For those who saw the “Ingenuous Modular Solar Power System” post on the Cheap RV Living Blog, you may want to know that it was the Reader’s Digest abridged version of Solar of the Absurd, which contains more technical information as well as useless trivia. Should you be considering a solar system, you may want to saw through it. An update on it, based on constant use in the boonies, will follow on this blog.
Van + cargo trailer + extra crap = pretty nice little camp!
Intrepid vandweller Swankie Wheels got into nesting mode the other day and unpacked a canopy, screens, table, and chairs. She set it all up and added an outdoor rug to keep dust down, and had the perfect place to work on the rocks that she likes to rework and polish. Add a little folding table for a laptop, and it’s home. Another vandweller was in for a few days too, and had
And I’ll bet they don’t have a nice humidor like this one, eh?
I’ve always enjoyed smoking, but now and then, I can tell that smoking cigarettes isn’t doing my lungs that much good after all, particularly in runs of cold weather. I’ve been rolling my own for the last year, since that drops the cost per pack from almost $7 to a couple bucks or so. So, I’ve decided to quit. It’s easy. I’ve done it lots of times.
When I got the heave-ho last year and had to start grabbing my stuff, I also grabbed a very fine humidor that was a gift from some mighty nice friends to my ex. My ex-bride used to enjoy smoking cigars, and not the cheap crap I would smoke if I’d been buying them. There are a couple of $8.75 Cohibas in there, among others. $8.75 in 2006 equates to 72 cents in 1930, the era of the top-o’-the-line 50-cent cigar. She stopped smoking, and I knew the lot would Read more…
Think this is easy? Try it yourself.
My son has always shown an uncanny artistic ability. Not just doing pretty good because of a lot of art classes, but he’s always had a puzzling ability to just sit down solo and do something quietly amazing. Never did much with it, and I couldn’t figure out a way for him to actually make a living and provide for a family from his artistic skill. Most people don’t place any value on artistic skill or the creative arts in general. They value the ability to perform well in athletic games. Hence: “starving artist”.
Well, he recently found his outlet, one which has the potential to provide a living, oddly enough. Who’s willing to pay for artwork? People who want tattoos. They don’t pay much for what they’re getting (when the artist is good), but it sure beats a lifetime of $8.25 an hour asking people if they want fries with that.
I’ve always had the assumption that to get a tattoo, all you had to do was pick a design from a book and have at it. Anchor, busty girl, skull, snake encircling sword. Some places are like that now, and the skill level to deliver varies wildly, from wince and grimace to glow. But much of the market wants original work, either fresh or, most often, a Read more…
My “vision” while napping on the couch. The shaded black at the bottom is the side of the pickup.
Here’s a weird one: Oddly, I’ve been dreaming about RVing lately. Today I took one of those afternoon naps on the couch – a thing I am often fond of doing these days. I was having a rather confusing dream about RVing – driving around near “home” in a place that looked like Colorado, and of falling into an inescapable sleep while my RV motorhome was moving, yet being unable to wake up to take the wheel!
Fortunately, I never crashed, and when I actually did wake up after a few rounds of this, I found myself groggily gazing out the screen door with no wild idea where I was. I was “home” – thanks to the dreams – with the Mighty Furd parked nearby. But what was “home”? I had no idea where that was, but the sky just past my feet was so beautiful that wherever I must be sure looked okay. It was so quiet and peaceful that my wondering ceased. Naturally, I eventually wakened enough to figure out that I was in the desert near Quartzsite, but it took awhile. Sure was a pretty sky just past my tootsies! It quickly put me in a peaceful and well-rested frame of mind. I am one very fortunate person!
Update: And here’s one view of Arizona’s big sky and the Enterprise near sunset. Photo taken from Camp Swankie by the Swankster herself.
Beauty and the Beast.
Bryce arrives and tries to get air into a confrontational tire.
Simple goal – go for a bike ride to see the petroglyphs at Tyson’s Wash. Bryce hadn’t seen them and wanted to, so Charlene was going to take him over for a look-see. I was going to go with them as far as I could before my wrists acted up on the rocky ground. But Charlene’s bike tires needed some air first. The front was no problem, but the rear had a Presta valve, which is a fairly rare style. The good news was that it included a common Schrader valve adapter. The bad news was that it just wouldn’t let air in.
Bryce showed up with a hand pump that instantly adapted to either. It wouldn’t take air from his setup either. Our guess was that the Slime puncture-resistant goo inside had solidified enough to Read more…
The hills all around Quartzsite appear to be made up of rubble! Piles of rocks, sand and gravel.
The other day I decided to visit the odd, isolated little development I’d seen off in the distance. From far away, the buildings made it look like an industrial area rather than a housing development. I wanted to find out badly enough to spend the one or two gallons of diesel fuel that it would take. So I looped around to the north on paved roads from Quartzsite itself, went west, and then south to get there.
Rainbow Acres.
Turns out it was a small remnant of a failed housing development called Rainbow Acres. What was there was nicely done, but was only a small fraction of what had been laid out for it. I cruised the streets to find that each lot was ringed with low brick walls. Many were for sale, but at about $70K for a bare lot, these folks apparently were unaware of the housing collapse. This is fairly low land, and washes interrupt the lots here and there to allow storm water to Read more…
A solar oven what am.
The other day, I returned back to the Enterprise from a hearty (for me) bike ride exploring the nether reaches of my La Posa West Long Term Visitor Area, and was greeted with a chunk of banana bread from Swankie Wheels, who has been camping close by until she can hook up with some friends that are due in soon. That $180 LTVA seasonal pass can be a bit much for one person to swing, and that’s when you call in some buds to share the expense. Living in a van with a cargo trailer, she’ll eventually move to an area further down that has several outhouses scattered about. That’s a daytime convenience for people without holding tanks in their rigs, and officially, such RVs are required to camp within 500 feet of them here at the LTVA.
At any rate, I was a bit stunned to be handed a warm slice of banana bread by someone who barely has room in their rig to turn around, let alone bake!?! The “How on earth did you make this?” question led to a trip to her cargo trailer door. She opened it, then lifted out a square contraption, setting it on the ground. She unfolded and flipped several hinged and highly polished aluminum reflectors in a few seconds, and BAM! – solar oven.
I’ve heard of ’em, of course, but had never seen one. What impressed me about this one was that it wasn’t a Read more…
After sunset.
The photo above is simply one taken after a cloudless sunset. Even with some digital massaging, the many layers of mountains forming the background aren’t really discernible. You gotta be there to see it (or I need to learn how to use that camera better)!
The existential essence of a bike tire. Since this is a British-brand bike, maybe I should say bike tyre.
The photo above is my bike’s front tire. I figured that it has earned some recognition since the long series of leaking inner tubes is over now, thanks to a pair of super-thick Slime tubes that are working great. They’re heavy, but when all you care about is getting there, they do the job. These are the Raleigh’s original 1993-ish tires, which are showing no signs of disintegrating in the sun. The tread design is superb on both gravel and pavement, since the linked center rib eliminates the unnerving vibration common to many aggressively-lugged bike tires. The bike’s Shimano derailleurs and shifters aren’t too happy with all the grit and dust out here, but are hanging in there when used regularly.
Tyson’s Wash is like the Mississippi in a heavy rain, only not as slow. These rocks were buried in sand two years ago, and became exposed because of turbulence.
Tyson’s Wash is a pretty interesting place, being the main water thoroughfare through Quartzsite, AZ. It is mainly a flowing depression of deep sand, and much of it is hundreds of feet wide. Most of the time, it’s parched. But when rains come in sufficient quantity, it is full, and moving fast. I went to see it yesterday while searching out an appropriate campsite with one C. Swankie, an RVer with considerable energy and fortitude. Since she has a degree in archeology, she served as my tour guide while on foot. Her blog is here, and be ready to be amazed by her Bucket List. She’s one of those people – just reading her bucket list makes me feel tired!
The path to get to the petroglyphs was obvious and easy, to a point. Once in the vicinity, a few abrupt washouts made chassis clearance a concern, but 4WD was never needed. Once at the wash, a quick drop-off ended Read more…
Strolling Amok 