Someone has to be socially aware and spot the new hip trends – be the one to identify what’s a thing and what isn’t. I’ll never spot the best new music or fashion, but camping around the country, I’m just so hep to what’s going on. Since no one else is stepping up it’ll have to be me.
It’s a Thing!
Alien Pine Cone Formations
I know some will say it’s not space aliens – cones just naturally fall and sometimes your mind thinks they are in a formation. Right, then why do they always point to abduction sites? Huh? Face it, pine cone formations are real. It’s a Thing!
Trashing the Forest
Go to any national forest and drive one mile off the paved road. Now walk 50 yards in any direction (if you’re Canadian, it’s OK to walk 46 meters). You’ll see it. A huge pile of trash, usually shot up by a thousand or so rounds. Feel free to count the shells on the ground. Pro tip – shotgun shells are easier to count than brass rifle or handgun shells.
Trashing the forest. It’s a thing! Not a good thing, but a thing.
Taking a Picture of Someone Taking a Picture
We all know that in this age of social media, if there’s no picture it didn’t happen. But, how do we know it happened to you? That’s where taking a picture of someone taking a picture comes in. It’s a thing!
RV Cows
There’s a lot of open range land in or near the national forests. If there’s mooing at 4am, you’ve just found out about RV cows – it’s a thing!
My fourth year on the road ended in a new RV, with some time in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, visiting Kylee in Seattle, and moving out of Arizona (huh?).
Hard to believe it’s been four years.
In this post:
From Washington to South Dakota
No Longer Arizonan
Year 4 Map
From Washington to South Dakota
Leda and I first stopped in Quilcene, a tiny town on the Hood Canal somewhere between Olympia and Port Townsend, where I promptly rubbed a tree with my brand new 5th wheel. The tree is fine and I’ve yet to repair the damage to the outside shower hatch, but the estimate is about $500, so yea. But enough of the lowlights, one of the highlights of the stop was going to the top of Mt. Walker. It was a clear day and you could see the Seattle skyline and Mt. Rainier across the water.
Mt Rainier appears to float above the clouds. 86 miles away it still dominates the skyline. This shot is from the top of Mt Walker near Quilcene, Washington.
Next up a trip to Seattle on the Kingston to Edmonds Ferry to see Kylee. No, not with the 5th wheel, it was tight enough just in the truck – had to fold in the mirrors to get on board.
My ride from the peninsula to the mainland – the Kingston to Edmonds ferryKylee and I get an elevated view of the Space Needle and the rest of beautiful Seattle.Seattle skyline from Gasworks ParkSeattle Troll
Leda and I then went to Port Townsend to see Leda’s brother. Love this place, I’ll definitely be back.
In nearby Sequim (pronounced skwim) which is between Port Townsend and Port Angeles I took two days of driving lessons with the new 5th wheel. Well worth it. Better late than never.
A bunch more stops before Leda headed to Oregon to see the total eclipse and I made a crazy long one day drive from the peninsula to Spokane. Leda met back up with me there where we had lunch in the diner from Benny and Joon. Then we went through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to Box Elder South Dakota (a suburb of Rapid City).
Fergusons’ Cafe from the movie Benny and JoonMary Lou’s Milk Bottle from the movie Benny and Joon
No Longer Arizonan
The point of going to South Dakota was to change my residency. I’m now a South Dakotan. It’ll save money on vehicle registration and state income taxes. South Dakota plates are sort of a badge identifying full time RV’ers.
The Maps
Holy cow, 68 locations in the past year and I didn’t even get east of the Mississippi. Lots of Arizona and southwest locations traveling with the WINs and hanging close waiting for Kylee’s graduation. Definately too many places (and I probably missed one or two).
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[ List of places visited is not shown on this browser ]
Enroute to Seattle and Port Townsend, I arrived in Bend, Oregon with Leda, as RV problems escalated. Stuck again. Yes, it could be fixed, but it might take years, cost millions of dollars and thousands of lives.
Like being locked in a decompression chamber for the bends. Instead, I went for broke 🙂 and traded and sold items to buy a new 5th Wheel and a big ass truck to tow it.
(stock photo) My new RV is a 2018 Fox Mountain 255 RKS 5th Wheel. I’ll shoot some better shots soon, but right now we’re camped in dense woods.
To pull it I purchased a 2012 Ford F-350 longbed diesel. I took delivery of both on July 6th.
That means SOA, trailer 3, and a lot of other items had to go, many via ebay. So at least for 12 more days, until the sales close and items are picked up, we’re sort of stuck in Bend. Luckily it’s a really nice place with plenty to do.
A handler answers questions about the Peregrine Falcon
Catch the end as a Peregrine Falcon makes a 100+ MPH pass and snatches a bait the handler is trying to keep from her.
Mount Bachelor (left) and The Sisters (right) still covered in snow in mid July behind the Newbury lava fieldsIridescent bacteria on the walls of the lava tube cave near Bend, Oregon. A two mile hike in total darkness.Water rushing toward Benham Falls
So, being here for a while won’t be too bad, but then it’s on to Seattle and Port Townsend.
Leda and I continued north with the WINs to Cottonwood and Prescott Valley. Meanwhile, the RV, Roamward Bound, was heading south. the hydraulic issue was back with a vengeance and the parts needed were nowhere to be found. The dash A/C went out, first with a freon leak, then the blower failed. The wipers stopped working. A short in a 12 volt power outlet killed my GPS. Well, you get the idea.
At the Alcantara Winery in CottonwoodRV cows, it’s a thing!
It’s a Big Hole?
I’ve been to the Grand Canyon several times, but before this, never in it. We hiked down (OK, partway down) both Bright Angel Trail and Kaibab Trail well into the canyon for a whole different perspective. Can’t imagine I wouldn’t have needed a rescue service for these hikes two years ago.
A hawk flies by at just the right moment as we stop for a picture on the rim. A few miles down Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon we’re stopped for a little while while the mule train heading up takes a rest. With Leda a few miles down the Kaibab trail in the Grand Canyon
On to Graduation, But First
Finally time for Kylee’s graduation, but first it’s back to Prescott Valley for more repairs. I left the RV there and headed up to Flagstaff to watch Kylee’s Capstone Project presentation and then the graduation ceremony. My little Magna Cum Laude NAU Graduate, Kylee
Then I helped her pack up. With no place to live and no job, she’s off to Seattle to start post college life. Just gotta make it happen. And, make it happen she did. Great place to live, check! Starting a great job at a great company a month to the day after arriving in town, check! Best weather in Seattle history, OK, she didn’t do that, but what the hell, check!
And that’s everything crammed into her Kia Soul for the move to Seattle And she’s off. Off to Seattle, Washington
Back to Prescott Valley
I’d really like to say this was a good result, to pick up the RV with everything working again. OK, let me try it. Everything was great!
Ahh, but not so. Nothing was finished and I was stuck there for weeks, again.
So when the repairs were finally “completed” and I could drive off, I’d really, really like to say it was a good job. Here, let me try it: it was a good job. And it was, for less than two weeks, and then each issue is back, only worse.
See how this turns out in the next post.
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[ List of places visited is not shown on this browser ]
Back in August of 2013 I dropped off my daughter Kylee at NAU to start her college adventure and started my own, taking off for full time travel in my RV. This winter and spring graduation was on my mind as I roamed not too far from Flagstaff.
went places, did stuff, RV upgrades, anticipating Kylee’s graduation.
Traveling with the WINs after Quartzsite it was on to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument along the southern border of Arizona. Out on a Hike at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Sunset
It’s a beautiful place with good hiking (carry pliers for the inevitable cactus strike), but we were all looking ahead, farther south, to …
Puerto Penasco, Mexico
Not my first time out of the country with the RV (I’ve been to Canada – Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec) but it was the first time in Mexico, not too far in Mexico, but Mexico just the same. There were 60 RVs in the caravan south and another 40 or so traveled independently to our boondocking location on the beach. The caravan starts to form in Lukeville bound for Puerto Penasco, Mexico. I’m following Leda with the kayak on her bumper. Wound up with 60 RVs in the caravan. Some 40 WINs headed out separately. The first dog walk at the beach, out with Leda, Diamond, Opal and of course Kiera. We found out a few minutes later that leashes weren’t required here. As the first day draws to a close, there are 100 WINs in 100 RVs boondocking on the beach. Some of the activities in Puerto Penasco My ultralight flight in Puerto Penasco. Leda is All Smiles after Ultralight FlightAll the faded and cracked decals were removed and painted back in with a sparkly, color shifting, navy blue paint.The captain’s chairs were recovered in two tone leather while in Puerto Penasco.
Not all fun and games, I also had the RV’s captains chairs recovered in a nice two tone leather and had the exterior decals removed and painted back in with sparkly color shifting navy blue paint.
Back to Arizona
Back in the states, well state, we continued traveling with the WINs to Wilcox, Safford and Theodore Roosevelt Lake. My drone finally arrived (that would have been nice to have in Mexico), a DJI Mavic Pro. View of Roosevelt Lake from the Tonto National Monument
Big Red. Sure you expect everything to revolve around Cornhusker football. I watched a local 4pm newscast on a Tuesday and they managed to work “big red” into every story – traffic accident (won’t impact Saturday’s big game), robbery, back to school backpack drive, art fair, utility rate hike, and on and on.
The Old Market. But I was surprised to find The Old Market District, a hip downtown area of restored and preserved buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of the buildings have been converted into chic lofts with restaurants, bars and retail on the ground level. Hipsters, cowboys and tourists mingle in the easily walkable downtown.
The Missouri River runs by Haworth Park in Bellevue, NE. On the other side, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Dodge City
Boot Hill. Dodge City fully embraces its old west heritage. The Boot Hill Museum preserves a street that looks like it came right out of Gunsmoke. Throughout the city center preserved or period appropriate designs dominate.
Unexpected Service. While I was in Dodge City I placed an Amazon order. Amazon screwed up the shipping label (removed all spaces and line separators, WTF?) and UPS couldn’t deliver the package. After a few calls I was told I could pick up the package at the UPS depot. It was only about 12 miles away so I rode over there. The agent saw the size of the box (typical Amazon, the 3 ft x 18 in x 24 in was holding 90% air), and my bike, and offered to follow me back to camp in her personal vehicle and deliver the box. Now I was prepared to unpack the box and discard all the packing on site, riding home with just my purchases, but I accepted her gracious offer. Who does that? Extraordinary.
Long Branch SaloonBoot Hill Museum
Grave marker at Boot HillBoot Hill
Oklahoma City
Tornados and Oil. Sure you expect three tornado warnings in ten days and to see oil wells everywhere.
The National Memorial. Of course if you’re in Oklahoma City you go to the National Memorial honoring the victims of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building. I wasn’t prepared, however, for just how big an emotional impact it would have. The site stuns with its beauty and tragedy. The museum walks you through the timeline from before the bombing to the execution of Timothy McVeigh. Near the beginning of the tour you sit in a recreation of a hearing room that was across the street from the Murrah building, where a water resources board was conducting a routine hearing. You listen to the actual audio tape of the hearing that started at 9am and ended with the sound of the blast.
169 empty chairs representing the men, women and children killed in the Oklahoma City bombing.One of the 169 chairs at the memorial. Each is engraved with the name of a victim.Oklahoma City National Memorial – the reflecting pool with the mammoth field of empty chairs behind.
The 9:01 Gate at the far end of the reflecting pool symbolizes the last moments of peace before the destruction. Maybe the most disgusting thing at the museum. McVeigh was wearing this shirt when he was arrested. It translates to “thus always to tyrants”. In 1995 there were maybe 200 people in the country sick enough to do what McVeigh did. Now there are probably that many at a typical Trump rally.
Sayre
Sleepy Town. Naturally, a small town of 4000 has very little going on.
Crazy big City Park. This little town has a beautiful, well maintained city park cover half a square mile. There’s a nine hole golf course, basketball, tennis, volleyball, a pool, rodeo grounds with seating for the entire population and even RV parking.
Tucumcari
Route 66. Like every town along Rt 66, you have kitschy souvenir shops, themed diners, and murals of the glory days.
World Class Dinosaur Museum. Mesalands Community College has a well regarded paleontology program and operates a world class museum where you see the fossils they’ve recovered and see the scientists working on fossils.
Just over three years ago, on August 30, 2013, I set off to see the country living full time in my motorhome. On the journey I’ve covered 35,000+ miles, visited 210 places in 37 states and three Canadian provinces, and yet …
I had a coffee mug that said “Not all that wander are lost.” Sometime in June I lost the mug, probably left it behind somewhere in North Dakota. I have to say that since then I’ve felt like this wanderer is lost. Stops that are repeats or have no purpose.
There’s also been way to many stops this whole year. I’ve been to 57 places just in 2016 and it’s only the beginning of September. When I started this journey I thought most places I’d visit for 2-4 weeks. Going into 2016 I’d planned to hold the number of sites to 50 the year. Yet, 57 in September. Not working.
I’ve also had an aversion to planning more than the next location. That’s more or less fine, except in the summer. Summer vacationers and booked up camping locations have made it clear that I’ll need to plan the summer months well in advance.
Ready to quit? No, no, no. I definitely have to get my head in the game though.
The Wait
No, I mean “the weight.” From April 2015 through May 2016 I lost over 70 lbs. (and maintained that since). Besides feeling much better, I no longer have to take blood pressure or cholesterol medication (so no meds at all).
If I was trying to pick a place to live year round, I couldn’t do it. The best I could say now would be maybe Ashland, Gold Beach or South Haven in the summer, maybe Madeira Beach in the winter.
Up Next
As I write this I’m in Nebraska, just outside Omaha. Next week I’ll head out on a 1,500 mile journey back to Phoenix, arriving in the first half of November. I’ll find myself in Oklahoma City, Santa Fe and Flagstaff along the way. After that I’ll want to stay within about four or five hundred miles through May when Kylee graduates from NAU.
Almost all the Stops
I know I’ve missed a few, but this map has nearly all the overnight stops on the RoamwardBound journey, so far.
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[ List of places visited is not shown on this browser ]
States Visited
The states I’ve visited on the Roamward Bound journey – just those with an overnight stay.
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[ Map of states visited is not shown on this browser ]
Yuma! No it’s not my favorite spot, but I’ve just made my fourth stop in Yuma in just over three months.
Solar System Issue
I first went to Yuma on 12/22 to talk with Starlight Solar Systems about installing a new system in the RV. I decided to go ahead with it, but the next available appointment wasn’t until 1/26. In the meantime I camped with the WINS (rvsingles.org) in Yuma, Parker and Quartzsite.
The second Yuma stop was for the big solar install on 1/26. The system was working perfectly and providing all the power I needed, but two weeks later the monitor/control panel inside the coach stopped working. I was still getting all the power I needed, but could no longer operate the system from inside and had no visibility to how well it was working (power production, battery charge levels, usage, etc.).
We spent a couple of weeks trying to diagnose this over the phone and email, then on 2/22 I went back to Yuma. They found that one of the components, the solar charge controller (Magnum PT-100, rated the best) was not talking to the inverter (they are ethernet connected) and blocking the inverter from talking to the remote. Starlight replaced the solar charge controller, everything worked fine and I headed back to Slab City.
Exactly four weeks later, on 3/21, while I was in Cottonwood, the same problem recurred. After another round of phone and email diagnosis I headed back to Yuma (from Flagstaff) on 4/4. Again, Starlight replaced the solar charge controller, everything is working fine. I’m on my way, just not real confident.
The Loop
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[ List of places visited is not shown on this browser ]
Slab City – end of the line for the down and out, snowbird haven, RVer right of passage, trash heap, an alternate way of life, eclectic arts and living, the last free place in America. Whatever. Maybe it’s all of that, maybe not.
Whatever Slab City is, it pulled me in. I’d planned to spend less than two weeks and wound up staying a month. Of course I was staying with a great group of people at the Slab LoWs encampment (LonersOnWheels.com, Slab Lows on Facebook). Whether it’s morning coffee by the campfire, afternoon happy hour or something in between, every day turned out to be a treat. Jenna, Seann, Shane, George and all the rest, I miss you already.
Maybe you’ve heard of Slab City through the movie Into the Wild, and thought they’re making it seem more weird, more cool, more whatever. Nope. If anything it’s the other way around.
Salvation Mountain
A three story high hill painted over two decades by the late Leonard Knight to express his love of God.
Salvation Mountain, Slab City, California
The Range
The Range is the world famous open air nightclub with a great show every week created by the one and only Builder Bill, but it’s not the only show in town – don’t miss Radio Mike’s, the VIP Lounge and the Oasis.
The Range nightclub a few hours before the show begins.Band after band rocks the Range
East Jesus
No religious connotation, just colloquial for “middle of nowhere.” East Jesus is an art collective with pieces created from discarded items and trash.
Giant Lizard Sculpture in Wire and Plastic Grocery BagsA mural in progress at East Jesus.The TV wall at East Jesus
The Bottle Wall at East Jesus
Time to Go
There’s a time for everything and for the Slabs, summer is not that time. I’m heading to Sedona where I’ll find a red rock just waiting for someone to sit and meditate on it… Sunset at the slabs
…and the slabs? I’ll be back.
I’ve had my coach, Roamward Bound, for over three years now, but this by far is the largest upgrade.
After spending four of the last five weeks camping with the WINs (Wandering Individuals Network – RVSingles.org), first in Yuma, then in Quartzsite, I’m back in Yuma … WINs around the campfire at Quartzsite
Quartzsite Sunset Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right
… back in Yuma at Starlight Solar having a solar power system installed.
Roamward Bound getting 780 watts of solar power at Starlight Solar in Yuma, Arizona
This will make dry camping / boondocking much more feasible. In theory I should almost never have to run the generator or worry about my electric use when I’m not on shore power. I’m going big with the project:
Magnum 3012 3Kw inverter
Magnum PT-100 Solar Charge Controller
Magnum Advanced Remote
Solar Charge Remote Display
3 Solarworld 260 watt panels (780 watts total)
400 Amp-Hours of GBS LiFeMnPO (lithium) batteries (5 kilowatt hours)
Lithium ion batteries are fairly rare in the RV world. Nearly everyone uses flooded lead acid deep cycle cells, with some opting for more expensive sealed AGM batteries, but lithium offers many advantages:
Lithium batteries are smaller and lighter.
Lithium batteries can be regularly discharged down to 20% of their rated capacity. Lead acid batteries should only be regularly discharged down to 80% and occasionally to 50%.
Heat tolerant. Lead acid batteries have only half the capacity at 95 degrees than they do at 77. Lithium has nearly the same capacity at 95 degrees.
Lithium takes 40% less time to charge. There’s no three phase charging cycle – they are always accepting a bulk charge.
Expected lifetime is 12-15 years.
No maintenance.
The only disadvantage is cost. The 400 amp hours of lithium batteries (equivelent to about 1200 AH of AGM batteries) alone cost over $2600.
While I’ve always wanted to, I’ve never had solar on any of my houses. The economics of putting solar electric in an RV are completely different than residential. For residential, the savings come from utility bills and can take up to 20 years to recoup the cost of the system. In an RV the savings come from campground fees ($20-$50 per night) and/or generator fuel ($2.50-$3.50 per hour to run my generator). I’m expecting to recoup the cost in 11-18 months.
