then head for the manufacturing plant the next morning.

At about 9:30 a.m. on February 29, we took ownership of "Baby Beluga II."  Well, actually it took four hours of "Welcome;" tour and introduction; signing the papers and paying the money; and removing Duffy's bike from the rack on the back of the Honda Pilot, emptying boxes of trailer supplies of all kinds from the car, putting the bike in the Honda wrapped in old sleeping bags, and carefully piling the boxes, etc. into the trailer.  All we did when we got to a campground across town was move enough boxes out of the way to make the bed and dive in.  Aaahhhh!  Our new bed at last.

Yes, we are excited about our new Casita!  With one additional foot and a few inches of extra height, we have a bed in which we can both sleep, and space in which Duffy can stand straight when he's not ducking to miss the roof mounted vent or air conditioner.  Read on only if you are interested in a detailed description - I know some of our readers are.  I hope to include photos in future postings.  However, today I am sitting in the Rusk, Texas Library using a public computer.

So, here's the scoop: 
The windows are larger, all of them open including the back "picture window," and they are covered with blinds rather than curtains. 

The refrigerator is larger, has shelves in the door and a freezer, and does not need to be "turned on" from outside (pilot light lit from the outside).  This one runs on propane or electricity with the push of a button - Yeah!!

The bathroom has all the usual - shower, sink, and toilet - yet the toilet is raised and the tank enclosed in a raised box to make cleaning around it easier.  Another yeah!!  This model has a roof vent with a fan, which the other one did not have.

We ordered the model - 17' Spirit Deluxe - that has a side table (Duffy remodeled our first Casita to include this) that we can leave up all the time.  Storage is built in beneath the benches of the tables with cabinet doors that keep the contents from tumbling out.

Our Casita has a roof mounted air conditioner that also serves as a heater - Yeah!!  The roof vent with the fan is like a skylight that allows light to filter in, and either pulls air in or out by the flick of a switch.  This too, can be adjusted to cool or warm the air.

We requested larger tires, so instead of the small 13" tires on the old Casita, this one has 15" radial tires.  The Casita sits higher off the ground - a good thing - and has a pull out step to assist climbing in.  We have an electric hitch, an option added by request, that makes life a whole lot easier.  The propane bottles switch automatically when one runs out and there is a "reader" included that lets us know roughly how much propane is left in either tank.

The microwave in this one has all the conveniences of home, rather than just a dial.  There are timers for this and that kind of food, and a simple mode of operation - a necessity for us simple minded folk.

The front door opens wider than the door on our first Casita, due to a different kind of hinge installation.  We can open the door all the way and latch it to a "catch" on the outside of the Casita to stand open, with the screen door - yes, screen door! - open.  Yeah!!

This new design includes wrap around overhead cabinets, utilizing interior space better.  We've had no problem filling it up.

Duffy likes having the sewer hose housed in the rear bumper - all 25' of it.  Whoo-hoo.  Think he's odd for getting excited over a 25-foot long sewer connection?  You would understand if you knew what he went through before.  Not only that, but the gray- and black-water drains have been moved from under the center of the trailer (requiring nearly crawling in to connect and disconnect the hose) to the driver's side where it can be reached.  The gray and black water tanks both drain into the same outlet, eliminating the need for a separate hose for gray water drainage.

There is more to come, so until next time,
Pam