Saturday, March 6, 2021

Today's The Day!!!

 Oh my goodness ..... I am SO tired after two nights of wreck-yard sleeping, or non-sleeping as the case was.  There's nothing like the kids and the wind waking you up every couple of hours.  I'm sure it's from being nervous about pulling a trailer after so many years.  It's one of those you are crazy ... you've done this all your life things.  Or maybe it's about the backing up my long driveway and then dog leg into the RV cover.  


To make it even better ..... OH GOODIE ..... I have to wait until 3:00 for my walk through.  Here's another good reason to be awake all night, they called to say the satellite dish was installed.  YAY!  I have the receiver here, but gee ... I wonder where the remote is?  Did I leave it in the motorhome or is it in the many piles of stuff in the garage?  Who knows.

To distract me a tad, I downloaded these images from yesterday.  It's just pure luck when you look out the window to see this and your camera is within arm's reach.   He's definitely a beauty and darker in color than most I've seen.


He heard the click of my camera with those big ears and looked up to see me snapping away.  Don't you just want to reach out and scratch his chin?  


A few more minutes of slurping away and we were again eye to eye as he licked his lips getting every drop of water.  What a beauty!!


Then there was this ..... a really big burp!!!  Hmmmm must have been that rabbit!  I laughed out loud.


Apparently that was insulting because he immediately turned tail and trotted off down the hill.   This was unusually early in the day, about 11:00 when he wandered by.  I'm blessed to see these critters.


It's going to be a long day as I scrounge through all the boxes to find the remote.  Then it's off to PetSmart to see if they might have a smaller travel cage for Jonathan.  It will be too rough a ride to leave him in the rig, so he will have to be on the front seat of the truck with me.  

Puppies are relegated to the large folded-down-seat back area with two new doggie beds.  Yes they are exactly the same so hopefully they don't fight over who gets which one.  In the meantime, I actually DID find two old heating pads I hope will work to keep Jonathan warm.  His 1200 watt ceramic heater will probably drain my batteries.  I'm hoping the 55 watt heating pads placed underneath the cage will work better.  

So what say you ladies and gentlemen .... generator or solar?  For sure, AGM batteries will be on my list in a few months, as well as a Progressive EMS system.  Why am I looking already?  Because I'm thinking a dry camping trip is in order ... kind of a shakedown cruise to see just how nervous I can really get!!!  

Pictures of the rig tomorrow.  I'm hoping I don't have to place an emergency call Dan to come and park the thing.

17 comments:

  1. Congratulations
    try to find a 3’ x 3’ x 12”Foam mattress similar to what they use for a dog bed you should be able to put the birdcage on top of that that should give the bird all the cushion he needs Or if you’re going to get two Dog beds you can put one on top of the other put the bird cage on top of that until you get to your destination

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    1. That just might work. I'll see what I can find.

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  2. A sleepless night full of tribulations and anticipation. Isn't it exciting. The wind is suppose to die down by noon. That's good. That coyote is just beautiful. You can tell it eats well. Great pictures💓 I don't envy you having to back that thing up. Maybe you should ask Dan to help watch. At least the first time.

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    1. I've backed many a horse trailer around the yard over the years so I'm hoping it's like riding a bicycle and it comes back to me quickly!!

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  3. I have been looking at this: WEN 56235i Super Quiet 2350-Watt Portable Inverter Generator , Ultra Lightweight, $441.16 at Amazon. It will run one AC unit (all we have), it is quiet and weighs less than 50 pounds. YES, we have a generator on board but it is loud, and needs work. This portable one will run a portable AC unit we have in case we loose power here at the condo in hot weather...won't cool the entire condo but just move chairs and computer over by it and we will be fine. We already have portable solar (120W) that stores under the bed...good thing about it is that we can park under shade and have the solar out in the sun with our 40' of electrical cord. Just hook to batteries with alligator clips...it has its own controller to be sure you don't burn up your batteries. But you don't seem to boondock, so why solar???

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    1. I remember your portable solar from pictures. There are two places I would like to "camp" out, Quartzsite and Empire Ranch. Maybe I'll wait and see just how far two batteries can get me.

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  4. A small Solar panel will keep your batteries charged when the trailer is not in use. Our Panels supplied enough energy to use the Microwave, Portable Vacuum, LED Lights, Television, computers and our CPAP Machines at night. Even under cloudy conditions they will charge the batteries and there is no noise.
    Carrying a small portable Generator in case is also practical. Just need a Dog-Bone Adapter.
    It all depends how much Boondocking you choose to do.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!
    It's about time.

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    1. And I could even live without the microwave and the vacuum. LOL

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  5. Solar!!! I am a huge fan of quiet. :)

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    1. Since it's pre-wired, it might be nice to have a couple of panels to keep the noise away!!

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  6. We'd recommend to get the little red 2000W inverter style Honda generator. They always start-up and you don't have to pull your arm out. At the moment Benno is installing 4 each 100W solar panels on the roof of our Grand Design trailer to Hold us over for short boon docking and also to save some on the electrical bill in an RV park.
    BTW congrats on your new Grand Design 5th wheel!

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    1. Ohhh I didn't know you had a Grand Design. Yes I bet solar would save you $$ at the park. If traveling in the summer I would definitely have to plug in somewhere.

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  7. Congrats Nancy, I always said to customers, when it comes to backing up, take your time, go slow. If you get frustrated, stop, take a break and calm your nerves. Advice I follow my self, it happens to the best of us. Rick and Kathy have good advice wish I agree with, the best being, how much boondocking are you going to do? Marlene also has good advice about their Honda generator, which I would say is probably the best on the market for this style, but also the most expensive. If you are watching your wallet, there are others that come close to the Honda, we have a Champion.
    As for solar, before I would recommend any, the questions of how will you use it, what do you want to run with it should be answered before purchasing any.
    With us living fulltime in ours, we have six 160 watt panels on the roof, a portable 120 watt suitcase type panel, 5 AGM batteries and a 2000 watt pure sinewave inverter. We can run our full size electric only refrigerator, Keurig, insta pot depending on the time of day and sun light remaining.
    So lots to consider along with what dealer to deal with. Where Doug got his batteries in Yuma is a good one and Discount Solar in Quartzsite is another.
    Looking forward to seeing pictures of your new rig.

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    1. Five AGM's ... wow!! You probably boondock more than anyone I know! I just want to stay maybe a week at Quartzsite and a week or two at Empire Ranch. After maybe a year I'll get the AGM's (only two). In the meantime maybe a small but hopefully really quiet generator will work. My fridge is gas so I don't need that much power like my old rig did.

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  8. Whenever there has been a big event in our lives I have trouble shutting off my mind and sleeping. Just remember that you have lived through dealing with bingo players...you can handle anything...:)
    We had our Solar installed at Discount Solar in Quartzsite 2 years ago and have been happy with our system. This is was our experience. They sat down and talked about what we needed to run and then gave us the options they recommended and why. After the install and walk through they made it very clear if we had any questions to call or stop in. We did and they were extremely helpful. The owner took the time to talk with us and mentioned as we were leaving, after our install, that we should not hesitate to call if we had a problem. The impression we both had while talking with him, was he knows the products he sells and stands behind them. Tom had talked with a couple of other installers and we chose Discount Solar based on our impression of their customer service.
    Looking forward to the pictures of your new rig.

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    1. Great info Deb. Thank so much!! Service is everything!!!

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  9. You have to be excited! We have always been solar fans for the solitude and not needing to worry about fuel but I doubt you could go wrong either way!

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