Changing gears....

When we go from being 'plugged in' to 'boondocking' we must completely change our behaviors regarding the usage of water, electricity, and the generation of waste water, whether it be gray, or black.  When are 'plugged in' we have unlimited electricity, water and sewer capacity.  Even if we only have partial hookups like we did the last three weeks in Wittmann there are no worries, because we can dispose of the waste water via our macerator pump as needed.  But when you decide to 'boondock' for an extended period of time (one week, or more) the whole ballgame changes.

For those who may be wondering what the difference between 'boondocking' and 'dry camping' is let me reiterate.  To me dry camping is something you do at Walmart, or Lowe's, or Cracker Barrel.  It is usually for one night, sometimes two, but mostly overnight.  Usually you are in travel mode (repositioning).....moving every day.  There is no urgency about conserving electrical usage as the batteries will be charged up again the next day while under way (the alternator will charge your batteries back up).  The same is true for water usage....since you are moving every day there will be opportunities to add water to your fresh water tank when you stop for fuel, or at a rest stop.  The only limiting factor is the waste water situation, but even that is not critical as you will most likely be staying overnight every periodically in an RV park, or find that a lot of rest stops have sewer dumping available, so you will have an opportunity to dump your tanks if needed. 

'Boondocking' on the other hand usually involves extended stays far from services in remote, or somewhat remote areas, so every resource (water, electricity, and waste water capacity) is finite and must be rationed appropriately to match the length of stay for which you are aiming.  It is during these times you begin to realize how much water you needlessly use on a daily basis when supply is no issue, and the same goes for electricity, and waste water.

Our previous record for 'boondocking' is quite modest.......6 days.  This time we are aiming for 10 days....our biggest limiting factor is our electrical.  Right now we only have 300 watts of solar panels on our roof, and ideally we should have twice that in order to be able to pour a sufficient enough charge into the batteries to bring them close to full every day.  As it is, right now, we lose a little more ground every day, which necessitates the use of our generator every few days, or more often if it is cloudy, to bring the batteries back into the 90 percentile range each day.  The other half of our electrical system is our house batteries, which at present is represented by 2 8D flooded cell batteries.  By their very nature they are less efficient than say AGM batteries, and way less efficient than a lithium setup would be.  Our goal is to transition over the next two years to a lithium setup, and to add another 300 watts of solar panels to the roof (the solar panel upgrade will happen this fall).

So, where are we at after two days in the boondocks?  We were able to get our batteries back to 93% Saturday using only the solar panels.....I would have preferred 95%, but beggars can't be too choosy, right?  What I have right now is what I have, so we will soldier on, and make the best of what we have.  We have only used about 10 gallons of water over two days (we started with 150 gallons).

Saturday morning I was up before 6 (5:47 am).....way, way too early, but when sleep will not return and it's almost 6 am, you might as well get up and get at it.  I was in the middle of writing my blog about Friday when I noticed a hot air balloon landing a few hundred yards away from our position.....

Full 'zoom' on the phone camera

Around 10 am we decided to drive into Cottonwood to do some junking......some of our favorite junk shops are in Cottonwood (Checkered Past, and Larry's Antiques and Things).  Larry's Antiques and Things has real tonnage!  They have one of the biggest collections of license plates I have ever seen, and they even had several Canadian license plates.  I wasn't really looking for Alberta, but there it was so I snapped it up.  They had every east coast state except for the ones I still need.....Maryland and Washington D.C.

Sweet!!!

From there we headed about half way towards Sedona to check out some NFS land for a possible future 'boondock' site, but were totally disappointed in what we found.  The three spots we looked at seemed more like 'homeless' encampments.  On the other hand, we did reconfirm to ourselves that where we are right now is perfect for us!

We stopped off at Fry's to fuel up the VW, and then headed over to Walmart to do a small shopping before arriving back 'home' around 3 pm.  I spent time cleaning up around our campsite......I am at a loss why people cannot just pack out what they bring in, instead of leaving their trash in the firepit.  I think I picked up no less than 50 cigarette butts lying all around our spot, plus broken glass, burned aluminum cans, tangerine peals.....you name it.  Well, now our site is way better than when we arrived.

While TLE read a little I drove over to the nearby Thousand Trails RV park (Verde Valley) to check out their storage and to see if they had a site for one night.   We will be driving the VW back to Pasadena, CA for TLE's reunion on the 24th, so we will be staying there one night (23rd) to recharge our batteries, fill up our water tank, and dump our waste tanks, before putting the coach into storage for a week while we are gone. I was able to use our Passport America discount card to get the site for $22, and the one week storage will cost us $25....perfect!

For the rest of the afternoon I read a book sitting outside.......the view is a little distracting, and I found myself putting the book down on a regular basis just to enjoy the long, long view towards Sedona.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Verde Valley

At last the day arrived that we were to change our view once again.  We were in Wittmann for 23 delightful days with our friends Tom and Darlene, and just like every other time it is always bittersweet to say 'until next time'.  There is this wonderful tension between being in one place with good friends for extended periods of time, and wanting to see what is over the next horizon and have some 'alone time'.

Just before 10 am we fired up the Detroit, let the coach come up to ride height, and then it was time for 'until next time' hugs.  Tom always takes a picture of his friends as they drive away, and this time was no exception.

Off to the next horizon

Our first stop of the day was just a couple of miles away......since we'll be boondocking for much of the next couple of months and our propane was down to a quarter tank we stopped off at Wells Market

By 'clicking' on the picture and dragging it to the left you can move it to see the propane station

If you are ever in Wittmann and need propane this is as easy as it gets......easy in, and easy out, plus it's right across from the Post Office if you need those services, also.  We took on 37 gallons of propane at a cost of just over $3/gallon......not as good as Sparks Marina RV Park, but still one of the best prices we have paid on our journey to date.

From there we crossed over to HWY 74, which eventually connected us with I-17 northbound.  Our total driving distance for Friday was a staggering, mind numbing 99 miles, and our destination was the national forest land just off of HWY 260 between I-70 and Cottonwood.  We spent five, or six days at this location last year, and were determined to return when we could spend more time.

Just north of New River I-70 begins climbing, and eventually we hit a 6 mile, 6% grade.  The 6V92 purred up the grade, and the temps never got past 200 degrees.  At one point we were down to 23 mph in 2nd gear, but she held there and gradually began to edge back up to 32 mph.  If I didn't know any better I would bet that section was a tad more than 6%.

Eventually we reached the Camp Verde exit (287) and headed west on HWY 260 toward Cottonwood.  The NSF free campsites are just 7.5 miles from I-17, and we arrived just after noontime.   We found a spot to park for a few minutes and then took a walk around to see where we would decide to set up camp for the next 10 days......you can stay here 14 days, no charge, and there are several other places in the area with the same deal.  From our site it is only another 6 miles into Cottonwood proper, and another 17 from there to Sedona.

We spent about 20 minutes walking around before finding our ideal spot with an unobstructed view of the Verde Valley, and just a mile downhill to the Verde River.  When we boondock we want our site to have the "it" factor, and this site has it in spades for us!

No sooner had we parked I saw a rig that looked so familiar to me just a 100 yards away.  I kept staring and finally I said to TLE....."I think that is Brian Gore's outfit parked over there!"  I have been following Brian's blog 'Goin' RV boondocking' for years.  A lot of what I know about 'boondocking' I have learned from reading Brian's blog.  Brian is also a writer of westerns, and to date I have read all his books.  I am currently reading his most recent book "The Horsemen" which is the third book in his 'Jeb Taylor' series.  Brian describes himself as a 'broken down old cowboy'.....I don't know about the 'broken down' part, but he has been a cowboy most of his life, so he is uniquely qualified to write westerns, and I have thoroughly enjoyed his books.  If you are into westerns go to Amazon.com and type in 'books by Brian Gore' and you will get a list of the books he has published to date.

I sent Brian a message via Facebook, asking if he was indeed boondocking at the NFS land outside of Cottonwood, and within two minutes I saw him walking towards the coach.  We exchanged hugs, and got caught up on each others lives, then I went back to tilting the solar panels to optimize our energy capture from the sun whilst we are here.

While I was busy with that TLE began 'glamming' up our campsite by getting out the awning mat, the wind chimes and malibu lights.....I added the recliners....sweet!

The Verizon signal out here bounces back and forth between 2 bars of 4G and 3-4 bars of 3G....nevertheless, it is working quite well for me....right now I'm getting 4 bars of 3G.

Once our camp was set up we spent some time reading, and around 5 TLE declared it was cocktail time.....I got out my last 22 ounce Samuel Smith Organic Chocolate Stout from our Cape Blanco days and sipped away as the sun set on another day lived well!

Thanks for stopping by!

Last dance....

Last sunrise in Wittmann

By the time I got over to the Post Office to check for our mail in Tom's P.O. box it was after 10 am......our mail was there as hoped, but after thinking about what still needed to be done in order for us to roll our wheels we both decided to stay one more night in Wittmann.....and that is what this nomadic life is all about......nothing is cast in concrete.....it is all Jello.  We are on no tight schedule.

The painters finished painting the inside of the 'barn', and here is what the finished product looks like.....that is a lot of dry wall, and it was all painted with semigloss.  Things are starting to move quickly now that the roof is on, and the inside is painted.  The next time we come to stay here there will be a 46' Newell parked in there!

I spent the rest of the day slowly putting away the rest of our gear interspersed with frequent breaks, filled up the fresh water tank in anticipation of our upcoming boondocking adventure, dumped the black tank, filled up my gas can with unleaded to run the small generator as needed, put the car in trailer, closed up the workbench, pulled down all my decorative lights, removed the tire covers, shined up the wheels, dropped the trailer back on the hitch, installed the leveling and anti-sway bars, and finally stowed away my two tool bags.

By sundown the only thing left to do is put in the patio awning, unhook the electrical, and water, and roll up the awning mat.

We spent our last evening eating dinner with Tom and Darlene, sat outside by the outdoor fireplace, then watched 'Black List' and 'Elementary' before heading off to bed one last time in Wittmann.  Our stay here has been enjoyable, and rewarding as always, and we will miss our friends 'until next time'.......

Thanks for stopping by!

Treading water.....

Originally we had planned to be back on the road Wednesday on our way up to the Cottonwood/Sedona area to spend a few weeks, but we find ourselves awaiting the arrival of a packet of mail forwarded to us on Monday from Calfornia.  Getting your mail while living full time on the road can be a challenge at times.

Sending anything through the U.S. Postal System via first class these days is  somewhat of a gamble as to when it will arrive at its destination.  Since we spend most of our time in rural America it can be a crapshoot.  During the times when we are spending a long time in one spot it is not so much of an issue, but when we stay just a short time in any particular location it can affect even our 'written in Jello' plans.  So, pending the arrival of our mail Thursday we are 'treading water' for the time being.  All that being said we are in a nice comfortable location, and spending a few extra days here with good friends is not a burden, and will not affect any long range plans.

My biggest job whenever we decide to change our view is putting the trailer in order so we can insert the VW, and that is the most time consuming job.  Everything else (hoses, electrical lines, sewer lines, awning mats, awnings, etc.) can be put away in less than 30 minutes, and I usually leave that stuff until the day of our departure.

The past few days I spent time going through the cabinets in the trailer pulling everything out and deciding what should stay, and what should go.  There were a number of things we have been carrying around, specifically in the trailer cabinets, that we have not been touched by us in months, or perhaps a year, or more.  When that happens it is time to make decisions.  Ultimately the end result was I now have much more room in the cabinets, and it will be easier to find things in the future.  Wednesday I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon putting everything else away.

Wednesday morning (3rd Saturday) I rode with Tom into the Surprise Home Depot to help him pick up a few plumbing supplies.....200' of 3/4" PVC pipe, another 60' of a larger diameter PVC pipe, drip line stuff, a toilet for the 'barn', and various and sundry other related items.  The store was not at all crowded, and that is why it is better to go there on first, second, or third Saturday to avoid the 'real Saturday' crowds.

The weather continues to be totally pleasant here in Wittmann with daytime temps getting into the mid 80's.  The elevation here in Wittmann is about 1800'.  In Cottonwood the elevation is around 4,000' so we will see cooler temps when we move up there......right now the forecast is mid 70's, and down into the high 60's over ten days.  The trick will be not to move to far north too quickly, otherwise the thermometer becomes your enemy....:-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Mr. Clean

You guessed it.......I'm up way too early the day before we roll the wheels again.  Things are running through my mind.....things I need to do before that can happen......you know, the rolling of the wheels thing.

First up Tuesday was a little detail work on the coach.  I've noticed the past few days while sitting outside reading that the portion of the curved roof line just under the patio awning was filthy.....this area is covered up by the awning when it is in the travel position, and that has been the case from the time we left South Lake Tahoe until we arrived here in Wittmann.  It's probably been a good 8-9 months since I have actually cleaned that area, so I got out my telescoping ladder and got to work.  Of course, once that area was clean I was compelled to continue cleaning all the way to the front of the coach, and around the rear cap.  I decided to save the driver's side of the coach for later in the day when that side would be in the shade.

While I was laboring away TLE announced she would be heading into Surprise to do some shopping.  I know from experience that when she has a certain 'look' in her eyes that means she will be gone a long time......and that 'look' was there.  When I don't go shopping with her she loves to go up and down every single aisle......kind of like I get when I go to Home Depot by myself.

As I was cleaning I kept hearing the sound of someone pounding something with a hammer.  I thought maybe Tom was banging on something out in back, so I walked back to see what was going on......I was surprised to see four guys up on the roof of the 'barn' installing the roof tiles which have been sitting up there in piles since before we arrived here three weeks ago.  As it turned out those four guys completely finished that roof job by the end of the day....that was pretty impressive, because that is a lot of square footage, and a lot of tile!

The roof is done

Finally about 2 pm the shade was beginning to envelope the driver's side so I moved the ladder and got to work......I had only been up there for a few minutes when I heard someone say "what are you doing up there?"......I didn't realize Dave Crouse had driven up while I was up on the ladder absorbed in what I was doing......of course I was startled as I thought I was alone, and almost lost my balance.....:-)  He had just stopped off at the local Subway shop to get a sandwich and decided to stop by and see if Tom was around.

Dave had stopped by to see Tom, but Tom and Darlene were gone for the afternoon, so I got off the ladder and spent the better part of the next hour talking with Dave.  As you know from my past blogs entries, Dave is a major 'car guy', and he is always working on a new project, or has his eye on a car he wants.  He showed me some pictures of a vintage red Ford Ranchero (on a Ford Falcon chassis) in which he was interested.  Of course, whenever I talk with Dave the time just melts away.  Anyway, as a result of spending time with Dave, and then TLE's return a short time later I did not finish the driver's side of the coach......that will be for another day.

Since Tom and Darlene would not be home until late their daughter, Laura, invited us over for dinner at 5:30.  She had prepared grilled chicken spinach salad for our dining pleasure....all I can say is "YUMMY!".  We sat and talked after dinner until just about 8 pm.  Jon and Laura have two very bright, intelligent kids (Katy and Willie, Katy being the oldest).  Katie is in 6th grade at the local Wittmann middle school.  She has been thinking about finishing middle school by taking state sponsored online courses for the rest of 6 grade, and then 7th and 8th.  Her patents required her to write an essay about the pros and cons of doing just that before a decision is made.  Shortly after dinner was finished she brought her essay to the table to make her presentation.  I am still blown away by that three page essay she started writing just the day before.  I'm pretty sure I did not know many of those words when I was in the 6th grade, let alone the 7th, or 8th grade.  For what it is worth, she gets my affirmative vote.

We were home by 8:15 and watched 'Justified', 'NCIS' and 'NCIS New Orleans' before heading for bed at 11......TLE had to wake me up so I could go go bed.....:-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Short timers

Our three week interlude here in Wittmann is coming to an end in a few short days.  It has been a time of decompressing from our whirlwind one month stay in Riverside, CA rife with lots of family gatherings, including the wedding of our daughter Sharon.  TLE and I loved our time with our kids, and extended family, but after one month we were beginning to need some time to recharge our social batteries, and the past three weeks has provided just what was needed.

As you know, our travel plans have been altered significantly for the next 3 months, and we are now looking forward meandering around the northeastern portion of Arizona, and even into southern Utah.

Late Monday morning I spent some time helping Tom do a little 'finish work' on the big barn....standing next to the wall with with southern exposure got quite intense as the heat reflected off that wall was significant.  Overall we have been experiencing temperatures in the low 80's the past week, and unless you find yourself standing next to a large southern exposure stucco wall it is quite pleasant.  

After that I spent the rest of the day sitting in my recliner outside reading.  When the temps do get into the 80's it does get a little warmer inside, even with all the windows open.  I did find, however, if I turned on the 'attic' fan in the kitchen area the inside temperatures stayed very comfortable.

Well, that's it........a pretty vanilla first Saturday.....sometimes it's nice just to 'be'......thanks for stopping by!

The Daily Reader

I started reading comic books in the mid to late 50's.......got $1 per week for allowance, and at .10 cents per comic book, back then, I would buy 10 comic books a week with that allowance.  At one point I had a large box filled with between 500 and a 1,000 comic books.....you know....Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern.....all of them.  Actually, according to my Mom, those comic books helped build my vocabulary.  I would read and re-read those comic books until they were 'dog eared'.  Certainly none of them would have been 'collectible' due to their rough condition.

Then in early 60's my mother signed me up at the local library in the 'book-a-week' club, or something like that.  Up to that point I was not a big reader......in fact I cannot remember reading a book by choice up to that point.  The first book I remember reading that summer was a book called "Big-enough Boat" by Dorothy Evans Phillips (I seriously did not remember the author's name....had to "Google" it).  I cannot really tell you what the book was about, or really any titles of the other 8, or 9 books I read that summer as a part of the 'book-a-week' program.  What I can tell you is that summer the seeds were planted for a love of reading.  

In the 8th grade a classmate, Byron Duke, introduced me to a series of books by Franklin W. Dixon called the 'Hardy Boy Mysteries'.  He had a few of them, which he loaned to me.....before long I was combing the local used books stores on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, CA looking for every Hardy Boy Mystery I could find.  This was before 'Old Town Pasadena' was born.....back in the 60's Colorado Blvd. was quite the seedy place.  Back then you could buy them for about .05 cents used.  There are approximately 60+ of these books and over time I acquired most of them.  There were a number of boys in my class that also read these books and between all of us we had them all, and frequently traded them back and forth.

Another friend in 8th grade, Greg Kloster, was way ahead of the rest of us.....he was already readying books by Leon Uris such as Mila 18, Armageddon, Exodus, Topaz, The Haj, etc.  He would tell me about those books, and even though they were a little advanced for me at the time, I remembered them, and actually read them in college.

Byron, whom I have mentioned previously, and I went to the same college, and it was during my freshman year that he turned me on to an author by the name of Louis L'Amour and my love affair with the 'Western' genre began.  Most of L'Amour's books are quick reads......less than 200 pages, but he has written a few novels which approach 800 pages (Sitka, Last of the Breed, The Lonesome Gods, Comstock Lode to name a few).  I have probably read all of his books at least twice, and some 3, or 4 times.  In fact, just a few days ago I finished reading the 17th book in his 'Sackett' series.  I had never read them in chronological order before, and now that I have all the time in the world I decided to do just that.

After college I began to ready large novels by James Michener.....his novels frequently exceed 1,000 pages.....my problem, is once I start reading a book, and it captures my imagination I have a difficult time putting the book down.  I become consumed by the story.  One of the first Michener books I read was 'The Covenant'....about 1100+ pages.  I read it in 3 days.  I devoured his books one after another (Chesapeake, Hawaii, The Source, Caravan, etc.).

Whenever I fly I have to have a book to read to make the time pass quickly......I hate flying for more than a few hours, but reading makes it seem much shorter.  One morning years ago TLE and I were sitting in the Ontario International Airport waiting for a flight.....I think we were flying to Wisconsin to visit family....... I suddenly realized I had nothing to read on the plane.  A sort of tightness gripped my throat as my eyes cast about up and down the concourse looking for a store that had books.  I found one quickly and began looking for a western.......I came across a book called 'The Gunslinger' by Stephen King.....wait, what?  I was intrigued......I have never been a big Stephen King fan, and had no idea he had written a western, but there I stood with that book with an illustration of a cowboy holding a large revolver.  I heard our flight being 'called' over the P.A. system, so I hurriedly completed the purchase of 'The Gunslinger' and headed back to the boarding line.  What I didn't know at the time was that this was the first book in a series of 7 books called 'The Dark Tower'.  It was not really a series of westerns......come on now, this is Stephen King, right?  I started reading the book on the plane, and realized pretty quickly it was not your typical western......in fact, it was more about parallel universes.  I finished the book a day, or so after we arrived, and immediately headed over to Barnes and Noble to buy the next four books in the series.  To make a long story a little shorter.....I finished the 7 book series (some 8,000+ pages) in just over 2 weeks.  As it turned out the final book in the series had just been released a few days after I finished book 6.....what great timing!

By the way, if you have never read 'The Dark Tower' series check it out.....I found the premise very intriguing.  Just one big caution.....when you get to the end of the 7th book and think it is over, you will turn the page and see that Stephen King has written an alternative ending......I sort of wish I had let the story end based on the first ending, but that's just me.  All I am saying is think hard about your choice.

So, why am I writing about books?  Good question.  Since we hit the road 3 years ago I have read over 200 books on my Kindle, and reading is one of those things I love about being retired.....I have more time to read, and it doesn't matter if I stay up until 3 am finishing a book......there are always naps!

So, by this point you may be wondering 'so what happened Sunday?'......what happened Sunday was after TLE and I took a 3 mile walk I pretty much spent the rest of the day reading a book I could not put down.....I sat outside enjoying the balmy air, and warming sunshine just reading, and listening to classic rock play in the background.  In my mind it was a day lived well......

Thanks for stopping by!