HOLIDAYS WITH THE FAM
As soon as I had found a subletter and got my apartment squared away, I was off to Cleveland to spend the holidays with the fam. This meant living in the Airstream and watching the temperature drop to the single digits. There was also the ever-present threat of being snowed-in. My two 30 lb. propane tanks were keeping me warm for about 10 days, so I had to be ever-vigilant about watching my propane usage. And it was tricky keeping the snow and slush on the outside, and managing the condensation on the inside. All good, though. In fact, I love that this thing is built winter-tough. Thank you so much to Pat for being so helpful and generously giving me half of her driveway to park in and a garage to plug into.

AT LONG LAST, THE SILVER SNAIL SAILS
I wanted to leave Cleveland on New Year's day, but the weather didn't cooperate, so I waited until the 3rd. On that morning, at around 4:30 a.m., I woke up to discover that I was cold - I had miscalculated and run out of propane. Ugh. It was in the single digits outside, and approaching 40 degrees inside. Crap. It would get dangerously cold before I could get more fuel. Shit. My only guarantee of heat for me and my animal pals was the 4-Runner, so i started the car, got them inside, quickly hitched up in the cold dark and hit the road. Somewhere in West Virginia I stopped to make a sandwich in the galley and noticed an icicle drip coming out of the faucet. I hadn't found propane the entire morning, since it was so early and we were driving on the highway, so it was pretty cold inside. I thought the movement and tank pads would keep the systems from freezing - but to my horror, there was the icicle happily suspended from my faucet. I got propane as soon as i could and got the heat back on. I thought for sure there would be some damage to the plumbing system, but luck was on my side - everything was in proper working order. Whew!

I believe it was somewhere in Virginia when the snow disappeared and I started to see grass. I was giddy. Finally! FINALLY! I was heading south to sunny, warm Hilton Head/Savannah.