After a long days driving, we finally made it to Bastrop, Texas. We pulled into the state park, about 7 miles from our housesit. The camp office was closed, so we chose a spot with full hookup (water, power and sewer) This place is really good value for $35 per night.

It is fricking hot in Texas, so we cranked up the air-conditioner.

The next day we both woke up feeling really crappy, but we dragged ourselves out of bed at 7am and went for a walk, the plan to avoid walking in the heat. But it was too late, by 7.30am it was already stinking hot.

We did a short 30 minute walk from the camp and lots of spiderwebs crossed our path. We also saw some poos on the side of the path which we thought might be bear, but it was more likely bobcat. We got back to the van and Mike tried to unlock the doors using the central locking, but they didn’t unlock.

“Shit,” he said. “I think we got a flat battery.”

Turns out the previous evening after the long drive, Mike forgot to flick the switch to disconnect the battery. I should have double checked him.

We thought, no big deal, we’re in a campground, lots of people about to jump start us. But after negotiating with Paul, he advised against jumpstarting a completely flat battery. (sparks and explosions were mentioned). Instead, he suggested swapping our house battery with the engine battery. Then we could charge the engine battery off the converter/charger that charges the house battery.

Mike put the house battery into the engine, and the car started. Yippee! But there was another problem. The converter/charger connectors did not fit on the engine battery. But no problem, a short trip to auto zone to buy more parts fixed this.

The rest of the day I spent sheltering inside the van with airconditioning going, and catching up on some editing. It was a nice rest day.

Tomorrow we meet our housesit host and camp out at her place for a few days until she leaves for Europe.