theboondork's RV blog

the snow rages around me !!

10/26/2023

there's many things you can do with your time, you can watch TV, or commit a crime. But the best thing that you can do today, Is click all the pics on your computer's display.

A pair of Sandhill cranes talking to each other as they leisurely float along on the rising thermals.

So... A cold front is on the way; most of the time, it will be below freezing at night, daytime temperatures will be pretty chilly, and it is supposed to snow this weekend...The end of the world? Not hardly! But it will require some changes.

I enjoy boondocking, and not just so I can stay away from RV parks; I like being self-sufficient, taking care of myself, and living off grid, which is a big part of self-sufficiency. My family would be perfectly happy with me plugged into their house so I didn't have solar charging problems during the Fall, but they already do so much for me without asking for anything in return; I don't want to run up their electric bill by using their electricity when I can manage most of the time living this full-timing life that I've chosen for myself.

But sometimes things don't work out the way I hoped, and I feel very fortunate to have a family that will help me out when all of my options aren't that great, and that's what happened this time.

A very simple solution to this cold-weather problem coming up is for me to move the Lance over to another one of their driveways, which has a 110 electric plug on the outside wall of the house that's only about 20 feet away from where I would be parked, plug in the camper... And suddenly, all my problems disappear.

Plugged into the house, I can drag out my little home electric heater, which I use when plugged into a state park somewhere. And the Lance is so small I have to put the heater on its lowest setting to keep it from being too hot inside. I have no problem leaving the electric heater on at night, so I don't have to dress like an Eskimo when I go to bed or crawl out of bed in the morning when the inside temperature matches the outside temperature.

And, of course, since the Lance has a converter, I will no longer have a problem with the lack of sun on the solar panels because the converter will charge my batteries. And all my 110 AC plugs in the Lance will work just like in a house. So I'll have a functioning microwave, which is always handy, and I can use my computers as much as I want. I know that sounds quaint to most folks who are always plugged into an RV park somewhere, but long-term boondockers have to learn to live like a boondocker and do without some things, making us appreciate the small things that most people take for granted.

So what that means is I'll be able to live in another one of my family's driveways, plugged in just like most folks would be at a campground, and I'll be snug, warm, and comfortable as the temperatures drop into the teens and the snow rages around me... Okay, maybe it won't actually rage, maybe it will just sprinkle, but it doesn't matter; it's snow, and I don't like snow.

theboondork

a large Mesa near Alamosa Colorado

My new camping spot. I'm plugged in to a receptacle outside the house so I have all the comforts of home....especially electric heat, which in a few days will be indispensable.

the Arctic Fox looks awfully lonely sitting there by itself.

Notice the shade that the large trees in the front yard cast on the trailer. That's what's been happening to the Lance during the late Fall. It's pretty hard to keep batteries charged up when It's shaded like that for a large part of the day, and unlike for most campers....shade is not my friend.

16 Comments

OFM

10/26/2023 05:04:59 pm

And knowing your style, you have already offered to compensate them well for their cost of the power you will use in that short time you need it,. Sounds wonderful to me.

Tom

10/26/2023 05:37:01 pm

You're right, Barney; families help each other and would take an offer to pay as an insult.

I finally got the slides in on the Arctic Fox, so now I've done everything I can do and it faces another cold snowy winter here in Denver.

I feel sorry for the poor critter. The Arctic Fox and I have been through a lot together, and I have feelings for the trailer, almost like it's a person.

I guess when you live in something that protects you from the cold, and the heat and provides shelter from the elements, it's easy to become attached. I would think you've had your Arctic Fox so long that trading it off would be like losing a best friend.

It's already getting cold tonight; I'm glad I have electric heat.

Tom

10/26/2023 06:26:12 pm

Got my Fox in July 2007. Hit the road early October 2007. We have been on some ADVENTURES so far.

10/26/2023 07:07:41 pm

It's looking like you two will grow old together. Slowly corroding away till there's nothing left but a pile of rust and a half eaten bowl of stoop.

Tom

Judith

10/26/2023 08:37:59 pm

Really like the mesa photo. (I've already admired your crane photos, of which there's another good one.)
Glad you're going to stay warm. I suspect you really won't be a big drag on the family's electric bill.....

10/26/2023 09:02:47 pm

Thank you, Judith, that's very true; my tiny camper puts very little drain on the country's electric grid or any other grid for that matter.

I'm very comfortable at the moment, my little electric heater keeps the camper warm on its lowest setting, and right now my outdoor thermometer says it's 39° outside, which is a whole lot warmer than it's gonna be in a few more days.

My daughter's house has a whole passel of solar panels on top that feeds back into the power grid they're connected to, so their electric bills are pretty low. Of course, those panels don't do very much when they're covered with snow.

Tom

Larry Worsham

10/27/2023 06:13:19 am

My mom offered me some advice: When family offers you something accept it gracefully. It is offered with love and with no strings attached. I've always had a strong independent spirit and never want to be a burden on others and she offered me something she wanted to provide for and I refused. So I got motherly advice!

10/27/2023 07:04:09 am

Good story, Larry, and very true. We all need help with something at some time in our lives, and that's what families are for.

I feel the same way about handouts, my parents taught me that the world doesn't owe me a living, and if I need a helping hand I've got one on the end of my arm. My dad lived through the Great Depression as a child, World War II, and the Korean War while in the military. Needless to say, he felt no sympathy for healthy people who refuse to work.

Tom

KennyD

10/27/2023 07:26:39 am

Yay extension cords. Consider a few killywiggles are a fair exchange for all the baby sitting you did all summer.

10/27/2023 09:15:56 am

I think one of the reasons that I don't normally think about plugging in at my daughter's house is because, in the past, it's never been cold enough for me to consider plugging in during the time I'm in Denver.

But plugging in during the summer so I could run my air conditioner was tried a couple of times, but the only plugs they have available are your normal 15 amp plugs. And any available 15 amp plug, especially if something else is plugged in on that circuit, my air conditioner will kick the circuit breaker every now and then, so being more trouble than it's worth, I pretty much stopped thinking about plugging into their house.

But this cold front coming through is supposed to be a "humdinger'', how's that for old geezer vocabulary? So I had to think outside the box and realized that my little Walmart electric heater was not going to kick the circuit breakers and would solve all of my heating and battery charging problems.

So far, everything is working fine, but Saturday and Sunday will be the real test.

Tom

10/27/2023 09:46:18 am

I run my electric heater on the 500w setting (low) and that is enough it cycles anyway. I used to have a little bathroom electric heater that was 300 watts that was a real handy size for this rig.

10/27/2023 10:29:35 am

I've had several of the little electric home heaters, almost all from Walmart. They don't get much use because I'm seldom plugged in, but they work really great when I am, like right now, it's 33° outside and my little electric heater is keeping me perfectly warm.

My only complaint is mine don't seem to last very long, especially considering how little use they get; maybe it's the beating they endure being bounced around in an RV. Their saving grace is that they are cheap to replace.

Tom

10/27/2023 11:20:14 am

I get about 6 years from my 3 heat 1500 watt max cheap Walmart fan/ heaters. I use them for colling breezes also in warm weather.

10/27/2023 12:21:26 pm

I must be doing something wrong Barney, I'm lucky if I get half that out of mine. And since I'm not plugged in very often, mine must be going bad from sitting around doing nothing.... I figure that's what's happening to me.

Tom

Linda

10/27/2023 02:09:46 pm

My little electric heater from Walmart is currently sitting in my storeroom doing no one any good. I don't need it here and the local donation centers won't take it. I should list in on Craigs list or something but you know how procrastination works.

10/27/2023 02:35:16 pm

Oh, I definitely know exactly how procrastination works Linda, and if you need some, just let me know, I have an overabundance.

The donation centers are worried about the thing catching fire, and they don't want the responsibility should that happen.

And it's basically the same reason nobody will repair those inexpensive heaters: they don't want to be responsible for any fires. And the cost of repair would be more than the cost of a new one.

It's the same problem with selling it on Craig's list, except you would be the one held responsible.

And you probably wouldn't get enough money for it to make it worth the effort of digging it out of storage, taking pictures of it, listing it, and having strangers knocking on your door three months after you sold it.

So when they go bad, chucking it in the dumpster is just about your only choice.

Tom

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the snow rages around me !!

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