Illegal Immigrants

The Canadian Geese, folks..it's only about the geese...

My trip up from the Q in the spring of 2011 was pretty darn uneventful. My original plans of going through Utah, Montana and Idaho were squelched by an upgrade in my employment requiring me to arrive earlier than planned. I made a boring trip up I-5 in the name of speed. Made a brief stop in Shasta-Trinity and I managed to stay outside of  Roseburg, Oregon for several days at Susan Creek Campground. I set aside time for it, I have always wanted to stay there. 

It's a wonderful spot on the Umpqua.. with SHOWERS!!! (LOL) and at 7 bones a nite, who could argue? The trailer was all dolled up after it's sealing and repairs, brand new awning installed and it was warm and homey.

My front yard after for 4 days. Nice change after the sea of sand I lived in for months

I was asked to manage the Baker Lake area campgrounds instead of just hosting one. This meant I had to be there about a month early to get things cleaned up, opened up and get the hosts all settled in. This was not an easy task, and let's just say, my experience there was one of the worst workamping experiences I have had. Nuff said.

The area itself is stunning. Baker Lake is like a large inland Fiord, and in early spring, you might as well have been in Alaska. I was surrounded by ice and snow capped peaks, brisk frozen air and brilliant blues. I had a brand new and beautiful campsite, lovely campgrounds, and I never got tired of the view below. It was dead silent early in the season, accept for...the Geese. Thousands of overhead honkin herds of them. They would sneak over the Border (35 miles north) eat our fish, use our resources, have loud parties on the water and then go away leaving a big gooey mess. They showed no respect, I tell ya.

The same could be said for the campers. Never again will I be stationed on anything with the word "Lake" in it. Beer, Boats and Testosterone are the three key elements to extremely bad behavior in a campground, I am firmly convinced. The drama was never ending, the down time was infrequent and the local resources were virtually non existent. I welcomed leaving and am pretty sure it will be a loooong time before I am back that way again.

Baker Lake, North Cascades, Washington

A Zillion years ago....

Well, it seems like that long since I have posted. A couple years, give or take, have whisked by without a peep. Much has changed since then, and much has stayed more or less the same. 

Between then and now, I have worked again in Oregon and Washington, lived in the big city again for a bit, and lived in relative isolation for a bit more. 

I am going on my 5th year as a fulltimer. I have changed rigs since last positing and will joyously get into that later.

Most of the reason for my "silence" is that I have been without easy internet services for a very long time..taking isolated posts where the nearest services are 25+ miles away. I had plenty of access when I slipped back into a 9-5 for a winter. But I was exhausted at the end of the day. Too exhausted to extoll the (non) virtues of a routine lifestyle. No one wants to hear what happened at the office, including me.

Stay tuned for the backtracking of the adventure .....

Yuma and Snow

Not much to yak about, sorry.

With only one day a week to really "go", I headed south to Yuma today to visit a *real* home improvement store.

Quartzsite is full of hardware places, but it has almost nothing for building materials, tools and other stuff you can drop your wallet contents on in the blink of an eye.

I went for paintable wallpaper. But, thats boring.

On my way down there.. the Kofa "Mountain" range is off to the east. Its mostly rock, and some pretty impressive Crags.  Today, the ridge tops were covered in snow.. I was pretty weird to see here in the desert, but see it I did.

Thats the most excitement I have seen in a couple weeks :-P. I am lulling into Hitch Itch season. That time where you start to think about going elsewhere. I want to get some work done on the rig before I do tho. Its a tad dryer here than where I am headed and I need to get some leakage attended to, and in general, do the inside work while I can put some stuff out of the way outside without worrying it will drown.

Campfires

I don't normally do fires. When you "camp" fulltime, they sort of lose their charm after while.

I used to burn on weekend outings. Digging for another file on my comp tonite, I ran across this pic from what seems another lifetime. I used to get as much free firewood from work as I could pack into my car. I heated my house with this stuff as well.

And now you know Who it was
Big Whoop.

Imma cheap old bird

Pardon to those reading that know me from other forums etc. I am "Reprinting" some stuff I posted in them.

Fresh Pork Loin, Mashed tators, green beans.
Total meal cost ..under 4 bones

There is a chain grocery place on the west coast called The Grocery Outlet http://www.groceryoutlet.com/

Tho most of the products they carry are brand names you have never heard of, buts its all good food. Its not a scratch and dent place, nor do they sell outdated or about to be outdated items. Many of the brand name items they have are promotional things that have since outlived the "trend", such as Dr Pepper with Spiderman on the can instead of whatever movie hero is popular right now, or limited size or packaging styles. I have found some "off" brand snacks that taste home made and also some pre packaged meals that are better than what Mom makes .. stroganoffs and stuff like that. I have found a brand of "Rice-a-roni" style rice at 1/4 the cost and 10 times better flavor.

Carnation or Borden condensed milks run 2+ bucks a can.. "Joes" condensed milk.. 79 cents. Tastes and cooks the same to me! Same with other canned goods. Brand name stuff like Campbells soups with the old label on them.. 59 cents.. the companies just want this stuff gone and out of their warehouses and off the big name stores shelves so they can pedal the new look (And higher prices LOL!) to the masses.

Problem is, like Big Lots.. often times you can not find the same things twice. So.. you can have fun trying new things and if you get a dud on occasion, you haven't lost a lot of money.

I get pounds of Folgers coffee in those vacuum packages instead of the cute plastic cans.. 2.99 each. I have a plastic can from an old purchase.. I put the foil packaged stuff in it when I need it

One of the wasteful things we do not think about (Because it never occurs to us) is that a LOT of good food gets chucked right at the factory because of our expectations that everything be/look perfect.

The green beans I buy for 59 cents a can are shorter than what you would expect. They are the non uniform sized "Leftovers" from the cuts. It has been ingrained in us that "things" must be consistent and look just like the same "thing" next to it. They taste exactly the same, they have the same nutritional value, they are just different lengths.

Makes you wonder just how much food has been tossed in the bog over the years for something as non important as a measurement.

So, some (Or several) resourceful company purchases the odd sized beans and cans them.. they probably make a huge profit doing so as well. I don't care. I can have a full good and balanced meal for under 3 bucks using these products. When money was not really an object, I never thought about these things. I wish I had. I may have a larger cash store than I do now.

It goes along with my new moto.. "Its not what you make, its what you don't spend".

Little refuge in the desert

The fulltiming lifestyle has its down sides.. yes. I am living one of em today.

I woke up this morning with a burning throat, no energy and in general.. I feel like porta potti leavings. This is odd, as last nite when I went to bed, I felt perfectly normal, rested and there was no indication that today would be any different.

OK, you get the idea. I have a cold or something that is bad enuff at this time to keep me in. Its howling outside, the temps have dropped again and the air has a tad bit of moisture in it. Good time to stay inside and lie on the couch messing around on the comp or snoozing. I had days like these in my stay put life, tho few and far between, but they happen.

There is no difference in day to day "Life" in this regard when you fulltime. Thank goodness for my comfy little house and I have a chance to recover in warmth and comfort just like in my stay put life.

Unless....

You were lazy the day before.  I always carry my water containers in the Jeep and generally stop every couple of days to fill them on my way home. My on board tank may not be empty yet, but why risk running out? Well, yesterday, I was too lazy to stop, thinking "Oh, I have enough to get me through the morning, screw it" Uhm.. DOH! I barely had enuff to make a cup of coffee, I haven't had my shower and the dogs don't understand "Empty".

Double whammy, I always have a couple gallons around in a Sun Tea maker on the counter for just these moments. Guess who was to lazy to refill THAT one too?

The water tanks don't fill themselves, and the only person responsible for doing it is sick as a dog. I only hope that standing in the wind at the water filling station won't worsen my cold, and that I can do it all as quickly as possible, get back in bed and stay warm.

But WAIT!!!! Can't do THAT either! I was lazy about the propane tank as well. Couldn't be bothered to stop at the Pit Stop (The big RV water and propane service station here) because it was 3 blocks out of my way. "Oh, I have enuff to make it through the morning, screw it". Well, I actually do, but it will run out soon enuff. My back ups will work, but why mess around with them.. I'll just go into town and take care of it.

At least I have gas for the generator. 

Moral of the story... you have to be a little more on your toes in this lifestyle than in a Stay Put life. It'll bite ya if you don't.

Do I think it's worth the extra bucks required to maintain a Stay Put place for this once every couple years carnage? No, not really. In a Stay Put house, the power goes out on the whims of the electric company or the lack of skill of a bad driver hitting a pole. The water freezes sometimes, the mains break down the street sometimes and sometimes.. you forget to pay the bill. When services go down that are dependent on some large infrastructure pushing the resource into your house, generally.. you are screwed when they fail. That 3 gallons of water in jugs in your fridge won't last very long, and your flashlight batteries will get eaten up in no time.

In my cabin, I would sometimes spend a week or more without power due to snow or some other natural cause. It would go out for no apparent reason (Yes, I paid the bill and so did my out of power neighbors)

BUT.. today, I would like to have my warm cozy cabin with all the utilities up and running so I don't have to go do this.

Oh well. So much for rest and recuperation. WHERE is my cabana boy?

Icees to Icees, Dust to Dust

Its finally nice out here in the desert again. The show season is ending, the big monster RVs have gone away, along with their generators and peace and quiet are slowly returning to this berg.

Now  the challenge, is winter. We have actually had hard freezing out here this week. My every present stash of Dr Pepper is stowed below my rig. It stays plenty cold under there, even in mild weather, but I fished one out a couple days ago that had turned into a Slushie. This was at high noon.

I don't generally pay attention to temperatures. Not much you can do about them, but it has been cold enough for me to leave the heat on at nite so I don't wake up with 6 eyeballs staring at me from under my bedcovers. (They burrow in when I am out cold, the little rats)

The wind is really a bigger issue. Inside, I am well protected, but the sand out here blows everywhere. Even inside. It sneaks in thru cracks under doors and at windows. It forces its way in thru closed roof vents. I am quite positive that even if a duct taped every visible spot it could get in, that it would find new secret ways to make my house look messy.

Soon, the rain will kick in as well. Here, rain is an uncommon event, but in February, it can dump buckets at a time. I spent some time outside today re-arranging things to be less likely to be washed away when the deluge finally hits.

Don't know when it will, but it will.

Bathroom Updates

No, this isn't a potti mouth post.

I have finally gotten around to installing (Albeit in a temporary configuration) the portable tankless hot water heater that has been bouncing around in the back of my car for a few months now.

The.Ecotemp L5 Tankless propane water heater was purchased as an emergency stop gap when the traditional 6 gallon hot water heater in my motorhome died a violent and irreversible death.

Tanked traditional water heaters are spendy and heavy. I saw this little puppy while cruising through a camping world in Eugene Oregon. I had the cash in my pocket and figured I could make it work until I could get the other one fixed or replaced.

I simply traded the hose end from my faucet in my shower stall to input this one and added a portable propane tank via a "Steak Saver" adaptor. My thought was it would be good enough to grab a quick shower, but I ended up liking it and the concept so much that I never bothered with the permanent one again.

The trailer I am in now came without a shower or plumbing for one. I have been using a baterry powered pump and making my own hot water the old fashioned way. (Of course, I had to look up the recipe) and dumping the hot water into a container and repumping it out with the portable battery powered shower pump.

Today, I had the time to install the ecotemp and all went flawlessly. I now get hot water in the bathroom in a few seconds via the trailers onboard water pump and do not have to store a water container anymore.

The heater hangs on the wall in my "closet/pooper/shower" room. Now, before you scream, yes, I know it is not intended for indoor use. My multi purpose room has a large window at ceiling level that is open during use and I use a 1lb propane cylinder that is ONLY connected when I need to shower or do dishes. Otherwise, for safety sake, it is disconnected and stowed. 1lb will last over a week for my hot water needs. I proved this in my motorhome over a period of 3 months.

*Eventually* it will be housed in a different space and all plumbing will be done to:

Use the house propane system already in the trailer.
Use the house battery to provide the 3v dc required for ignition instead of Yucky D cells.
Run hot water to my kitchen sink
Ventilate the cubbie area it is going to be installed in.

I am NOT worried about fire hazard. All combustion takes place inside the heater housing, and since it is "On demand" no flame or pilot is present until called for during use. My Blue Flame Heater has an 8 inch bank of open flame and *they* designed it for indoor use. (Except in California, where EVERYTHING is illegal for indoor use.. go figure)

And I no longer burn propane to heat hot water 24/7. The water that I get from this puppy is hot within seconds and is almost unbearably hot at even the mid level settings.

Blah

Thats all I have to say today :-)

I am busy plotting my trip up north in April. I will have nearly a month to "kill" and my winter, so far, has not been as lucrative as expected.

I am doing OK, but I won't be able to tour and sightsee as I normally would, and my stays in places will be longer and limited to forest service or other gubmint run parks where I can utilize my "Golden Gimp" passport.

The discount cards USED to be called "Golden Age" and "Golden Access" passes. The card is now actually called an "Inter Agency Pass" .. a small reward for being permanently disabled, at least, in the gubmints eyes, for losing a vital body part from my cancer. I can't say that going thru lung cancer is a preferred method for getting a token discount for camping, but, hey.. I'll take it where I can get it.

The card is available to all US citizens deemed to have a permanent disability. It gives you a 50% discount on all camping fees in Forest Service, Corp of Engineer or BLM campgrounds. It also gets you into National Parks for free, but since I never camp in them, it isn't a concern for me at this point.

I can average around 7 bucks a day for lodging when I travel. This, and my ability to live off grid comfortably, has saved my bacon more than once.

The card is NOT recognized by any Non Federal parks, such as State or County facilities, not is it recognized in "some" federal areas.. such as the Long Term visitors area I am currently in. At 180 bones for 7 months, I can't really think of WHY anyone would complain about that, but, as an experienced host for these agencies..I am sure some do. I bet they drive 1/2 million dollars diesel pushers too :-)

Anyway, I am thinking of traveling up I-15 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City (Now.. THERES two polar opposite towns, eh?) and then taking I-84 all the way to Portland, my home town.

I don't have much to worry about in Lost Wages. I have never been a gambler or big drinker. I can plop 20 bucks into a barside poker machine and make it and one free beer last all night. Woo Hoo!

I do fear, however, that I will drop tons on raw coffee.. I am going through Utah, ya know, and I don't want to get stuck without.

This route was chosen because if I see another inch of I-5, the 99 or the 101.. I think I will puke. Highway 395 is indeed a great trip, but I have been there, done that too. Time to get brave and travel where I haven't before.. even if its just for the journey and not the destination.

Of course.. there will be dissapointments along the way, like the big signs that say "Area 51 is NOT here" and at some point, I will have to go through
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Boise.

New places to go to

I have received my summer assignment! I am looking forward to a new northern experience in the North Cascades of Washington.

I will be posted at Baker Lake, Swift Creek Campground from May though September.

This will be the most isolated I have been in my work travels. It is 20 miles from Concrete Washington, east of Mount Vernon in the Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

I will be about 35 miles from the Canadian border, but have no clue how close the nearest crossing is. I suspect Blaine.. a place I have crossed and been cross examined at many times.

The nearest "Big Cities" are Seattle, and Vancouver B.C. Hmnnn.. thats a tough one. Seattle would be easier.. but Vancouver is Oh-So-Nice.

The company I work for makes this a REAL job, not just lounging around a campground waiting for campers to come give you money. The compensation is wonderful, the treatment is outstanding, and 2 days off mid week make it almost like a 5 month vacation.

My Verizon maps show me on a fringe for Data coverage. I may have to invest in a booster.. cause I sure am not expecting that the wifi they speak of will be done by the time I get there.

I can live without TV.. heaven forbid you yank my internet away! EEEYYYYEEEE!

Speaking of Cats...

I have one. And two dogs. "ACK! In a 15 foot trailer?" you say.. sometimes, I do too.

My Children

I started this lifestyle with THREE dogs and a cat. They were part of my stay put life and were already around. I was raised with cats, and always had a dog in my adult life. I was taught that once you took on the responsibility of an animal, that responsibility did not end until the animals passing, or if the circumstance was so extreme that the animal would be better off to be rehomed.

One does not rehome an animal because it becomes inconvenient for you. I have altered my doings with them as a first consideration. Altho the dogs seem to enjoy this galavanting around the country, it does not pass by me just how much they have lost. They used to have a house, a doggy door and a big yard to play in as they chose. Now they have about 70 square feet of play room and are dependent on me to open doors so they can go outside. I am up and down all the time I am home, but I don't mind. They are good sports and would rather just be where I am than to have gone to strangers.

Even in the big motorhome, which I bought specifically so they would have more room (OK, and me too) they have always "stuck" to me.. sitting where ever I am and following me where ever I go. Either they don't care, or they are the worlds best sports.

The cat has had to adjust to being an indoor cat only. Letting him out would mean certain death for him, especially in the desert with opportunistic coyotes. I have had to make him his own "room" where he can go to "go" and to get away from the sometimes rambunctious play between the dogs and to hide from strange people.

The dogs have a schedule, and are walked daily on my lunch time. I come home every day JUST to attend to them, let them out and exercise them. They are inside the trailer when I am gone.. they need to get out more.

They actually have a more stimulating life now, as I have to walk them and take them with me everywhere. Before, they had the big yard etc, but I rarely walked them, or took them "bye bye".

The 3rd dog I had was very old when we hit the road, and she did not adjust well. Her health declined quickly and she passed of a massive stroke at age 17.

BTW, a 17 year old beagle is NOT common. She lived a very long and happy life, even her last year.

Animals are a responsibility, and no, I will not acquire more.. that would be VERY irresponsible. But for now, these will be taken care of to the best of my ability and hopefully, they will live long happy lives as well.

Sparking the Age of Edison

The desert is abuzz tonite. It has been for about a week now. Not with desert bugs and critters...

The endless and increasing decibel levels of generators are driving me mad. When I first came here, the early birds (Myself included) had already settled into the routine, and the spaces between camps were vast. Fulltimers have learned how to adapt to no hook ups, and almost all the "serious" ones have alternative methods for staying lit and warm.

With it being "Show Time"here in Quartzsite, the desert has filled with rv'ing groups and clubs, and hundreds of individuals in big giant buildings on wheels. Temporary vagabonds with huge toys. All of them, it seems, running their own fossil fuel power plants almost 24-7. I have slept near freeways that were quieter. The din is .. deafening.

One of the reasons I sold my big motorhome was that it was almost impossible to control environmentally. Everything in it consumed electrical power beyond my wildest dreams. Despite my conversions to low electrical draw items such as LED and Cold cathode lighting, catalytic heater and other tweaks.. it still wanted more power. The fridge, even when operated on propane, would consume 12v power to control the circuits that regulated the temps. The water heater had to have a ton of current for the ignitor to fire, and forget about using the forced air furnace.. the fan would kill my batteries in just a few hours of use along with all the other junk. Big rigs have big power hungry appliances and needs. I hated it.. I couldn't keep warm, I couldn't cool off and my food was always going foul because the fridge could not kick in when needed. I was living in, for all intents and purposes, a one bedroom apartment on wheels. It was no different than if it was on a foundation when it came to power. My generator too, ran daily and for long periods. I hated it.

My small rig does not consume more than I can produce. In fact, its the other way around. I learned early in life (Because at that time, there was no other choice) how to make coffee on a stove top, bake in a real oven and that you did not have to have a room as bright as a runway to function adequately.

My TV runs on 12v dc, as does my antenna. My computers are also charged via 12v dc, thru an inverter.  All of my lighting is provided by large LED fixtures that are as bright and usable as any incandescent lamps I have seen.

I am not living in the dark or cold. I have placed my lighting so that with just 2 of these fixtures on, my entire trailer is lit for all tasks and reading. It is very bright and "normal" in here.


My heat source was discussed earlier, it is 100% propane with no electrical consumption at all. My cooling source is via a 12v dc fan designed for RVs. Its large and works wonderfully up to about 100 degrees.. at less than 1 amp per hour.

I power all this junk with a single 12v group 29 deep cycle battery that is charged daily via 100 watts of solar. My usage, because of the fixtures I have chosen, and habits I have developed, does not even put a minor dent in the batteries storage capacity. I simply do not consume enough electricity to worry about it. Even in Oregon, under a canopy of tall trees, frequent cloud cover and other solar unfriendly conditions, this set up has served me well.

My type of panels and the rest of my system was selected for my living/camping style and works well in a multitude of conditions.

I do own a small generator. I do use it when I require 120v power for things like tools, or for battery charging when my panels are not hooked up.. such as when I am traveling. If I run out of propane and have none easliy available, I will use it to run fans or a small electric space heater. But, for the most part, under human comfort related items, I put on a sweater of take it off.. depending.

Remember, we did not always have a microwave (I don't even own one) or an air conditioner in every home.  Its a wonder we all survived. Its a wonder I survive.. eating my own lousy cooking.. but this has nothing to do with the method used to provide heat to the ingredients.

An added bonus to not being Alternating current dependent is.. I have a larger selection of jobs. Most camp hosts own one of these giant bulging rigs and absolutely refuse to take a gig without an electrical outlet.I have been hired on the spot TWICE because I told potential employers I do not need hook ups. I get the best living spots, and more money for living off grid. What's to lose?

I look forward to this month being over so I don't feel like there is a Paul Bunyon sized purring panther living in my yard. And so is my cat.

Small World, Big Town

Sorry for the delay in posts. I was in an accident, and have been out of sorts for a week or so. No one wants to hear the details, but I will report that my last helicopter ride was more scenic and fun than this one, and that I am fully recovered from minor injuries..life goes on.

One of the neat things about Workamping is that even tho your jobs are temporary, you meet great folks and often, despite what appears to be a transient relationship, I have kept in touch with every place I have worked on a social basis.

This is mostly via email, or Facebook, and in a few cases via phone and postcards.

My last campground job was a wonderful experience. It was, however, sometimes racked with turmoil related to one of the camping areas I took care of when the regular hosts had days off. THEY had to put up with living schmack dab in the middle of a campground over run by misbehaved adults with boats and beer.. a bad combo. Each week as I took over their duties, I was given a full report on the weeks bad doings and set off to have the frustrating and unpleasant experiences myself for two days. Hardly anyone paid, the noise was horrible, the garbage was even worse.. we won't talk about the messes left behind.. of all sorts.

Every once in awhile, you run into the unruly bad camper in this work, but this place.. it was the norm. I felt really bad for these folks having to actually LIVE in that mess. Their full hook ups didn't seem quite enough compensation for this hell. This place, Blue River Reservoir in the Oregon Cascades, was truly just plain evil.

Today, as I was wandering with one of my dogs around the booths of junk and rock vendors that is the big draw here in Quartzsite.. I heard someone call my name. I look over, and there was the male part of this couple! "Well.. HELLO!"

Turns out that they HAVE one of these booths here where the wife sells her paintings along with her sister, who sells ceramics etc.

We had a good long visit. It was nice to see them out of uniform and very much more relaxed than with my previous dealings with them. I am sure I will go back and visit again while I am here.

Larry and Mary Goode, Yours truly and my youngest child

Grey hair in my Grey water

I don't know why they call it "grey" water.. its mostly a brackish brown.

This tiny house has no grey water holding tanks either. It does have a drain from the kitchen sink leading to the outside via PVC pipe and then drops down to a hose fitting. I attach a regular old garden hose to the fitting then the other end of the hose goes to a "Blue Boy".. attached in the same manner.. via hose.

It isn't as elegant as having a permanently affixed holding tank, but under most of my living situations, I would have to either move my rig to drain the tank, or drain the tank into a portable one and take it to the dump anyway. I have just, sort of, eliminated the middle part this way.

I have two blue boys, actually, as grey water will ovetake you without notice. One is in use, the other is in the wings. I swap them as needed. Dumping them is done simply enough, you take them to the blue boy dump, pour into the hole and rinse. I am small and can't lift a ton, so my tanks are 5 and 6 gallons. The 6 gallon one is set up to stand on end with a hose fitting on one, and a standard RV sewer hose fitting on the other. In the rare case I have sewer hook ups, I stand the thing on end, attach the garden hose on one end, the sewer hose on the other and the water simply passes thru the blue boy to the magic place. Gravity. Its everywhere.. and free.

Dumping this is also not gross. The blue boys have sealed caps and fittings so you can pick em up, swing them in a big circle over your head and not spill a drop. Your doctor will love you if you do this part, but I can't recommend this type of leak test.

Its just dish and shower water. Considering your hands have been immersed in it, and you entire body carried around the particles in it for a day.. not a big deal. Its already BEEN on you.

That leads me to popular question #2. Showering. Showering is the act of getting your entire body wet via some sort of flowing water, soaping up and rinsing off. I do this daily. I don't have a knob I turn that water comes out of and then drains away to an affixed tank.. no, not yet. But I DO stand under flowing water, soap up, rinse and get very clean.

Eventually, when I have the time (I have all the parts.. ain't that the story in any life) I will have a nice knob to turn, yes. It will give me both hot and cold water. For NOW, I make my own hot water.

A stainless steel teapot is my water heater for all things requiring the warm wet stuff. It still amazes me just how little is required for each task. In a Stay Put house, a traditional water heater constantly heats gallons and gallons of the stuff. All day and night long. I paid for that, even if I didn't need or actually use that much.

I can heat, to boiling, 2 quarts of hot water in the tea pot in about 4 minutes on my gas stovetop. It's my temporary version of an on demand hot water heater. Mixing with a gallon and 1/2 of room temp water creates the perfect shower temp for me and is just the right amount of water to get squeaky clean and then some.

The water is mixed in a nice container that came with my actual shower system. The system basically consists of a small submersible battery powered water pump, a hose and a shower head. There are a dozen different brands designed for temporary use while camping. Coleman, Zodi, Reliance and Northwest Territory are just a few names.. but they all are basically the same and function under the same concept. (For yet another post, the shower pump serves double duty, as it is the means for transferring water into my fresh water holding tank.)

I turn the pump on, water comes out of the shower head, pours all over my pitiful old bod and I get clean.. just like the rest of the world. And no, I ain't posting pics :-P

With no drainage system yet, I actually use a long and short Rubbermaid style tote tub to catch the water. I shower in a separate room in the trailer originally intended to be a closet, but it is HUGE and I am not sure why the manufacturer just didn't make a real bathroom there. Thats a post for another day too.. but I make it work by using a shower curtain that goes around the room and hangs into the tub. I don't make a mess and there is no water damage to the rig.

The tote tub then gets picked up and dumped into the sink and goes to the blue boy. No big deal, it isn't heavy.

I often do not use all the water I have prepped for the shower either. Getting clean can be done in just a couple minutes this way. With the low pressure system as I am using, it can take up to 5 mins to use all the water. I don't feel like I am getting a sub standard cleansing, I get completely soaked, completely rinsed and completely cleansed, head to foot..including shaving. I now realize that we as Stay Put folks don't know just how wasteful and un necessary a lot of our "necessities" are. Or just how expensive once all costs are totaled for the hardware and fuel to do this in a house.

I must admit that standing under a hot shower and just letting it run for therapeutic reasons is a pleasure, but it is not a necessity for daily use. When I am in a place that has a high pressure traditional shower available, and it is clean, I will use them for just that purpose.

And there will be no pics of THAT either.....

And a happy Warm new year to you!

Tis the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

This isn't amazing, since it is happening world wide, but when I was a kid and a little beyond, I always "sensed" I wouldn't live past 2009. I can't tell you why, I don't know.. but I am glad I was wrong on this one. Go figure.

Another question I am always asked "Don't you get cold at night in that trailer? You have no electricity!". Again, folks are used to *camping* where they sleep in tents or in trailers with limited power options.

Tents are.. tents. Unless you pack around a Yurt and a wood stove, you are never going to run around in your tidy whites in it comfortably once the sun goes down, even with the best portable heating options around. Unless you are in a desert during the summer.. most folks avoid that tho.

Weekend trailer campers that do not spend days of prep and hauling a generator, 10 batteries and an inexhaustable fuel supply often experience conservation at night time..They turn the heat on to just above freezing, or not at all, and sleep in lots of jammies and under heavy sleeping bags. This works, and is fun for a few days.. BUT...

I LIVE in here.. I don't camp.. remember? Camping is hard work when you have to do a days hard work to put food on the table too. I have done my time with the sub freezing rated sleeping bags and with getting up in the a.m. an hour before the alarm goes off to turn on the heat so it would be bearable during real get outta bed time. Or not .. and wanting to do nothing but stay put under the covers.

Soooo... I have a heater that does not consume any electrical power, (Because I rarely have any) It heats my small space more than adequately whenever I want it to, and has a thermostat to keep my space from overheating. I wake up in the a.m. just like in a Stay Put house. I don't have to get up and rub 2 sticks together to start a fire and I don't chip ice off of my windows.

My little gas fire

This works almost exactly like those gas wall heaters you see in older houses. But its gooder.. it has a thermostat, and sensors that shut it down to keep you from dying if it sucks up all the air in the room.

It burns propane without the use of an electrical system. It superheats the air in the firebox. Think back to high school science class and those silly bunson burners. The air rises and it is forced out the top vent you see by nature (Heat rises, takes path of least resistance, shoots out into the room) No fan is really needed in this small space.  So, no electricity is consumed.


It doesn't use much propane, as the thermostat keeps an even temp in the room, making it run less time..just like your furnace does. The space is small, so it doesn't take long to bring the whole thing up to temp. The heater turns back on when needed, but because of the size of the space, it only does so infrequently.. thus using less fuel. Back to the credo.. Its not how much you make, it's what you don't spend. 

I am not skimping on comfort, trust me. I am a cold weenie. I stay as warm as I did in my Stay Put abode. I use the tool when I want to, not just when I can.

There is a skill to using this type of heater.. you have to supply it with lots of air and be cautious with its placement. It does not give off fumes, so it can be used without venting.

I used to use a catalytic heater that most of the same positive and negative attributes, but I wanted the thermostat option, so I changed to this one after seeing it in action in other folks rigs.

Read all about it

I did before buying, but now I have moved on and read other stuff.. in my tidy whities, all warm and toasty. Oh, sorry. TMI

It's too much! I don't know what it means!

You don't have to go to Yosemite to get a double rainbow

You don't need to be really loaded to see one either. Had this guy, or I should say "Guys" show up in Q the other day after a night and days worth of off and on rain.

Even tho I prefer a horizon obscured by trees.. Big Trees, the desert does afford spectacular views of sky phenomenon not often seen in the Great Northwest. Viewing the stars at night actually calms me just before bed. I let out my dogs, and while waiting for them to doo their last of the days creations, I sit quietly and look up at the bright and spectacular stars.

Lying in bed, my windows are situated so I can see up and I often watch the earths rotation via the moving starscape. You have to lie very still, keep your eyes trained on one spot and you will actually feel a bit queazy once you start seeing the slow slow slow movement. Its a good queazy tho.

This often puts me to sleep as well. Who needs drugs?

Are you off your rocker being off grid?

Not really. Its a matter of perspective. Financial perspective.

Back to the "Its not what you make, its what you don't spend" credo..I will try to address questions in separate posts that I have had to field from those that can think of no other way to do things than rely on all the automatic magic they have in their houses.

Tis nothing wrong with that magic, I go there when I have the opportunity or circumstance as I travel. I used it in my cabin. Full hook ups are nice, but I rarely have them. So even if flushed with cash, I can't use what isn't available.

Full hook up sites generally run 10-15 bucks more a day than dry sites. Dry sites are also generally better located in campgrounds, giving you a much nicer living space and experience.

The most common question I get is "Er, uhm, where do you poop?" This tiny rig has no *real* bathroom yet. It has a huge storage room that my shower and crapper are in tho. I don't have human sewage disposal at the pull of a valve like most other full timers do. Full hook ups do me no good anyway. Eventually, that will change as I have time to convert the room to a giant shower stall.

As for the other water...I use a porta potti. I don't have plans to install a toilet and black tank in this rig. "EWWWW" you say. You would be incorrect. A porta potti is no different in "action" than a toilet and remote holding tank. The only difference would be in how you dispose of the tanks, er, holdings.

A porta potti is a small scale version of a regular RV toilet and tank system. The difference is the location of the tank, and how its dumped. In a standard system. You sit on the throne, you "create", you flush with fresh water that comes from your main fresh water holding tank, and all your product is dropped into a "Black water" holding tank that you have added chemicals to to break down the waste and to keep it smelling like roses. It's most often below the floor and nestled into the trailer framework. In the circumstance of boondocking or without hook ups, when that tank is full, you have to haul your rig over to a dump station, hook up hoses, pull a valve and wait for it all to go away into a magic place where all poop goes to die. OR dump it into a Blue Boy and do exactly as one has to do with porta potti holdings.

With a porta potti, the same holds true for the use of the throne, (Sit, create, flush) except the black tank is directly below you. And it isn't as big. The porta potti has a fresh water holding tank for flushing on the top portion. You fill the tank manually when needed (Mine holds 5 gallons) and you use human power to flush.. Mine has a pressurization feature, you pump up the tank like you would a garden sprayer, and when you want to flush, you push a button and pressurized water flushes and cleans the bowl. Old skool Hi tech for a low tech item.

To send your creations to the black tank, you pull a valve on the front of the potti and it drops away. Close the valve. The valve is also the seal.. the gate between you and the evil stuff. Forget about it. Until...

The tank gets full. Here is the main difference .. I have to carry that tank to a disposal site. It isn't yucky, it doesn't smell, (The valve, remember?) and dumping it is frankly easier than it is with a fixed tank. The top half of the potti comes off, the 5 gallon black tank has a nice handle and pour spout, you carry it to the dump, rotate the spout to the hole that leads to the magic place, remove the cap and pour. Rinse. Done. No hoses to hook up, clean or store. AND.. back to the credo.. Same job accomplished with virtually less time involved, I didn't have to pay 15 extra bucks for the privilege of having the hole in my site. Nor did I have to move my rig or deal with a heavy large "Blue Boy" (A large portable holding tank) like I see all the big boys out here doing.. almost daily.

Out here in the BLM land, there are TWO magic places where poop goes to die. One has big pull thus, pressurized water and all the stuff that is really required for dumping big boy RV tanks. The other magic place is rarely used.. it is for porta pottis and blue boys only. I never have to wait in line to dump. Sometimes those big guys are 10 deep. I take my potti and SMALL (5 gallon) grey water blue boys and dump on my way into work. I don't really have to go out of my way.

Do the math.. it took longer to write all that drivel than it does to actually do the job. 6-7 minutes tops. So.. in the case of RVs and full hook ups...$15 a day x 7 days = $105. Divide that by 3, because full hook ups mean water, sewer and electric.. that equals $35 bucks a week to poop. I dump the potti AND my grey water twice a week, tops. (Mostly so I don't have to carry the full 40lbs of full tank) lets say, 15 minutes a week. $35 for 15 minutes worth of work comes out to $140 bucks an hour for that one simple job.

That # does drastically go down if you are renting monthly, I realize that. But remember, I don't have to pay traditional rent in this life choice. The only time I pay is when traveling to and from gigs.. so that # is very true in my circumstance.

As I age, this will become more difficult and eventually impossible for me to do. But I can take the 140 bucks an hour I have saved and pay someone else to do it then :-)

Waterfront property

My side channel of a dry wash turned into a babbling brook last night. I figured that would happen at some point during the winter. It isn't real easy to photograph in pitch dark. Thank goodness for the tweaking functions in Photoshop.

I called it the La Posa River. I am sure it won't be the last time I see it.

My site was bombarded by sideways rain and hellatious winds, as was most of the desert out here yesterday. I am sure that "When it rains, it pours" originated right here.

As a native Oregonian, rain does not phase me a bit, however, in the desert, rain makes instant lakes and rivers. It only takes a minutes worth of deluge to cover the ground in a thin layer of water. It can't soak in like it does back home. The ground is mostly clay, rock and some other impenetrable substance that allows the water to take over everything in the blink of a Beagles eye. It runs down from the mountains nearby at such force that it can take out cars.. and little trailers.

I now know why the little drainage channel filled with rocks was put in this site. I was cursing the previous resident, assuming he dumped his waste water down it. I found it full of old ATV parts and ciggy butts, not to mention other bits of unidentifiable trash. If he hadn't have built it, my entire site would have been under water.

As it was, only half of it was. So, thanks Dude, and I am sorry I bad mouthed ya.

Now I must spend my day off channeling around the site more. Oh joy.

Cruel Forests

A tree is a tree.. I guess. Even if I haven't a clue what kind it is.

This would be my morning view

I am out in the desert of southwestern Arizona. Its not exactly a foliage mecca. Along washes that are dry 99% of the time, there are forests of sorts. Cruel forests if you are a native northwesterner. Very cruel.

I am on a side channel of one of those washes. I am backed into the trees and have a pretty private area to reside in. Those mountains in the background are miles and miles away. There is nothing between me and them. There won't be either. It is geographically challenged when it comes to RVs.. nothing can get in there. My small RV can get near the fringe, but giant ones can not. I like it this way, and its one of the reasons I live small.

My front door faces the opposite of how most folks out here position themselves. I look out into the "forest" and can see no signs of human existence. I see the trees, the tumbleweeds, the downed wood from trees that died hundreds of years ago, judging by the girth of the stumps, and.. Coyotes. Lots of Coyotes. Occasionally I hear the wild burros that wander .. unfortunately, I hear them mostly after they have met up with the coyotes.

If I turn the opposite way, I see RVs. Lots of RVs. The closest one is to the north of me, about 50 yards away, the next is to the south, about 1/2 mile. I can't see either of them from my yard.

This is BLM land. Owned by the people of the United States. Anyone can come out here and create a space for themselves for a nominal fee that helps pay for the central services. Otherwise, we have all paid for it with our hard earned tax dollars. I am sure it doesn't cost much. Its.. dirt.

We are all temporary homesteaders out here. You get the gambit of folks from the truly homeless.. folks living out of their cars or in tents because they have nowhere else to go and this is a darned good rent deal for them. They have their own "village" so to speak, near the central services. 

Next, you have what I call "Bulgies". Million dollar motor homes towing cargo trailers bigger than some houses I have lived in. They park out in the open and bulge out in 3 or 4 spots, the satellite dishes deploy like magic and you never see humans outside them. You know they are in there. Their generators give them away.

Then there are lots of folk like me, in small to midsized trailers, working stiffs that are out here for the season to make a buck servicing all the others. We work and that's about it. 6-7 days a week. Some are vendors hocking rocks, wind chimes, RV parts, food, junk, you name it. This is our cash collection time. Some make their whole years pay here and take summers off. I work here in the winter to make the bucks quickly and stash so I can play for pay in the summer. This is how I finance my two or more months of NOT working between gigs.

Most out here are snowbirds, folks in retirement that flock away from the homes they have in the northern states. They do this for the weather, and many do it for the social interaction. They group together in little packs and circles. They have giant fire rings that they commune at each nite. There is a nice pavilion that they have dances under, go to church each Sunday under, and have impromptu jam sessions under, both acoustic and electric.

None of these folks are related to the Beverly Hillbillies, nor do they look or act like they are. Most have one thing in common. They are retired. 

You do have the choice of living in a full service rv park here. There are plenty of them. They are all set up to pack you in like sardines, they charge a fortune too. I can't live like that.. I need space and privacy. Even if it means I tote water and am limited to TV via antenna. BUT.. I get my view.

Its not bad, I don't think.

Why?

I am often asked by my friends in the stay put life "Why?"

Again, its hard for some to understand how one can "give up" the reasonable salary and stabilities of a Stay Put life.

Its pretty simple. Why wait? I had absolutely no reason to maintain the lifestyle. The "stability" had no benefit to me. I am single. I have no kids or other pressing "must do" obligations or responsibilities that required me to stay in the grind. My work, and money, benefited no one but me and the banks. The banks got the better part of it.

I watched my father work everyday of his life. He would plan and plot and dream of the two weeks he would get each year to not work. He spent 50 weeks a year living for someone else so he could have 2 weeks to himself.


As he got older, he used to proclaim, on almost a daily basis , a countdown..."Only 4 years, 3 months and 2 days til retirement!" He finally reached that day at age 65. Now he could travel and do whatever he wanted.. and didn't have to Stay Put for any reason. Just what he wanted.

At age 67, he died. He only got 2 years of freedom from obligations to others. After working for 55+ years. That's not Right!

In 2003, I was diagnosed with a very serious cancer. One that usually always kills. I am one of the precious lucky few it couldn't take. I went back to the grind when the initial scares and treatments were over, but it got me thinking about "Why?". I tossed myself back into the traditional race to retirement, even while honestly thinking my days were numbered.. but I had a voice in my head that kept asking "Why?" It nagged.

It took awhile, but I realized that I am not my job, or my assets, no matter how "Cool" either if those things are. When the circumstance presented itself to break free.. I then asked myself "Why Not?". I had no good answer.. so, here I am.


And I can't help but think that somewhere Up There, my Father is looking down and is very very proud.