Building on a digital thermostat mod I got two of four baseboard heaters installed before the holiday road trip. For now we still supplement these two 24" 400W cockpit units with a central space heater under the dinette table. But turning that down from HIGH to LOW is one step closer to making silent night a reality.
For the past five years on our watch this RV
One of the best places to see bighorn sheep at Ash Meadows NWR is Point of Rocks. Among the amenities for day use visitors is a viewpoint at the far end of the boardwalk. With viewing scopes to help see things considerably further than the naked eye. Especially big game that's particularly shy of humans.
On a recent stroll I spotted
Blacky the wonder Tundra celebrated an oddometerversary yesterday.
This is new territory for me. I've never had such a high mileage vehicle. I've tried to be good about care and feeding. Blacky's taken great care of me in return. Who knows - maybe we'll reach all threes after several more years together.
Loretta's motorhome was bought used. In 2013 it had only 51k miles on the clock. While in generally good condition overall, its full history (use, care, maintenance, etc) was unknown to us. At least for its last half decade on our watch we took good care of each other. But the last couple trips it started running hot. Last month, leaving our summer gig in WA it severely over heated and died in OR.
Some time ago I found a nifty work light. It's LED and works on either AC or DC.
The only problem was the AC cord was permanently attached. The extra cord was always in the way when plugged into a vehicle. My solution was to replace the AC power cord with a removable cord and outlet harvested from an old computer.
Several years ago we remodeled the RV dinette. Benches on each side of the table were replaced with real chairs. We traded guest twin bed conversion capability (which we never used) for shelving on both sides of the table. Key to making that possible was consolidating all the electrical stuff into a compact cabinet under the table between the shelves. The cabinet hides the wires for all the AC and DC circuits as well as the converter/charger. Its face left access to the power panel with all the breakers and fuses. (Previously, all that electrical stuff wasted most of the space under both benches.)
The dining mod also involved ditching the LP furnace (which didn't work anyway). To stay warm in cold weather electric space heaters work well. We always have shore power at full hookup RV sites in volunteer villages where we serve. To help reduce the trip hazard of a corded heater an outlet was added under the table. This winter I completed a mod to control the heater from our wall thermostat. An outlet was added under the table that only gets power when the thermostat says so. (Eventually, I'd like to replace the space heater with baseboard heaters; meanwhile, at least the wiring is now in place for that mod.)
Earlier this month we had a 5-day block off work to explore. This time we ventured northish to visit more of the Cascades. Starting with Mt. St. Helens. It was hot so we opted to camp with electricity. Running the air conditioning not only made lil' yeti more comfortable. That also eased the thermal strain on a fridge ready for last rites. With that strategy Seaquest State Park fit the bill. We arrived early enough Monday afternoon to leave the A/C going and visited the national park.
Visibility was hazy due to smoke from BC wildfires. Still we enjoyed two different films about the park. Plus a scenic drive up and back WA-504 despite the haze. Sometimes context is everything. Sometimes a visit isn't just about the park. Hoffstadt Bridge is a captivating example.
On a recent week off we visited the Olympic Peninsula. Monday morning we headed out the scenic route. Starting through nearby Trout Lake for some huckleberry rolls at the cafe. NF-23 is 67 miles north to Randle. All but 11 miles were paved but some of that was frost heaved worse than the washboard gravel from lil' yeti's perspective. A couple cabinet doors were opened and their contents strewn all over inside. But nothing messy or broken, fortunately.
At Randle we found an IGA with lunch fixin's. Then US-12 west to Marys Corner, and I-5 north to Tumwater (near Olympia). US-101 north lead to Seal Rock CG (Olympic NF) in Quilcene for the night. It's near Dabob Bay on Hood Canal which connects with Puget Sound. The beach was surprisingly rocky with the unsurprising aroma of low tide.
That or overflowing dumpsters from weekend visitors. But a timely trash truck emptied them during our after dinner walk, which was a mixed blessing.
Tuesday we continued up 101 (aka, Pacific Coast Highway) to Port Angeles and Olympic National Park. Nice visitor center. Helpful staff. Good orientation film. Excellent displays.
For this weekend's hike I parked at the Williams Mine trailhead. I started up the Pacific Crest Trail at about 4,000' elevation.
The day's loop was 15.9 miles total. The midpoint of my path was on the eastern side of the loop at about 6,100' elevation. That's about halfway up the west side of Mt Adams.
One reason for residing in the Pacific Northwest this summer was to do some hiking. That's central to my health plan. Between the Gifford Pinchot NF and the Cascade Mountains, nature was calling. So it was time to answer.
I started with the Buck Creek trail. It was a 3.9 mile spur with about 1,200' elevation gain. So about 7.8 miles round trip. But I had two false starts. The first was heading west from the trailhead. The trail started descending immediately, which didn't seem right. But I did see a nice buck!
That trail also joined a horse trail. So I returned to the truck and started again, east this time. That quickly turned south, and showed even more equestrian evidence. So I deduced it connected to the horse camp just down the road.
Summer is off to a good start. Conboy Lake NWR in southern WA is nice. After winter in the Mojave Desert it's so green up here. Weather's pleasant. The refuge is small and quiet. Friendly staff. Few visitors. Mostly birders. That makes Loretta's job easy (if sometimes boring) to run the visitor center. Meanwhile, I'm busy with heavy equipment projects.
Schedule flexibility has been great. That's helped with blocks of days off to explore the area. We started with a couple of 3-day trips. First we went west to Panther Creek Campground in nearby Gifford Pinchot National Forest for 2 nights.
The lush, dense forest was so cool. The under story was carpeted with ferns. Branches were draped with "old man's beard" moss.
I started resident volunteering in 2012. Beginning as a camp host in Death Valley National Park, Furnace Creek CA. I confirmed a great way to winterize my RV. Just park it by a cactus, palm tree, or both!
After two winters I moved on to Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake CO. Summer 2014 I mainly did interpretation. That meant giving historic tours, staffing the visitor center desk and roving trails. Plus managing traffic jams caused by elk and moose, especially during the fall rut. Interpretation was a great learning experience. But I also did a special project: building a pack animal shelter.
Full time RVing isn't for everybody. Homes on wheels have the same issues to deal with as homes on foundations. Plumbing, furnace, water heater, air conditioner, drafts and leaks around doors, windows and roofs. Plus issues having to do with the wheels and associated suspension, engine, transmission, etc.
Before we weighed anchor from Ash Meadows the RV battery bank was (over) due for service. The water level was alarmingly low. After adding a half gallon each to both batteries the plates were still high and dry. Almost another full gallon later all cells were finally flooded. They'd apparently boiled dry. My dang. I didn't expect 5-year old batteries to recover. But they did. They don't hold full charge anymore. But they got us up the road for 2+ weeks of spring migration north last month. I see new batteries in the RV's future. But that expense's at least punted down the calendar for now.
When Loretta and I started traveling together we had a problem to solve. Between motorhome, camper, car, truck and motorcycle we had 18 wheels! LOL
Sharing the more accommodating 25' motorhome was a no brainer. So I parked the 19' Scamp and stored the motorcycle, which helped. But added to our fleet was a 13' Scamp. Still, 16 wheels. (shrug)
The car couldn't be towed by the motorhome so we rented a car hauler. We trailered the car behind the truck and hitched the little Scamp to the motorhome.
Two years ago I built a car hauler. As far as road manners go it's been one of the most well behaved trailers I've ever had. What hasn't worked so well were the tail lights. They were the typical off-the-shelf product just like these.
The problem was: they weren't reliable. The bayonet bulb holders didn't maintain good contact. I had to remove the lens to fuss with one/both bulbs at least once every trip it seemed. So I replaced both with LED versions. Hopefully they will prove more durable. Time will tell. They're brighter, regardless. So it's already a value add.
One requirement for lil' yeti's makeover was fresh air. The Scamp originally had a ceiling vent. It was actually pretty neat technology in some ways. I just wasn't satisfied with how it was installed. Roof integrity was compromised by the old vent. The roof had actually sunk enough around the old vent to leak water inside when it rained. Unacceptable.
I removed the old vent in 2015 while summering in the precipitous White Mountains of NH. The roof hole was patched over. During the patch the ceiling was propped up and reinforced with extra fiberglass inside to correct and maintain proper shell geometry. Leak begone, permanently!
Lil' yeti already had hardware for securing twin LP tanks on its tongue.
While adequate for its task, I wasn't satisfied. The sheet metal base was just flexible enough. Amplified leverage of the tall center rod let the tanks rock fore-aft in their base. Four sheet metal screws didn't seem durable enough to me. Sometimes rough road vibrations worked loose the clamp bracket on top under the big wing nut. Didn't loosen up a lot. Just enough to bug me.
Last year I found a nifty tire hanger at an RV surplus place near Elkhart, IN.
It's a winch type piece of hardware like that typically used on pickup trucks (and some SUVs) to stow the spare tire under the rear end between the axle and bumper. A crank mechanism makes it easy to raise and lower.