Day 167 - Sat 11 Jan 2020 - A good day

Fortunately the rain and wind left us around midnight and we had an uneventful night. After breakfast we head into Yoakum town. There is a car parts store that will read your car's diagnostic code for free. Turns out we have a 'Crankcase Ventilation System Disconnected'. Next stop the Ford dealer. There are no mechanics available, but the service department is able to confirm it is nothing serious and can be driven with. It should be easy to fix and most likely covered under warranty!

We have a little look around Yoakum but most of the old downtown consists of closed down stores. More of the Wild West we were expecting.

Back home Martijn has a nosey under the bonnet and spots a disconnected hose. Perhaps it became a bit dislodged after the oil change. Putting it back did not reset the warning light so we will have to pay a visit to the garage soon. At least we can still head further West again tomorrow.

Today: 25km - 1h

Total: 19,264km - 383h13m

Day 166 - Fri 10 Jan 2020 - Odds and Sods

It is very windy today. Martijn can certainly feel the trailer move a bit more as we head West again. We are taking a more rural route and head towards 'Sweet Home'. We see the more typical Wild West. Small towns, delapidated buildings, longhorn cows, cowboy hats, tick!

At the end of the day Martijn also spots an engine warning light coming on. The car seems to be holding up fine so we decided to push on to the campground and sort it out tomorrow.

After dinner the rains starts lashing down and as we check the weather report we see some bad news. Looks like we're wedged in by bad weather. To the West of us is a severe thunderstorm warning and to the East where we came from is a Tornado watch. According to the forecast it should all just skirt around us though. Fingers crossed...

Today: 242km - 4h04m

Total: 19,238km - 382h13m

Day 165 - Thu 9 Jan 2020 - Johnson Space Center

The boys have an amazing space exploration day at the Johnson Space Center.

We go into Mission Control room and the Astronaut Training Center (where they train for living and working in the International Space Station).

After that we visit a Saturn V that never flew due to funding cuts.

We touch a piece of Mars (that came to earth in a meteor shower).

And finally we go inside the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and the Shuttle Independence (which was used to test the Shuttle aerodynamics). The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft was used for the first test glide flights of the Shuttle concept and to ferry the Shuttle back to Florida after landing in California.

Today: 67km - 2h15m

Total: 18,996km - 378h08m

Day 164 - Wed 8 Jan 2020 - On the road again

We're back on the road! Based on the weather report we have decided to stay in Texas a bit longer before we go to California. We would like it to be just a few degrees warmer at night. So today we drive South of Houston to stay 2 nights at a campground near the coast. Tomorrow the boys are going to Johnson Space Center while the girls go shopping.

Today: 104km - 2h25m

Total: 18,929km - 375h52m

Day 163 - Tue 7 Jan 2020 - Last Day

Time to tidy up and repack the trailer. We'll be on our merry way tomorrow again.

Today: 0km - 0h

Total: 18,825km - 373h26m

Day 162 - Mon 6 Jan 2020 - Still no news

Still nothing to report

Today: 0km - 0h

Total: 18,825km - 373h26m

Day 161 - Sun 5 Jan 2020 - No news

Nothing to report.

Today: 0km - 0h

Total: 18,825km - 373h26m