Ice isn't nice

While in Missouri, I bought a bigger generator (1400W/2000W peak) and a 2 door mini fridge, rather than constantly buying ice. At the time, I only had one battery so it didn't do so well overnight. I also had to buy a bigger inverter for the fridge. I got one from eBay, since I had General Delivery mail access at the time. Well, I ended up returning the fridge. I bought a second battery instead, in case I got a cheap fridge again later on.

Well, I did. A few days ago, I got an old Sears Coldspot fridge for free. Well, actually it cost about $12 in fuel to go get it, but yeah. It pulls more amps than modern fridges but it works nicely. A new $60-80 1.7 cu ft fridge would pull less power, so I might bite the bullet later on and get one. For now, I'm honestly trying to minimize costs at this very moment.

Unfortunately, my generator, batteries and charging setup can't keep up, even with 100W solar panel tossing in a few amps here and there between the clouds. My 90s Yamaha EF600 generator is on my 500W/600W peak, so it can't start the fridge. It has a built in 10A charger, but the fridge just consumes that. I need a way to power the fridge separately from the battery bank while the batteries recharge, so I'm debating ordering that same generator again while it's still cheap.

I might have to try to sell the Yamaha generator, even though I'd rather not. It's a great little generator. But, it's just too small for my power needs. I'd REALLY like to have the Harbor Freight 1600W/2000W peak inverter generator ($450+tax with coupon) but, I can't justify spending that kind of money right now. The cheap generator is about $160 with tax. Quite a difference in price.

In the meantime, for free power, I bought a $19, 14 gauge, 100ft extension cord (10A max) so I can use an outdoor outlet at this park. I figured it was a good investment right now and for the future, anytime I see an outlet in a park that's far from the parking lot.

The reason for the big push for a fridge? I spent probably $50 on ice just this month. It has been warm mostly, so 20lbs of ice at $4 to $5.50 lasts me all of 3-4 days. When it's 82 out, it gets up to 90+ in here, without shade.

The fridge being off the battery bank has helped a lot in just a little over an hour, so yeah. I need that bigger generator I guess, as much as I hate to spend the money. I hated spending on ice just as much. Yeah it'll cost more in gas than the Yamaha and makes more noise. (The noise travels much further) I've considered a second solar panel, which costs only a small amount more, but on a cloudy day like today, I'd be in the same boat: not enough power.

I'm debating just hanging around this city for all or most of next month. It seems vry doable based on what I have observed of other local RVs hanging around. That would actually allow me to buy the generator, rather than spending on fuel to drive 500+ miles. Plus I have access to that power outlet. Using it a few hours a day would probably be all I need. After 2 hours, my batteries are looking good. Yeah, I'm supposed to be in this for traveling, but at the same time, I can't disregard mundane, day to day existence. So we will see.

Free camp fail (Charles City, IA)

So many free campgrounds are changing to pay, largely because of the continued gutting of taxes for the rich and corporations, causing federal, state and local governments to have to raise money somewhere to pay to maintain the parks. Cowell County Park near Charles City, IA has fallen victim to this. It used to be 2 weeks free according to Freecampsites.net. Now it's $10/night. Not free at all. Ouch!! I wonder how much money they are actually getting, since no one was there.

When I got there, I didn't take the sharp right turn as I entered. Instead, I continued straight due to the trailer and a fence post that would have made the curve difficult. So, I missed the self pay box and $10/night sign. Instead, I went and got myself stuck on soft, grassy ground. After getting myself unstuck and inspecting the ground elsewhere, I moved. Then I walked Lucy, only then discovering the fact that it's now paid. FAIL!!!!

So I packed up and left. I hurried across Iowa to get to this damn park, only to find it was no longer free. Yeah, I wasn't very happy. I no longer hurry to anywhere. I'll get there when I get there. After Lamar, MO's park no longer being 3 nights, only 1, Pittsburg MO's public use area changing to paid in 2019 from free, and now this? We can thank BOTH political parties for screwing 99% of the country for the past 38 years for  this. Never trust that any free campground is still actually free.

Certainly never hurry to one if it means using your fuel budget up, much like I did to get here.

The rut from getting stuck. 

The pay station I missed when I got there, having entered on the road here in the background.

Mason City, IA

I stayed around the Mason City, IA area a couple of nights.

One day, somebody called the cops on me at a park in the middle of the day. Grown people act like frightened children anymore. "OMG call the cops, somebody in an RV is at the park!!!!!! PANIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!".

He did his duty, checking out the bogus "suspicious person" call by running my license, then going on his way. I get that they have to investigate, so I don't blame the officer. He was polite and civil.

It actually happened again in another (but smaller) Iowa town the next day or two after. I left the truck and trailer in a park, with an extension cord plugged in for a fan for Lucy, then walked to a nearby grocery store. As I was returning, a sheriff's dept SUV was cruising through the park, approaching me. Asked if that was my trailer, if I asked to use electric, blah-blah.

I said no I didn't ask but it was a warm day and I just have it for a box fan for my dog, I figured if anyone hated it that much, they could unplug it. He didn't fuss about it anymore though. The main thing I always get asked in most city parks is "you know you can't stay here overnight, right?". This time was no exception. ("No, I just fell of the turnip truck and didn't know that!").

So anyway, I had used the public pool there in the park (it had a nearly unmarked RV dump station, go figure!) for the $4 or whatever it was and got to briefly shower, enough to wash my hair at least. He ran my license then left, same as in Mason City. He did cruise around a bit longer while I was out walking Lucy, but I wasn't bothered anymore.

But back to Mason City: I happened across a small car show! The 1950 Studebaker Starlight was the highlight car for me, the only one I bothered taking pictures of.

Over on the east side of town, I spent a day at the park there that has this old steam train engine. The cotton trees (?) were molting like crazy, it looked like it was snowing, so much was falling and blowing in the wind.

Lamar, MO

I stayed one night at the free city RV park in Lamar, MO. Freecampsites.net had it reported at 3 nights, which was now incorrect. It has a 24 hour limit. Park maintenance gets tiffed if they think you are staying longer. You are supposed to call in to report you are there, but I'm lazy and didn't. I stayed a night or two at the Walmart there to make up for it. It has electric, water (via far away spigots), and a dump station. It's right by busy train tracks and a crossing so it's noisy, though that doesn't bother me.

The caboose in a big park:

Northwood, IA

While mostly hurrying across Iowa, one day I made a little pit stop in the small town of Northwood, IA to let Lucy stretch her legs and enjoy the nice little park they have.

A cluster of mushrooms I saw at a Oskaloosa, IA dog park:

George Washington Carver National Monument (Neosho, MO)

This is a nice, FREE museum dedicated to George Washington Carver in SW Missouri, with a great shaded picnic area and nature walking trail.
 

Pittsburg Public Use Area (Missouri)

I stayed at Pittsburg Public Use area which is a free campground, at least until sometime in 2019. when it's changing to paid. I don't know how much, however. It's primitive with water spigots and vault toilets, with a camp host on site. No electric, dump station or showers. Sights are mostly very unlevel.

One morning, near the end of my 13 night stay (May 11-23), I woke up to a horrible scraping noise under the trailer. I had removed half of the underbelly skin to get rid of tons of old rats nests and wastes, and an armadillo decided it would be a great place to live, even carrying in fresh green leaves to munch on later! The noise was it's tail dragging and claws on the thin sheet metal. After disturbing it a lot and removing more of the sheet metal, it wandered out after I left it alone, just as I was returning. Then it just wandered up next to me sniffing around on the ground, then left. Go figure.

Okay, OK! Wahoo!

After a couple weeks of mostly Wal-Mart overnight stops, but also 3 free nights at a casino with full hookups, I'm finally at my 2 week long stop to get me through the rest of this month. I've had to go a little over my budget for this month (kicking $80 on credit to next month, *sigh*) but you do what you gotta do. I won't be as short next month hopefully. I also may just have to quit trying to pay so much off at once. It puts me short and I end up feeling stressed and what not.

So anyway, I'm at Wahoo Bay near good ol' Okay, OK. Now the title makes sense, huh? There is  camp host who comes by to collect into, namely your license plate number, the site you are occupying, how long you plan to stay and your signature. They told me that the state park just 1.5 mile away allows day use for $5, and has hot showers. I will probably go do that a couple times instead of paying the camping rate like I planned to do once. They have one vault toilet and trash cans here in the free area. There is a boat launch here too, but that costs if you are so inclined to use. 

Oh, they also warned not to leave trash behind, because the agency is really going after people with fines. I pointed out that I leave places cleaner than I find them, and they thanked me for that. You know it's bad when they have nothing nice to say about the locals who frequent the park, constantly breaking rules and leaving it trashed. Fires outside of designated rings is a no-no too, you can't make your own either, like the one at this site made from retaining wall stones that somebody left behind.

So anyway.... my 100W mono solar and 190AH  SLA battery setup is working very well. I'm typing this from my laptop with it plus the 120V LED light strip I had in the truck camper plugged into a 175w inverter and they are barely pulling on the battery. It's totally dark out, so the solar panel isn't contributing any. Now I wish I hadn't bothered to spend $20 filling up my gas cans for the generator. I really don't need it that much. I guess I'll use it during the day for the generator and 120V WindMachine fan if needed, and/or the TV. In any case, I'm doing great for electricity while off grid.

I still need to finish fixing the fresh water system. The tank drain is leaky so I need to replace it. The newer Thetford toilet I was given was seeping from an O-ring, the one and only internal part you can actually replace! I put a new one in (50 cents) that fits really tight so maybe it'll seal, but I have yet to test it under pressure since my fresh water tank is currently empty. I'm still using my two 5 gallon water jugs from the truck camper days. Hopefully that fixed it, otherwise it's gong to be $30 for the whole part. Once I replace the tank drain valve, fill it up and test it again, I'll now if it needs it or not. Or if I just get someplace with a water hookup again.

Finally mobile again, kind of

Well I finally hitched up the trailer a few days ago. This poor ol' truck sure is a slug with it back there, when it comes to trying to get up to highway speed on an incline. That's what I get for buying a non-turbo diesel. It's possible that it could need timing adjusting but it'll have to wait. I don't plan to go across mountains this year, or at least at the very high altitudes I did last year.

I'm still hanging around here for at least another night before I actually hit the road again, trying to stay within a very low budget this month, due to debt I have been bad about reducing, due to paying it down but buying new crap, keeping the overall amount owed the same instead of reducing it. That has been going on for over a year. That has to stop. I plan to go 300 miles or less this month, with a 2 week stay planned at a free camp.

With this new setup, I don't feel so claustrophobic and I picked up my old 5 gallon gas can from my mom's house, so I can have 7 gallons of gas on hand for my little ol' generator. That can easily last me 10-14 days alone, though I'll probably go to town before then for extra groceries and ice.

I got a nice indoor TV antenna, plus I grabbed the old outdoor RV one from the van I removed, but it's not mounted currently. If it seems like it works than the indoor one, I probably will later on.

 I have plenty of space to stretch out inside, I have a desk for my laptop, TV and good antenna(s), stove/oven, sinks and a tub/shower, (cold water only, needs an RV water heater). I need to finish fixing the fresh water lines, however. I'm using 5 gallon water jugs for the moment.

It's more like a real home now!

Another long overdue update

Well over the past nearly 3 months, I have been working on a junky old travel travel trailer I probably shouldn't have bought, but oh well. It is a 1981 Holiday Rambler Aluma-Lite, about 28ft long. (plus tongue)

I am decking it out with solar (100W for now), a good true deep cycle 12V battery (90AH), all new roof vents including a Fan-Tastic model 1200. I really plan to blog more soon once I've hit the road again with the trailer. I will have little excuse this time. I have the space to keep my laptop setup on a daily basis on a desk, namely.

This year I will be touring the Midwest, New England and the east in general. I wanted to last year but I didn't leave until May. This time it's only a month earlier, April, but I will have a much better setup; a mostly insulated trailer (missing a bit in the ceiling, more on that in a future post) unlike May of last year, when I initially only had an non-insulated, fiberglass camper shell on the truck. I got the insulated RV-type one pictured below over in west Texas after a few weeks in place of the fiberglass shell.

A quick picture of the trailer as it was when I bought it.