I guess I should start blogging again?

Nope, I'm not dead. Just very lazy about blogging anymore. I guess I should start up again, especially since I upgraded the solar in 2019/2020 and upgraded the batteries to (cheap) lithium and a Renogy MPPT charge controller in late 2021.

Have had lots of repairs done, mostly by me... but also the transmission began going very bad very fast aroud April.  Then after spending over $2k, it slipped out of park, rolled down the driveway it was stopped in for a moment (with me outside of the cab) and jack knifed the fiberglass cargo trailer I have been dragging around since late 2020. 

The immediate aftermath.

I carry decent insurance, so I was paid for the trailer and RV damages. The trailer is "totaled", but the motorhome isn't. The trailer is still usable at least, the frame wasn't damaged, or at least not enough to be noticeable? The fiberglass box is what suffered the most. The trailer might end up with a salvage title is all, but maybe not due to it's age and value. The state where it's registered probably won't care, since it's a trailer.

Thankfully, no one else was in the 5 lane road in either direction, so no one else was involved. Dash cam captured it happening too, which I'm sure was helpful for insurance purposes since they got to see and hear it happening from the perspective of looking out of the windshield. I drove in, put it in park, got out to put in the gate code and it slipped out of park and rolled backwards. Can even hear the trailer tires screeching, as they were pushed sideways from it being pushed by the rear of the motorhome.

The grey tank was destroyed, but I have already replaced it with a 99% same size one for $100 from "Class A Customs". I have the same model tank installed for the black tank, which was missing when I got the motorhome in 2019. I did that in early 2021 finally, after getting by without a black tank for all that time. The other RV damage (bumper, fiberglass) needs to wait to be addressed until this winter.

I finally emptied the storage unit I left packed in 2016, which is where the accident happened. So the trailer is packed full now, as well as the inside of the RV to a point. I need to go through the stuff later on and sell/give away more stuff. And that's after I already got rid of about 1/3 of what was in the unit.

Not much else I can say right now, really.

In a few days, I'm heading to a cheap RV park in Utah where I plan to spend the next 2 months until Arizona cools down for going to an LTVA for the winter season. I need some time to relax after the mess with the transmission and wreck. So, I won't have anything to say much again for a while, probably.

Now in a motorhome!

I have changed my living quarters again (twice). I got a (pretty rotten) motorhome a couple months ago. The diesel engine and newer fridge tempted me. I have been pouring too much money into it. Same ol' story.

This is the best picture I have right now. I was rebuilding the door and had to replace the door's glass, hence why it's missing. That picture was a while ago, I just haven't taken a better one.

Long story short about the trailer, I sold it and went back into the truck camper last summer. I kept and moved the solar panel, batteries, Fantastic vent fan to it. Now they have been moved to the motorhome. I also kept the LP tanks from the trailer, sold one and kept the other for a camp stove and instant hot water heater shower. I will probably soon sell the LP tank though, since the motorhome has a fixed tank. But maybe I'll just keep it in case I want/need it again. I stayed a few months in SD then came back south, a long round about way.

The truck is getting stored for free at a relative's house, where the motorhome was parked in the picture above.

I will soon be heading out on the road again, planning to spend the summer in New Mexico.

I'm honestly truthfully gonna try to blog more. I still have the hotspot plan and I have a dinette in the motorhome, plus it has a big generator built in and I am going to also carry the small generator since it gets 5x the fuel economy.

For the solar panel, I bought a tilt mount this time, so I can try to capture every ounce of sunlight .

Here are the tilt brackets vs the cheap fixed ones:

That's all for now.

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.

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.

I'm not dead yet

Unfortunately, my laptop screen died months ago and the Android app is almost totally broken for Blogger now. Google quit updating it, I guess.

I finally got a used one recently that uses the same battery as my old one, but I've gotten so out of the habit of blogging, I have had a hard time bringing myself to take the time to do it since I pretty much have to do it on my laptop.

I have been posting pictures on Facebook, but that doesn't do anyone any good outside of people that I've added on there.

I will try to catch up on my lack of posting by going back and posting noteworthy places and info.

Better camper shell! ..and too much procrastination

Ugh. I honestly don't mean to be so lazy about posting... really! The problem largely lies in the Blogger app being broken, at least on my phone. It crashes when I try to do anything, pretty much. The website is an option, but it's only the desktop site so it's a pain to use on a 6" phone screen. So I dread it and don't do it. I guess I need to try it on my tablet instead. But it's still a pain since I have to transfer photos... blah.

As of writing this, I'm in Dumas, TX with a free 24 hour RV site with electricity. I had electric and good cell service (for hotspot on my laptop, like I'm doing now) in Borger, TX but it was rather warm (mid to upper 80s) and I somehow didn't feel like dragging out my laptop and posting.

The biggest news is that I bought an RV-style camper shell for $100!! I had to just give away the old fiberglass one to the guy I bought it from, but considering he and his family helped get it put on the truck, and ran to the hardware store for me to get me longer bolts when I realized I didn't have any to mount it, I can't fuss. This one is insulated so it's leaps and bounds better. Plus it's at least a foot taller taller, several inches wider, and not sloped on the sides. This equals a lot more head and elbow room. Plus it has two cabinets that I mostly use for dry food storage.

 
It's in slightly rough shape inside from poor storage (on grassy ground) so the wood got rotten. I replaced the worst of it that made it seem unstable, which cost me all of $5. I just peeled back the corner skin and slowly hammered it into place.

Then I screwed it into place. It's rock solid now. I couldn't put the skin back as well as I want because of it being right against the cab. I'd need a few people to help me move it away and put it up on a board to give me access to it properly. It might rot again sooner than it should, but it's not hard to change nor does it cost much, so it's fine for now.

This is an inside corner view before and after:

It could stand to have new paneling, which I might do eventually, perhaps only in part. I don't require a fancy living space, after all. The roof vent also needs full replacing. I will be getting one ASAP. In the meantime, I bought the domed vent cover to help prevent/minimize rain coming in. I also replaced the door knob with a "mobile home" one which included a foam gasket for the outside.

Inside view when almost dark outside, with a 120V LED light ($20 from WM) that lights up the place very well. I could probably run it on a tiny inverter without it being too much of a strain on the battery, but I fixed the original dome light so it's coming off of  the house battery too. The inverter's inefficiency loss would probably be more than the LEDs itself. And yes, it's warm white, so it's gentle on the eyes!

While in Dumas, my vacuum pump finally died pretty much. It has almost no vacuum, leaving me with very little power braking. I knew it needed one before I left Texarkana, but I had hoped it would last 6 months more as it was functioning. I had to pay retail ($130) for the pump vs about $80 online. I also had to buy a special pulley puller kit #39000 from Napa for $75 (also sold under the Lisle name, same number) because the cheap and "free rental" ones won't fit the pulley. But, $75 is cheaper than paying a mechanic. Plus it's so easy, I changed the pulley right there on the counter at Napa. Plus I have a physical item to use again or sell later, not so much paying labor. Plus, just buying a replacement pulley at retail price is about $55... and I'd still need a tool to install it with. So it was worth the unexpected extra cost.

I guess that's all for now. I swear, I'll ry to post more soon. I have some interesting stuff to post from the past few weeks, so I'll try to get to that soon. This post took so long, I need to get out and stretch my legs now.

Back luck with differentials

The differential on the truck was making loud moaning-type noises that would come and go. From experience with the '78 Xplorer 228 when that horrible mechanic tore it apart when I asked for a rear brake job because he saw rust on the axle shaft, it's hard to find a shop who will rebuild differentials. Many, if not most transmission shops won't do anything with them except change the fluid. Same with regular repair shops. They want nothing to do with them for some reason.

Needless to say, I didn't take it to the same shop the van was towed to, where they botched the brakes, stole one of my new brake drums (which I discovered after I redid the brakes myself), and lied to the BBB when I filed a complaint against them, claiming I was passing out $20 bills as tips.

But I digress.

I called around and found a long standing transmission shop and the guy said it would be "about $1000". He test drove it with me and Lucy crammed in the passenger seat and afterwords, he said if I was only driving it around town, he'd leave it alone. It could last many years that way. But if taking it on a long trip, he'd rebuild it if it was him. I was like ok, I'll think about it.

I decided it needs doing. It could potentially completely fail (ie: broken gear teeth) at any time for all I knew. Things like that can happen at the worst times, in the worst places; even if my usual luck for such things isn't so bad. I didn't want to gamble with it for the safety of Lucy and myself.

I hoped to drop it off on a Monday or Tuesday, and have it back by Friday so my motel stay would only be 2-3 nights. No...such...luck. Try 5, so far. Maybe 6. 7? Ugh, I hope not!!!

He had me drop it off on a Wednesday because he had other things to finish first, which made me cringe in regards to my "plan". He stated before hand that it would take at least 3 days between taking it apart and seeing what all it needs, ordering the parts, waiting for them to come and then putting it together. I guessing waiting on delivery is considered a whole day. He had hoped to have it done by Friday.

After checking into a $45/night (with tax) motel, late Wednesday morning, leaving Lucy here crated, and dropping the truck off, I caught city buses back to the motel The next day he called and said he can't possibly finish it before MONDAY! The reason being, the parts needed are being ordered from multiple sources, and something he needs can't get there until Monday. Plus, the storm that rolled through in the afternoon of the day I dropped it off knocked out the power to to the section of the grid their shop is connected to, causing them to have to shut down.

Oh, and he said the quote is now "about $1600" because the carrier itself (the big thing that the gears attach to) is also worn out, which he found out after tearing it apart. Seriously?! It is possible, there's no doubt about it, but I wonder how much of that is just gouging me just to sell me another part. I'm at his mercy though, pretty much. He did say he'd put "several" guys on it Monday so it could be finished as soon as possible.

I thought about trying to source a whole used axle and just having it swapped, but there's no good guarantee the used axle's differential won't be worn out too. It could have bad bearings, leaking seals, etc. So I'm pretty much committed to that shop doing it at this point. Short of having it towed away to another shop (exactly what I had to do with the van), it stays here. In the case of the van, I had to have it towed away because that guy had it for THREE MONTHS and never finished it, even after I bought the special differential tools and supplied him with a printed copy of the service manual. Yeah... that mechanic was as bad as they come.

The motel is far from crowded so I was able to extend my stay through Monday. In all honesty, I am probably going to have to pay for Monday night too unless he magically finishes it before too late in the afternoon on Monday. They probably won't mind me doing a little late check out (normal is 11am) but I can't expect to get a free 6pm checkout or something. I guess an extra $45 at this point is just a drop in the bucket, eh?

On the plus side, I did get two loads of laundry done while I've been here and it's been a better place to be stuck than a tent at the KOA, with the drenching rain, wind and storms. I guess this makes up for not paying rent anywhere since the $40 for two weeks at the Quartzsite LTVA.

That's life.

Long overdue update

Kind of a lot has been going on in the past few months. I've been in Texarkana since late January since the climate and weather has been pretty good. I crashed at my mom's house for 2-1/2 months but finally I had well overstayed my welcome so I've just been bumming around town since, using city parks in the day and parking in safe places at night. I finally dragged out the laptop today at a picnic table with a power outlet for creating this long blog post. I don't use the phone plan's 8GB monthly hotspot for my Android car stereo anymore (more on that below) so I may as well use it sparingly on the laptop.

The biggest thing that has happened -- for better or worse, I sold the car. It was too cramped for long term living. I also sold the Yamaha scooter I had stored here when I moved away a few years ago, as well as the roof box I had on top of the car. I kept the hitch box, however.

What I replaced it with is a 1987 Ford F-250 XL extended cab with the 6.9L IDI non-turbo diesel engine with the C6 3-speed automatic transmission. Both of these are considered pretty bulletproof if taken care of. The transmission has been rebuilt by a previous owner. I got this particular setup for buying and towing a travel trailer, but for the time being I have decided against that. I guess I should have gone with something newer and with a gas engine but this isn't a bad setup either. It got about 16mpg hwy towing the Vibe behind it on a tow dolly. It gets 11-12mpg city with a camper shell, the backseat loaded with stuff, all my stuff in the bed and the hitch box.

I've had to put a lot into it already, as far as I can remember at this moment:

• Front & rear shocks, Monroe Gas-Magnum (about $100 online before $50 mail in rebate; installed by me)
• All four ball joints, Moog Problem Solver (about $100 online, installed by me)
• All 4 tie rods & adjustment sleeves, Moog Problem Solver (about $200 online, installed by me)
• Left brake caliper & hose ($60 caliper in store/$7 hose online, installed by me)
• Front brake pads ($22 in store, installed by me)
• Brake booster (About $15 in junk yard, installed by me)
• Brake master cylinder (About $25 in store, installed by me)
• Steering rag joint (bought in store, had to have the old one removed by a machine shop, installed by me, total cost about $50)
• Steering gearbox (About $20 from junk yard, installed by me. stopped a bad power steering leak)
• Starter motor (suddenly died, free roadside tow, paid a shop $386 installed. ouch!)
• Fuel injector install kit ($77 in store, installed by me)
• Oil change (Rotella T5 15w40, Motorcraft ML-1995 filter for the PowerStroke diesel, but it fits and extra capacity, new copper drain plug washer (About $60 with over half a gallon left, done by me)
• Crappy spray can auto primer job over some surface rust (wire brushed off first) just to preserve the metal for now. (Abot $10 including painter's tape)

I mistook a booster/vacuum problem for a bad booster and then later caliper so that was a bit of a waste. The master cylinder may also have not been bad, but oh well.

I also had to get a spare tire rim, spare tire, and the spare tire carrier parts. All but the tire came from junk yards, about $40 total. The tire itself came from a used tire shop for about $35 including mounting and balancing.

I need an alignment after all the ball joints and tie rods, but I may also still need a NEW steering gear box. The ball joints and tie rods have helped a lot with loose wandering steering, but it's not as precises as I'd like. The alignment might fix it but I'm not sure. I guess I'll try that first since an alignment shouldn't need to be done again just for a gearbox change. But I'll ask and see first. One front tire is obviously badly worn but that was from the old ball joints and tie rods. It'll get moved to the rear in a tire rotation and replaced later. The rear tires are in good shape currently.

One really crappy thing though, the differential has since started roaring, a sign it is worn out and needs about a $1000 rebuild and 3 days in the shop. Ugh. Really? I'm going to try to hold off on that, but I may have to just bite the bullet and have it done before I leave the area. A transmission shop guy said for around town he'd leave it alone for a while but for a long trip, he recommends rebuilding it. So, I guess I'll be getting a cheap motel room for a few nights and getting it rebuilt.

On the plus side, I still have all the money from the car's sale and most from the scooter, so I can afford it. I put most of the truck's $2500 purchase cost on a low interest credit card in the form of cash advance withdrawals, so I'm slowly paying it off that way.

It could probably stand to have a new vacuum pump (although I haven't troubleshooted the hoses yet) since it has poor braking at idle speeds now and then. On this truck it's insanely easy, except for the pulley removal from the old pump. A new one can be bought instead though, so that IS an option.

I pulled the Optima YellowTop battery from the Vibe before selling it, as well as the Android stereo. The stereo can't be used in the truck, but I did wire up the YellowTop battery as a house battery for phone charging and occasional, limited 12V fan use. It's only being recharged with a llong 10 gauge wire right now, so it takes a good 30-60 minutes to recharge it fully from about 60-70% but it works well enough. I also stripped out the rear outlets from the Vibe and moved them to the truck. I bought a $50 Walmart battery to sell the Vibe, since the YellowTop cost me $220. A $10 battery box and marine battery terminals completed the installation. I still have the little Yamaha generator for an extra power source if I need it.

As far as travel plans, I wanted to go further east, over to Kentucky or there abouts, then head north up to Michigan; but now I'm not sure. I have gotten delayed a couple months because of stuff the truck has needed, and other delays related to having to take up Arkansas residency again. That's all done now though, so I will be leaving next month sometime. Where? I don't know. The weather in the areas I would have to travel through slowly has been pretty bad... even deadly. So, I think I will have to forget that and head back Northwest, toward CO in the more immediate future. But we'll see I guess.

And now for some misc pics...

Old, fairly rotten rag joint:

Old rear shock vs new:

Towed to shop due to dead starter motor. The towing guy brought a truck that was almost too small!

Starting on the ball joints:

Older pic of my new setup. The ice chest is an old one I left at my mom's. I have since used $45 in Sears/Kmart points (I got from buying a $110 set of a jack, stands and creeper) on a Coleman 5-day cooler. I still have the one pictured, using it for dry food storage since it has no drain and the lid design lets dirt and junk inside too easily.

Six baby Canadian geese! Just had to throw that in.

Goodbye Quartzsite

I finally left Quartzsite this evening. I have been sick of being there for a while, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to continue on or not. Nothing much else to say really. Hopefully I'll have something worth posting soon.

Lazy (and boring) days

I still have been slacking off blogging, but I have a pretty good excuse, the cell data here stinks. I'm amazed Blogger's site loaded. The app is bugged and crashes, so I must use the site. (It has taken over an hour to do this post!!)

Anyhoo...

A couple days after my last post, I have started getting (overly) obsessed with the idea of getting a tiny old travel trailer. This stems from one being here for sale, but that I missed out on.

Something that small can be towed with my car.

However, my car needs rear struts badly first. It looks like it's heavily weighed down when it's not. Rather than pay $650 including labor (dealer quote), I'm going to wait until I get to Arkansas, where I can do the work myself for the $160 in parts. So for now, a trailer will have to wait for sure.

I enjoyed a bunch of Xmas episodes of MST3k and Rifftrax on Xmas Eve.

On Xmas day, I did more camp stove shopping. I have too many now, ha!

The next morning, I made (awful) pancakes. The mix is what's awful. I'll be throwing out the rest, I'm sure. Maybe if I had butter, not butter flavored canola oil spray, they would have been better.

Generally, it has started to get bloody boring here. Part of my boredom is not having much to do. I'm as socially avoidant as ever. I did find the dog park so I go there almost everyday.

Yesterday, I bought a nice little, older Yamaha EF600 generator. I did a short trial run with it this morning and it does just what it should.

Maybe I'll kill boredom easier now, even if it's just offline PC gaming.

I still have too many clothes, so... more need to go!

And finally for now, Lucy basking in the warm sunshine.

Quartzsite 2016

I rolled in to Quartzsite a few days ago. The cell data speed (T-Mobile) is so bad from so many users, I haven't been able to do much online. The library wifi is excellent, which is how I'm posting so much tiday to catch up.

I'm still going through stuff and getting rid of more. I got a $15 ice chest and a $10 2 gallon water cooler. They take up a lot of space but I needed them. Honestly, more clothes probably have to go as much as I have it. I just can't justify so many shirts, as nice as many may be.

I also bought a "not working" Coleman 440 stove. After 75 cents in parts, it's working for the most part. It only seems to have "high" though. Im not sure if that's a generator or valve problem. In any case it does function. It might also need a new pump but the I've it has is working currently.

Oh and in the name of downsizing, I bought a smaller coffee percolator. 5 "cups" fills my insulated travel mug, so it's a better coffee ot to have than the larger 7 cup one that's much larger.

Some pics at the park......

Loafing around

I hurried out of Oregon to avoid freezing temperatures in the mountains and ran into gushing rains in northern California. I'm not too far out from Sacramento, where I want to spend a day or two once the rain clears. It's still supposed to have freezing temperatures but at least it won't be rainy or snowy.

So, today is a big loafing around day with nothing much to do. I had a good hot breakfast at Denny's in Corning, CA this morning for $7 including a $1 tip. Their service was faster and better than most. Now I'm sitting in Willows, CA just wasting time until I head on to the next rest area for the night.

Lucy is acting depressed, probably due to the seemingly never ending rain. I can't say I blame her any. Hopefully this is the last heavy rain we see for a long while.

On the road again

Well, I'm on the road. I got two days behind in vacating the apartment but it's done.

There is lots to say so this will be long.

I unloaded my huge 3 burner stove to someone from Craigslist. I badly underestimated my stuff vs space in the car so it had to go. Right after I left out Sunday, went down near Portland and bought and old Coleman Peak 1 stove and it's working out great.

This is how bad it was the first night.

((((Oops I will post the pic later))))

It's hard to see, but the driver's seat was reclined back half way with shirts on hangers piled up on it. It was not a sustainable way to do things.

I stopped at a Value Village and loosely filled a car with stuff to get rid of. While there, I bought a piece of used Samsonite rolling luggage for $7. Later in the day I went back and found a $2.50 (at 1/2 off sale) Samsonite bag for my remaining loose sweaters. I still have two move those to the driver's seat from the bed but that's easily manageable.

I still have too much really but it's already getting better as I find more to get rid of along the way.

I ended up buying a MetroPCS ZTE ZMax Pro and case/screen protector (those two cost more than the phone, bought from a separate store) for good internet on the road, for $60/mo totally unlimited on the phone, plus 8GB hotspot for my Android car stereo. (In dash navigation). I'm posting from it now, in fact, at an Oregon rest area!

More later. I need to clean up from lunch and walk Lucy before I put a few more miles behind me.

Heading out on Friday!

It's almost time, already. November went by a lot faster than I thought it would. But, I've almost got my apartment emptied out and my storage unit is 99% full. One more small load will finish it off. Then I have to scrub pretty much everything in the apartment so I can get my deposit back.

I think I am going to rejoin Anytime Fitness for shower access. Last time I used it quite a bit. Just twice a week even is enough to pay for it, so yeah. I am going to check into what the local club charges since they won't think twice about letting me join since I have an ID and address here currently. Trying to join anywhere else would be harder since they want you to mostly use THEIR club. Otherwise I could find a location with cheap prices and join there and then never go back. Which is actually what I want to do with the one here basically, but yeah.

I have put a new Optima Yellowtop D35 battery in my car since the old battery was 5 years old and was noticeably starting the engine slowly on cold mornings. So now I have a starting/deep cycle hybrid battery for charging my phone/tablet with the engine off. I have also installed USB charging ports (1.0A & 2.1A), a 12V port and a digital voltage meter in the rear of the car, wired directly to the battery so I don't have to turn the key to use them, unlike the factory 12V outlets located in the front of the car. I also put a switch for each function so it they don't power when not in use.

Going back on the road? Looks like it!

Well, after two and a half years of being mostly idle (besides 2 road trips), I'm sick of it. I've been pretty bored, depressed and quite unhappy in many ways. Socially, it's been no better for me here than anywhere else. So, I am in the early stages of getting rid of stuff again so I can return to the road, in my car this time. I realize that "running away", as some people put it, won't fix things but at least I won't be (as) bored.

I got a used Yakima roof rack (specifically for my car) and roof box for extra cargo space. The biggest problem with the Xplorer was the fuel consumption. This car gets 3 to 5 times the fuel economy as the van did. The van got about 5-10mpg. The car with the roof box gets about 24-30. HUUUUGE difference in terms of how far I can go per gallon!

 

Sure, it lacks a bathroom and kitchen, but camping gear can make up for that. Restrooms aren't THAT hard to find. Nor are showers, really. Truck stops like Pilot/Flying J have nice showers for about $10. Most developed campgrounds have showers too. Once in a while, I can always splurge on a motel room if I feel the need to sleep in an honest to goodness bed for a night or two.

I'm considering a trailer hitch and hitch mounted cargo carrier as well. One can never have enough storage. I'd like to keep the inside of the car free of excess cargo I don't need in a pinch. A change of clothes in an emergency (without having to access the cargo box), sleeping pads/bags, food, tiny single burner camp stove, tools and not much more.

My initial plan is to haul a load of stuff I don't want to get rid of (in addition to everything that will go with me traveling) back to Arkansas where climate controlled self storage is CHEAP compared to the PNW. I can get a 3x5 unit for $30/mo, or a 5x5 for $40/mo. Up here, it costs 2-3 times as much. Yes, it sounds like a big hassle, and it is, to haul a carload of belongs 2/3 of the ways across the country to store it all, especially when I will probably bring it all back to the PNW some day. But it's either that or get rid of the stuff. Some of it is hard to replace, so I'd rather keep it. Depending on how long it ends up in storage, the hassle VS cost is probably worth it.

I won't take 2 years to get ready this time. More likely, a few months at most. I can't have yard sales in an apartment, so I'm having to give away, donate or try to sell stuff on Craigslist. Most will end up donated or given away, though. I don't have as much as I did before, nor do I have the loose ends to tie up as before. I might have to wait until February or March, though. I'm not 100% sure yet. I'd rather not if I can help it.

Oh by the way, I have a traveling companion now! A few months ago I adopted a pit bull mix from the local shelter, who I have dubbed "Lucy". As you can see below, she's already getting in the mood.

The only phrase that gets her excited more than the word "food" is "Wanna go for a ride?" She loves to get in the car and go places, especially dog parks where she can visit and play with other dogs. Sometimes when I take her outside for a walk, she tries to drag me to the car. She's got more motivation to hit the road than even I do, ha!

So there you have it. I'm itching to go again... so I may as well. I have little to lose, besides this apartment. But what good is a nice apartment if you feel like you're imprisoned in it, to some degree? Being a drifter is in my blood, I guess. I'll probably never want to stay anywhere for very long, for as long as I live.