Time flies when your having... fun?

It has been close to a year since been started fulltime rv'ing in our friends front yard.  From a moving to Texas and becoming oil field gate guards to having to replace the rv unexpectantly in October and the recent birth of our granddaughter Aria, it has been quite the adventure.

Little did we know what challenges awaited, from generator problems to emptying the tanks without making a huge mess. getting sunburnt, freezing temperatures, tire blow outs and the occasional wild animal we have risen to the occasion each and every time.

One of the biggest lessons we have learned is that this lifestyle is definitely not for the weak hearted or the insecure.  This is not a vacation but rather a lifestyle choice, we work just as hard, if not harder than some to be able to enjoy the "perks." 

Another lesson learned was to slow down and enjoy the journey. Society has become so focused on goals and destinations we often forget that the journey itself is part of the adventure and many times we miss out on what happens along the way. We may not move long distances as often as some but in this line of work we move much more often than others.

As we had begin our second year a whole new set of challenges will need to be met.  We hope that the experience we have gained will make these mere speed bumps in our road.

Tablets, Generators and other dis-jointed thoughts.

Tablets.

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, sometimes I think its just the opposite.  I usually post to the blog using my Acer Iconia Tab A200 and most of the time it does a wonderful job of doing so.  I have noticed a few issues with it.

Pop-up menus. For the most part are a huge pain. That reason alone is why I don't post more pictures on the blog.

Keyboard interface.  While the on-screen keyboard is larger than one on a phone, its less forgiving.

Status bar sensitivity. This is an operating system issue, Its way to easy to hit it while trying to type and change all kinds of things.

Other than these few issues and a few others it seems to be useful overall.  The Kindle App is awesome. I check Amazon every couple days to see what they have for free (it changes) and download anything that might spark my interest.  I have downloaded a whole bunch of cookbooks, Native American stories, The Art of War and other titles.  If you ever get the chance, check it out.

I am not writing this blog as a review, just my take on how it works for me.


Generators.

When we were placed on our current gate we had a serious issue with the company supplied generator. It seems that the voltage regulator had worked its way loose and fallen into the case and was dancing around in there causing some rather interesting issues with the power being delivered to our coach.  The Progressive Industries EMS PT30C did its job beautifully and cut the power as soon as the issue arose.  A quick call to our service person and a few houra later we were up and running again.

New Coach.

The "new to us" coach is working out beautifully, it is a 1997 Flair by Fleetwood that is 28 feet long.  We figure we have between 11 and 12 more feet of living space than the old one due to us using the sleeper as storage and the dinette as the bed. It also has a 4.0kw backup generator with only 403 hours on it, while the low hours look great, not running a generator can be harmful to it. Luckily, it has been ran recently and starts great.  I'm going to change the oil and plug though just to be safe.

Changes of the season... My God it's freezing in here.

It's easy to forget that most of the rest of the country is now experiencing the phenomenom known as Fall.  There already has been a freeze warning in the part of Iowa we came from and it snowed at my sister's place in Montana. With the continued warm temperatures and occasional rain shower the weather has been nothing less than fantastic here.

I decided the other day to get up on the roof and clean out the drain channels for the roof air conditioner and give it an overall look.  We hadn't been using it due to the channels becoming clogged and causing it to drip water inside. Besides, the second a/c had been keeping up pretty well with assistance from our big fan.

Everything checked out up top, I got rid of the few insect nests on the underside of the cover and buttoned everything back up.  I plugged the roof a/c back in, ran the extension from the generator for the second a/c and fired EVERYTHING back up.

I was pleasantly surprised the the roof unit is quieter than it has been recently and with both units running it never got over 72 inside yesterday when the outside thermometer was reading over 90 and we had the door open.  At 4:30am, I had to turn off the main unit because it had gotten so cold in here, chill sides of beef cold, without use of the fan.

I took some time yesterday morning and re-adjusted the lights on the tower, I haven't been real happy with the pattern and I also wanted a larger area lit up.  I am now lighting up an area large enough to cover the rv and most of the area around us, even part of the county road that passes us.

The EMS PT30C from Progressive Industries has been working great!  It's been nice to be able to see at a glance how much power the rv is consuming.  And the piece of mind knowing that if the generator should have a problem, we are protected.  It's not a matter of if it happens, but when.

Toie is going to the Ladies Luncheon today in Kenedy and I hope she has a good time.

Have a Great Day! If you are on a gate, please be safe.

Muy Caliente!

According to the evening news we hit 100 here in the Tilden area today. It was warm to say the least. I was lucky to see rabbits running across the road and early this morning I was treated to a serenade by the local coyote population. The "lake" out front is finally drying up and its less than a third the size it was when we got here. All in all a wonderful day.

We also had a few hiccups. Our generator shut itself down just as it was getting dark, luckily I had fired up the light plant so I didn't have to work in the dark to get the genset running again. I had Toie call our support guy and let him know what was going on as I was trying to figure out why it shut down. The positive battery terminal melted in half, there is even a little drop of lead on top of the battery. The positive cable was extremely hot, almost to hot to touch. The generator had shut itself off I thought because the battery had become disconnected. Boy was I wrong, when I touched the cable to the battery I got a nice arc out of it, which would have been great if I wanted to weld, but shouldn't have happened with the genset off (I had turned the switch to off). I grabbed a light and went to take a better look at things and discovered that the insulation on the cable had been worn through by the vibration of the generator while it ran. I got the positive cable removed/disconnected from where it had shorted. This looks to be a potential common problem with these generators seeing how they place the battery box and run the cables. I think my daughter had gotten into my toolbox before we left and acquired my electrical tape, so I had to improvise a bit. I took a piece of blue pex (crosslinked poly ethylene 1/2 inch water hose)a few inches long and sleeved the damaged part of the cable, using duck tape to secure it in place and then using a pair of vise-grips to hold the cable to the battery post. It worked and the besides a little belt squeal when first started, everything seemed to be running good.

We also discovered that our light tower seems to interfere with our internet. The lights must be giving off a little RFI.

Oh well,  you can't sweat the small stuff.  I only have  a few hours before Toie gets up and I want everything to be as trouble free as possible. 

Almost forgot.  The catering guys here are awesome. Last night it was barbecue pork chops, I wonder whats in store for us tonight?

(Btw.  It was chicken and sausage with green beans and mashed taters).

Pulling Out

We received our drivers licenses today and guess what?  We are finally leaving on Monday.  Everything over the last few months has led up to this moment, and I have to admit I have a slight case of the jitters.  Yesterday I finished securing the generator to rear deck and tomorrow I will pull the Wilson Cell Booster antenna down and stow it on the roof and then put the kayaks up there on Monday right before we leave.  I don't expect to be on the road before 10am with all the last minute preparations and re-fueling the RV.  Our goal is to make it to Sullivan Missouri the first day and Miami Oklahoma the second.  I really only want to drive about 250 miles a day and I figure 5 hours a day is enough, we really don't want to be in a hurry. 

I really can't believe that the day of our departure is finally here.  We can't wait to get south and start our new life adventure.

Generators and stuff

There is just something about an older onan generator that gets the blood a pumping. I don't know if its the green color or the sound of a 2 cylinder horizontally opposed motor that does it, but there is just something about it.  After having a few days to play around with the 4.0BF-3CR and kind of getting to know it, I am very satisfied with it. The bottom plate is missing and I have to find the rubber mounts for it but all the important stuff is there. 

A buddy and I tried to get it to start yesterday without any luck.  Luckily I found a resource on the inter webs for manuals and a message forum full of knowledgeable members.  I have got the manuals and troubleshooting guides at my fingertips and its only a matter of time before I get her running again. 

There are a few things that really drew me to this particular generator. First being that it does not require an external starter, the generator is the starter. Second is the simplicity of design, the ignition system is simple to diagnose and fix. Third, its rated for continuous duty, once I get it running properly, I can run it for days without worry. Most "backup" generators built today are rated for occasional use.

This is going to give me something to mess with once we are in Texas to pass the time and I can't wait to get it fixed up the way I want.  I will be posting pictures of the progress.

Have a Great Day!

Busy, Busy

It's been a busy few days. Helped a couple good buddies down at the welding shop for a few days building a very large cnc router table.  I always enjoy an oppurtunity to weld, I find it relaxing.  The "funny" thing about the table is that we ended up turning it into a trailer so that it could be transported home.  It turned out awesome.  It's a wonderful feeling being part of something that someone else is going to use and enjoy.

I finally found a generator, it's an Onan out of another rv. I'm going to trade an old sand rail and bug for it.  I really can't wait to get my hands on it. I will do my best to keep you updated on my progress. Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated. I really want to have it ready before we leave for Texas.


Gen Set

Router Table
The weather here in Southeast Iowa has been pretty brutal these last few days. With temps in the 90's and the humidity way up it's been difficult for Toie to go outside at all. The thunderstorms we had last night were pretty spirited at times and they woke me up a few times. I love the way rain sounds on the roof.