To Houston and Back

We arrived at San Jacinto Riverfront RV Park in Highlands, TX and paid for a weeks stay (about $35 per night for a full service resort) to give our technician time to troubleshoot our heating problem. We made contact with Rudy Legett (AquaHot Factory Service Technician in Houston, TX area) who laid out his plan for troubleshooting our AquaHot heating system. He is a retired NASA engineer and full-time RV’er who studied the AquaHot system and became a factory certified technician.  Because our system fails randomly, a lengthy troubleshooting plan was required to find the bad actor.  I looked over Rudy’s shoulder and he explained his troubleshooting techniques allowing me to learn how this rather complex system works.  He found a couple things previous technicians had done incorrectly and corrected them.  I began writing about all the technical stuff we did, but figured most of you would be bored reading it. I kept it for my own records.  If anyone would like to know, they can contact me and I will send it to them. 

Bottom line, we believe the main control module has a fault. We replaced it with two different new modules and the same failure occurs.  He tested our system using a control module from a previous generation system and it worked flawlessly.  Unfortunately, the AquaHot Company does not supply these older modules under warranty and wants us to continue testing the system.  I’ll fill you in on how it plays out in a future entry.

While in Houston, Pattie and I visited the Aquarium one day and a large RV show on another day.  It was fun to see the new RVs and talk to people who were thinking about beginning the RV life.  We drove the Jeep down to Galveston, TX one day to look around and milled around old town.  They were hosing everything down following the Mardi Gras festivities, so it wasn’t the best time to stroll around.  We returned, loaded up the coach with provisions, and headed down to North Padre Island National Seashore. 

We passed through Corpus Christie, TX and made our way to the National Park entrance.  There are no hook-ups for campers in the park.  There is a central dump station and fresh water to clean and fill your tanks.  The beach side paved campground was full, but we could park on the gravel along the bayside or anywhere on the beach.  The Beach!  Yes, Texas beaches are part of the state highway system unless marked otherwise. Camping on the beach would be neat, but I wasn’t about to try rolling a 30,000-pound motorhome across the sand.  We pulled in nose first to a spot overlooking the bay so sundown could be seen through our large front windshield.  This was the nicest place we have camped so far.  The weather was perfect for leaving the windows open and letting the breeze blow through.  We ran our generator a couple hours in the morning and a couple at night to keep the batteries charged up since our solar panel is mainly a trickle charge.

 We took the Jeep to the beach and drove down past the 5-mile marker where four-wheel drive is mandatory.  There is a 60-mile stretch of beach you can drive with no developed areas.  We did see several people who towed campers out there and even a couple smaller motorhomes. 

Another day, we drove north to Port Aransas for lunch.  Here we toured the University of Texas Marine Science Institute’s Exhibit Center. There were several interactive displays and a great deal of information on research conducted after the Deep Horizon’s oil spill.  They showed how oil and dispersants interacted with sea life and what was being done to continue to improve the ocean environment.  I had to try out this magnetic fishing display that was built as an Eagle Scout project.  We enjoyed North Padre Island so much we extended for another day ($2 per day) and learned a bit more about how long we can boondock. 

We called Rudy and told him the AquaHot was still failing and he suggested we come park at his house to try some things the manufacturer suggested.  On our way back to Houston, we stopped for a couple nights at Brazos Bend State Park.  Pattie picked this place since it has several trails and we need to get our exercise.  I off loaded the bikes and we rode for about 8 miles one day exploring the park.  I was not to thrilled about all the warning signs for venomous snakes and alligators, but they kept to themselves.  We made a campfire and roasted marsh mellows at night. 

Rudy’s friend Rick owns a piece of land bordering a private lake east of Houston and lets Rudy park his RV there and has an extra spot for folks like us who need work done.  The set-up was like a resort. Rudy worked on the AquaHot and I fished for bass in the lake.  It has been a long time since I fished and I caught a nice small mouth bass.  I felt like a kid again.  We bid farewell to our new friends and headed toward Auburn, AL since our old cat (Katie) needed some surgery.  We have fond memories of our visit to Eastern Texas and hope to see Rudy and Rick again in the future.

States where we have camped so far!

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv

RV Tip:  Invest in a good quality water hose splitter.  This device will allow you to keep your fresh water hose connected and retain ready access to water for other purposes. This particular model has nice large handles for the shut off valves.  The small ones get pretty hard to turn when gummed up and under pressure.