One of my "favorite days" is the day I have to dump the BLACK TANK. And even more fun is when I need to use the macerator pump to pump out the tank into a "cleanout" which can be anywhere from 50' to 150' away. Well, today on the fun scale of 1-10 this was an 11.....the nearest cleanout was 200+ feet away, which meant, effectively, that I needed to move the coach closer to the end source. On a postive note it had been 10 days since we last dumped, and we could have gone a couple more days if need be, so we really managed our waste as effectively as we could have. I think our prior record was 12 days.
As you will recall, we had backed into the spot in our friend's driveway, but after a couple of days I really didn't like it...we had to exit a couple of feet from some bushes, and it was difficult walking around the coach. Additionally, our back in position made it difficult to access our friend's WiFi. Since we had to move out of our spot to dump the black tank we decided to change our position by parking head first in the driveway. Ther are several benefits to this: 1) Now we are getting a strong WiFi signal, 2) We are not exiting the coach into a bush, 3) We can now deploy our patio awning, as well as the other awnings, 4) now I can wash the passenger side without standing in the bushes, and 5) we have more privacy from the street.
This is how we look now. I don't know why we didn't think of this 10 days ago, but better late than ever. This will work well for our last week here in Jewell, OR.
Yesterday while Elaine went into Cannon Beach with Cathie (our friend) I spent part of the day turning another of those square lights that utilizes a large automotive bulb into an LED light. We needed a second light in the pantry for the bottom shelf, so I decided to surprise TLE and wired it up. Below you can see that I am using 4 sections of strip LED lighting with 6 LED's per strip for a total of 24. This combination matches almost exactly the light output of the one automotive bulb with a 10th of the amp consumption.
Below is the square light fixture that the 4 strips will be put in after I finish soldering the connections.
In the next picture below the light above still has an automotive bulb in it, and the light on the bottom shelf is the new LED conversion. Needless to say, TLE was extremely happy when she returned. Naturally this 2 hour project took me 5.....that is, after all, the Hockwald way.....lol! Both lights are wired to come on when the pressure switch in the upper left corner of this picture is released by the opening of the left door to the pantry, and both turn off when the door is closed.
Earlier today TLE and I watched the entire Olympic Women's soccer final featuring the USA vs. Japan which was for the gold medal, and what an exciting match! The US Women won 2-1 in a thrilling match.
Tomorrow we'll take another bike ride.....where we haven't yet decided, but you will be the first to know!
Thanks for stopping by!
Robin and I have been quietly enjoying your adventures. We got a chuckle out of this statement, "so we really managed our waste as effectively as we could have." We are dying to know your secret. Fiber? Dehydration-induced constipation? I'm sorry...we just found this so funny. After some exhaustive research on DPI's (daily poop output), count us impressed. :) P.S. We are on our second cocktail at the moment, so please disregard any goofiness you may sense from our comment. On a serious note, keep up the great posts. Love reading about your bike rides. We honeymooned on our tandem in British Columbia for six weeks. After one week Robin borrowed a saw to cut the tandem in half. Oops!
ReplyDeleteRoss and Robin:
ReplyDeleteThat is probably the most enjoyable comment we have had to any of our posts.....thank you very much for commenting after your second cocktail. Our secret to "waste management" is that Elaine was away from the coach most of three days out of the last 10..:-) Seriously, we start out a freshly cleaned black tank with about 1/2 gallon of water in the bottom with deodorizer added to that. The tank holds 40 gallons. Then we don't put the toilet paper down the toilet, and we use as little fresh water to remove the waste from the bowl as possible. We also take advantage of other people's facilities whenever possible. When we are out site seeing/and or biking we obviously use restrooms at parks, restaurants, coffee shops, bike shops, grocery stores, gas stations, or bushes as the case may warrant.