Showing posts with label Solar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solar. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 September 2026
After Months of Delays, We Tried to Fix Our Solar Gate Opener -- But Nature Had Other Plans
Sunday, 26 July 2026
The Real Panama Life - A Week in Our Tropical Paradise
This week wasn’t just about food or gadgets—it was about resilience. We made sauerkraut with patience and purpose, stirred granola with joy, and faced a sudden motorbike collision with calm. And then… a solar gate update , explaining what we did wrong. Every detail matters. Every moment counts. Even the ones that leave you wondering, “What if?” Join us every Sunday as we live our life, enjoy the peace of nature, discover new places, and celebrate life’s special moments in Panama. Our Channel shows you exactly what day-to-day living looks like—not the Instagram-perfect moments, but the messy, beautiful reality. We also explore our new country of Panama, all of South America and the World. Fermenting Kit: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64692423 Music from Epidemic Sound Don’t forget to subscribe for more travel inspiration and hidden gems in Panama! ๐ Stay Connected With Us. ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ. SHOPMY: https://shopmy.us/shop/explorersgonerogue?Section_id=3007847&tab=collections Fermenting Kit: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64692423 Amazon Wish List: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/AQ9Z46G19V85?ref_=wl_share YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExplorersGoneRogue ๐ฉ For business inquiries: theroguelesstravelled@gmail.com============================ https://collabstr.com/homesteadgonerogue ๐ฌSuggested videos for you: ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk_HlSlgcaI ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kDlLdjFNw4 ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfiH5B0XV5c ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUIuf_4t16U ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsUs7IZPFqE ================================= #Panama #Travel #expat #dayinthelife #retirement #panamalife #asmr #SouthAmerica #WorldTravel #livingabroad #solar #sauerkraut #granola
The Real Panama Life - A Week in Our Tropical Paradise
Sunday, 28 June 2026
Gates, Butterflies and Confessions of a Tropical Life
Saturday, 9 May 2020
Ending a chapter
A few days ago, we went for a drive, just around the island for a change of scenery...
Crofton paper mill just off center there...
Booth Bay
What a looker! Barely able to walk 100 yards after what I just put my body through, but still cute!
Since we're moving.... oh yeah I haven't given details of that yet.... next post probably..... we went to see some friends - socially distanced of course.
Wonderous sights you get without being under trees...
Robin & Sylvia built this fabulous tiny home a couple of years ago
Back at home, Robbie was hot in our little sliver of sunshine so I propped some shade over him - spoiled rotten.
1 of my 2 good sons... obviously this one takes after his mother... Proud Mama.
Okay so being in the trees is a bad idea for so many reasons.... not the least of which being....
Before, but after being swept off... just 6 months worth.
What an absolute state it was...
All cleaned...
That was a lot of work and we shan't be parking under trees ever again!
Editor's Note: All the roof patches are due to the RV dealership installing the solar panels in all the wrong places. Do Not have a dealership install solar -- its worth the extra $$ to get it done right.
Sunday, 8 July 2018
A Saskatchewan Summer
You know your in Saskatchewan when...
a.k.a. 37C
Our solar panels were bringing in 40.6 Amps
This is why I don't do selfies
My 'thing' is to tell everyone how cute I am... and I get away with it because while I don't have self esteem problems, I also don't think I'm all that. Perhaps it is just in my mind, but I 'think' I'm getting away with it. Maybe people just think I'm a nut. Whatever.
However, while I'm proud of every wrinkle I've earned through my life so far... I don't really like pictures of them floating around in the world, real or cyber. It may also be the old school upbringing I got about not being vain... I don't know but selfies are just not a comfortable thing for me. I do try, I swear it.
It has been so incredibly hot here and having been on the East coast for the last 8 years we are just not used to it anymore, obviously. We've gone to the city every day and generally end up on Brad's Mum's deck, tucked nicely into the shade to get some reprieve from the heat. The poor woman probably just wants rid of us.
I actually faint in the heat, so I have to be very careful and make sure that I stay hydrated - more so than would be considered 'normal'. My body just does not retain fluid, which I always thought was a good thing - until I returned to spend the summer in Saskatchewan! Holy Hell kinda Hot.
I think I wrote about our change of plans... we were going to clear out our house on the East coast in July, but we have decided to wait until August due to a s.n.a.f.u (literally). We contacted the campground that allowed us to store the RV here back in April, even before they opened and have taken a spot here for the month of July.
It's a nice campground, I wrote about it the other day. Not a lot to do around here and Brad is getting bored, so I went to the office to discuss a workamping option with them for when we return at the end of August. This campground stays open until the end of October which I find very shocking having lived in Saskatchewan since I was 5 - looong time, it gets damn cold here in October.
Anyway, Brad has taken to walking lately. He does a mile twice a day, which to some may not seem like much but with his back issues its quite a feat. We are not very active people, which we'd sure like to fix. I had planned to do PickleBall in Saskatoon but when we volunteered to work the PB Tournament here a couple of months back, nobody knew what was going on, I couldn't get a straight answer about whether to show up or wait for a call, someone was supposed to call me about it but never did and it put a bad taste in my mouth so we've just never gone. I actually miss playing and I know I'm going to get grief about not being any better when I get back to the Ranch in November, but I do it for fun and exercise, not to be some PB Champion, unlike some.
We had a comment yesterday from some regular readers asking about our smoking/vaping and how that was going. Well, I'm happy to report that we are both still vaping and haven't had a cigarette in 2 months, without even a hiccup. Even our Doctor is happy, while vaping is still more than our lungs were designed for (O2), at least we are not getting the smoke, tar and chemicals that accompany the nicotine of a cigarette. Vaping is just nicotine.... at least as far as anyone is telling us (the common folk).
When vaping first came out, I never imagined that I'd be doing it. I do not like to be a guinea pig for anything but with cigarettes being $19.10/pack we finally decided enough was enough. Vaping costs us about $100/month compared to the $900/month we were spending on cigarettes.
Also, we have reduced our nicotine levels fairly dramatically already. We both started out on 18mg of nicotine and have reduced down a couple of times putting Brad at 10mg and me at 6mg. The idea being to reduce and eventually stop altogether.
Camping in a Saskatchewan summer means wood fires, Off, hotdogs and hamburgers. These smells are wafting in and around the RV often and its a comforting smell I find. Not that I was a camping person growing up but I find the smell of wood fires and Off especially just speaks 'summer' to me.
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Walk with Roh, Frozen and Solar Management
Went for a walk with Roh yesterday morning. She has a route that she takes and it manages to cover almost every square inch of asphalt and dirt path in the resort. Had a great time talking, I was very comfortable keeping up to her pace, at least I think I was keeping up to her pace, a little concerned that I was slowing her down because usually she jogs but yesterday was a walk.
It has been ages since I walked any significant distance and we did 4 miles yesterday so I was damn sure I'd be feeling that this morning, but so far so good...
Roh and her husband have been living in their RV since 2004 when she thought it would be a good idea to go look at one. When she entered she said, 'you could live in here' and the salesman replied, 'a lot of people do'.... the rest as they say, is history.
The weather is cool here, I can't say cold because - well, we're Canadian and that would just be weak ;) but our water hoses outside froze during the night. The pipes in the rig are fine, just the outside where it attaches to the spigot. We will have to discuss getting a heated hose but I'm just not sure how to do that when we have 3 seperate hose sections - spigot to filter, filter to softener and softener to rig. I will be looking into that this morning.
The sun is out now and hitting right at the hoses so it won't be long and they should melt and we'll be good to go once again. Not sure this will happen in sufficient time for my PickleBall beautification process, but I will be monitoring it - my public awaits LOL Might just go to the site showers this morning.
Brad also took Robbie for quite the walk yesterday, we are aware that this small rig is confining for him when it's cold like this outside. He is certainly excited to get to Grandma's house in April!
I should also mention, mostly so that I don't forget over the summer, that we have learned that Aguanga is pronounced Awanga, not Aguanga... I forgot to mention that when we discovered it about 6 weeks ago.
The time has come now for me to organize the RV again. This time in preparation for the trip home. There are a lot of things we will be able to leave behind instead of carrying them back and forth so I'd like to get at that. Also the site storage bins need to be better organized so that all of the seating cushions fit into one bin so that we can leave it unlocked should we decide to rent it out while we are away - not likely but still undecided. The other two bins will be locked.
Because the heat was on all night, our batteries did not fully charge overnight - a first. So I have yet to turn the solar on as I recall them saying they should be fully charged at least once a day. Annoying, but there you have it.
Actually not sure if I mentioned how we manage the solar:
We turn the solar on in the mornings while we are online and puttering around the rig, until around 3 or 4pm when we turn them off and run shore power to allow the sun to recharge them again before sunset, then back on during evening hours while we are again puttering around the rig and off for the overnight to allow them to recharge on the grid. This system allows us to use the grid generally only during off-peak hours.
Of course, this is not a set in stone system, it depends on the weather and cloud cover, but we just received our first bill from this site the other day and once again it was $0. Gotta love Solar! There was some sort of prorate issue something something to do with this billing cycle since we just purchased the lot, so not sure how that will play out on next months bill, but I know that our neighbours were also prorated and theirs was almost $100 if I remember correctly.
Anyway, time to get at the day.... thanks for dropping in and hope you make the most out of your next 24 hours! We... have to go shopping :(
It has been ages since I walked any significant distance and we did 4 miles yesterday so I was damn sure I'd be feeling that this morning, but so far so good...
Roh and her husband have been living in their RV since 2004 when she thought it would be a good idea to go look at one. When she entered she said, 'you could live in here' and the salesman replied, 'a lot of people do'.... the rest as they say, is history.
The weather is cool here, I can't say cold because - well, we're Canadian and that would just be weak ;) but our water hoses outside froze during the night. The pipes in the rig are fine, just the outside where it attaches to the spigot. We will have to discuss getting a heated hose but I'm just not sure how to do that when we have 3 seperate hose sections - spigot to filter, filter to softener and softener to rig. I will be looking into that this morning.
The sun is out now and hitting right at the hoses so it won't be long and they should melt and we'll be good to go once again. Not sure this will happen in sufficient time for my PickleBall beautification process, but I will be monitoring it - my public awaits LOL Might just go to the site showers this morning.
Brad also took Robbie for quite the walk yesterday, we are aware that this small rig is confining for him when it's cold like this outside. He is certainly excited to get to Grandma's house in April!
I should also mention, mostly so that I don't forget over the summer, that we have learned that Aguanga is pronounced Awanga, not Aguanga... I forgot to mention that when we discovered it about 6 weeks ago.
The time has come now for me to organize the RV again. This time in preparation for the trip home. There are a lot of things we will be able to leave behind instead of carrying them back and forth so I'd like to get at that. Also the site storage bins need to be better organized so that all of the seating cushions fit into one bin so that we can leave it unlocked should we decide to rent it out while we are away - not likely but still undecided. The other two bins will be locked.
Because the heat was on all night, our batteries did not fully charge overnight - a first. So I have yet to turn the solar on as I recall them saying they should be fully charged at least once a day. Annoying, but there you have it.
Actually not sure if I mentioned how we manage the solar:
We turn the solar on in the mornings while we are online and puttering around the rig, until around 3 or 4pm when we turn them off and run shore power to allow the sun to recharge them again before sunset, then back on during evening hours while we are again puttering around the rig and off for the overnight to allow them to recharge on the grid. This system allows us to use the grid generally only during off-peak hours.
Of course, this is not a set in stone system, it depends on the weather and cloud cover, but we just received our first bill from this site the other day and once again it was $0. Gotta love Solar! There was some sort of prorate issue something something to do with this billing cycle since we just purchased the lot, so not sure how that will play out on next months bill, but I know that our neighbours were also prorated and theirs was almost $100 if I remember correctly.
Anyway, time to get at the day.... thanks for dropping in and hope you make the most out of your next 24 hours! We... have to go shopping :(
Monday, 6 November 2017
Improvements
So this morning when we woke up we had nothing pressing other than dumping the tanks. Before we could get to that the phone rang...
Our new Jeep tires were in could we be there for 2pm? Yuppers. So we took the rig to the dump and refreshed her for whatever days we have left here. Then got her re-positioned to maximize the sun's exposure on the panels and Brad went up and tilted them for the first time.
Within a minute we went from this:
To this:
Our new Jeep tires were in could we be there for 2pm? Yuppers. So we took the rig to the dump and refreshed her for whatever days we have left here. Then got her re-positioned to maximize the sun's exposure on the panels and Brad went up and tilted them for the first time.
Within a minute we went from this:
Our solar intake on a really clear sunny day before now.
It actually hit 38.3 but I didn't catch that with the camera
Brenda and Len (Solar Guru's we met in Vernon) would be so proud! LOL
With that finished, it was time to go for the tire install at American Custom Tire & Wheel. Our pretty little yellow Jeep went from this:
With the old tires on
To this:
Yes Ladies, it does look the same. Just don't tell the Men!
We returned to the rig and Brad dropped me off to check on Robbie who we left behind today, and went off on his manly expedition to what a difference round tires made compared to round tires... I must admit though the Jeep did feel a lot smoother on the ride home.
For dinner I made an Instant Pot recipe I found online at The Spicy Apron. This website has lots of different Instant Pot recipes. Tonight it was Mongolian Beef for us. Really good although for me it had too much Ginger so I have altered the recipe for next time. Otherwise, it was easy, quick and delicious. Tomorrow night - Asian Sesame Chicken.
Tonight's Mongolian Beef
As I was sitting writing this blog the sunset was incredible. I ran outside and took a picture but it just does not do it justice in the way pictures always do. It was such a deep red, I don't think I've seen the sky that red before. Wow!
The Red in this sunset was so deep, like I've never seen before.
So now we have tires, you know what that means? Yup, We're going on a Jeep ride tomorrow that will make Jeepers proud :)
Sure hope I don't forget the camera......
Thursday, 2 November 2017
Well now, that was a day!
We woke up this morning with nothing to do... then remembered that the slide topper guy was supposed to be coming today. Brad was going to run into Quartzsite and do something or other while I still had to get myself put together, then the topper guy called. He was at the front entrance to the LTVA... where were we? Cutting a long story short, we were happy with the result of the topper guy's visit. He will return on Wednesday (not happy about that as we were hoping to go somewhere else soon) and the cost of the repair will be $169.78US. Not great but atleast its not crazy expensive.
For the record the topper guy is Ron Butts with Shade Pro RV Awnings. Nice guy and sounds like he knows his stuff.
After this we figured we go to Quartzsite and do a bit of laundry, fully intending to bring it home wet and hang it on some contraption that Brad has planned and I know no details of.
And we did - go to Quartzsite and do a bit of laundry, that is. It was a cool, cloudy day today so we left Robbie at home and the two of us drove in. He dropped me off at a new laundromat the Palm Plaza Laundromat since I was so thoroughly unimpressed with the last one. I loved it. It was clean, quiet, the other users were friendly and the price was great. $2/wash and .25 for 7 min on the dryer I put it in for 45min and it was dry when it finished. Not sopping wet. Well worth the price. So a huge thank you to the management of that place, we will be back.
While I was doing laundry, Brad went to go have a chat with the solar boys again. We've been finding that its not keeping up with our energy usage, so he wanted to see what we could have done to it to correct the problem... perhaps another panel and upgrade the controller... the boys suggested tilting the panels and they could fit us in right away. So he came back to the laundromat to pick me up.
We rushed home and packed up the rig for moving and off we went. Dropped her off at Discount Solar yet again for the boys to fix her up. They removed all the panels, put tilting feet on them and replaced them moving one into a better position. We are not able to tilt them for a few days (5 apparently) to allow time for the lap sealant to set up well before the wind hits them. $482US for today's little add-on but apparently it will give us the 20% extra we seem to be missing.
By this time it was 5:30pm and the steaks we had out for supper while tempting were not enough to entice the effort required to cook them from either of us so out for dinner we went. Remembering that someone (sorry don't remember who) recommended Mountain Quail Cafe, that was where we went.
Well, let me tell you - I'm no Gordon Ramsey but I hope that wasn't how you remember it. Not anymore anyway, the business is for sale and while the atmosphere was clean, quiet and the staff were very friendly and happy, the food - well there was some of it that even Brad couldn't eat (he ate in ditches in the Army). He also didn't drink the coffee. I had chicken fingers and when I couldn't rip them apart I picked up my knife and fork but couldn't cut them with those either. It was bad. Just bad.
I've become quite the critic lately. Not sure I like it, but I have been writing quite a few Yelp! reviews. Most of them are good experiences so I guess that balances things out but when we have an experience like we had at the laundromat last week and today's dinner, I just think its important to let people know. Not just potential Customers of these establishments but the Owner/Managers as well. If they don't know there is a problem, they can not be expected to fix it... this is my view on this. Feel free to correct me if you feel different, because I don't like writing bad reviews but...
Well tonight when I was reviewing today's laundromat a Google something something popped up asking me to become a 'Local Guide' doing reviews of the places we experience. I have taken it on, mostly because I can take it off if I should choose to.
I sure wish I used these reviews myself, I must get better at it. Usually when we are going for dinner we just go and see what we see, we don't Google to find out what other people's experiences are at a place. I need to do this more - at all actually.
Generally it was a good and productive day that just ended badly but tomorrow is another so...
Onward and Upward my friends, Onward and Upward.
For the record the topper guy is Ron Butts with Shade Pro RV Awnings. Nice guy and sounds like he knows his stuff.
After this we figured we go to Quartzsite and do a bit of laundry, fully intending to bring it home wet and hang it on some contraption that Brad has planned and I know no details of.
And we did - go to Quartzsite and do a bit of laundry, that is. It was a cool, cloudy day today so we left Robbie at home and the two of us drove in. He dropped me off at a new laundromat the Palm Plaza Laundromat since I was so thoroughly unimpressed with the last one. I loved it. It was clean, quiet, the other users were friendly and the price was great. $2/wash and .25 for 7 min on the dryer I put it in for 45min and it was dry when it finished. Not sopping wet. Well worth the price. So a huge thank you to the management of that place, we will be back.
Our Laundry Hamper
Saw this notice of the upcoming Farmers Market and I'm excited to check it out on Tuesday.
While I was doing laundry, Brad went to go have a chat with the solar boys again. We've been finding that its not keeping up with our energy usage, so he wanted to see what we could have done to it to correct the problem... perhaps another panel and upgrade the controller... the boys suggested tilting the panels and they could fit us in right away. So he came back to the laundromat to pick me up.
We rushed home and packed up the rig for moving and off we went. Dropped her off at Discount Solar yet again for the boys to fix her up. They removed all the panels, put tilting feet on them and replaced them moving one into a better position. We are not able to tilt them for a few days (5 apparently) to allow time for the lap sealant to set up well before the wind hits them. $482US for today's little add-on but apparently it will give us the 20% extra we seem to be missing.
Kendon on the roof of Ace once again
Obviously we also need to cut down on our power usage. We'll have to limit ourselves to a morning and late afternoon charge of all the gadgets on generator power until we are able to tilt these babies. Even after that we will be watching our energy usage much closer, killing the Keurig will go a long way towards that. Brad drinks about 8 cups of coffee a day... yes, I've told him - he doesn't care. So when we were watching Moving Forward the other night and they were showing their Presto MyJo K-cup coffee maker, we knew we just had to get one. THIS alone will save us enough power over the course of a day to send Armstrong to the moon and back. I ordered him one the very next morning along with a new collapsible kettle for both of us.
After returning to our campsite, having dumped the black/gray tanks and reloaded the fresh water we set the rig to better orient her for her new solar setup. Brad promptly began patching the holes left by the atrocious placement of the panels by Woody's RV in Red Deer. He is none too happy with them at the moment and I try to remind him that they are Dealers not Solar guys but he is mad at the hack job they did to our roof and thinks they shouldn't be doing solar if they don't know what they're doing. We have A LOT of patches up there now with the original 4 that came from the previous owners satellite dish, 14 now.
He managed to get 4 of them patched and sealed today but has 6 more to do in the morning. We specifically told the guys at Discount Solar we would do them ourselves so that we can be absolutely sure they are done correctly given the high number of them. All this patching will undoubtedly affect any future sale should we choose to upgrade and we will likely have to replace the entire roof. Long time readers will remember we have some experience with this. Somewhere in all of this we also order 4 new tires for the Jeep ($914US) Gulp!!!
By this time it was 5:30pm and the steaks we had out for supper while tempting were not enough to entice the effort required to cook them from either of us so out for dinner we went. Remembering that someone (sorry don't remember who) recommended Mountain Quail Cafe, that was where we went.
Mountain Quail Cafe
Well, let me tell you - I'm no Gordon Ramsey but I hope that wasn't how you remember it. Not anymore anyway, the business is for sale and while the atmosphere was clean, quiet and the staff were very friendly and happy, the food - well there was some of it that even Brad couldn't eat (he ate in ditches in the Army). He also didn't drink the coffee. I had chicken fingers and when I couldn't rip them apart I picked up my knife and fork but couldn't cut them with those either. It was bad. Just bad.
I've become quite the critic lately. Not sure I like it, but I have been writing quite a few Yelp! reviews. Most of them are good experiences so I guess that balances things out but when we have an experience like we had at the laundromat last week and today's dinner, I just think its important to let people know. Not just potential Customers of these establishments but the Owner/Managers as well. If they don't know there is a problem, they can not be expected to fix it... this is my view on this. Feel free to correct me if you feel different, because I don't like writing bad reviews but...
Well tonight when I was reviewing today's laundromat a Google something something popped up asking me to become a 'Local Guide' doing reviews of the places we experience. I have taken it on, mostly because I can take it off if I should choose to.
I sure wish I used these reviews myself, I must get better at it. Usually when we are going for dinner we just go and see what we see, we don't Google to find out what other people's experiences are at a place. I need to do this more - at all actually.
Generally it was a good and productive day that just ended badly but tomorrow is another so...
Onward and Upward my friends, Onward and Upward.
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Solar Upgrades and Friends in High Places
So this morning we were due to be at Discount Solar a little before 11am.... We got up and beautified, packed up the rig and off we went. First sight we saw this morning was our neighbours rig with a large sign across the front that says, " We shoot every third trespasser and number two just left". Clearly not a friendly chap and I'm so glad I saw that before I walked up to his rig (I wouldn't have seen this sign from our angle) to say hello.
We then drove over to the Goodwill (behind Silly Al's here in Quartzsite) and dropped off my crockpot, the printer and a bunch of sweaters that I'm clearly never going to need again. I kept 3 sweaters and ditched the rest, most of which were fairly new (don't tell Brad). The women in the shop were so excited to see us bringing in stuff that one of them actually ran around the counter and gave me a hug, Brad was making a Beeline for the door but she chased after him and he got a hug too. Not anticipating any of this display, I didn't take my cell phone with me as my arms were full. So no pictures.
We were at Discount Solar by 10:30am, sat waiting in line for an hour and then went into the 'waiting room' but we felt like a bunch (there was another couple there as well) of Mexican Immigrants stuffed into a cargo container (it was a converted one, quite literally) and the heat (40C) was unbearable, so I grabbed a bunch of chairs and we all went to sit outside in the shade where the breeze was.
Brad and I decided to take Robbie for a walk and we went down the road to Taco Mio and enjoyed a nice lunch in air conditioning. Robbie stayed under the table between us with some ice water in his collapsible bowl.
It was just too damn hot to walk any further and we were feeling the burn, so we returned to our Mexican hut and sat outside with our co-immigrants. Every now and again I would go over and check on Kendon (the installer guy) to see how things were going. The guys at Discount Solar are all really great. They worked non-stop on those rigs all day long. Always happy, never moaning, remember it was roughly 40C today and they were out there in the heat and sun. Pretty impressed with this place, I must say. They were upgrading all our wiring to the appropriate ought, installing a Xantrex LinkLite Battery Monitor (Thank you Brenda and Len) and 2 more batteries. Putting us at 480w on the roof and 6- 6V Golf Cart Flooded batteries. Enough to send Armstrong to the moon! Totally wired for sound, we are.
Our co-immigrants showed us a map they use, Benchmark maps. Looks pretty detailed and it shows the areas by colour ie. Public land, Forest service, etc. I will be keeping an eye out for one of these.
Our new Xantrex LinkLite Battery Monitor above the original Go Power Solar Controller
$229 US... plus install, but I think it will pay for itself. I wanted it because it has a battery alarm that you can preset to whatever you want so that when your batteries reach a certain percentage an alarm will sound -handy when you use it mostly overnight. So toward the end of the day Kendon advised that there was some kind of snafu happening with my alarm gizmo so I went to the office to inquire what was going on. Turns out they were out of stock of the alarms... but as I was talking to him he got a call that someone had one and they wanted to install it tomorrow. When I told Brad, after 7.5 hours of being in 40C heat, he wasn't having any of it. So I went back to the office and said we would go without the alarm. "Oh, your getting the alarm," he says, "if I have to chase you to El Paso". Apparently there had been such a kerfuffle around the shop all day about this alarm - which we didn't realize - so we agreed that the next time we move the rig to dump or whatever that we will call them and let them know we'll be coming in. A couple of minutes is all they need Craig tells me. Everything is pre-wired, etc. they just have to stick it in. Okay.
We got back to our 'home' base and the chair with the rock had held it for us yet again. Don't know how long this will last, but so far so good. It was 6pm when we got the rigs levellers down and I whipped out the BBQ and did up some quick hamburgers and chips for supper. Before they were cooked darkness was upon us. Mental note: be parked before 5:30 because I'm not putting those pads down under there in the dark with all the wildlife out here in the jungle.
For those who do not know, HP Sauce is named after the Houses of parliament in England. We are English and this sauce is a staple around here. Now in our previous unmentionable abode we had easy access to HP but not the Keene's prepared mustard we love, so my family would send us some for Xmas or birthdays, etc or we would get some when we were there. So when we packed the rig, I brought along a couple jars of Keene's but didn't even think of the HP... tonight we had burgers, and I discovered that we are almost out of HP!!!! This stuff is Gold and they don't sell it down here. So what did I do? I loved Vickie.
I texted the previously mentioned and sinister Vickie that we met in Osoyoos who will be coming to the states with her dearly beloved Bruce and begged her upon bended knee to please bring me a couple of bottles.. She has agreed. The woman is a saint! LOL
All day - and I mean all day- Brad has been looking at Jeep Wranglers and has found a couple that we will be reviewing once I get this blog finished. So goodnight one and all, I'm off to the Jeeps.
Onwards and Upwards
Tuesday, 17 October 2017
Going Rogue Day 1 again
Our first day in the U.S. We woke up and piddled about getting ready to cross the border, but I forgot to throw out the rice. The crossing was pretty uneventful, we were boarded and I had to sacrifice my Jasmine/Basmati rice which I had intended but forgot to throw out. The border guards were pleasant unlike some that I have met in the past (when just jaunting through to another part of Canada, years ago).
I remembered to take some pictures along the way, woohoo, I have a memory after all..
I remembered to take some pictures along the way, woohoo, I have a memory after all..
Shortly after crossing, those are satellite dishes in the distance
A mini Grand Canyon, called Grand Coulee or Dry Falls
Grand Coulee
Grand Coulee
We drove a few hours and decided to look for somewhere to stop for the night. Drove past Country Mercantile and I remembered having seen it on OvernightParking so we turned around and I asked permission to stay. No problem, apparently you don't even need to ask. Stay in the back of the parking lot. Had a few trucks come in last night but didn't hear anything once we went to bed. We went in for a sandwich for supper, very filling, so worked out well and did a bit of browsing. What a shop, they have tons of stuff from decor to jams, pickled veg, produce and a deli with plenty of tables to enjoy a meal while you watch everyone spend all their husband's money - I mean shop :)
Did I mention it is also a chocolate factory? NO? Oh, well its also a CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!! If it was warmer at night you'd never get me away from this place, let me tell you. The boxes pictures above were buy 2 get 1 free. So naturally...
As we are trying not to plan anything for this trip, we have no idea where Day 2 will take us. Just drive until we get tired of it, stopping at anything intriguing along the way. Our only 'rush' would be in getting to warmer weather but we're just going with the flow to reach it.
His Lordship wants to go through Las Vegas, but I know that would be a mistake. We've already agreed to stay away from any major centers and I'm pretty sure that one counts. The 'plan' if there is one is to see as many states as possible in the interior enroute to (we think) Arizona but that's completely negotiable should we find something good. I would like to see Texas, Louisiana, Alabama so it will be interesting to see where our travels take us.
I would love to meet up with some fellow boondockers who can teach us a few tricks of the trade so Arizona seems a good bet.
As always, thanks for following along and I love getting comments. I actually have some regular commenters, which is totally awesome!
Onwards and Upwards.
PS- For anyone following the solar thing... the CPAP only used 10% of the batteries last night. BONUS!
Saturday, 14 October 2017
I know, I know...
So yesterday when I was taking Robbie for his morning walk, our neighbour asked if Brad would like to go with him to Oliver to check out a new race track that has been built - just for something to do. Well yes, of course he would. So I quickly made him a bacon sandwich while he was getting himself sorted and off he went for a Boy's Day Out.
Worked out perfect for me as it is easier for me to get things done around here when he's not here. He has difficulty doing some things because of his back/neck issues and I think it makes him feel awkward when I'm doing things that in his mind are 'guy' things. Out the door he goes with the neighbour and I promptly set about rinsing the black tank.
Drained the black tank, stuck the whirlybird stick down the hole, rinsed and flushed. Still gooped up so I did it again, still gooped up. Filled the tank to the top, let it sit for about an hour while I removed the inside door trim, wrapped some insulation stuff around the frame and replaced the trim. Then drained the tank again, stuck the whirly in it again and just kept repeating (probably 5 or 6 times) until only clear water came out. Bleached the whirly and put it out the window lowering it to the ground so I could walk around and sort it out. Broken. No idea how but it broke, at least I was finished and had cleaned it down so dealing with it was soooo much easier than it would have been had I not bleached it.
Back at the house we had had a couple of remote temperature watcher gizmos (I'm a gadget queen, remember) and I had one of them in a bay underneath. Realizing I should have put it in the water bay I moved it yesterday so that we have a gauge inside the rig to let us know what the temp is in the water bay itself. The bay is heated by a duct but I think its wise to keep an eye on it regardless.
I also managed to vacuum copious amounts of dog hair from the 3 floor mats, did a load of laundry and just a general cleaning up around the 'house' and because it appeared likely to rain I took Robbie for his afternoon walk a little earlier than usual.
Brad returned with tales of not only a racetrack but apparently they went off-roading in the back hills, something I would never have been able to do. I have an inner ear issue which sends me into a cat-on-the-ceiling fit if I tip or even perceive the possibility of it, so I am glad I chose to stay home and let him have a guys day out. He even took lots of pictures for this blog, what a guy! With all the stuff I was doing it never crossed my mind to take even one picture, I know, I know.....
There was a table beside us all decked out with roses because apparently there was going to be a marriage proposal last night, sure hope that went well. We were gone before the couple arrived, and no I didn't think to get a picture of that either, I know, I know.
This morning we awoke to notice that our batteries were at 90% and then dropped to 89%. I sent an email to an RVer friend who knows TONS about solar/battery stuff and am waiting for a reply (its still very early). The reason this is a concern is because we are plugged in. Nothing should be running on battery. So unless its due to the cold I have no clue why our batteries would have dropped overnight. The sun is coming out now and they are replenishing but this could be problematic if we were not plugged in and something unknown is draining our batteries. We still don't have a TM-2025 monitor but it is high on our list once we get across - even higher today.
Worked out perfect for me as it is easier for me to get things done around here when he's not here. He has difficulty doing some things because of his back/neck issues and I think it makes him feel awkward when I'm doing things that in his mind are 'guy' things. Out the door he goes with the neighbour and I promptly set about rinsing the black tank.
Drained the black tank, stuck the whirlybird stick down the hole, rinsed and flushed. Still gooped up so I did it again, still gooped up. Filled the tank to the top, let it sit for about an hour while I removed the inside door trim, wrapped some insulation stuff around the frame and replaced the trim. Then drained the tank again, stuck the whirly in it again and just kept repeating (probably 5 or 6 times) until only clear water came out. Bleached the whirly and put it out the window lowering it to the ground so I could walk around and sort it out. Broken. No idea how but it broke, at least I was finished and had cleaned it down so dealing with it was soooo much easier than it would have been had I not bleached it.
Back at the house we had had a couple of remote temperature watcher gizmos (I'm a gadget queen, remember) and I had one of them in a bay underneath. Realizing I should have put it in the water bay I moved it yesterday so that we have a gauge inside the rig to let us know what the temp is in the water bay itself. The bay is heated by a duct but I think its wise to keep an eye on it regardless.
I also managed to vacuum copious amounts of dog hair from the 3 floor mats, did a load of laundry and just a general cleaning up around the 'house' and because it appeared likely to rain I took Robbie for his afternoon walk a little earlier than usual.
Brad returned with tales of not only a racetrack but apparently they went off-roading in the back hills, something I would never have been able to do. I have an inner ear issue which sends me into a cat-on-the-ceiling fit if I tip or even perceive the possibility of it, so I am glad I chose to stay home and let him have a guys day out. He even took lots of pictures for this blog, what a guy! With all the stuff I was doing it never crossed my mind to take even one picture, I know, I know.....
New racetrack in Oliver, BC
Racetrack
Osoyoos from above
Wild horses
Snow in the hills
Osoyoos, BC
Spotted Lake
We went out for dinner as the meat I had out to thaw was not looking appetizing and had a lovely meal in a nice restaurant atmosphere, though the 'Potato Salad' had a twist -and parmesan, making it inedible for me. Without the parm I would have eaten it for sure, I did try but I just can't stand parmesan and couldn't get more than about 4 pieces in me. The ribs were phenomenal though.
This morning we awoke to notice that our batteries were at 90% and then dropped to 89%. I sent an email to an RVer friend who knows TONS about solar/battery stuff and am waiting for a reply (its still very early). The reason this is a concern is because we are plugged in. Nothing should be running on battery. So unless its due to the cold I have no clue why our batteries would have dropped overnight. The sun is coming out now and they are replenishing but this could be problematic if we were not plugged in and something unknown is draining our batteries. We still don't have a TM-2025 monitor but it is high on our list once we get across - even higher today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)