We’re Campin’ Again

We sure are livin’ up to to the title of this here blog lately. We decided pretty quick after viewing our calendar, that we just had to go campin’ right away if we wanted to go at all. This time I hadn’t unloaded the camper so we just had to load everything else up. We’ve decided to return to the management area where we camped a week or so ago and visit with all the new friends we made. We both had appointments with the eye Dr. on Wednesday at 2:30 & 2:45 and we left immediately after for the woods.
So here we are, campin’ again. Boondockin’. Dry campin’ with no hookups. This time we brought an extra 15 gallons of water with us along with a full freshwater tank in the camper. We learned that we’re not relyin’ on the water here. Our last trip here proved we can ‘Boondock’ with no hookups for an indefinite amount of time if we have a source to replace our water supply. Dumping is not a problem cause there’s a campground 3 miles west and another 4 miles east where we can dump.
All the folks we met last trip are still here as well as a few new rigs from PA & ME. The weather is cold like the last trip, 33 this morning and the ‘Community Campfire’ was not well attended last night. Lets hope things improve in the coming days.
Friday
It was supposed to rain today, commensin’ this evening. Well Mother Nature put the rush on things and it started rainin’ round 5AM. We spent the day playin’ cards, computin’ and watchin’ TV while it continued to rain outside. After dinner we were waitin’ for the ‘opening ceremonies’ to the Winter Olympics, that we thought would start at the beginning of the Olympic programming at 7:30PM, but it didn’t start till 9PM. I didn’t think too much about the power we were usin’ and Mr. Murphy snuck up and smacked me in the back o’ my noggin’. Around 10:30, during the opening ceremonies, the inverter started to scream it’s low battery alarm. Batteries are down to 50% charge, so I cranked up the generator to put a little charge back in the batteries. I was just too cocky about our power usage and not able to go out in the pourin’ rain to monitor battery voltages. So we missed the end of the program, Oh well.
I did find out something interesting. I placed our generator under the rear of the camper to keep it dry and in case we had to run it I could run outside and start her up. Well running it that close seems to interfere with the Digital Converter for our TV. I even put the TV on inverter power while the genny was runnin’ and still had the interference. The TV picture would become pixilated and the sound would skip words even though I had a 92% signal strength on the channel. I guess the generator frequency was affectin’ the Digital Converter. Saturday I moved the genny back away from the camper and tried the TV again, powered by the genny and powered by the inverter while the genny was runnin’. With the same 92% signal on the same channel I had no interference what so ever. Somethins’ goin’ on that I don’t fully understand, but I think I figered’ a work-around.
Saturday
Saturday dawned icky instead of the promised sun and Linda said she had enough, she wanted to go home. I said, “Honey, what if we didn’t have a home to go back to and were livin’ full-time in the RV”? We…ll she countered with, “You always told me if you don’t like the weather we can move, if you don’t like the scenery we can move, if you don’t like your neighbors we can move”! She got me there. So I replied, “Where could we go that’s warmer? We’re in Florida”! GOTCHA!!! So we stayed and the sun came out and we went to town and did some shoppin’, had lunch at a great Chinese Buffet and went to the Flea Market. We got back to camp just in time for the ‘Community Campfire’.
Sunday
Sunday we had a wonderful breakfast and waited for the day to warm up some so we could get a shower before we attended the Sunday service held here each week. After services we had some lunch and spent the afternoon visitin’ around the camp. We cooked some NY Tube Steaks fer dinner then headed to the fire to close out the day.
Monday
Monday was spent packin up, then we spent the next hour and a half sayin’ our goodbyes. Seems we have some company comin’, besides Linda’s Aunt & Uncle this month. Jay & Ellie are comin’ over to stay a few days, after hearin’ Linda’s Uncle Don is a Mandolin player, and he wants to play some with Don.
So were headin’ back to the ‘Rancho’ for what  looks like an extended stay this time. Until the next episode.
Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Test’s Over and Some Goodbyes

Linda’s sister, Joyce called this afternoon and wanted to know if we were gonna be here this evening cause her and husband Alex are bringin’ supper. The folks here are teasin’ us about gettin’ ‘Meals on Wheels’ but I think they wish they were in our shoes. Of course we said “Come On”! I even got out our rope lights and put them under the camper so they could spot us easily, kinda like a landing strip. Had to run the generator to power the lights, so the experiment is over, but we proved that we can go 5 days,probably more, without power to recharge the batteries.
Joyce called again to say they were runnin’ a little late so I assured her not to worry, we weren’t going to starve till they arrived. Just give us some cheese and crackers washed down with an adult beverage and we’re fine. Well she & Alex arrived around 7:00 and we had a wonderful meal she had prepared. Baked chicken, home made potato salad with crumbled bacon garnish and a buttermilk pie for dessert, umm..mm. I like this ‘Meals on Wheels’ stuff. After supper we made a fire and talked for a while, but soon they had to say ‘Goodnight’ and head home as Alex starts work around 6AM. We thanked them for their kindness and wished them a safe journey home.

Joyce, Alex & Linda

After they left Linda & I moseyed over to the ‘Community Fire’ and sat with all the folks there. I promised I’d post pictures of some of the folks I was able to capture on film, so here goes.

That’s Linda, My Linda, Dee, Sherry & Pat, left to right

Dick, Bob & Ken

Ed, Fred and the other Linda’s Husband (OK I flunked the name quiz)

After everyone turned in we sat around the fire with Dick & Sherry until midnight, no one knew it was that late. We were just engrossed in our conversation I guess.
Here’s another shot taken under Ken’s awning.

Linda, Sherry, Ellie, Jay & Ken, with Dick in the background.

Today we tried out our Solar Shower that I brought from home. We have had it years and have never bothered to use it. It got pretty hot sittin’ in the Ole’ Florida sun.

We could get 5 or 6 shampoos’ out of this

Saturday we decided that we would stay until Tuesday morning, but we needed to find us some water. We went into town as we needed some more food as well. Now with a full water tank and some more grub we were ready for three more days. I continued to monitor the battery voltages even though we technically ended the test after I ran the genny while Joyce & Alex were here the other night. I did confirm a few questions that I had.

1. The previous owner had some trouble with the converter and replaced it with a different one. The new converter has a 25A charger in it. I ran the generator about 1 hour and 15 minutes and it brought the batteries up to full charge in that time.

2. The wiring harness between the truck and the camper must have a heavier wire for charging goin’ down the road as it seems to replenish it too.

Sunday we went for a walk in the management area. The walk in the fresh air was great and we walked about 3 miles. We returned to sit around at Dick & Sherry’s coach, everyone was there, so we chewed some more fat. Went to our camper and ate dinner. It was to windy for a fire so Linda & I played Rummy for hours then turned in for the night.

These little guys were at my feet while I was writtin’.

This is a North American Bluebird

Monday started out with rain, rain, rain early so we decided to pack it up and head for home. We made the rounds and said our goodbyes, hugs & handshakes. We had a great time with our new friends and we hope to see ya again.
On the way home Linda decided we better stop at Ft. Drum Conservation Area for some lunch. After lunch decided to call our good buddies Linda & Bud. It was decided then we’d all go out to dinner. We’re back at the rancho, unpacked, unloaded the camper, had long hot showers and we’re off to dinner.
Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Test, Test and time for Refigurin’

We are Boondockin’ at Prairie Lake Wildlife Management Unit, outside Keanansville, FL. There is a big camp here but the only facilities are vault toilets and a hand pitcher pump for water. We came out to test the addition of the second battery which doubled our electrical capacity to 250 AH. Doesn’t sound like a lot but were in a truck camper, there’s only so much room fer’ stuff. We figured we’d need some more water while we’re here, so we brought along some water jugs to fill at the pump. Only thing is the pump has big sign on it say; “Do Not Drink” and it looks like tea, so’s it aint goin’ in our tank. Seems like we’ll have to get water elsewhere, if we need it.

This is our second full day dry camped and so far the batteries seem to be doin’ fine. There is about 14 ‘snowbird’ RVer’s camped here and we have met everyone of them the first day, tryin’ to recall all the names has been a challenge. Every night we all sit around the community fire and spin yarns, joke and tell stories. The lot is a mixture from NY, WV, ME and quite a few from Michigan. Some have camped with each other for many years, some are newcomers. I’ll post some pictures of the ‘Crew’ around the fire if I can get some one evening.
Update:
We are now in our fourth day here and the batteries seem to be holdin’ up fine, 12.52 volts. We’ve been conservative in our use of power, but we’ve watched TV for 3.5 hours the first night 45 minutes the second, 1 hour last night, used the fresh water pump as necessary for water & flushing, and only use one or two lights at a time. We have used the generator only for a few minutes at a time to make toast or run the microwave, so there has been no rechargin’ from that to speak of. The fresh water tank reads 2/3 full, the grey water tank is 1/3 full and our black tank is under 1/3 full. At this rate I think we could survive for a week easily without having to run the genny to recharge the batteries. We’ll see as were only going to stay for two more days as we’re supposed to get some severe storms Saturday.
Now to the Refigurin’! Dirty Frizaner, Somana dirty rotten g#*.. Gr….um….p! Mr. Murphy come up and smacked me in the back o’ the head. The battery rack placement is not as good as I thought. The current placement makes it to difficult to load the camper on the truck. The clearance on both sides is tight enough, but now it’s ridiculous! So….s, I think I’m gonna move it to the rear of the lance on the same side, between the camper and the taillights of the truck. I pondered that spot but didn’t think I had the room until I finally got the camper loaded and realized the present location was just too much trouble. So when we return home I got to go to work on moving the rack. It will be close tolerance, but not as close as the location now and shouldn’t effect loading. So it back to the drawin’ board on this one.
Well that’s all I got fer’ now. Hope to see ya’ down the road, as we’re;

 Dancin’ on the Wind.

Bloggin, Fumin’, Figurin’, & Fabricatin’!

First off I’d like to know if ya’ll like the new look o’ the blog. I kicked around the idea of movin’ it to another service but I figerd’ out how to spruce it up some instead fer now. Now the website is bein’ downright stubborn about bein’ hung out on this old fence, but I figur’ if I keep pokin’ at it it’ll come around sooner or later.

Back in March I created a platform for an extra battery in the bed of the truck to provide more juice for ‘Boondockin’.

 

The addition of the second battery has been a great idea. We have ‘Boondocked’ for 3 days and nights and never had a shortage of battery power. The only problem was when we occasionally remove the Lance from the truck at camp,. I can’t leave the battery on the platform in plain sight in the back of the truck. So I started to ponder where I could install a rack to hold the battery on the camper itself. Each location I considered was a problem, so I put in the same  area it has been, only I moved it up on the underside of the camper. This had several advantages, it was already wired to that location, it kept the weight on the curb side (the original battery is on the drivers side), and I regained the wheel well storage that was lost with the battery on the bed platform.

The main material was an aluminum sign I had made some years ago. I asked a local sign shop to make me a sign for our road to match the one on the opposite end of the road that read; Private Road Residents Only. What I got was; Private Road Residence Only, so it never got put up. Well I just found a use for it. The design was a continually evolving process, as I encountered several problems. Hanging an 80 pound battery on the side of a camper, I was a little concerned with bracing everything form the rack. I didn’t want to interfere with the storage space that I regained so I installed a 64 cent shelf bracket under the battery tray. That done I had to come up with a cover for the whole she-bang.

Now all we have to do is test out our new power. I think we’ll go campin’ at one of the Wildlife Management areas in the middle of the state.

Well thats all for now. We’ll have to see what the next adventure brings. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Watkins Glen & Wine Country

We spent yesterday explorin' Watkins Glen State Park. We stayed at the campground so we'd be close. Good sized campground but most of it has no hookups. There are six loops and almost 300 sites but only about 50 electric sites. And I mean electric sites, no water, just a smatering through the loop. I checked this park out on the web and it said the sites were $13 + $6 for electric. Well it was $17 + $6 for electric plus $2.75 cause I didn't make a reservation, for a total of $25.75. If I had made a reservation on the web it would have been $9 additional instead of $2.75. I'd like to know why they charge for not making a reservation and who's gettin' that dinero? I can see Reserve America chargin' a fee for their service, but why does it cost $9 in NY and maybe one or two dollars in other states? The campground was typically rustic, as most state parks are but the restrooms were plain nasty! I guess because they use state employees, who are paid meagerly, the level of caring is commensurate. I'll bet if they used volunteer work campers they would get a more conscientious worker for a lot less money, and the showers wouldn't have mold growing in them.

Well the Glen was quite scenic, a crevasse carved over time by the water rushing through it, carving out the solid rock. There are 19 waterfalls in the first one mile up the Gorge Trail & many deep pools as well. Kind of like a mini Grand Canyon. In addition there were a couple of tunnels along the trail.

 

 

The tunnel at the start of the climb.

 

 

 

 

One of the more spectacular falls.

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the Gorge is made up of cascading waterfalls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viewing one of the bridges through the water cascading from above.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the deep pools.

 

 

 

 

 

The hike up through the gorge is about one and a half miles and is accompanied by many, many sets of stairs, and for some reason they were all going UP!  When we reached the top we hiked back down the Indian Trail which was not right in the gorge, and had very few stairs.

We went back to camp ate some dinner then had a nice fire that we shared with our neighbors across the road. After a full day we slept really good.

Today we took a ride north towards Rochester to see the Erie Barge Canal. Linda had taken a trip on it with her family when she was a young girl. We visited some of the locks and traveled along it for about 25 miles passing through the little towns that border the canal. Then it was time to head south back towards Pennsylvania, I spell it out cause in a previous post I used CA for Canada and someone thought we were headed for California. I won't mention any names Bonnie.

 

 

 

Lock 28 on the Erie Barge Canal.

 

 

 

Tonight we are staying in a Passport America park in Randolph, NY, $12.50 and free wi-fi.

PS. The links to the photo album I mentioned for the family pictures is not working, but don't worry I'll get it fixed as soon as I can. In the meantime if you click on any picture in the August 28th post it will take you to our online pictures, click on the 'My Photos' tab and it will take you to all the online albums, then choose 'A Reunion with Family' to view the album.

See ya' down the road as we're

Dancin' on the Wind

Cost Cuttin' on the RV Trail

In our last trip to North Carolina and back we’ve seen a disturbing trend start. In traveling the ‘back roads’, we see more and more RV’s for sale. We always see an RV here and there, but lately they seem to be coming in bunches, 2,3,4, in little groups, in towns, along the roads, in shopping centers. The higher cost of fuel must be spurring some people to give up this wonderful form of travel. What I don't understand is that everyone out there on the road seems to be zippin' along as fast or faster than ever. At every fuel stop, the first topic of conversation, the price of fuel! The last time we, in this country had a fuel problem the feds' reduced all the speed limits to 55MPH and if the states didn't comply they were to cut of their federal highway funding for maintenance and new construction. Now I see the State of Utah talking of raising the speed limit on parts of the interstate to 85MPH, at a way guys, that's how we can cut back on skyrocketin' fuel costs. But alas it seems we don't have a shortage problem this time around, from the White House to the oil fields of the middle East, we have a greed problem. do you know how much it costs to fill an automobile tank in Saudi Arabia? About $8, I think around 70 cents a gallon!! OK maybe they are a leader in oil production and don't have to charge their people what their charging the rest of the world. Do you here of Mexico being a world leader in oil production? Last time I checked was 3-4 weeks ago but Unleaded gas was $2.43 a gallon deep in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Last night I saw Unleaded gas posted for $3.99 at one of the traditionally cheaper convenience store chains here in extra sunny, (this time o' the year), Florida. When will it all stop, when the American public finally says they've had enough. I could go on but I'm gettin' off my soapbox now. If you want to save some on your fuel costs, just try what they been spoutin' fer years, slow down a little.

I have mentioned on occasion that we do belong to Passport America and that is for one reason, “SAVINGS”. In these times of continually rising fuel prices if we can offset our RVing costs somewhere, it makes sense. We have been members of Passport America for over 5 years and just renewed for another 5 years. Our first trip out using Passport America we stayed in a park in Nashville, Tennessee for three days. The nightly rate was $36.50, with Passport America we paid $18.25; we saved $54.75. With our first stop on our trip we saved more than the cost of the entire year’s membership, we were sold.

Passport America is one of many ½ price camping organizations out there, but we feel it offers the most bang for your buck. PA has been around for over 15 years and maintains a campground membership at around 1500 parks across the US, Canada & Mexico. That’s more than Happy Camper and three times as many as Camp Club. It comparably is also quite affordable at $44 a year. PA also offers 2, 3, 5 year and lifetime memberships at good prices. As I mentioned we just renewed our membership for 5 years for $179, which figures out to be $35.80 per year. So for the cost of one nights stay in an RV park, we stay all year, all over the country for 50% of the current rate at each participating park. Your membership includes an annually updated directory, a subscription to RV America magazine, free trip routing and a free email address. If you were to compare the three organizations directories you would see lots of duplication, so why not get the most for your money and go with those that have the most RV Parks.

Another route we take to reduce costs is 'Boondockin', Dry campin', camping without the amenities of an RV park or campground. Campin' like it used to be, sort of. I still have my luxuries with me, my Rv with all it comforts, water, bathroom, kitchen, TV, lights etc. We just adjust not having a unending water and electric source.

Electric is supplied by battery, as much of your RV today is still 12v, for other things we use an inverter to power AC appliances. We have a small, 2000W inverter generator that will recharge the battery in as little as one hour, as it has a built-in battery charger and uses very little fuel to do it. Now I'll admit Florida in the summer is not the time to try out boondockin' cause I like my A/C when it's 94 degrees out and that would mean runnin' that little genny all the time, but there are lots of places here in the east that you can still dry camp in the summer cause their night time temps drop to a comfortable range.

Water is supplied by our on board tank and is normally easy to replenish, but water is still used conservatively, ie: 'Navy Showers'. By being conservative in our water use we don't fill our waste tanks to fast. A practice I use is to use a little 'gray' water at night to drown our fire if we have had one.

As for places to stay, there are National Forests in every state, some have campgrounds, at minimal costs. Most have 'dispersed camping' policies, meaning they have areas in the forest that you can pick you out a spot and park an' camp away from any campground. Just a nice spot out in the forest by a lake where it's just you and yours maybe. Also there are probably state forests that allow camping in your area for little or nothing. Most states have Wildlife Management areas with camping areas that are free. As you migrate towards the midwest, you'll find many small cities have campgrounds for free, some with water, some with electric, some with both, lots o' times fer' free. If you look, you will find.

Just some ways to cut RVin' costs so's you can put it in your fuel tank. Till next time.

Hope to see ya down the road as we're Dancin' on the Wind