Ride to Uvalde

Sunday - It was a nice morning, and I rode the Ural into Uvalde. This is the rest area along 90 between D’Hanis and Sabinal. When I took off the helmet, the chin bar and visor fell off. I think I may need a new helmet. This was the Ski-Doo modular helmet that I used to use in the winter. The Nolan helmet is disintegrating inside, so it is also on its last leg. The Ski-Doo helmet is 10 years old, and the Nolan is 12 years old. So both are well past the 5-year rule. I finished the ride using the SkiDoo helmet like an open-face helmet with no visor. Not optimal. 

Monday - I had my annual medical visit this morning to get my prescription medications renewed for the year. I had switched from the clinic in Fairbanks to the clinic here in Hondo for convenience. Plus, my primary care physician in Fairbanks retired a few years back so it seemed to be a good opportunity. I arrived back in time to participate in the mid-day test session, which is always something that I enjoy doing. 

I needed to go into Hondo again to pick up my prescriptions and I took the Ural. On my way back, maybe a quarter mile from the SKP park, the driver side muffler decided to jump ship. I turned around and slid the escapee back onto the bike. Since it was only a short distance away, I figured that it’ll stay in place for at least that long. 

Finishing Projects…

Wednesday - Back in the shed. I really need to straighten out the back room, as it became quite a mess as I tried to find tools. There are still some that I haven't found, such as my small hand saw. I ended up using the Sawzall to make small cuts in the flooring. Not the right tool for the job.

The task of the day is the water softener. I backflushed it for the first time for several minutes, then I'm trying out a new water softener regeneration method/device. The blue filter housing has the filter removed and is filled with salt pellets instead of table salt. The salt dissolve slower and is in contact with the resin in the softener for longer. The claim is for better regeneration. After the regeneration process is completed, the housing is cleaned, and a filter can be installed.

Friday - It has been much cooler after a cold front moved through the area yesterday. In fact, it was only 54°F this morning. Quite a change from just one day earlier. It's been raining off and on since last night. I guess we'll see how watertight this shed is. 

Saturday - This morning, with the help of Richard and Brad, I installed a new A/C unit on the roof of the class C. The Furion Chill Cube is an 18K unit with a variable speed blower and a variable speed compressor. 

I removed the internal parts and the wiring last night to simplify things but I had left the backup camera turned on which drained the chassis battery. We used the “extension ladder” method to get the old unit off the roof and the new one up. The class C has a really thin roof at only 2¼” thick so I used a foam spacer between the roof and the new unit. 

I just centered the new unit over the opening making sure that the wires weren’t pinched. From the bottom, I trimmed about half an inch from the air distribution foam and positioned the inside mounting plate and inserted the four legs no bolts to sandwich the roof. 

The last step was connecting the 115VAC wires and connect the control box to the upper part of the A/C unit. And fasten the vents and controls. Then test…

Success! The new unit starts and runs easily from our 2000W inverter from our two batteries! In the screenshot, the unit is only drawing about 600watts. At this time, the fan was on “Auto” and, according to the shunt, we could run for over 12 hours. Not that I think that’s realistic. 

Very happy with this installation. 

New Flooring

Friday - Yesterday, I turned 70. I’m not really sure if that means anything to me. Hope and Richard made me a wonderful dinner. They are wonderful friends. My blood glucose numbers are higher than they were last year. It probably means that I need to take better care of myself, health-wise, as in diet and exercise.

Saturday - I hooked up the cargo trailer and headed to Home Depot first thing in the morning. The tires needed air, but other than that, no issues. I picked up twelve boxes of vinyl laminate plank flooring for the shed. The Internet says to put the flooring in the room to acclimate for 48-hours. So I still have my weekend "free". I have the room A/C running to help dehumidify the room. I have installed similar floors a couple of times, but never on a concrete slab. I'm told that I need to lay down a poly vapor barrier. I think that is going to increase the difficulty as it'll be slippery and challenging to walk on. 

Tomorrow, I’ll start moving things around the room and start prepping the concrete floor. 

Tuesday - I've been busy working on the flooring. I started laying it on Sunday. The vapor barrier is a real pain. 200 ft² of plastic sheet is challenging to deal with. The first couple of courses needed to be redone as it was crooked due to the wall not being very straight. But on the second attempt, it was looking good. 

The next challenge was the door needed trimming as the flooring added a bit over 10mm of thickness. 

But it’s done. Far from perfect, but the baseboard is installed, and it looks better than bare concrete or the filthy carpet that was originally installed. 

Next step is to move all of the stuff back. 

D'Hanis, TX - SKP

Tuesday - Still kinda rainy today, so no A/C cleaning. At least in the morning. The cold front that brought all the rain has also meant cooler-than-normal temperatures. I'm not going to complain about that. 

The Raspberry Pi that was running the Victron Venus OS was getting really flaky. I removed the SD card, which was a really old 8GB card, and installed the current version of the OS on a newer 32GB card. It now works (so far), and the touch screen seems to be much more responsive. It’s talking to HomeAssistant again, using ModBus as well as the Victron VRM portal. It hasn’t done that in months. 

Wednesday - No rain this morning, at least for a while. I pulled off the A/C shroud on the rear unit and brushed the fins clean using the special, plastic brush on the can lid. It did a good job. After vacuuming up the pile of debris, I sprayed on the cleaner and let it sit. After about 20 minutes, I sprayed off the evaporator with hot water in a spray bottle. It now looked new. 

I removed the shroud on the front A/C unit to see if it was equally dirty, but it was clean. I then buttoned everything back up, turned on the power to both units, and waited until it warmed up. It didn't take long. By 11:20, it was over 75°F inside, and both A/C units came on.

I then joined in for the mid-day test session. There was a shortage of VEs, so we ended up testing the two candidates serially. 

I picked up 1½ gallons of gas for the Ural. It started right up, but at 81°F, it was feeling too hot to go for a short ride. Wimp…

Thursday - I finished setting up the RV this morning after taking the Ural for a test ride. The Ural really seemed to need the blast up and down the highway and was running much better when I returned. And this is with Stabil added to the remaining fuel in the tank. 

I am pleased to report that it looks like the power problem with the class A has been resolved. Turning down the absorption voltage on both the inverter/charger as well as the solar charge controller eliminated the 12V "blinks" and the inverter shutting down. 

I'm in the shed right now, getting ready for the midday test session, and have the room A/C running. It seems to work well enough. It is forecast to be very warm this weekend.

Back in D’Hanis, TX

Wednesday - We arrived back at the Escapee Co-Op yesterday afternoon after a windy travel day from Lake Conroe. Going through San Antonio was, as usual, a pain due to the traffic and construction. We got particularly set up after moving the class C back to storage. Surprisingly, it started right up, but I should have used some sort of trickle charger on the chassis battery. 

Thursday - This morning, I finished setting up the RV, including the propane connection to the bulk tank. After setting everything up, I noticed that the awning touches the rain gutter on the shed. So I lifted the jacks, started the engine, built up air pressure, and moved the RV about 2” forward. The awning is on the south-facing side of the RV, so I prefer it to be out. But we need to be careful of the wind. 

Friday - A quick trip into town this morning to get blood drawn in preparation for my upcoming doctor appointment. Then back into town to deposit some checks at the bank. Now some projects. The rear A/C unit blows cold air for a while, then not. I pulled off the shroud, and the evaporator coil needs cleaning. The local stores didn't have the A/C cleaner in stock, so I ordered it from Amazon (at half the price!). It should be here on Sunday.

I was going to start the Ural before I realized it'll run better with at least a little gas. 

Monday - It has been raining off and on for most of the weekend, so not a whole lot has been going on. I have been slowly continuing to set things up around here at the CoOp lot. I did run into a black widow at the water spigot, and there are a handful of wasp nests around the lot. I picked up some spray for both of them, but haven't gotten around to spraying the wasp nests. 

This is the evaporator on the rear A/C unit. It really needs cleaning and with the high humidity, ice builds up on the coil, eventually blocking air flow through the coil. I suspect that the front unit may be equally filthy.

Occasionally, the power glitches in the RV. I've monitored the incoming power using the Bullydog app, and it isn't the incoming power. The A/C unit continues to run, but the TV, microwave, and Starlink will "blink". Those are all circuits that are running through the Magnum Inverter. The DC power will shut off for a very short time. My current theory is that as soon as the lithium batteries are fully charged and the BMS shuts off charging, it will disconnect the batteries, and the inverter will turn off for a fraction of a second, even though there is still AC power at the input. This morning, I lowered the absorption voltage on the Magnum inverter/charger from 14.6V to 14.4V as 14.6V is the setpoint on the lithium batteries' BMS. We'll see if this resolves the problem.

Willis, TX - TT

Monday - Yesterday, we arrived back in Texas. We stopped at Lake Conroe Thousand Trails for convenience and low cost. The sites aren’t very level, but it does have a pool and hot tub, which, unfortunately, is not open on Mondays. It is hot and muggy. The front of the RV is really high, and the hitch at the rear is only a couple of inches from the ground. We are scheduled to leave on Wednesday. 

We picked up some groceries at H-E-B, and the produce is so much better at H-E-B than at Walmart in Florida. 

Tuesday - No rain this morning, but the humidity does seem very high. I'm waiting for the midday test session, and it's too hot and muggy to do it outside. In fact, I see very little activity outside. Not even people walking their dog.

I checked out the pool this afternoon. The hot tub was half working (no bubbles), and the pool was pretty cold. But between the two of them, it was fine.

Broussard, LA

Friday - A 240 mile travel day from Alabama, through Mississippi, and half way through Louisiana to south of Lafayette. The traffic was a lot heavier as we headed west. Baton Rouge was almost like Florida. We aren at a small RV park for a couple of days as we plan on visiting Avery Island, the home of Tabasco. There were a few complaints about this park on Yelp but it is very nice. Plenty of real, green grass and large, level sites.

Saturday - Up early today for the Saturday, early morning test session. It starts at around 7:30, which is early for me. I think we plan on going to the Tabasco facility on Avery Island this morning. I had heard that the tour is pretty good. Better if you don't mind the smell of Tabasco sauce.

Later - The Tabasco “factory” is in a beautiful area with old oaks and lots of bamboo. The self-guided tour was well done with numerous short videos. The process seems pretty straightforward and hasn’t changed much over the years. Peppers, salt, and vinegar. 

The mash is aged for around three years after being sealed with salt on top of the barrels. 

The aged mash is then mixed with vinegar and stirred for several weeks before being strained and bottled. 

Since we were there on a Saturday, the bottling plant wasn’t running. 

A great place to visit!

Mobile, AL - HH

Thursday - Another 350 mile travel day to a Harvest Host farm southwest of Mobile, AL. I think that this is the first time we are staying in Alabama. We picked up some steaks but we will save them for tomorrow. Not quite enough time to make them tonight. We are plugged into a 20 amp outlet so our batteries will stay charged. Plus, we are parked under a large tree. It’s only 76°F so no A/C needed. 

Live Oak, FL - BW

Wednesday - We are at a Boondockers Welcome location in Live Oak, FL. Yesterday, multiple things went wrong while getting ready to go. The right turn signal on the Jeep wasn’t working when connected to the RV. Bridget ended up driving the Jeep from Fort Myers to here. About 345 miles. And the water heater drain was leaking. When I tried to tighten it, it broke. 

This morning, I was able to fix the cable from the RV to the Jeep. It had sagged and scraped on the road wearing through the cable. I spliced in a new piece of wire. And, I picked up a new plug for the water heater at Tractor Supply so we once again have running water. This location has water and power which is really nice. We are staying a second day due to the repairs. 

Sanibal Island, FL

Monday - At 9 this morning, we headed out with Steve & Cheryl on their boat. It was very calm but wind was in the forecast for the afternoon. 

There were quite a few boats in the channel heading away from Cape Coral towards open water. A lot of slow going due to potential manatees but we did not see any all day.

This narrow canal was one of the more promising areas to spot one but we didn’t see any. 

We stopped at the beach near the lighthouse on the south eastern end of Sanibel Island for lunch. 

This is the lighthouse. It looks like an automated light. Hurricane Ian completely flooded the island destroying most homes, boats, and docks. It is still being rebuilt. 

On the way back, we stopped to watch dolphins but I didn’t get any pictures. 

Slipaway Food Truck Marina

Saturday - We are still in Fort Myers, FL, for a couple more days. On Tuesday, we will start heading back towards TX. I'm not sure how many days we will take, but we aren't in any hurry.

After the mid-day test session, Steve & Cheryl took us out on their boat. We stopped at the Slipaway Food Truck Marina with boat parking and about a dozen food trucks. 

Sunday - Happy Easter! We celebrated Easter with Steve & Cheryl and did a seafood boil. With corn, potatoes, onions, garlic, brussel sprouts, kielbasa, eggs, shrimp, lobster tails, mussels, and lemons. Served with garlic butter. It turned out delicious. Seafood was on sale at Publix. We didn’t initially have enough Old Bay seasoning nor any Cajon seasonings. Next time…

Naples, FL

Friday - This morning, we went to the Bird Gardens of Naples. It is an exotic bird rescue organization with around 200 birds who could no longer survive in the wild due to injury. Or are abandoned or abused. 

It’s a pretty nice facility, all donation and volunteers. They do breed some birds and supply other sanctuaries around the country. Some of the birds can be adopted but they are not sold.

They mentioned the need for small openings in the wire cages to keep out the snakes. Cottonmouth viper and Burmese pythons. Neither is protected and one is invasive. The fencing continues into the ground and covers the floor of the cages. 

We stopped at a beach north of Naples after lunch to just walk for a bit. It was not empty but not unreasonably crowded either for a holiday weekend. It is still Spring break after all.

Cape Coral & Hobe Sound, FL

Tuesday - Wow! Fast internet here in Cape Coral at our friends home. There was some issues so we are here watching their dog. Not much, just letting him outside every couple of hours. The RV is approximately 9 miles away. 

Tomorrow, we are planning to travel across the state to Hobe Sound to visit some other friends from Alaska. 

Tuesday - We left around 11am. There was a lot of traffic leaving Fort Myers and no real highways until we were over an hour into our trip. Too many people in FL!

We are visiting Harvey & Nancy. I hadn’t seen them in years since they were still living in Fairbanks. I’ve known Harvey almost as long as I’ve been in Alaska. 

Fort Myers, FL - TT

Saturday - The morning test session ended up being a no-show, but it was nice to sit outside. Only 71°F, though it did start to slowly warm up. By the time of the mid-day session, it was over 80°F. Too hot to sit outside.

We spent the afternoon with friends. I didn’t try the pool yet though it was tempting on this hot, muggy afternoon. 

A brief storm rolled through around dinner time which made for a decent sunset. 

Sunday - °F 

Edison - Ford Winter Estate

Friday - We spent the morning touring the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. This is a banyan tree planted as an experiment in the search for locally grown latex sources. Two thousand plants were tried to see which ones prospered in North America. Rubbers produced from petroleum soon took over the market. 

The model T Ford came with all of the tools needed to maintain and repair the car. It sounds like Ural adopted the same model though the model T came with a much larger toolbox.

The estate had the winter homes/cottages for both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. The Edison’s would spend the winter and the Fords only about three weeks. 

Edison did have a lab set up to study the plants. Very different from his other labs. But there is still a surprising number of machine tools. He did set up a DC generator to provide power but later connected to the AC system set up by the city. 

Fort Myers, FL - TT

Tuesday - Yesterday was a travel day into Fort Myers to an Encore park. More “into” the city than I prefer. We are here partly to visit friends from Fairbanks that have moved here. Temperatures are more moderate than even Orlando probably because we are near the gulf. 

Wednesday - We visited with several friends from Alaska today. One couple from Eagle River and the other from Fort Wayne, IN. We had delicious moose chili.

Thursday - Friends, Steve & Cheryl, took us out on their pontoon boat today. It was a long ride through the waterways to get to the gulf.

We saw some dolphins on the way out and stopped on Sanibel Island for lunch. 

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water. The temperature was a perfect 72°F with a light breeze. I didn’t know that a pontoon boat was usable in the ocean. 

Wauchula, FL - HH

Sunday - We left TTO around 10:30am and headed south. After filling up with diesel once we got out of the Orlando area, we continued to our Harvest Host stop south of Wauchula, FL. I guess we could've stopped at the Peace River TT, but that was one of the worst ones we've been to. Another option is the SKP park just a short drive away. 

Charlotte's Web is the Harvest Host stop and is a bar with a food truck. The po' boy sandwich I had here was wonderful. The parking area is a small field next to the building that they use for event parking. No events are going on while we are here, so it has been pretty quiet. 

Monday - The temperature this morning has been wonderful. I'm sitting outside getting ready for a test session, and it is 76°F. We will need to run the generator this afternoon to charge up the batteries, and we'll run the A/C at the same time. I think it's supposed to be 83°F this afternoon.

Our next reservation doesn't start until tomorrow at an Encore park in Fort Myers. It looks like a nice place. We'll be there for a couple of weeks before heading back to TX.

I'm using the outdoor area of the bar for the test session. I am running the generator as the battery SoC is down to 31%. We do seem to run through quite a bit of power at 430aH over the last 12 hours. We are charging at 70 amps so that is still around 6 hours. The solar contribution is minimal compared to how much power we use. I won't bother to charge the batteries up all the way as we only need enough for another night.

I had the blackened grouper sandwich from the food truck along with the fried pickles. I don’t think I’ve had grouper before and it was pretty tasty. I’m not sure whether the grouper or the shrimp sandwich is better. I’d rather not be forced to pick.