Hawthorne Nevada

We're at an RV park in Hawthorne Nevada this evening. Though we only drove about 350 or so miles today, it seemed a lot longer. We didn't get out of Las Vegas until near 11:30 and arrived here around 6:45. Obviously we're not trying to set any records or anything...

Tomorrow we're hoping to hit Red Bluff in California and stay ahead of a storm that might dump a bit of snow on the pass that we need to get through to get into the California valley. Tonight it's long hot showers, high speed internet, TV, pizza and beer.

Winds on Lake Mead

It was so windy last night that most of us didn't get much sleep. With a constant wind of around 20-25 MPH and gusts of what felt like 40-45 MPH I spent most of the night cranking down windows, searching for camping chairs, chasing rugs, tying & weighing down anything under 30 pounds. I think I got a total of about 3 hours sleep last night. With the day before being too hot and humid to sleep well, we're all a bit on edge.

The wind is still so strong it's not pleasant to go outside. We dropped the front jacks to help with the rocking of the trailer a bit - Becky and I were getting a bit motion sick with the trailer just hooked to the truck.

Tonight the wind is supposed to die down and with any luck we'll all get a full nights rest. Tomorrow Becky and I will say goodbye to our friend Alan and head North. We're going to make a dash for the California valley over the next 2 days to try to beat a storm that is rolling in on Wednesday sometime. We're shooting for the Redding area by Tuesday night so we can sit out the rain in the relatively mild climate there. Once the storm is past, we'll head North and over the mountains into Oregon.

Lake Mead

After spending last night on top of the sheets sweating until late morning, we all decided to head farther north near Las Vegas where the temperature was a good 10 degrees cooler.

We stopped at a spot on the edge of Lake Mead. The view out the front door is fantastic. The girls and Alan went hunting for gypsum crystals down in the wash while Becky and I did some house cleaning and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine.

Later in the afternoon the wind started picking up and I got out my kite. It was very relaxing to stand on top of one of the hills and buzz the kite around over head. I think at one point everyone got to try their hand at flying my parafoil...

Lake Havasu area

This morning we all decided to make tracks North out of Quartzsite and head for the Lake Havasu area where there is another 15 day free camping area. Becky and I were looking for a place where we could do some real grocery shopping and have the possibility of seeing some water. Before we left, we had to fix a short in the wiring for the trailer brakes.

The place we decided on was a wash just outside of town near a small airport. The landscape was mountainous and a nice change from Quartzsite, but it was even hotter feeling with the added humidity. Becky and I took a walk up into the wash and took a picture of the trailers parked along the gravel road. It was a beautiful spot, but I think we were about a month too late weather wise to really enjoy it.

Say hello

I just finished watching yet another movie outlining the end of everything as we know it... I'm sick of the message getting ground into my skull from so many different sources. I get to a certain point where I understand the message and realize that there's not much I can do as an individual to make any difference. That being said, I am ready to move on. I don't want to just keep re-hashing the same information over and over again from every different angle.

I understand completely that peak oil is here and yet the majority of people will continue to buy bigger and bigger trucks and sport utility vehicles that need some kind of energy that could be better used elsewhere. I understand that 5% of the population is in control of most of the wealth and therefore most of the power for change. I am not one of them. I understand that we're poisoning the environment and changing the climate. I understand that we're fat, undernourished, greedy, selfish, animals that think that we're separate, special or own the planet instead of just being part of it... I understand that my daughters will have a much harder life than I ever had and that in my lifetime there will most likely be a die off of billions of people on this planet from either war, famine, disease, resource depletion, loss of habitat - likely a combination of everything put together as each is so intertwined. I understand that many others are arming themselves to either take or defend what they want for themselves. I understand that my choice not to arm myself will probably mean than I am one of the many that will end up as fertilizer for my very own back yard.

I am doing what I can as an individual to remove myself as a cause of the problem. Waiting for government or some elected group of people to start solving the problem is akin to putting my head in the sand. I am doing the things I have always dreamed of doing and at the same time removing my footprint from the earth. I make all of my decisions now based on the things I understand and do my best not to compound the problem. I am looking many generations ahead and trying my best to live by example instead of being just another voice trying to yell over the top of the noise of daily life. With some dumb luck perhaps I will see at least my children's children benefit from my decisions now.

Becky and I are looking for a permanent home. A piece of land somewhere where we can grow our own food. I have always enjoyed gardening, building, creating and discovering. I am planning to get rid of both our truck and minivan and trade them for a really good bicycles or maybe a fully electric vehicle that I can recharge from the sun. I am working my way back to a natural habitat - not in the middle of the desert or the middle of the frozen north, but somewhere where the environment is made for me. I am going to build a passive solar home with all of my power coming from the sun. I will make use of the water that falls from the sky, a well or a creek/river that flows nearby. I will eat fresh organic foods from my garden, eggs and meat from my own chickens and have no bills other than the taxes that give me the right to live on my own land. I will be free...

I've learned a lot the past few years. Some about human nature, some about consumerism, lots about true freedom... I learned that you don't have to work in a cubicle or live in a huge house to be happy. I've learned that having the time to cook healthy foods, be with my children and really meet people is more valuable that any amount of money I could make with that same time. I've learned that I am creative, passionate, energetic, loving, patient & above all else a healer. All of which are not immediately or truly valued by our current capital driven society. I've learned that the best things in life are not things. I've learned that wherever I am and whatever I am doing there are people around me that see me and are changed in some way. They see that I don't have the look on my face that says "I am too tired to deal with you today - maybe tomorrow". How many times do we meet people and not say hello because we don't have the time to sincerely listen? I have that time now. I have the time to talk and hear a life story. I have the time to learn and create. I have the time to feel pain, sorrow, happiness or fear. I don't have to push those feelings aside anymore and tell myself to keep going or lose a day at work. I can stop and listen and understand - even myself. Not that I am all that good at it yet. I've only been truly alive again these past few years - I should have had a lifetime of practice at this point. At least I get to start now.

So, find me. Take the time to say hello. I will say hello back and listen. I will take the time to get to know you for who you are if you take the time to tell me who you are - which always takes longer these days since we hardly get the time to think about who we really are...

Another beautiful day

It is so nice here in Quartzsite. This morning's sunrise was gorgeous... It was in the 80s and comfortable all day long and now it's 7:00 at night and a cool breeze is coming in off the surrounding desert. It's in the mid 70's right now but feels like it's about 68-70 because of the breeze.

We're done with most of our work on the trailer. Today we made a dump run - unload garbage, dump the dirty water, load up on fresh water and propane... We found a problem with the propane - the regulator on the propane tanks had a crack in it that was allowing propane to leak out. I figure that the cold Minnesota winter caused the aluminum housing to crack where the brass fittings come into it. So, a new regulator & hoses were in order - $60.00. Not too bad for another 20 years of propane.

Now that we're back to solar hot water, no heating and our propane refrigerator has been replaced by an all electric (solar powered) model, we should be able to go for months without refilling the propane tanks.

Erika took the picture of the lizard that was hanging out on the still warm rocks of the previous nights fire pit. We have time to look around and see everything that there is to see. Unlike living inside an apartment or house, trailer living is somehow closer to the outdoors - more like camping than living in a house. Yet, we have everything, electricity, hot running water, ice cold drinks, internet access, etc. There's nothing quite like it - it's like having your dream home, but you can change your front yard from a desert to a lake just by driving to it...

Now that we have some time to relax and kick back life seems more worth living again... I wish everyone could have this feeling at least once in their lives...

Making Use of New Power

Today was another day of work getting our trailer ready for full time living again.

With all of the power from the sun filling up our batteries we needed a way to make it useful for the appliances that need 110 AC. We decided on a true sine 1000 Watt inverter for our main supply power. We would have liked to get something in the 1500 or 2000 Watt range, but this was the largest true sine inverter we could find in Quartzsite.

I am very impressed with the new inverter. It is completely silent 90% of the time and only has a computer fan level noise when running at full power (which usually happens only when vacuuming or running the microwave - which are both much louder than the inverter itself)

I installed a remote control switch/monitor for the inverter just under the charge controller. We can now monitor our incoming power and battery level as well as the amount of power we are using through the inverter with just a quick glance.

I can't explain in words how wonderful it feels to be 100% free of the power company again. Here we sit miles away from where even the longest extension cords can reach and I am typing away on the computer, lights are on, the refrigerator is quietly humming and I can hear the DVD player in the kids room playing one of their favorite movies. All courtesy of the sun...

Installing Power

Since last fall we have been paying for electricity. Today we re-installed our old panels and added a couple of extras. Alan pitched in and gave me a hand whenever possible. It was hot outside, but after a couple of hours in the sun I needed a long sleeve shirt to cover up so I wouldn't get sunburned. Seems each time I install panels it's kind of a tradition for me to get burned to a crisp... This time I managed to keep myself relatively unburned.

There are now 6 panels on the roof of the trailer. All screwed and glued in place. Not the greatest picture, but you can see that we have pretty much used up our roof space, so any additional panels will have to go elsewhere.

I get such a wonderful feeling when I see our little charge controller light come on and watch the voltage in our batteries silently rise. There's just something magical about getting all of our power from sunshine. With 6 panels we can make 2-3 Kilowatts in a day here in Quartzsite. That's enough power to run everything we own.

After a full day of panel installation, we sat around a small campfire, drank a few glasses of wine and talked a bit about the future and our current state. It was a good day.

Arrived in Quartzsite

Arrived safe and sound in Q this evening around 6:30 PM. All is well and we're set up for a good nights sleep... Time to stare at the moon for a little while.

Morning in New Mexico

Man did I miss the mountains. I don't know how folks can stand the flatlands. There's nothing to put life in any real perspective when there is nothing to look at on the horizon. The mountains bring life back to me in a truly inspiring way. Even though the mountains here are still small relatively speaking, they are still magnificent.

It's a very cold morning this morning compared to the last few. We're in Gallup New Mexico at a small RV park eating breakfast, taking last long showers & getting things put back into their respective spots so they don't go flying out of cabinets or bouncing around the trailer.

We have a full 8-9 hour drive to reach our destination in Quartzsite Arizona where we'll meet up with our friend Alan for some sun soaking during the day and campfire chats at night. I will finally get to use my hammock that I bought in Akumal Mexico if I can find a place to hang it between the trucks and trailers...

I noticed a really bad wear pattern on the driver's side tires of the trailer. Turns out that we have some bent axles/springs on that side of the trailer. One of the tires is completely bald on the inside edge, so last night I found a tire shop and had them rotate the tires on the rims. That should get us through the rest of the trip, but I will keep an eye on them anyway.

Storms in Oklahoma

We're on the road again. Currently waiting out a line of storms that are going through the area. I have very limited interenet access here so this post will be short. Tomorrow we hope to be through Oklahoma and if we're lucky through texas and into New Mexico. The weather is slowing us down quite a bit today, so we're not going to stress about it if we don't make much progress today.

Can't sleep

I ran into a bunch of problems yesterday when I went to install the panels. First problem came after I was on the roof and getting ready to install 2 of the panels on their old mounts. Apparently I broke the seal and pulled out the screws on a couple of them when I was scraping the inch thick sheet of ice off the trailer. I thought I was being careful... Second problem is that the panels will have to move a foot and a half toward the front of the trailer to make room for the additional 2 panels in the back (which actually kind of negates the first problem a bit - other than I will now have to re-seal the holes in the roof where the old mounting brackets are and build new ones). The third problem is that I will have to re-design the brackets to make it so the panels can be mounted closer together as the current Z brackets I made require quite a bit of space (4 inches or so between panels so I can get my hand in underneath to unbolt them). Again, a redesign was in order anyway, so it's not a total waste of time and energy. I had to make 48 L brackets from a some aluminum L channel I bought. I figured that was a good full day project in itself... Then the wind started picking up and the temperature quickly dropped 10 degrees or so. I thought - this feels like one of those storm fronts... I climbed up on the roof and brought the panels down so they wouldn't blow off while I was working on brackets - good thing I did - keep reading... Then the fourth problem. I figured, ok, get the brackets done. Just after I finished cutting 48 L brackets and drilled a few of them I realized that my aluminum channel was too small to put 2 bolts through at right angles to each other and keep them aligned right. So, at about 4:30 yesterday I had to go on another hunt for larger aluminum stock. I found it at a local hardware store and headed back toward the shop/trailer. About 2 minutes into driving back to the shop it starts raining. Freezing rain. Followed by a mix of freezing rain and sleet. Finally full blown snow - big heavy snow flakes and the temperature keeps dropping... Currently outside it's a mess. A sheet of ice/slush and 2 inches of snow on top of it... With any luck it will melt by tomorrow afternoon, but it's unlikely that the roof of the trailer will be dry enough for me to seal the new brackets or the holes in the roof where the old ones are currently. Good thing I put the panels back in the trailer or they would be frozen and buried in snow and ice on the roof of the trailer right now.

I was planning to move the trailer over to the apartment today so we could start moving things in. I will have to see how the roads look this afternoon before I will know if that is possible or not. I have to manufacture 48 new brackets at the shop and wait for the weather to turn around. It's supposed to be partly sunny tomorrow, so there's some hope that we'll still get the panels on the roof. I figure worst case I make the brackets while I have power - we leave the panels inside the trailer and just install them when we get to the desert in Arizona. Now that we don't have a converter in the trailer we're running the heater and everything else off batteries that have no charging system in place. If I can't install the panels I will have to charge the batteries from the truck or use a battery charger (I have a small 6 AMP one with me) to make the trip to Arizona with heat and lights. The truck is set up to charge the trailer, but I'm not sure that the lines to the batteries within the trailer are there anymore. I will check that once I have the truck hooked up. If the truck charges the batteries - well, then we can make the trip alright without panels and this is all fretting for not... Of course the mechanic that went through the truck when we bought it said that the alternator was making some noise and not to load it too heavy from the trailer if possible...

So, I am up - can't sleep - it's 4:30 AM - I've been up since midnight worrying about everything. Will I have power? Will my hand made brackets line up well enough? I don't have the proper tools to make them easily - cutting with a grinder and drilling with a hand drill. I will have to make a jig to ensure the holes are lined up right. Will the weather hold out? It snowed on us last night and might snow again this weekend. I felt like I was running from hail storms and tornadoes on the way here last year and I am now kind of frightened I'll get stuck at some RV park in Oklahoma with a severe storm bearing down on us again... Will the truck be able to stop the trailer without the extra set of brakes on the slick roads here? How are the road conditions south of here? Will gas go up again? It jumped from 3.07 to 3.20+ (I think it was over 3.20) a few days ago and was back down again to 3.07 again today. Where the hell are my packages? They were supposed to ship last week and still have not arrived. I can't leave until they arrive. Will I make it out of here by Saturday or get stuck here longer - which seems like some kind of failure on my part for some reason - don't know why... Will the roof sealant cure in near freezing temperatures? (or if it gets wet with another rain/snow storm?). What all should I take with me and what should I leave in the Van to meet me in Oregon? Will we be able to go without reliable high speed internet connectivity once we hit the road? Without the van I worry about the truck or trailer breaking down and having no backup vehicle. We can't take the bicycles unless I put them in the trailer in the way. I am a mess right now and because I am tired I am fussing over details that are pointless...

I may be late hitting the road. I am trying my best to get out of here on time, but I am stressing out about it and need to settle down and get things done right so I don't forget something really important.

Batteries & Heat Sinks

The batteries got re-installed in the trailer today. During my voltage testing I found out that our converter was only putting out 4.8V instead of the 12+V it is supposed to be putting out, so I decided to scrap it and pull it out of the system entirely. That simplifies our wiring quite a bit and makes our 12V system completely solar powered now.

We also moved our new Engel refrigerator to the trailer and tested out the new 12V plug I installed. It was very encouraging to see the lights come on and hear the hum of the motor all while disconnected from shore power. We couldn't leave the refrigerator running since the solar panels are still stacked in our bedroom and not up on the roof, but we're hoping to remedy that very soon.

With our 2 new panels (6 total) we have the potential to overload our little 25 AMP charge controller. Last time we were in the desert and getting good sun I noticed that our little charge controller was very hot even though we were not much past 17 AMPs at the time. Now that we will likely be hanging out near the maximum the charge controller can handle I figured it would be a good time to add in some passive cooling. I figured that I would make a metal surface to mount the charge controller directly to so that it could absorb some of the heat. With the metal piece spaced out away from the wall a bit I might get some convection behind the plate that will pull some of the heat away... That's the theory anyway.

I decided to make my metal heat sink attractive as well as functional, and with becky's love of the sun I didn't need to think long to come up with a design...

I took a scrap piece of aluminum and drew out my rough design. Becky wanted something that looked like a flaming sun with lots of curvy flames coming off.



I cut out the design with a jig saw and ground off the rough edges with a rotary tool and grinder. Cutting 1/8 inch aluminum with a jig saw and an intricate design took a bit of patience and a plywood backing to get through it.



Next step was to trace the locations for the mounting and wiring holes. I drilled them out and re-sanded all of the rough edges. A final test fit of the controller box and then it was time to do some painting...



I have a tattoo of a sun on my upper arm that has a similar look to the sun design I came up with, so Becky and I decided to go with roughly the same color scheme. I layered 4 different colors of spray paint to blend them somewhat.



The final step before mounting it to the cabinet - a test fitting. Sorry about the crummy photo of the final test fitting - it was dark by the time I managed to get the photo taken.

Tomorrow I will make some spacers to go behind the sun, re-wire the charge controller and hook it up to the battery bank. If the weather hold out tomorrow, we'll try to get at least 2 of the panels on the roof so we can power the refrigerator.

New 12 Volt Outlets

With the new computer desk and refrigerator locations built, I spent some time wiring in some new 12V outlets. We'll be running both the refrigerator and laptop off of 12V powered by solar. I still can't install the batteries and solar panels for a couple of reasons. First reason is that it still gets well below freezing at night and I am afraid of doing damage to the batteries and other equipment if I install them in the trailer before we are ready to head south. The second reason is that I am waiting for some solar panel wiring supplies to be shipped from Oregon. They should be arriving any day now.

Today we're heading out to The Farm on St Mathias Road to do one last walk through the haunted house. The owners (Bob & Arlene) want a final tour before we hit the road this weekend. The haunt was a lot of fun to build and scare in the weeks leading up to and including Halloween. I will enjoy those memories for quite some time...

Carving and Building

Today was another long day. I spent the first half of the day finishing up a couple more bears. Then I switched to my list of things to get done on the trailer. The inventory of finished bears on the showroom floor is growing steadily. That will trickle in money over the next year or more hopefully.

With Becky's measurements in hand and a sketch of her ideal computer cabinet, I went to work building a stand up desk inside the largest closet in the trailer. It turned out pretty nice I think and we managed to pull it off in a way that will work long term.

While we had the tools and supplies, she asked if we could move the microwave to it's own custom shelf where the old gas/electric refrigerator used to be. After running home to measure the new Engel fridge and doing some rough guesstimating, we decided on a location and built it. The new microwave shelf looks almost like it was supposed to be there. Chalk one up for Becky - I was skeptical about the location and thought it would be an eyesore, but it really looks nice. Tomorrow she's going to put some shelving paper on the plywood shelf to make it match even better.

Here's what's changed in the trailer in the past month... I built 2 small bed frames and moved the folding table from the living area to the kids new bedroom (which used to be Becky & my master bedroom). I took out the folding couch from the back of the trailer and built a large bed platform with storage underneath. so, now Becky and I have a permanent bed in the main part of the trailer which allows us to make coffee in the morning without waking the kids. The girls have their own room now and that means that their toys have a home and they have a place to play besides our bedroom...

Digging out

Yesterday was a lot of work. With our plans to move within the next week we had some digging to do to get the trailer out from under the snow & ice.

There was about a foot of hard crust snow on top of 1-2 inches of solid ice on the roof of the trailer. It took about an hour or so to get most of it off. In the process of breaking through the top layer of snow I forgot where one of the skylights was and hit it with the broom edge, promptly breaking it and sending a foot of snow and ice through the window and screen. It all ended up in the bathtub inside the trailer (thankfully). I replaced the cover with a new one and I am in the process of gluing and reinforcing the screen cover that also snapped in half. You forget how brittle everything becomes when it is only 10 degrees outside.

The drivers side of the trailer was buried pretty deep. About 2-3 foot of hard packed snow. The snow piled up between the trailer and barn as snow slid off the roof of the barn over the past few months. We unburied the tires and went on a search for our dump hose which we thought we might have mistakenly left hooked up last fall. Turns out that the hose was not buried - a wonderful discovery after 30 minutes of hard digging.

At this point the trailer is free from the ice. We dug out a path to the driveway for the wheels and threw down some dark soil on top of the remaining ice to help melt it over the next few days... Unfortunately, we got word that it may snow again this afternoon, so I may be up on the roof once again to sweep off snow before it melts somewhat and becomes ice encrusted again. Sunday and Monday are supposed to be nearer the average temperature for this time of year (up as high as 22 on Sunday and possibly 39 on Monday - currently it is 7 degrees outside and windy). Hopefully the higher temperatures next week will help melt any remaining ice on the roof so I can reinstall the solar panels before we hit the road.

I bought the supplies to mount the 2 new solar panels yesterday. The wire and water tight strain reliefs will be shipping from Oregon (how ironic) and hopefully will arrive a few days before our scheduled departure date so I have time to finish the wiring on the roof. There are not enough holes in my junction box to wire the panels directly, so they will have to be wired in series through two of the existing panels. That will actually save me some money on wire as it is a shorter run to the existing panels than to the junction box.

Work at the shop is progressing. I have almost finished all of the bears that I blocked out this winter. I think there are about 5-6 left that need detailing and finishing. I should be able to get them done over the next few days after it warms up a bit.

There's a lot to do still before we can hit the road. We have to move back into the trailer and clean the apartment. We have batteries and solar panels to install, shelving to be built in the trailer and much more that I don't really want to think about all at once... We're taking things one project at a time and focusing on the 15th of the month to hit the road. I hope that the weather cooperates.

Time to move on

We've spent the last 9 months or so in Minnesota and it's finally time to hit the road again. We're planning on getting out of here in about 2 weeks. We'll meet up with our friend Alan somewhere in Arizona or Nevada depending on the weather and timing of everything.

The plan at this point is to head for the sun, sit for a little while to let our fingers and toes thaw out (and to eat good vegetables again). Once we think the weather is ripe up north we'll work our way up towards Oregon.

I've got lots of work to do and have not felt much like posting lately. Once we're back on the road and doing something interesting again I'll get back to posting something a bit more exciting.

Bio-fuel woes begin

As predicted by many, the attempt to keep on happy motoring past peak oil is going to remove food from the table for many (not to mention destroy what is left of our fragile topsoil). Here in the Midwest, Ethanol is way cheaper than gasoline and diesel. Lot's of folks think that will be the solution to the rising cost of conventional fuel. Most don't realize that we already have problems keeping our food supply stable, in part because we don't see the direct consequences of our choices.

Well, let me hopefully open some eyes. Get off the oil dependency carousel. If you must drive, get out of that damn SUV and into something that gets 35+ MPG minimum.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23418142/

I know quite a few people will read the above article and say "so what" it's not our problem and biofuel is just a part of the problem - what about China & India... Lead by example! People in this country have become so self centered and selfish and don't even realize it anymore.

Go to the website below and answer about 20 multiple choice questions. Answer truthfully - do the real math - if you use less than 2 earths I will be impressed.

http://www.myfootprint.org/

I used 1.4 planets this past year and I was pretty wasteful actually...