This is Getting Old…

Friday - Another storm in the middle of the night. Well, at 4:45am, it was still going strong after starting around 3am.. Lots of thunder, lightning, and rain with a bit of hail and wind thrown in. I can do it without this spring, Texas weather.

Saturday - It was 70°F at 7:30 this morning so, for the first time in a while, I sat outside for the test session. 

After the test, I ran the water softener through its regeneration cycle. It’s supposed to be done once a month. It takes two containers of table salt and around 30 minutes. 

While the regeneration process was going, I unpacked a new purchase for the class C. Since we don’t have an awning installed, we will be bringing a clam shelter. This is the five sided version which should be plenty of space for us. I also ordered the nylon “footprint” aka the ground cover and three side panels. 

On our last trip, I had attempted to charge the batteries using the built in 4K Onan generator. The Victron Inverter/Charger kept disconnecting the generator as a valid input. Upon searching the Internet, one of the solutions was to disable power assist with a generator as the Victron tried to match the output voltage and frequency to the input. The input voltage was 119VAC, which is perfect, but the input frequency was 63Hz. Maybe that was out of range. I disabled power assist and the power passed right through the inverter running the A/C and charging the house batteries. This means that I will need to travel with the Windows laptop to turn that feature on/off depending on what we need at the time. 

Tuesday - We went to the outskirts of San Antonio today for an appointment. Afterwards, we followed Gary's recommendation for Chinese food here at the park. Lin’s International Seafood Buffet was much more than a Chinese restaurant. They had a huge assortment of Asian dishes, including sashimi, sushi, dumplings, ramen, and a variety of dishes from all over Asia. Very few of the typical Cantonese dishes you find everywhere else. And the lunch price was reasonable (with a 20% senior discount!).

I turned off the A/C in the class C at 7:30 last night after it had been running all day, plugged into a standard 15-amp outlet. It only went down to 83%. 

Wednesday - One of the parts of our NSA Ready Brute Elite II tow bar was showing some slop from wear. I called the company, and they sent out a replacement part. No charge. It took me about an hour to replace the part, making sure that I greased all of the nylon washers and sleeves. I did not expect them to replace it for free. We've towed the Jeep around 25k miles over the last 2 ½ years. 

Thursday - I replaced a fan on the refrigerator that had failed while we were gone. Fortunately, I had a spare lying around from the class C electrical upgrade. I then removed the gate and post from our shed. This will allow me to park the Ural while we are gone. I will be using or draining all of the gas out of the bike to conform to the rules in the park of no gasoline in the sheds. 

I did take the Ural into town to pick up a few minor things such as salt for the water softener regen.

Settling Back In

Monday - This morning, I disconnected from shore power and left the A/C running. After dumping the tanks, I took the RV to our lot and plugged it into a 15amp circuit. I set the Victron to a max of 13amps from shore power. It is now 6pm and 95°F and the A/C has been running all day. The batteries are still at 86% doing power assist. There has been some charge from solar. It is working great. 

We got most things moved out from the class C and the refrigerator is now defrosting and drying out. I just moved StarLink back to the class A and reset the obstruction map. We are back to 330 Mbs down and 25 up. 

We are now under a tornado watch until 10pm. 

Later, we barely missed that one. (We are at the blue dot) There was damaging hail in Fredericksburg. These storms are really starting to get old. One after the other. 

Surprisingly, StarLink kept right on working. Bridget was on a Zoom meeting and there were short pauses. According to the StarLink app, they were all under 2 seconds

 

This is around 11pm. I spoke too soon. Lots of rain, lightning, and thunder. There was a power spike but the new surge protector cut off power to the RV for the next 90 sec after blocking the spike. No issues. 

Made it Back

Sunday - We changed plans mid-trip yesterday and between yesterday’s 470 miles and today’s 410 miles, we are back at the SKP park in Hondo. We were fighting a headwind for most of the day and I’m sure that it’ll be reflected in our gas mileage. Today, the dash A/C actually worked for most of the day. Yesterday, it kept shutting off. Weird. 

The great news is that everything was fine with the class A. A couple of days into our trip, I could not connect to the HomeAssistant instance collecting data. There are a number of potential reasons and I just hoped it was something simple. It was. The AT&T hotspot was overheated and it remained in that fail mode. I power cycled it and it’s back in service. 

I turned on the A/C units and opened the slides. It was 105° inside. We have the class C parked in dry camping with power and it’s A/C running. A major project is to figure out why I can no longer run the A/C with the generator. There is some sort of configuration issue on the Multiplus. 

Yesterday, we stopped at the Lake Texoma Thousand Trails and they really did a lot of work since we were last there in 2020. It’s nice. Unfortunately, being a holiday weekend, it was crowded. I used the pool but didn’t stay long due to the crowd. 

Eldon, MO

Thursday - Today, we drove about 300 miles to the Lazy River RV Resort near Eldon, MO, which is northwest of St. Louis. It’s is an electric/water site so we dumped our tanks at a Love’s Travel Center along the way. The drive was windy and I think there is some rain in the forecast. The gas prices dropped around $1/gal once we exited Illinois. It’s still more expensive in MO than TX but reasonable. 

The park is on the Osage River which is running high and there is a flood watch for the area. We will be here for a couple of days before continuing our trip south. We are right next to the pool but it isn’t heated. 

Friday - Today, we drove south to Lebanon to meet up with a former Fairbanks friend. We had previously stopped here three years ago when passing through. This was before we had the Jeep and Micky lent us her car while we were here. We had a wonderful visit over a tasty lunch at a catfish/bbq place. After doing some laundry, we headed back to the campground. 

I did try the unheated pool and it was, well, unheated. The manager said that we needed to come back in July. There is some rain coming in. The current radar is below showing the rain.

We have three travel days in a row coming up with some horrible weather in the forecast through Oklahoma and northern Texas.

Reynolds, IL - MD

Monday - We enjoyed an evening fire complete with s'mores. It was in the mid-60s by 9:30, so the fire. This morning, I took the Jeep to get an oil change and picked up some groceries for tonight’s dinner. Smoked salmon pasta is one of my favorites! (Thank you, David, for the recipe!) The pasta was a hit!

I also was able to lead a test this afternoon. He passed easily, as do the majority of the candidates. 

Tuesday - We went into the quad cities for lunch and as we were leaving, we really got dumped on and the tornado sirens were going off. It turned out that four small tornados were spotted in the area. We didn’t see them and it was almost completely clear when we arrived back at the RV. There was enough rain later to interrupt our StarLink connection. I used AT&T off my phone for the afternoon test session. I didn’t get a screen capture this afternoon. This is from this evening. 

Wednesday - Minimal rain predicted for today but the forecast only calls for a high in the upper 50s (°F). We head out tomorrow and it looks like it may be wet for most of the trip back to TX. 

Reynolds, IL - MD

Friday - A short travel day to Reynolds, IL. Thanks were dumped and the water tank filled. We are moochdocking in a driveway with a 15amp shore power connection. I have the Victron set to 14 amp max and I’m currently running the A/C using power assist. Solar is providing most of the extra current so even after several hours of running, the batteries are still at 100%. When the compressor shuts off, the fan stays on and the batteries get charged back up. We’ll try keeping the A/C running this evening. It has been windy all afternoon at 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph.

BTW, the worst roads we’ve run into so far are in Illinois. The road repairs run straight across the road and are every couple of feet. Lots of dodging potholes and poorly done repairs. There are a ton of loose screws in the RV right now. I need to pick up some glue and toothpicks. 

Saturday - We went to a farmers market just across the Iowa border. I picked up a few things that looked tasty and had a Cuban sandwich for lunch. Toasty, and delicious! We then hit up Costco, Walmart, and Target. But I still forgot glue and toothpicks. It is pleasantly cool today but still kind of windy. No A/C needed. A very relaxing day.

Sunday - After a cool night (44°F), it warmed up pretty quickly. We went to a mini-golf club place this afternoon as well as a couple of antique shops. 

The RV project was simply installing this handle on the screen door. There really wasn’t a great place to grab the screen door especially since it is mounted low. Low as in two steps down inside the RV. This makes it easy to close the screen door or keep it from getting caught by the wind.

 

Hannibal, MO - SP

Thursday - I was thinking of doing the morning test session outside but too many bugs. After the session was canceled, we drove into Hannibal, MO, to get some chores done and maybe pick up a few groceries.

This is the Mississippi River from downtown Hannibal. There is a small riverboat that does tours. We went into town for lunch right across the street from the Mark Twain Museum. I believe that Hannibal is his hometown. 

We wandered around town a little, but it is pretty warm and humid to walk too much. I'm just not used to the humidity.

We didn't go on the riverboat tour or spend time at the Mark Twain Museum. Maybe if we were planning to spend the entire day in Hannibal, we might have visited some of the touristy sites. We arrived back at the state park in time for me to participate in the afternoon test session.

Into Missouri - HH, SP

Tuesday - We left the campground around 9 and crossed into Arkansas around Fort Smith before heading north. Arkansas does not seem “traveler-friendly” as rest areas are almost nonexistent.   We finally stopped at a Bass Pro/Target parking lot for lunch and to pick up a couple of grocery items for tonight’s dinner. 

We are staying at the Missouri Route 66 Welcome Center. We found this location on Harvest Hosts. It is a huge test area with lots of truck/RV parking, so I suspect it may be a bit noisy. But that’s fine. We have open sky above us, so StarLink should work well. 

The picnic sites and the little visitor center are all Route 66-themed. It's a nice stop after 330 miles of mostly interstate driving. 

Tomorrow is a much shorter day at 188 miles to another state park. And we will be there for a couple of days. This is a very laid-back trip. Which I am very appreciative of, as I’m trying to recover from a cough. 

At 10pm, the batteries are at 87%, and we made dinner using the microwave and watched TV for several hours. StarLink is set to sleep at midnight. We’ll see what the batteries are tomorrow morning. 

Wednesday - A relatively short travel day at 190 miles, though it seemed longer. We had to disconnect the Jeep at the gas station as it was kind of cramped. That’s a real disadvantage for a gas RV. The diesel truck lanes are much roomier. Fortunately, it doesn’t take very long to disconnect and then worm my way out around all the parked cars. 

We are at a state park in northeast Missouri, and it is pretty nice. Concrete pad, and the full hookups are nice to have as it’s in the mid-80s (°F). Being able to run the A/C is nice. We are stopping here for a couple of days before heading to our destination in northwestern Illinois.

The batteries were at 73% this morning, and between the solar and the DC-DC charger, we were at 100% quickly. 

Canadian, OK - SP

Sunday - A short travel day from Ada, OK, to a state park near Canadian, OK. We stopped here to visit family, about an hour or so away. The campground is pretty empty. The water level of the lake is really high, with the picnic area completely flooded, but the campground is located on a ridge overlooking the lake. We met Bridget’s niece for dinner in Eufaula, a small town north of the state park. A decent Mexican restaurant with the best carnitas I’ve had in a long time. 

Monday - The state park is on a large lake. I'm not sure of the name of the lake. The water appears really brown due to the runoff from the recent rain. The water level is really high though the campground is located on a ridge overlooking the lake. This picture is taken from what I believe may be the camp host site, as the site is chained off from the road.

We head out tomorrow morning, heading into Missouri.

Ada, OK

Thursday - Today’s drive was only around 160 miles to visit friends outside of Ada, OK. I reset the Starlink obstruction "map" so the ping success is flaky. I signed up for the afternoon test session and will have to rely on AT&T through my phone. The drive up was uneventful, which is good. No wind and not hot at all. I think that we will be here for the next several days. 

This morning, I filled the water tank at the TT park, then after filling the gas tank, I weighed the RV plus Jeep at the Cat scale. The GVWR is 14500, so we are under by 1360. The front axle is by only 260 lbs and 1200 lbs at the rear axle. I think it’s interesting that the axle rating on the factory sticker is 100 lbs more than the GVWR on the same sticker. “Ford math”. 

I just wanted to make sure that we were under the max axle ratings. Plus, I now know that having the tires at 75 psi front and 80 psi rear, as listed on the door, is close enough. Maybe 75 psi all around would give a slightly better ride as the rear isn’t anywhere near max. The rear storage compartment is pretty empty, and I was thinking of having the e-bikes on a carrier. 

Friday - Went into Ada to pick up some groceries. Mostly veggies.

Clouds have been scattered most of the day, and the battery SoC was down to around 50% this morning. The solar charged them up to around 64% by late afternoon. I fired up the generator, and it was charging them for a few minutes, then the inverter disconnected the input. After a few minutes, it would reconnect and then disconnect. The inverter must not like something about the generator output. I am now plugged into a 20-amp outlet, and charging is working fine. 

I need to turn off StarLink and the ice maker at night when dry camping.

Saturday - With StarLink off for six hours and the ice machine off for ten hours, the SoC was at 84% this morning. I had the charger turned off last night as well, just to see what the SoC would be this morning. I suspect t

I joined in both test sessions today, though I relied on my phone instead of StarLink. The obstructions result in short outages every 5 to 10 minutes.

Another Road Trip

Tuesday - Today was spent getting the class C packed up. We will be slowly heading towards IL with multiple stops in TX, OK, and MO. Plus a few more places I don't remember hearing about. I finally found the sticker showing the cargo carrying capacity (CCC). With a full tank of gas, full tank of water, and empty holding tanks, we can carry 977kg or 2153lbs. That weight includes people, the new electrical system, solar panels, plus all of our stuff. I think I may stop at a CAT scale on this trip after filling up (including the water tank) just to see where we are at.

I participated in the afternoon test session since it was getting almost too hot/humid to do much outside. 

Wednesday - Today was a travel day and we covered around 340 miles for one night at a TT park west of Fort Worth. So much easier with the class C. We fit easily and all we needed 30amp and water. We will be boondocking for several days so I need to fill the water tank and empty the grey tank tomorrow morning. The replacement check valve is working as the water tank isn’t filling up when connected to city water. 

StarLink is working well with the antenna inside the class C in the over-cab area. This was a speedtest taken while traveling down the highway. Not too shabby. 

The obstruction map has quite a bit of red. But it’s still working fine. And the dish is sitting flat inside of a plastic box instead of being aimed north. 

More Mods & Fixes

Saturday - It was a nice, cool morning so a good opportunity to install the last solar panel on the class C. This is also a 210 watt panel from the class A. I opted to have the tilt mechanism towards the passenger roof edge. This way it tilts in the same direction as the other two panels. 

This is the location that I installed the small TV from the class A. The red and black wires are from the solar panels and I have some latch duct to cover them but haven’t installed it yet. The plastic mounting points on the back of the TV were cracked so they got coated with some marine epoxy. 

Sunday - The door lock on the class C and the class A looked similar but they turned out to be different. I was hoping to just swap them as the RVLock never worked properly on the class A. I think the door is slightly out of spec so the locking mechanism hangs up. The RVLock company was no help. 

I also needed to install a check valve at the output of the water pump. While connected to city water at South Padre, it filled up our water tank and was overflowing out of the fill port. Hopefully, this fixes that problem. I think that there is a check valve within the water pump. A quick check and water comes out of the faucets! One more project done. And, the water tank is located inside the RV under the bed. And it only fills half of the space.

As an experiment, I set up the StarLink dish in the cabover area of the class C. I also moved the mattress pads into the shed as we don’t need the sleeping space. The StarLink works okay through the ceiling but since I’m parked under a tree, the obstruction map has a lot of red in it. 

Monday - I installed a folding shelf next to the couch. I wanted a place to set my coffee cup in the morning. It’s aluminum, well made, and I used both VHB tape and screws to fasten it to the wall. It should be sturdy enough to hold Mickey…

I filled up the propane tank at Tractor Supply. The gauge indicated ⅜ and I added 7.3 gallons to fill to ¾ which suggests that it’s about a 16.5gal tank which will hold about 12.2gal usable. 

Since gasoline was relatively cheap at $2.42/gal at Walmart, I went ahead and topped up the tank. I believe we are heading out on Wednesday. First stop is a TT park so no need to leave with a full water tank.

Heading Back to TX

Wednesday - Not many posts the last couple of days. I arrived in Portland on Saturday evening and was met by my Turo host in the arrival lanes at the airport. My flight was early. The rental car was an older Fiat 500L. I was expecting a small car like the 2-door 500s but this was considerably larger. I drove to Corvallis on Sunday and ended up staying with my mom. She had fallen last week and had some injuries. She is doing much better after seeing the orthopedic doctor yesterday and getting a better knee brace. 

On Sunday, Brad and Brandy drove down to meet me for dinner. It is always great to see them both again. On Monday morning, I made a quick trip to Eugene to meet Sue, one of the other ham radio VEs doing the Zoom tests. It’s always great to meet the other VEs that you only know from Zoom. 

Right now, I’m at the airport starting my trip back to Texas. Through Seattle as that’s Alaska Airlines hub. Hopefully the flights are on time. 

Friday - Yesterday’s project was relocating the house battery plus adding one more. The class C now has 412ah of batteries and can accept the full charge from both shore power and solar without exceeding the specs. The batteries are on the other side of the RV and the cables had to be run under the floor. Currently, there isn’t anything else stored under the jackknife sofa but I’m thinking that covering the terminals may be a good idea. 

Today’s project was moving the small TV from the class A to the class C. The TV was rarely used. I installed it on an arm so it can be easily seen from the dinette or the couch. For the next trip, I plan on bringing the StarLink and the Roku box.