Farewell hugs and well wishes

This was the last weekend in Minnesota. It seems like a year since we started the process for living in our RV and traveling and here it is, two days away from hitting the road. The weekend held tearful and joyful celebrations with friends each day. Marks last day at work was, as he put it, a freeing experience. With well wishes said and hugs all around we are leaving Minnesota for warmer weather and loads of new adventures.

Every day of living in our RV for the past month there has been something to learn about a whole different life style. Water conservation, power usage, propane levels, internet and phone are just a few of the challenges that we had to learn to deal with. It is eye opening how much we take all of these things for granted when living in a stick and brick home. Think about it a minute, do you stop and think about turning the microwave off before turning on the vacuum or how long you take a shower? These are just two things that we have to think of on a daily basis. All of this is doable if you just think before going forward. And it makes you appreciate everything you have.

So far the weather on Tuesday looks like it will be a nice day for tearing down and heading out. This will be the first tear down that we may not have to do in windy, wet, cold weather. PTL! Each tear down and set up has been cold and miserable, but we “weathered” through it each time. Nice weather would be a real blessing. And leaving the cold weather will be an added blessing. 

Final week in the cold.

Good morning. This is the first day of Marks last week at work. We have moved to our new temporary spot at our dear friends in Silver Lake. Their kindness has touched our hearts deeply.

This week will go as slow for me as it will for Mark. I think I am more anxious for his retirement than he is, if that is possible. It will also be a busy week of getting all the bugs worked out and the things that need to be done, but had to wait until the last minute.

We had a bit of a sticky glitch when tearing down at the campgrounds in Hutch, but we got through it unscathed. And it taught us a very important lesson. What was the problem and the lesson learned? Well, lets just say you really do need to make sure you put 5 gallons of water into the black tank after it has been dumped. Taking the RV for a little jaunt "loosened" things up. ;) And we could finish our tear down.

The trip to SL went well as did the set up. But boy was it a tiring job. It wa so cold and windy and that didn't help one little bit. Each time should get easier as we learn from each and every move. Or more muscles will get strengthened. We lost a lot of muscle tone living in "the home" with nothing to do.

The cold windy weather yesterday was a repeat of the rotten weather we had when we set up at the campgrounds. Next year we will be out of the cold before it starts! :)

We would like to thank all of you for your prayers and encouragement for our new venture. It means alot to both of us. God bless.

Last night in Hutch

What could make our last night in Hutch more beautiful than the sight God gave us while Mark was fishing on the river. The river looks liked glass and the reflection of the trees was breathtaking.

Walking back to the campsite was another sight to behold......

Moving on out

This morning the movers showed up at the apartment right on schedule and got right to work. No one got hurt and nothing got broken. But that’s not to say we didn’t have a little excitement to add to the morning…….

After getting to the apartment this morning I realized I forgot the check book to pay the movers. So once Mark got to the apartment and things were moving along nicely, I went back home to get the checkbook. As I was bringing the key to the lock I could see that it was broken. Of course I thought the worse and called Mark to tell him the RV had an attempted break in. OMG, I was fit to do damage. hehe The door was locked and the lock was missing so I couldn’t even get in to see if anything was wrong or see if Lola was ok. Upset and angry I headed back to the apartment as Mark headed to the RV. 

When I got back to the apartment the movers were ready to head to the storage unit. My goodness those guys from Almighty Movers really can move!!!! Because I really wanted my second Helix in storage too,  they packed things so both bikes fit with a little room to spare. I was amazed. In two hours we were moved out and our things were locked up tight in storage.

No, I didn’t forget about the missing lock. When Mark got to the storage facility, he told me the missing  lock had come off with his key, and was in his pocket!!!!!!!  He didn’t even realize that is what had happened. There was no attempted break in, just a husband that doesn’t know his own strength. hehe I have now purchased a new and better lock. 

My friend Lorrie, came to the apartment after the movers left and helped me finish the cleaning. Now all I have to do is wait for closing. :) Signing our names will be the easiest work in this whole process. Saying good bye to our friends will be the hardest. But we will be back some time for a visit.

Nothing too serious

I didn't need this right now. The tabs are due in February on the Montana but we won't be here. So I need to go in and get them. One problem, I can not find the title anywhere. I keep all of titles in the same spot and have every one of them including those for our son's vehicles. But not the title for the Montana. So now I need to go to the DMV and have them do some fancy footwork for me to get it all done by the end of the month. I hope I get the nice lady that I had last week when I needed tabs for the truck. Dealing with the DMV is not something I ever care to deal with. God help that this goes through easily.

Other than that, the last three weeks of living in the 5er, have

gone pretty well. Only one night did we run out of propane. Of course it was the coldest night of the week. Thankfully the other tank was full and we were up and warming in no time. But let me tell you, when you wake up and crawl out of a nice warm bed, 50º is mighty cold when that is the inside of your home and you just wake up.

The little touches

We added some flowers and a Welcome, garden flag to our rv "yard". It's the little touches that make it home.

Closer to moving out.....

Our time for moving out of Minnesota is getting closer each day and our nights of restful sleep is getting further apart. The excitement and thought of the unknown is more than we could've imagined.

We plan on heading south with our first stop in Iowa for a much needed rest. Our plan is only to put on 300 miles a day and then stop and rest until we arrive in St. George, Utah for a more lengthy stay.

Any and all suggestions for places of interest from you would be nice to have. Our plans are to go west and southwest, not out east. Where would you like to go if you had the opportunity? Any places that you have been, that you think we would enjoy? We look forward to your ideas.

My home comfort

Travels with our 5th wheel

October 3 at 8:18am · 

My husband is always concerned about my comfort, safety, happiness, and living in an RV makes no difference. Thanks to my darling husband for setting up all of this, our hide a bed is no longer in the camper and my power chair is home where it belongs. PTL! It may look crowded and out of place, but my back, hip, and I will be forever thankful to Mark, Jeremy Telecky, two of his children. Aaahhh, how sweet it is!! :)

Mark can hardly wait.

Travels with our 5th wheel

October 2 at 9:09am · 

As most of you know Cindy and I sold our apt. and a good share of our belongings recently and now are about to start traveling on a new adventure. Someone asked me the other day why not wait, as most people that do this don't succeed. The photo I am posting has a lot of meaning for me and if you catch the advice in it's wisdom it should for you as well. It is not about how well things may go or "succeeding". It's about taking the opportunity and make an adventure out of finding out.
Mark Benton Retires 10/31/2016 O Baby that sounds GOOD!

Countdown to retirement.

September 30 at 3:09pm · 

This week has been full of packing, loading, unloading, unpacking, cleaning and reorganizing to the point that the whole week has been a blur. Evenings are spent relaxing together in the quiet of our new home.

Our unit has sold, Mark has signed up for SS, made his last day at work known, so now the countdown begins in earnest!! PTL!!

We are so looking forward to our new adventure, sharing time together that we have not had before. We will be getting to know each other all over again since we both have grown and matured in the 41 years we have been together. So much to look forward too.

Miss Lola loves water.

Travels with our 5th wheel

September 27 at 8:27pm · 

Sunday we brought our camper back into town. The weather was not the most pleasant but God kept the heavy rain at bay for us. After the colder temps, damp air and wind, it felt good to turn on the heat and just relax in the evening.

Monday and Tuesday I have been busy bringing things to our new home. Muscles that I've not used in a long time are telling me I need to slow down and take a break soon. Mark speaks louder than my muscles so I WILL be taking tomorrow off and just putz in the camper.

Taking a short reprieve from unpacking I took our patient little Miss Lola for a much needed walk. Talk about a caged animal being set free. Keeping her from totally ripping my arm out of the socket was nothing short of a miracle. She loved all the new sniffs and smells and couldn't wait to get to the next one. We walked to the boat landing and I expected her to be cautious of the water, but NOOOOO. She ran right in and began swimming!!!!!! Thankfully I had her on her leash but again it was a miracle that I got her "reeled" in back to shore. She tried to pull her head out of her harness. My goodness does that dog love water. We won't be walking in the direction again anytime soon. LOL But she was one happy wet dog, so I guess it was worth the sore arm and hand to make her so happy. She has been such a good girl during this move so she earned her "swim".

The five Solar Panels

All panels are on the roof of the 5er and functioning.

Solar readout

September 19 at 8:04am · 

Since the weather did not cooperate this week and I worked till almost 6 on Saturday, I got very little done on the 5er till Sunday.

The last solar panel came in during the week, a 160 watt panel which now in addition to the 4 100 watt panels takes the charge controller to it max input level of 560 watts.

Mounting it on Sunday on the right (road side) of the 5er's roof there is now using a wattage scale for measuring the equivalent of 3 panels per side .
The importance of this is that because of the roof arc and the location of the vents, heater exhaust and tv antenna the panels locations were mounted heavy to the left (curb side) of the 5er. resulting in a stronger charge when the sun light hit the panels directly but tapered off to sooner as it moved across the sky and the angle worked against the panels.

Testing the system after the 160 watt panel install showed an immediate increase in performance of the system as it was overcast and still jumped from 1 amp output to 3.8 amp output. So now with the additional panel installed the performance of the system has been stabilized.

Notes for the changes made.
My current system output as of 09/19/2016 on 5er
4.5 hr x 80% x 560 watt panels = 2016 watt hr per day Minnesota
5.5 hr x 80% x 560 watt panels = 2464 watt hr per day Utah
Estimated watt hr needed per day = 2135 target non modest average

It's always an adventure

So as vacation is over and I went back to work Monday several people asked me where I went on vacation. My response with a smile to them was Silver Lake a small town of under 1000 people just 6 miles from where we live. As there is a private camp ground on the actual lake the city borders several coworkers knowing I had just acquired the 5er asked if that is where we stayed which gave me pause to review briefly what I had accomplished over the last week before explaining it to them what I had been doing while off work.
I left out the bumps and bruises, the twists and contortions although several mention they could see that I had gotten into something by all the scratches on my arms and hands. But what I made a point of telling them was how much I had enjoyed working on our new soon to be home and the updates I installed.
Now each night on the way home I drive thru Silver Lake and last night was no different. However I did stop at the 5er to pick up a tool I needed for work and as long as I was there replaced and end on the cable that plug into the remote control for the inverter. Something that got damaged in my hast to install it last week. I had brought several ends as I keep some with my tools at work and am glad I did as like alway this to became what I like to refer to as an adventure.
Ok for starters as I had not attempted to use the remote since pulling the wire and because both ends condition at this time were unknown my first test was to plug in another wire into the inverter to make sure all systems were go. My disappointment mounted as the switch mounted to the new wire would only turn the inverter on and not off again as expected. So as I bent while the sweat started soaking my shirt from what was a very hot and humid day I examined both wires.
Finding that the test wire I was using only had two I had to assume that the remote required the additional pair that a standard phone line comes with. On a FYI note a std phone requires just two wires and they are called tip and ring. The added pair is for another phone or phone accessory to be installed with out having to pull another line.
Speaking of which in case I needed to pull another line I had brought a 50' phone line with and so connected it to the inverter which was just 3 feet away. Again this is just for testing purposes at this time. Surprise, surprise this wire did not work either but the manual had warned about not placing the remote to far from the inverter as the resistance of the added length of wire would undermine the switches functions.

So lets take a shot and replace the end of the existing line that was damaged, which I did but still the switch would not work. My thoughts started roaming to a much simpler time when you just used smoke signals or a flip phone when you wanted to send signals.
After looking closer at the flat wire terminal connectors I found that these had slots for 6 wires not just the 4 slots I had expected, there for my termination had been shifted one wire off causing the wrong signal to be sent from the remote to the inverter.

As mentioned earlier I luckily am a master planner and had brought more than the one termination end. Again as the sweat now was running in my eyes I reterminated the factory wire and I admit it took 2 more tries to get the wiring terminated correctly but as they say the third time's the charm and after holding down the button on the remote I green light came on and I could hear auto transfer switch switch over from default shore power to my inverter / solar solution. Just another Adventure!

Good friends are irreplacible

Travels with our 5th wheel

September 3 · 

Ok so I want to post and update as to what I have been doing to the 5er over the last few days. First off shedding a lot of BLOOD by way of the pesky mosquitoes that have seriously made me cut my work time to a fraction of what it could be. So very glad I don’t have to hurry to get this done.

For the ease of use, I’ve added an easily accessible wall mount 120 volt receptacle to the front utility compartment of the 5er which makes it much easier to access 120 volt from this location than at the inverters 120 volt outlet location

So now I have used all the inverters outlets, one for the utility area outlet and the two remaining outlets I am feeding to the transfer switch.

After thinking I had buttoned up the solar I took it for a test run as I worked on organizing my planned tool box for the camper. For test purposes, I had the refrigerator, ceiling fan and some other appliances running off the inverter to put a load on the system.

After about two hours I start hearing the auto transfer switch cycle several times so I walk by the front of the 5er to see how much of a hit my solar system was taking. Oh no, the battery voltage is down to 10.9 volts. How can that be, what is going on? I raced to shut off the main circuit bakers which shut down the 5er’s whole electrical system. After checking for damage I started to work on finding out what had caused the sudden high wattage draw.

Two friends of mine, Duane and Harlan, had just finished with work and came over to help. So we checked out what turned out to be a huge (almost 90 amp) draw being pulled from the batteries. What was found was that all circuits were drawing normal except for one. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, you can’t read what the label for any circuit says so it took awhile.

Eventually, through process of elimination, we discovered that the converter was still on line working instead of being taken out of the circuit by the switch I had installed earlier. My Bad, for buying a cheaply built toggle switch and for not checking with an ohm meter the “on vs. off” orientation. That being solved I shut down the converter by changing the switch orientation and presto, wattage dropped to normal levels throughout the system. What lesson has been learned by this? Never Assume!!!!!

So today I get a good chance of finding out how well the solar system works charging the battery bank because it is a very sunny day and the load pulled on the 5er battery bank that sucked the batteries way down during the issue described above is actually giving us as good a field test as one could ask for.

Next step, I am now waiting for a new soft start capacitor to arrive so I can install and test it while using the Briggs 3000 watt generator. The transfer switch has struggled to maintain connection with the solar system because of the drop in voltage the switch gets from the high watt rates drawn during startup of the A/C. I am hoping that by utilizing the soft start capacitor I can get past this issue, finishing the solar system install and moving on.

We next need to work on sanitizing the fresh water system in the 5er. This consists of the water tank, hoses and fresh water pump. Since Cindy has done quite an extensive amount of research on this, we have a plan of attack that I am sure will go off without so much as a glitch. After all what could possibly go wrong working with Bleach and water. It’s not like it’s plumbing……………… Oh wait that is exactly what it is! Well then, as always, when it comes to plumbing my bet is, I get wet.

A wife comes in handy. :)

OK back to reality I shut down all power sources fire up the portable generator making sure it is out of smart mode so it's running faster and pulling more amps. I plug in the Godzilla cord first to the 5er and then to the generator. All seems well now off to the inside of the 5er for the same power tests.

Switching on the breakers all functions seemed to be working well, Lights on, 120 volt outlets on, 12 volt systems on, refrigerator on, I go throw the A/C switch on and the generator stumbles as it always does but this time there is a new noise coming from the 5er's basement and the A/C refuses to run.

What! It has run fine off the generator in the past this can't be, but is. Ever notice how sometimes it seems you take one step forward and then two steps back. Well that guy you just saw brake dancing was me.

My bride showed up just then which was a good thing as she helped ease me thru the frustration of a week of work on the system not to have it respond as expected. With her help I pulled amp and volt reading from every component of the system. Reanalyzed them attempting to find why the generator was failing to run all components of the 5er when it had previously. After a lot of trial and error we discovered that if matched just right after a full power dump we could get the A/C running again on generator. It seems (after a week of work and the mosquito attacking) that the threshold for the low voltage kick-out on the transfer switch is more sensitive than my generator and because of this the transfer switch kicks the generator off line when attempting to start the A/C.

Blood and sweat

After many hours and at least 100 times of bumping my bald head against the 5er in every location imaginable while contorted into positions I couldn't do even as a child I am ready to test the system. I triple check each and every line connection and routing as this is not the time for mistakes to be made. I even pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall to have at the ready should it be needed and flipped the switch sending solar power to the secondary line of the transfer switch, once the two main circuits were turned on the pull in winding's engaged in the transfer switch and the 5er had power both 120 and 12 volt!

I checked the lights, outlets and even the fridge, they all powered up as if the 5er was in a park tied to shore power. I even turned the A/C on briefly and it to my surprise also ran but as known was drawing more power than the solar system could support and shut itself down.

I will admit after this original high of achieving this state of upgrade to the 5er I feel the need for more power............ Some old habits just die hard I guess.

But speaking of more power it was time to test out the other half of the upgrade and that is to tie in and then switch over to Generator Power/ Shore Power. Now I had already tested the Generator powering the 5er before but not since I had routed it's access thru the transfer switch.

Backing up the Beast to the rear of the 5er I drag out the power cable that feels heavy enough to power all or at least half of Silver Lake. I am making a mental note should they ever build a device that allows for power distribution wirelessly, end of story it is what I want for Christmas.

I say it seems to be as I finished for the day and at this point am not going to be working at this today. As it is the last day of my vacation my wife has told me (with a stare that said I don't want to know what will happen if I do) that I am taking today off. And every one that knows me knows I ALWAYS listen to my bride.
Mark.

Electrical

OK so now that the solar panels and charge controller are up and running, that the sine wave inverter has been installed and tied into the battery bank, it is time to tie all this into the 5er's electrical system. I have accessed a lot of information on this as there are multiple ways to do this depending what outcome you're looking to archive. As I have some time before we embark on our travels and plan on doing as much boondocking as possible I have opted to go for complete incorporation of the solar into the 5er's electrical system.
After an extensive review of the 5er's electrical layout and following the recommendation to keep the Transfer Switch as close to the Converter's location as possible I chose to mount the switch on the basement wall on the opposite side of the Main circut breaker and Converter. And as the transfer switch is to large to fit behind the Converter this seems like an ideal spot to have mounted it. I also started a run of two 10 gauge lines coming from the inverter in the Utility Room across the Basement ceiling to the Transfer Switch mounted on the opposite side wall. And I lucked out and as the 5er's main 50 amp shore line had just enough slack that once I drilled and access hole thru the wall (nice I borrow a hole saw and forgot my drill) by hand I could tie that line into the Transfer Switch as well. And then run the other set of hot lines (L1, L2) and Neutral back to the Main circuit breaker panel.

The advantage of this all tied in this way is that I have two separate power systems at my disposal to power the 5er with. With both supplying 120 volt as well as 12 volt power distribution throughout the 5er rather than just one or two outlets.

Good company to work with.

Another Big shout out goes to Marty Reed from Parallax Group Inc.. These are the guys that make a lot of the power Converters in RV's. OK so I send the company an email questioning them as to how to properly install my transfer switch to their (now obsolete) converter and get this, I not only get a reply within a few minutes but I sent him several more emails over the course of next few hours and he replied with very straight forward advice and instructions each and every time. Man I do thousands of dollars of business with companies that I can't get a reply from and this company is willing to give me tech support for free on one of their older systems they don't even make any more. Now that is Service!

So now to what I have been up to speed with the 5er. I replaced the last few battery cables and installed a battery disconnect to the main power feed of the 5er. This will keep the power equipment disconnect while I work on the transfer switch. And yes I could just disconnect the batteries from the system each time I need to shut power down but that is a lot more work than turning a knob ¼ turn.

As mentioned my 5er is an 02 and whomever wrote the ID's on the circuit breakers used a shorthand I have trouble reading so I am in the process of redoing them with a labeler. I also found out that there are certain circuits that when triggered do more than just supply power. For instance with the batteries disconnected when the Ref 120 amp breaker is triggered it also turns on the Converter sending 12volt to the unit as well as the 120volt. At this point I am unsure if this is needed to fire the propane system built into the Ref. Or if it is there for a 3 way Ref. (120volt, 12volt, Propane). Will need to look into that further.

I have also found that one circuit is wired but not being used. That one supplies 120volt to the 2nd AC unit and the Cloths Washer, neither of which does the 5er have installed so I have an open circuit should I need it.

Power Distribution

Travels with our 5th wheel

August 28 · 

Well I guess with it raining this morning things are going to slow down a bit so let's post an update as to where we are at on the 5er.

The new solar is in and has been working up to and surpassed exceptions. Even with me working into the evening and under complete overcast it still is putting out 2.0 to 3.0 amps. And although I have not been paying attention to it, having been working more inside on the power distribution system when Duane from Electronic Servicing stopped over and we looked together it had completely charged the batteries and was doing a maintenance charge. Putting the daylight charge at somewhere around 24 amps.

I am now learning how the power distribution system works in the RV as I am in the process of installing the auto transfer switch Cindy and I picked up from Camp World in Rogers, MN. Two thoughts here first, a Big shout out for the Great Service we received at Camping World in Rogers. Reading reviews of them were far from stellar but I have to say I was very impressed at how they made me feel right at home while shopping there and went the extra mile by suggesting one of their near by competitors for one of the items I was looking for that they did not carry. Now I can be a bit of a cut up when shopping and they played right along with it making the experience that much more fun.

It gets quite technical

Travels with our 5th wheel

August 24 · 

Mark has been very busy working on the camper this week, here is what he has been up to on the first couple days of his vacation.......

As I plan on retiring at the end of the year and along with my bride touring some of the USA in our newly acquired Beast (2008 Ford F-350 Dually) while pulling our 02 Montana 5th wheel (5er). Below are some of the things I have been doing in preparation for our trip of a lifetime. Although these are not in chronological order they may be of some interest to you and serve as a good fall back of information of what I did for my own recollection.
Ok here we go!
By the end of day two of my vacation I have the new solar powered electrical system in the 5er just about completed (it is charging). I Installed 4 HQST 100 watt 12 volt Monocrystalline solar panels on the high side of the 5er's roof attaching them with Z brackets. Daisy chained the 4 panels together using weatherproof Y branch MC4 parallel connectors (waterproof wire adapters). Then ran 2 10 gauge awg wires thru the roof, down the bedroom closet wall, thru the floor into the storage compartment, out thru the dividing wall into the front utility compartment and finally connected both + and - to the 40 amp HOST MTTP charge controller. Then sealing all cable hold downs and bracket screws on the roof using Dicor Self-Leveling lap sealant.
I previously built and installed a new battery bank system upgrading the single 150amh 12 volt battery to 4 6 volt 230amh batteries, first wiring them 2 by 2 in series to bring the voltage to 12 volt and then in parallel to bring the amh rating up to a total of 460amh. This not only increases the 5er's 12 volt system capacity substantially but also feeds the new 12V DC to 120V AC 3000 watt PowerTech PURE SINE WAVE Inverter that I installed. With the inverter along with the solar charging system used wisely will run all but my largest consuming 120 volt needs.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Not to bore but I am including some of my calculation here more for my reference than your need to know. However you may find it interesting as it includes *my planned future expansions.
A/C run time required for Boondocking
Watts= 4x100 watt per panels (400 watts) *6x100=600 watt
Efficiency rating 80%= 4x80 watts (320 watts) *6x80=480 watts
320 Watts x 4.5hr daylite rating= 1440 watts *480 watts x 4.5 dl rate=2160 watts
1440 watts / volts (12v) = 120 amps *2160/12=180 amps
(13500 btu Roof A/C = 14.5 amps running (1740 watts)
120 amp dc / 14.5 amp ac (160 amp dc) = .75 hours *180 amps dc / 160 amp dc=1.125 hours)
If A/C ran for 5hr per day on battery (8700 watts) 800 amps dc you need 8 6 volt 230ah battery bank and at least 8 100 watt solar panels.
Battery Cap. 6 Volt Golf Cart Battery = 230ah @ 20amps 4x230= 920ah, *6x230= 1380ah *8x230= 1840ah
4 Battery Cap. 230Ah @ 50% would run roof A/C for 2.875hr adding the solar would run the A/C for 3.625hr

Conclusion you would need to run a 3000 watt Generator if you are going to run roof A/C for any real amount of time.
Or Supplement the A/C with a window or portable unit of much less output.
Portable unit Hybrid Haier HPB08XCM Portable Air Conditioner, 8000 BTU draws 700 watts ac for a total of 5.8 amp ac (66 amp dc) so Solar 120 amp dc / 66 amp dc= 1.8hr off solar and with batteries @ half drain 460ah dc / 66 amp draw dc= 6.9hr so combined total max A/C usage no other draw 8.7hr.
Obviously this would not allow for any other draw and so is not feasible but for calculation purposes it gives you an idea of system output.
Now same scenario run 5hr per day 66 amp dc= 330 amp dc battery and solar = 580 amp dc leaving 250amp for other draw. Refrigerator avg. draw 30 amp per day dc.

A lot of prep work is just beginning.

Travels with our 5th wheel

August 20 · 

There is more to do than just pack up and head out. Mark has been working on little things on the truck to make it ready for our travels. The truck itself is great and ready to go, it’s the little things we want/need to make it even more ready for the trip.

After we realized that there may not always be cell phone service we looked into CB radios. A thing that isn’t used much anymore although there are some that still use it for the same reason as we will be using it for. Incase help is needed it’s nice to have a means of connecting with someone that can help us or find someone that can. The unit we purchased also has a weather band on it to keep us abreast of inclement weather that we wish to avoid or to be prepared. Mounting the CB requires some wiring and mounting.

A back up camera and monitor was purchased and proved to be faulty, but not after a lot of work. That of course was done on one of the hottest days of the summer. Well it started out like a nice day, but became lizard weather as the day progressed. By the time Mark came in he was not lizard like but looked more like he just came out of the pool. Poor guy. The company did refund our money but that was little compensation for all the sweat and work Mark put into it trying to get the unit to function.

Next on his list is to mount the solar panels to the roof of the camper. He has worked and studied hard to learn what he needs to know about getting the job done right. Without a doubt there will be more to learn as the work progress’s as well. I pray that he will have help with that. Sadly I’m no help since I can’t get more than two feet off of the ground without losing my balance or worse yet, my stomach. Aren’t I going to do well on the mountain roads? You really don’t need to answer that one, we already know the answer to that question.

It would be great if I could say that once the panels are mounted we are ready to hit the road. But we still have to sell our home and wait for Mark to retire in December. There are and always will be some things that will still need to be done. We will after all be living in a trailer. Having lived in a trailer house when we were first married we have an idea of how much maintenance an RV could require.

Insurance

Travels with our 5th wheel

August 13 · 

Now that we have an address we need to find an insurance company that will insure our RV as a full time home. Thanks to the people at Insurance Planners at MidCountry bank, what we needed was found. They found that Progressive is the only insurance company that will insure an RV and personal possessions as a full time home, with liability included. We are well covered now.

There are many more people every year that change their lifestyle and go with the full time RV lifestyle. So I knew there had to be insurance for us out there somewhere. It really pays to have insurance people that will work for you. And trust me they really worked hard for us. Not only for the right RV insurance but the policies on our tow hauler, car and motorcycles.

Really I had no intentions of making this sound like an advertisement but I thought give credit where credit is due. They saved me a lot of time and money.

Nomads need an address too.

A twist in the mix was when we learned that having no address brought about a bit of a dilemma. Mail. Bills. Voting. If you’re a nomad wanting to remain all legal-like, you’ll need to take all these things into account. How does one handle all of these logistical things when you don’t have a physical fixed home address? Answering questions about how we get an address on our driver's license and other legal documents, required a lot of research.

It’s amazing how many mundane details in life are dependent upon having an address.

When contemplating becoming intentionally homeless and embarking on a life of travel, trying to muddle through all of these simple little details can began to seem insurmountable. But never fear – you don’t have to let a little red tape keep you tied down. There’s always a way around, and it really isn’t even all that complicated.

Most of the obstacles center around one critical choice – where will your legal permanent address be if you’re no longer maintaining a fixed home? Most everything you do, will require having a permanent address. For US citizens, you need a legal address to handle things like a driver’s license, vehicle registration, passport, banking accounts, credit cards, insurance, filing taxes and so on.

But before selecting that address, you need to first select which state you want it to be in . Since your legal address is no longer dependent upon your physical location – you get to choose which state to declare your intentions of being domiciled. No, you can’t use a US Postal Service PO Box as your primary address. Most states will not accept this on a driver’s license, and many services you’ll need won’t accept it either. A friend or family member can be a great help when acquiring an address. ;)

How to forward your mail to where you are stopping means you need to do some more research. Where is the post office in the nearest town and do they have a general delivery address to use. The campgrounds address may also be used if they offer that service. Planning ahead plays a big role when living on the road.

First Weather alert

How dare I forget the latest storm at the end of July. I had just come back to the camper from doing a couple loads of laundry when my storm skills were tested. Ok, so the first warning came on my phone and I saw; tornado warning in your area. I looked out the window and thought it was an old message, now where is the one I just heard. Dah, never second guess a tornado warning when it comes across your phone. Within second the sirens in town went off. Being a ready for anything kind of gal, cough cough, I grabbed my purse, cell phone, car keys, locked the camper and jumped into the Escape. Off I went still looking at the sky, while tooling along at 45 mph in town. When all of a sudden the sky got pitch black. Oh NO! Where are the apartment keys. Oh crap, they are not in my pocket or purse. Yes, I was breaking the law, distracted driving. Ok plan B. head to a girlfriend's house. Thanks to God, at least her husband was home so I had shelter....... But the sky was only black to the north. Maybe I could head back to the camper. I don't mind storms, but my darling hubby, worries about me so I clear out and head for shelter. ;) As if the storm could read my mind the skies opened up and we couldn't see the backyard. Yeah, I waited it out in the house of my friend.

After the all clear was given, back to the campground I went, at a much slower speed. ;) I should have asked Lorrie if I could borrow her boat because it was a lake all around the camper. Most of the campers were surrounded by water. Mark's motorcycle was luckily still standing even though it was parked in rain soaked grass. When he got home we moved it to a plank. In fact the next morning we had to use a ladder as a dock to get from the electrical plug in without turning into burnt offerings.

All in all we weathered that storm quite well. PTL

Mark has been busy.

And so the Adventure begins, as written by Mark. Two weeks into using the 5er and so far all systems are go. It's used and a trailer so there is always something to work on but so far nothing out of the ordinary. Replaced the Door Lock because that was much easier than having odd ball keys made. Replaced the Kitchen faucet because of age. New one swivels 360 so I can now fill 5 gal. pail while supported on a stool for water tasks. Rewired tv cable behind New Frig. that was cut during install. Made Cloths Line Hanger out of PVC that hangs on back ladder. Installed Battery Bank upgraded consisting of 4 6 volt deep cycle gulf cart batteries in prep. for the Solar Charging system I will be installing soon. Also installed a 3000 watt pure sign-wave invert-er but have not connected it directly to the RV's Electrical System. Wrestle with and conquered the Trailer Dump system, Yeah! Replaced all light bulbs with LED bulbs, Surprisingly not near as expensive as I had thought they would be when purchased from Amazon.com I Reset the onboard radio that was struggling to capture channels. Also changed out and set up the TV's both in the living room and bedroom. Stock antennae works quite well pulling in 23 channels. Cindy loves all the old shows that she can watch when finding free time to sit and do so.
Here is a picture of the clothesline that Mark made.

First time out in our soon to be home.

Our first two weeks of staying in our "new home", went surprisingly well. Well almost. After many trips back to the apartment for things that we still needed in the camper, the first week was rather a blur. A blurr to us but not our backs. The mattress in the camper must have been the original, 14 years old, with a pit in the center. Thankfully Factory Direct stocks mattresses for RV's such as ours. And the best part is that they delivered right to the camper in the campgrounds and took the old antique mattress with them. :)Finally a more comfortable nights sleep.

The next week made us realize we needed more than just one key!! As we were about to sit outside to relax we learned the truth in that fact. When I closed the door, with both of us outside, the door mysteriously locked!!! ALL keys and cell phones were inside the camper. Luckily I had the windows open. I walked down to a couple to borrow their ladder in hopes that one of us could fit a part of our body into that very small opening. hehe God was with us and Mark managed to get the emergency opening open. He looked like Winnie the Pooh in the honey tree, with his feet dangling out the window like he was stuck. Only Mark could pull off something like this. Everyone was in stitches laughing at his antics and comments. LOL That night we found a new lock for the camper on Amazon and ordered it immediately. We also learned that locks on door and windows should be replaced as well.