Parallels.....

7:41 am - Saturday - December 21st - Winter Equinox - TWW -  35° F, humidity 39%, wind 9 mph out of the southeast......mostly clear skies today with a forecast high of 67° F.  On this date in 2017 TLE and I awoke to our first snowfall at the Grand Canyon, Desert View entrance....

....over our almost 13 years of nomadic wanderings we have lived in hot places, and cold places, and our 1982 Newell Classic has handled them all with style and comfort!

Charles and Phyllis were only here at TWW overnight, so around 8 am Friday morning we bid adieu to them, and were once again all alone.  We don't usually begin any outdoor activity before 9:30, or 10 am due to the temperature, so we headed back inside the warm confines of our Newell where we waited upon the rising sun to make our local environment more hospitable.  I was dressed, and outside getting ready for the day's activities around 9:30 am, and TLE followed shortly thereafter.  Our goal was to continue the assembly of the dual axis solar array we began on Friday.  We first attached the second set of parallel steel bars (perpendicular to the original set installed Friday) to which two of the six 100 watt solar panels will be attached (the other four panels will be attached to the first set of parallel bars seen in the picture below), and once that was done we began to try and attach the numerous brackets which would clamp down on each solar panel to keep it in its place, but they kept sliding off the tilted bars....

.....it became obvious, after a while, that we would have to get those bars parallel to the ground if we were going to attach the brackets, and in order to accomplish that we had to install the dual axis solar control panel, then plugged it into my 12 volt bench tester (ran an electrical cord over to the Bluetti AC200P that powers the trailer).  Once it was powered we were able to manipulate the two electric linear actuators to bring the entire assembly parallel to the ground.....

The mounting bars are now parallel to the ground enabling us to successfully install the solar panel mounting brackets

....and once it was level with the ground the mounting brackets were easily attached, and now all that remains is to mount the six 100 watt panels, wire them together, and we're in business....

The dual axis solar array control panel

.....and that was as far as we got Friday as we had to go into town to pickup mail (some Christmas presents for our grandkids) at the PO Box, and since we were doing that TLE decided to do a load of wash.  

We left TWW around 12 pm to head into town arriving at the General Store around 12:35 pm where I bought a bolt and nut to replace one I had damaged during the initial solar array assembly.  Next up was the humble laundromat where we put the dirty clothes in the washers, and then headed over to the Post Office, Family Dollar, and the Chevron gas station to top off the Expedition fuel tank, which took about 30 minutes (that, coincidentally, is how long it takes to go run the washing cycle on the laundromat washers).  When we returned to the laundromat there were no dryers available, and we didn't want to wait another 30 minutes for one to become available so we decided to take our wet clothes home to dry them in the propane gas dryer in the house.

By this time it was going on 1:30 pm so we headed directly to Westside Lilo's Cafe, one of the two best restaurants in town as far as we are concerned.....

....as you know, we only eat one meal a day, and we haven't had breakfast for lunch in a long time, so we both ordered the "Lilo's Eggs" plate (2 eggs over easy with hashbrowns, bacon and toast (biscuits for TLE) chased with a delicious cup of their coffee.  Their service is excellent, and the food really comes out of the kitchen quickly.  We had our orders with 10 minutes!

By the time we returned to TWW it was close to 3:30 pm, and the day was quickly coming to an end.  I gathered up the tools I had left out when we went into town, put them away, and them installed the new replacement bolt/nut I purchased earlier at the General Store.  By the time everything was put away it was well after 4 pm, and it looked like a good night for a sunset fire, so I got our camp chairs out of the garage, moved them over to the firepit area, then started a sunset fire.....

....we haven't had a sunset fire in sometime, so it was nice to sit talking with TLE as the darkness slowly enveloped TWW one more time.  We were back indoors by 6 pm where we finally were able to watch the 2 hour Survivor 47th season finale in which Rachel, who won 4 immunity challenges to get the to final 3, won the $1 million dollar, winner take all, prize.  She is only the 3rd woman to win in 47 seasons, and she deserved it....she outlasted, outwitted, and outplayed every other person.

Thanks for stopping by!