Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Woodsmen are we.....

7:18 am - Wednesday - November 13th - 33° F, humidity 54%, wind 9 mph out of the east....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 65° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I awoke to see the ocean just outside our windows at Rincon Parkway.....


....that two week stint at Rincon was 9 years ago, and we have not been back since.  It seems like yesterday.  My heart is telling me we need to return.

TLE and I got a lot of stuff done Tuesday, but the actual highlight of Tuesday was my brother, and sister-in-law (Philip and Jeannie) stopping by for a visit on their way back to SoCal from Williams, AZ where they rode the Grand Canyon Railroad up to the Grand Canyon and back on Monday....


....Tuesday was a cold, blustery day in the low 50's, so we lit the wood stove in the house, and spent time inside its (the house) warm confines catching up on the last 10 months.  We didn't even know they were in the area, but on Sunday evening I saw a Facebook post by my brother indicating he and Jeannie were in Williams, so I called them and told them how close they were to us.  They immediately agreed to stop by on their way home on Tuesday.  What a delightful surprise!  They hung around for a couple of hours, and we gave them a tour of the property, but soon it was time for them to head to their next destination.  We exchanged 'until next times' and watched their car disappear over the hill....a little bittersweet, but such wonderful serendipity.

After their departure TLE and I got out the smaller of the two Stihl chainsaws (17" bar), which we had not used yet, and cut up enough wood to almost fill the new wood box Charles and Phyllis brought with them on Monday....got to keep that full for the wood stove in the house!  TLE even took a turn with the chainsaw and did pretty well.  We're becoming 'woodsmen'....




....to cap off our day I finally installed the vice on the work bench in the CONEX, which Charles brought up from Phoenix a few weeks ago....


....while I was in the CONEX I also cleaned out the insides of the two Stihl chainsaw cases, and got them out of the way after 10 days.....as one might expect each case had chainsaw oil residue coating the insides, and looked pretty nasty....


....now that we've got two working chainsaws we can really get busy cutting more fire wood against the coming winter.  On the wind turbine front we finally got enough wind to make that six bladed propeller spin....


....however, the Bluetti battery bank was already fully charged, so I didn't get a chance to see how much power it was producing, but things are looking good.  I think I need to raise it another 10 feet, or so as there are large juniper trees to the south, and east of its location, plus the new Newell is blocking wind from the west.  The house is just to its north, so all four points of the compass are somewhat blocking the full force of the wind.  The only solution, in my mind, is to get the turbine above all of those obstructions to be more effective.

Thanks for stopping by The Wilson Wilderness!

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Ginormous.....

6:53 am - Tuesday - November 12th - TWW - 38° F, humidity 54%, wind 9 mph out of the southwest......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 54° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I had arrived at our all time favorite boondock site....Rincon Parkway, just north of Ventura, CA.....first sunset.....




It's interesting how even very local weather forecasts can be so inaccurate.  The forecast wind speeds for Monday varied between 11 mph and 17 mph, so I was hoping to see my new wind generator produce some power, but it was not to be.  I'm pretty sure the wind, on rare occasions hit 11-12 mph, but for only short durations of 1 minute here and there, so the wind generator, while it began to turn, did not spin fast enough to produce any measurable power.  On a positive note the little green LED light on the controller box did light up for brief moments indicating some power was being generated.

A week, or so ago we ordered a new SeaFlo house water pump (6 GPM, 60 PSI) to replace our old, worn out SHURflo water pump which was rated, 14 years ago, at 5.5 GPM (40 PSI), but it was no longer capable of those numbers.  Our Gerard tankless water heater did not like the lower pressure, whatever it was, and would keep shutting down when it would barely hit 102° F, which, while mildly warm/hot, was not hot enough for a shower of any duration.  At any rate, Charles and Phyllis brought the new pump with them from Phoenix Monday morning, so my goal was to have it installed before days end....

The old, tired SHURflo water pump....RIP


....and I succeeded!  The removal and replacement was actually easier than I thought it would be, and nothing had to be done more than once.  I had to make a few adjustments to the fittings for the water inlet, and outflow, but in the end it all came out well, and we love the massive increase in water pressure!

On the home front, the new water pump I wrote about yesterday was installed, however, after several attempts to prime the pump, it was discovered there is a leak somewhere under the house, and that leak will have to be found, and fixed on another day.  Phyllis and Charles were only up for the day with their handyman, Matt, and had to leave by 2 pm, so still no water pressure in the house, and the proverbial dominos have not yet begun to tumble....oh well.  

They did, however, bring up a new refrigerator, which is so big we had to take the front door of the house off its hinges to get it through... 


.....it is ginormous!  It took Charles, Matt and I to get it off the trailer, up the stairs to the deck, and through the front door.  How we got it through the front door without damaging it I cannot say.  The clearances were about 1/2" in each side.  The space where it now sits is just barely wide enough for it to slide in....about 1/16" on each side.

By the time I finished helping with fridge, and installing the water pump it was around 2 pm, so we said our 'until next times to Charles, Phyllis and Matt, and I went inside to take a shower, and a long nap!  It was breezy at 5 pm, so we opted out of a sunset fire.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, November 11, 2024

'Lido deck' action......

7:44 am - Monday - November 11th - TWW - 36° F, humidity 48%, wind 6 mph out of the southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 68° F.  It actually got to 70° F yesterday!  On this date in 2013 TLE and I took our usual bi-annual driving break at the Mono Lake Vista Point at the top of Conway Summit on US-395.....


Every day we are here at TWW we have a couple of goals.  Sunday's goals were to erect the new metal shelving we bought for the garage to better organize the stuff we will be leaving here when we head back to LPG&RVR in late April of 2025.  We bought this shelving unit off Amazon, and hoped it would be somewhat intuitive to put together, and our hopes paid off.  It took us about an hour to put it together.....



....and then it was time to use it for its intended purpose....


....we may need one more, we'll see, but for now we are much more organized, and there is nothing left cluttering the floor giving us more space to park vehicles, etc.

Next up, and I cannot believe we have not done this in the past three weeks, was to put out our rope lights around the coach, and 'lido deck'.  That job really fell to me to complete as it is really a one person job.  It took me another hour to get everything laid out, and connected to an electrical outlet, but I believe it turned out well (fast forward to nighttime).....



.....you may wonder why we haven 't rolled out the large artificial turf piece for our 'lido deck' yet.  Well, our current location on the property is only temporary, as we are waiting for the Ford loader to have one of its large rear tires refilled with water, so we can level the site where we want to spend the next 5 months....it seems there is a slow leak, and the one tire is a little squishy right now, but the time is near when it will be ready to use it again.  This Monday the new water pump for the property will be installed giving us water pressure once again.  That water pressure will enable us to refill the tractor tire.  You have to have a certain amount of water pressure (PSI) to properly fill it.  Additionally, that new water pump will enable us to fill the water heater in the house, which will then enable the propane guy to come and certify the gas appliances, so the propane may begin to flow into the house once again.  The pump will be the first of several dominos which will begin to be toppled.  With the installation of the new water pump the house will become fully functional once again.

Around 3 pm I lit the Sea-B-Que for only the second time here at TWW, and grilled a beautiful filet mignon, to which TLE added fried potatoes, and a tossed side salad.....


....around 5 pm we headed outside for our first sunset fire in a week, or so.  The temp had gotten to 70° F, and there was no wind, so a perfect night for another fire.....







.....the moon has begin to 'wax' again.....


....so I took a closeup with my Samsung S35 Ultra.....I think the closeup came out quite well, how about you?.....


.....Sunday was an idyllic day weatherwise, but no wind meant we still haven't been able to test out the new wind generator, but let not your hearts be weary.....there will be wind today (Tuesday) in the 11-14 mph range for the afternoon, so we are close to 'proof of concept'....finally!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Proof of concept....

 7:48 am - Sunday - November 10th - TWW - 37° F, humidity 42%, wind 7 mph out of the east by southeast....partially cloudy today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2012 TLE and I were touring the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, KY....


This is really kind of funny.  I don't like to get out of bed before 6 am.  When I opened my eyes for the first time Saturday morning the bedroom clock read 6:15 am, and the gas furnaces had been on for about 15 minutes so I got up.  Much to my surprise the clock in the salon read 7:15 am.  I immediately thought TLE might have bumped the clock while opening the curtains, and changed the time inadvertently, so I mentioned it to her.  Then I sat down at my computer, and it was also saying the time was 7:15 am?  I had just changed the time zone to Arizona, so I thought for a second it had reverted to Pacific DST.  I suddenly realized it was light outside, and here at TWW the sun does not rise until 7 am....how could it be so light at 6:15 am?  I next checked my phone, and it said 7:15 am....LOL!  Somehow the clock in the bedroom had changed time....I don't know how, and was an hour behind.  I don't know why we both insisted in our minds that the bedroom clock was right, and all the other clocks were wrong.....so funny!

Our goal for Saturday was to install the new wind generator, temporarily, on the trailer to get 'proof of concept' before we install it permanently.  We can't install it permanently until we get the 'guy wire' kit, and pour the cement pad on which to place it....




.....regrettably, the 'Hockwald Way' reared it's ugly head during the installation of the fan blades....the other day when I affixed them to the hub I installed them backwards....doh!  I was so sure I was installing them correctly....I would have bet the proverbial farm that I had done it correctly, but I didn't.  I had to flip them all around (six of them) on the roof the trailer, which added an unnecessary 45 minutes to the installation process, but in the end I prevailed....



....now all we need is some wind....lol.  It needs a consistent wind speed of over 6 mph to activate, and all mother nature could muster Saturday was a measly 4 mph.  We are usually grateful for no wind days, but now that we have the means to supplement our electrical grid there is no wind until probably Tuesday at the earliest.  So proof of concept will have to wait.

The next project we wanted to complete was not very complicated, but involved the installation of a street sign I ordered on Amazon.  The street which takes us to the property had no sign.....just a Coors Lite can, a red ribbon, and a red reflector affixed to a 'T' post....


....the land provided a taller 'T' post, and a 2 x4, and I provided the plumber's tape, and screws.  We drove our materials out to the beginning of our street using the Yamaha Rhino, pounded the 'T' post into the ground, then affixed the 2 x 4 to the 'T' post using plumber's tape, then installed the new sign......she looks great!  And with that our workday was complete....



.....we're in for a minor 'heatwave' this week, and will see temps sneak into the low 70's, then plunge back into the LOW 50's....


....and look, there's some wind coming our way on Friday.

I promised interior photos of the sister coach, so here they are....






.....the major interior difference is the much lighter shade of Formica used, but, otherwise she is laid out the same as ours.....kitchen galley on the driver side, along with the shower, and then the fridge, and bathroom on the passenger side.  They kept the original couch, and recovered it (we removed ours in 2013), and reupholstered the original recliner from fabric to leather.  However, what you get with 2 extra feet in length is a through bay twice the size of ours, an icemaker, and a LARGE pantry to the left of the fridge.  This Newell has a separate washer and dryer...they are stacked.  I didn't take pictures of all that because it was so cold this morning that I just took a few pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like inside.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Reunited.....

7:44 am - Saturday - November 9th - TWW - 31° F, humidity 43%, wind 5 mph out of the east by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 63° F.  On this date in 2015 TLE and I were soaking at Keough Hot Springs south of Bishop, CA....



Our original plan had been to leave the Morongo Casino & Resort around 8 am, but then we remembered that Arizona is an hour later than us as they (thankfully) do not participate in DST, so we left at 7 am instead.  By the way, if you have never been to, or stayed at this casino/resort, it is very nice.  The rooms, although pricey, are well worth it.  Very large showers, very large room....almost suite size, the view is great, the TV is ginormous, and the beds are like sleeping on a cloud.

Our first stop was in Yucca Valley (CA-66) at the Home Depot to get an Allen key to adjust the side view mirrors.  As it turned out the Allen screws were 'frozen' in place and couldn't be adjusted so we then attempted to move them (the mirrors) without loosening the Allen screws, and were able to adjust them good enough for Charles to drive.  CA-66 going east out of Yucca Valley is straight as an arrow for miles, and miles, so Charles yielded to Phyllis to let her drive her investment....



....she did really well keeping the Newell centered in the lane, and drove for close to 50 miles before turning the wheel back over to Charles for the duration of the trip.  It was a perfect stretch of road for Phyllis to drive.....almost no traffic, and very straight most of the time.....



....this section of CA-22 is very, very remote, and as you can see from the pictures there is pretty much zero traffic until you get back to US-95, then the traffic becomes quite intense.....


One of numerous 'shoe trees' in the Mojave Desert

....we stopped for a bathroom/snack break at the intersection of CA-22 and US-95 for about 15 minutes, and then continued onto I-40 just east of Needles, CA.....



....we made one more stop at the local Maverick fuel station in Kingman (US-66) to top off her diesel tank, and then continued our journey back to TWW.  Around 3 pm we left US-66 just east of Peach Springs, AZ, and began the drive on the 7 miles of dirt roads into The Wilson Wilderness.....





The sister coach entering TWW for the first time↑ 
to be reunited with her sister↴

Their paint schemes are almost identical


.....we arrived at the property around 3:20 pm.  It was a great 2 day road trip with zero events.  Charles and Phyllis love the Newell, and now she will spend the next 5 months with her sister.  We'll be emptying out all of the storage compartments inside and out over the next couple of weeks, and spiffing up her appearance, but first TLE and I need to get our wind generator installed, and producing electricity, then the dual axis solar array before we turn our attention to anything else.  I'll take pictures of the sister coach interior Saturday and post them Sunday when I write about Saturday.

Thanks for stopping by!