The best laid plans...

April 28, 2011
Amarillo, TX - Oklahoma City, OK

...often turn to crap. Or, in our case, the toilet failed. So, I spent the better part of the Wednesday researching and troubleshooting instead of going to Palo Duro Canyon. For those familiar with household toilets, the RV versions are a bit more complicated, with everything controlled by a circuit board (water flow, trap opening/closing. It's not rocket science but it's probably more complex than it needs to be. I ran through the diagnostics in the manual and called their support line, and I got the name of an expert at the factory. The support person thinks it's a control board ($694) and the factory guy thinks it's the motor ($200). With a new toilet retailing for $499, I've got some deciding to do.

All this was probably just as well since we continued to have very strong winds all day and a sightseeing trip might have been less than desirable. We had dinner at "The Big Texan" because, well, it's something you have to do once. I had a T-bone (reasonably OK) and Geri had a "Texas Filet" which turned out to be a piece of top sirloin masquerading as a filet mignon (not OK). Check; done; no need to do that again.

We did make a quick stop at Cadillac Ranch on the way out of town, which was easy since it's right next to the RV Park.

Click here for some pictures from Cadillac Ranch.

Once fueled up and on the road, it was a breeze to drive over to Oklahoma City. Get it? A "breeze" with all the strong winds. Fortunately, they were still mostly tailwinds, which helps with the fuel economy. We had a couple of choices on an RV park, and probably chose the least desirable option but it was right on the route and worked out OK for a two-nighter. We were parked and relaxing by cocktail hour, and had good Net and TV access. I was able to make a Home Depot run to get a plastic hose and valve to temporarily jury-rig the toilet for emergency use. Now, if the winds would just calm...