Planning

 After a lot of years of just making short trips, of 3-5 days, I am planning another long road trip to visit my sister and her family in the midwest.    I am thinking about how different this planning is, than it was the first long trip I took.  That trip, in 2016, was RIGHT after I purchased Waddles.   It was all new to me, and I had only taken her out for a short 2-night outing close to home.    What I remember about that planning experience is I wanted to make sure I had EVERYTHING I might need.   I had a big camp table, a Coleman stove, lots and lots of food and other do-dads I might need.     What I learned from that experience, and from all the Waddles trips I have gone on since, is that I don't need a lot of stuff.     I feel pretty comfortable with the bare minimum.   Kitchen stuff, some food, a small screen tent for shade, and bug abatement, chair, shower stuff, and clothing.    For this longer trip, I am taking laundry stuff, and extra set of sheets.  No extra stove, big table (only a small folding table), minimum of clothing and 'might need' things. 

I have had my car checked and serviced, I have new tires (because the old ones were very worn), I have had my resident mechanic work on the Waddles wiring because my lights have been acting funny.   Turns out the ground wire on the trailer was brittle and had broken.  It has now been fixed and is working just fine.    Have I mentioned that having resident mechanic is very handy?

I have gone through my entire car, and Waddles, emptied out EVERYTHING and got rid of duplicates and other things I do not need to have.    I am debating about taking some sort of heat source.  I have a small electric heater and a small Heater Buddy propane heater, both of which I have used successfully on past trips.    Because this trip is in July, I don't think I will need heat, but I haven't decided yet.    I did check the Air Conditioner (which I have never really used) and it seems to be working fine.     I have extra fuses, a good spare tire (for both the car and Waddles) and i have AAA on my speed dial, just in case.  I have the trailer registration in hand, my passport (because who knows, I might decide to come home the long way).

I also have a SPOT tracker, for emergencies, and so my family can keep track of where I am.

I have reservations at a KOA Campground near my sister, but plan to just wing it for the rest of the trip.    The small concerns I do have are 1) it is peak vacation season, so campgrounds may be full, and 2) it's gonna be HOT and HUMID in the midwest.    AND I will deal with both of these things.

I have piles; what goes in the car, what goes in the kitchen, what goes in Waddles.  I have books to read, knitting to knit, sketchbooks to draw and paint in, camera to shoot with, binoculars for birding.   

Essentials 

Sorting the kitchen

In the kitchen and the car

Things to do

 

In the car

I have about a week before the trip, and I think I will be ready.  I am excited to be hitting the road with Waddles.   Stay tuned to this blog for trip updates as I go.

What are you doing with your summer?

 A little upgrade!

Waddles and I have been laying low, waiting out the fires and smoke!   We are a safe distance from any wildfires fortunately, but the smoke enveloped us for days.   But NOW it seems to have cleared out.  I spent a fair amount of time in fire camps during my career with the USDA Forest Service, so breathing smoke is a familiar sensation, but I have to say, it is certainly nice to see the sun, and breath fresh air.   My heart goes out to those who are so much more severely impacted by these fires.

During this break, I broke down and ordered Wing Walls.  I've been reading about these on the T@G facebook forum (T@G you're it), and they get great reviews.   Each pair is made to order, and there are many  choices of colors and patterns.    I first ordered yellow, and then decided that might not be exactly the right color so changed it to grey.   Meme, the lovely maker of these things, gave me a call wondering what had made me change my mind.   I told her why and she suggested I get the Sunflower color, as it would surely match Waddles.   I am so glad I did.   I kind of LOVE them, and can't wait to try them out in the real world.

The purpose of these little gems is to create a bit of a wind break and some privacy when using the kitchen.   If the wind is blowing, using the propane burners can be a bit challenging.   This will help!

They are ingenious   They are attached with velcro which is installed on the trailer.  I was a bit skeptical about how well the velcro would hold up, since these must be removed each time you close the hatch.  I have to say, while I was installing that velcro, it was the STRONGEST adhesive I have ever experience with velcro.  If it stuck to my finger, it was pretty darn hard to get off.   I'm pretty sure it is not going anywhere.   I have also never heard a complaint from someone who has used them for a while.

On the website there is a video about how to install and use them.  They also come with VERY clear instructions on how to apply the velcro to get the best fit.

I'm impressed, and excited to try them out.   Hoping for at least one more outing before winter hits, though it sure feels like fall outside already.   

How are YOU holding up.   Weird year for certain.

Nothing Ordinary About It

Hi all.    I have been wanting to post to the blog for a while, but... well... you know... I'm not Wandering with Waddles, for obvious reasons.     I had planned to go to the Ladd Marsh Bird Festival last weekend; cancelled.   I planned to go to the Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners Conference in June; cancelled.   I'd hoped to get an early spring trip to the Southwest; not happening. And I am hoping to drive the Beartooth Highway, but that won't even be a consideration until July or August, and who knows what our situation will be then.

I am sad each time I see Waddles idle in the garage, and think I need to take her out for a spin, just because.   When the weather improves I will do that.  Right now it is a cool, wet spring, so I am waiting.

In the mean time I am thinking about how to get out, responsibly.   So I am going to post some good resources to determine what is open and what restrictions exist.

National Parks - Lists what is open and what is not

Forest Service - FAQ's

BLM lands - Searchable by State

Campendium - This one links to all kinds of information resources.

The Dyrt - Another page with links to all kinds of information about closure status

Dispersed Camping on National Forests - this does not list closures, but has links to local offices which would have that information.

If you follow all these links you should be able to get whatever current information is available for using campgrounds and public lands.

How are you passing the time?

Stay well, stay happy, wear a mask and wash your hands.

I have gotten out to do some birding and photography close to home, so I give you some photos.

Fox Sparrow

Rufous Hummingbird

Old School

Old Church

Arrowleaf Balsomroot

Columbia River Gorge

Almost on the Road... and SUCCESSFUL fixes!

Tomorrow Waddles and I head north to British Columbia.   Our final destination is Prince George, to attend a weaving conference.   We will be camping with friends who  have a tiny home-made teardrop, so it will be fun to compare our experiences.    We will be traveling for just about 2 weeks, although 6 days in the middle will be stationed in Prince George at an RV park.




















In preparation, my mechanic/all-around handyman has been working with me to see if we could solve the mystery of why the Norcold refrigerator/freezer does not always work.   We have tested every scenario, and I've been reading a lot of the on-line T@G forums to see what others have experienced and discovered.    It runs fine when hooked up to shore power, and when the trailer battery is being charged (while plugged into the car, with the car running, or hooked up to the solar panel with lots of sunshine).   When it is running strictly off the trailer battery, with no other charging source, it fails.   It will not hold a cold temperature, and the error light comes on, indicating not enough voltage, even when the voltage meter says there should be enough.

The on-line forums indicate that the only successful fix is to rewire the refrigerator directly to the battery.  Evidently the original wiring is only 16 gauge wire, and should be 10 gauge, and it is routed through the kitchen outlets, so there is not enough juice getting through the wire when it is only powered by the batteries.

So we bought a new cord for the battery which plugs directly into a cigarette lighter to see if we could by-pass the issue.    We only tested this by running the cord through the trailer cigarette lighter, which didn't solve the issue.  We then cut the cigarette plug off the cord, and hooked it directly to a battery and BEHOLD, the refrigerator works; holds a cold temperature, doesn't error out, and has a much smaller drain on the batteries.    This is a puzzling thing, but it works.  So.....

Mechanic-man went to work.... (there is a parts list at the end of this post for anyone who might want to know)

First he ran the 10 gauge wire through a 1/2 conduit, just like what the factory wiring runs through (although mine is white and heavier because that is what we had on hand).  He says 7' of conduit is more than enough (mine is not a T@G max, just the little one). In this photo the black conduit is factory, the white is what he added

Then he drilled a small hole in the back of the refrigerator area (carefully).  See the white dot in the back right corner?    We ran the 10 gauge wires up through that hole.

We were not able to find just the PLUG to put on the end of the new wire, so we spliced the new wire into the cigarette lighter cord we had purchased.

Securely spliced together

We left the old wire, but secured the new wire to the trailer in place of the old wire.  See the old black wire coiled up and hanging now.

With all that in place it was time to move to the front of the trailer.   Remember, we have already replaced the old 12 volt battery with 2 deep cycle 6 volt batteries so that is what we needed to attach the new wire too.

There is now a nice rubber washer holding the wires in place where they come through to the front of the trailer.

All wires outside the conduit were wrapped in this spiral covering to protect them.

We could not find a 10 gauge in-line fuse so we went with 20.  Overkill, and we will likely replace this if/when we find a 10.

The in-line fuse is outside the battery cover so I can easily pull the fuse when I'm not running the refrigerator, which I also do with the regular fuse because of the phantom drain that occurs.

I am so very excited to have a refrigerator that works!   The first 4 nights of my trip I will not have shore power, so I was worried about food going bad, and was prepared with jugs of frozen water to help hold the temperature in the fridge.

With this issue solved, I believe that Waddles and I just may live happily ever after.

Oh, one other 'fix' I've done since the last trip.   If you recall, I use a small-ish propane Heater Buddy for a quick warm up in Waddles when it's cold outside.  

Others have recommended using a little electric heater when plugged in to shore power, but the way my trailer is configured I could not plug it into the wall plug without it touching something flammable.   SO, I purchased a long, flexible extension cord, now I can hang it up where it is safe.     I am looking forward to trying this out during the time I'll be on shore power (about 6 nights on this trip).   The electric heater has a thermostat and a timer, so it will turn itself off, although I'm pretty sure I will never go to sleep with it on, nor leave it on in the trailer if I'm not there.  The inside space is so small it doesn't take much to heat it up, and it stays pretty cozy.

I think we are all ready to leave in the morning.... let the adventure begin!

For those who want to know, here is a materials list for the rewiring project:

• 7' of 1/2" conduit
• 2 1/2" u-clamps to clamp it to the frame.  You can see how the factory conduit was installed, same thing.
• 12' of 10 gauge wire, one red, one black
• New plug for the Norcold if you don't want to use the factory one.  We used the cigarette lighter cord plug because we could not find just the plug anywhere.
• In-line fuse - 10 gauge if you can find it, we used 20
• Electrical splicing pieces for putting the plug on one end, and for putting the in-line fuse on the other end
• Battery terminal rings for connecting to the battery.

As my mechanic said when we put this list together, "It sounds so simple when you list the parts".   This project took all day, and he didn't take many breaks.

Wandering Season Begins!

Well, I think it is high time to kick off the summer Wandering Season!   Yesterday Waddles came out of the garage and had a very thorough spring cleaning.  She now has all clean linens, all the cupboards have been vacuumed and scrubbed.  Everything was taken out, gone through and re-stored.   Tire pressure checked, bearing grease checked.

So today we went for a short drive around the area, just to shake out anything that might have gone awry over the winter.    All seems to be in good order.

I love this view in my rear view mirror..  Waddles AND 'The Mountain'

Next week will be our first official outing.   We are heading to Eastern Oregon to the Annual Ladd Marsh Bird Festival.     We have reservations at an RV park near the Marsh, which will make it easy to get up VERY VERY early for the 'Dawn Patrol' field trip on Sunday (4am-ish).     I love this festival and it also is giving me a chance to visit with friends in the area that I don't always get to see.

RV parks are not normally my first choice, but it will make this trip easier, since I won't have a lot of time in the mornings or evenings.

This will also be the first trip since installing the new batteries, and although I'll have shore power at the RV park, I plan to try just using the batteries for at least part of the time to see how they work.   It is also the first time using the smaller propane tank, and I WILL be using that for cooking.   I'm still struggling with the Norcold cooler.  That is the next thing on the list to get the kinks out of.

So, between now and the end of next week, I'll be packing up food and clothing for the trip.   I can hardly wait!

Last time I posted I was unable to reply to the comments left on the post, and I'm not sure why that happened, but I'll also see if I can figure that out!  It's always something!

Happy Happy Spring!  I love this time of year.

Spring!

Just to get your attention...here is a pre-dawn shot of the moon reflecting on Mt Hood!   I've been taking a photography workshop, learning to use my DSLR camera to it's full capacity.   Not sure if you can see it in this photo, but to the left of the moon are Jupiter, Saturn and Mars! (click on the photo to embiggen it... it might take a minute)

It's been a pretty mild winter, and I've been itching to take Waddles out for a spin, but I have (cat) obligations at home so I've resisted.   BUT...  Every year a group of us makes a trek down to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge to watch birds.    We normally stay at the Malheur Field Station, but unfortunately the Field Station is having some serious water system issues, and so our reservations were cancelled.   This year we are going to try something new and stay at the Steens Mountain Wilderness Resort, which is very near French Glen.   The accommodations have not quite enough beds for our group, so I volunteered to bring Waddles! Yes, I was looking for an excuse to take her out.    In the next few weeks I'll be loading her up and getting ready to roll.    I'm so excited.   She has been patiently sitting in the garage, right next to my car all winter long.

Let the season begin!

This lovely Sharp-Shinned Hawk perched right outside my window one morning a few weeks ago!

Living Room?

oh look, Waddles got a living room!   A pre-owned, but never used, set up that is new to me.  This tent is designed to fit around the door of the trailer, providing a 10' x 10' living room.  It can be a screened room, or a closed room.  It has a floor and a rug, a roof cover and awning.     It is big, and not easy for one person to set up ( but I did it😊).    Some campsites may not be big enough to set this up, but I'm hoping to use it on my next trip.    I'll be staying in one place for 3 nights, so worth the effort.  Stay tuned!

Almost August!!!!

Where does the time go???   I've been silent for a while because Waddles has been taking a much needed break in the garage since our big trip.   BUT.... the second week in August we are going on another short adventure up north of Mt Adams.

Waddles has graciously served as a spare bedroom and has been lavished much attention by a parade of visitors for the past month, so has not been completely neglected.  She's getting lots of love.

So be watching for more lovely camping adventure pictures soon.   In the mean time, I hope you are all having great summer adventures of your own.

Short timer....

Less than 48 hours until I hit the road!   Today I took Waddles for a little spin... ran errands in town to get more comfortable driving in traffic and on city streets.  All went well.   Took some photos on the way home, although Mt Hood didn't completely cooperate.

One of the items I went to town for was a memory foam mattress cover.  I've been sleeping in Waddles for the last week, and the bed is not the most comfortable.   I put a smaller foam pad on it, but that wasn't doing it, and my back was starting to react.  So I sprung for a bad boy, 4" pad.    In order to put the foam in, I had to completely clear the bed of bedding, so took advantage and vacuumed and emptied the area under the bed platform (there is about a 3" deep space, good for storing extra things I don't need to get at every day). I stripped off the bedding and threw it in the laundry.   Replaced the things I had stashed under the bed, and added a few more things like extra towels and bedding (no sense is wasting empty space). Then replaced the mattress, put the foam on, and re-made the bed with FLANNEL sheets because the first part of my journey is going to be in Wyoming and Colorado where it is still QUITE cold.

While all this was going on I was testing the battery.  Waddles seems to have some phantom battery drains, so when I'm running nothing except the display on the radio/DVD player, the battery runs down pretty quickly.  I have unplugged the TV (which I may eventually take out), and turned the display brightness down to nothing on the radio.  Still draining.   So it was recommended to me (by the collective T@g on-line brain trust) that I remove the fuse from the battery when I'm not using it.  The phantom drain is normal it seems.  I monitored it all day, and that seems to fix the problem.   I've been charging with the solar panel, and that is working quite well.

Waddles does not have a heater, so I have a very small electric heater that plugs into the wall for when I am somewhere with 'shore power'.   For the times I'm not, I have a 'Heater Buddy' propane heater.  I've been trying both of these and they are working perfectly.   I always have the vent open when I'm in Waddles and she came with not only a smoke detecter but a CO2 detector.   I DO NOT go to sleep with the heater running.  Just use it to take the chill off before going to sleep, and in the morning.

I also have decided to not use the battery powered cooler/refrigerator because when I'm not plugged into shore power it seriously sucks the battery.   Instead I'm just going to use it like an ice chest.  I'm not going to be that far from civilization for any length of time that I can't just buy fresh fruits and veggies when I need them.   Because the cooler doesn't have a drain hole (it is not designed to put ice in), I now have a syphon hose to suck the water out of the bottom.  The cooler has a motor in it, so lifting it out of its spot, with water in it, would be really heavy.   Hoping this works!  I'll let you know.

I am doing the final car packing.   I think I'll have lots of room.  I'm trying to not store things in the sleeping space of Waddles, but in the car.  And I'm trying to keep the things I don't need every day stashed in the middle and have easy access to the daily use stuff.  I imagine I'll be moving things around a lot as my journey progresses.  It won't be this messy when I'm done... this was mid packing! Blue bin is kitchen stuff, black case in the middle is the solar panel.  Striped bag is the electric cords, yellow box has bungie cords and tie-downs.  Sleeping bag is for extra warmth if I need it.  Red thing on the bottom is the wheel lock.   Black bag next to the striped bag is all the trailer security and parking gear.   There is a small folding table, a bag of tools, lawn chair, a door mat (because that is important!) and oh so much more!

Oil is changed in the car.  New windshield wipers installed.  Propane is full, battery is charged.  Tires are good. I replaced a bunch of the trailer locking things (tongue lock, hitch socket lock) and now ALL 5 keys for the trailer and it's associated security locks are different.  Before I had a terrible time telling them apart.   Small things make me happy!

So tomorrow is my final day to prepare!   I'll be planting tomatoes in the garden and hoping it doesn't freeze, doing final laundry, packing and loading of the car.   I have to go into town to buy cat food so they don't run out while I'm away.    I think I'm just about ready!~

Final Tweeking

Today my trailer guru and I took Waddles up to a local campground and drove around to get comfortable manuvering.  Then we found a large, empty, gravel parking lot and he confirmed his suspicion that the car would hit the spare tire if I made a tight turn😳.   So the spare has been put back under the trailer tongue where is was from the factory...and unfortunately that cool purple cover had to go away.  So sad.   I practiced backing in the parking lot and when we got home I backed the trailer all the way from the road to the garage.  If you've seen my driveway, you know that is a pretty good distance and there are a few things to manuver around.   I did it very slowly, and in fits and starts, but I didn't hit anything, didn't drive off the driveway, and Waddles is now in the garage.

I've been sleeping in her, and tomorrow I'm going to cook breakfast using only things I'll have on the trip with me.

And the new blog header photo was taken on today's outing.  Nine days and counting😍
One of my band mates gave me this for my birthday😍.  

Obsessive knitting?

OK, be honest here... have I gone too far?

And look what I got for my birthday from my favorite sister!

I spent today shopping in Portland with my brother for a new, proper-height trailer stinger, a battery gauge, a propane gauge, a surge protector/outlet tester, trailer hitch lock, and a few other things.  These were the last big things to check off my list!   Less than 2 weeks before our adventure begins.

Look What I Did!

Today was the first nice day we've had in a while so I decided to spend some time with Waddles.  I'd not cleaned her since our little trip so I stripped the bed and threw the bedding into the washer.  Then I completely emptied her out.

One of the lessons from my trip was I have very limited space inside Waddles and I need to have only what I need while I'm in there. So I sorted through all the stuff and thought a lot about exactly what I want around me in the evening and morning, and while sleeping.   There wasn't a lot I'd put in for the last trip, but I eliminated some things and started a list of what I was missing.

Then I cleaned up the kitchen, and re packed things I wanted easily accessible into the cabinets, and the rest goes in the kitchen bin that will be carried in the car.

When the laundry was done I remade the bed and did a little decorating.   If I were to choose, I would not have the TV or air conditioner, so I chose to cover them with something pretty.

I then added some more personal touches to the outside.... because it makes me smile.

Then I hooked her up to the car and pulled her out and gave her a bath.  I think she liked it!😉

She has been living next to the garage since I pulled her out about a month ago.   I got really brave today and did THIS!!!!!

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself!