2020-3
Self Quarantine, RV
style
2nd Week
on the Road.
Campground: BLM Big
River. Boondocking. Dry camping, dispersed sites. California side
but very close to Parker Az. $.00
Campground: Buckeye State Park, AZ. $15 to use their dump station and fill tank with fresh water.
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| Big River BLM, approx 4 miles from Parker AZ |
Distance Traveled: 45 miles.
I’m going on my
second full week of boondocking. It’s my way to self quarantine.
Remaining as best I can by stay away from folks during this
spring/summer of Corona virus concerns.
My camper, Zippy is
performing beyond my expectations. My fresh water holding tank looks
like it will easily go for a good 2+ weeks before I will need to fill
it up. With that, the gray tank and black water tank will obviously
last that long before needing to use a dump station.
My power needs are
being met sharply with the two 100 amp hour lithium Ion batteries
recently installed. And now that I have two 200 watt solar panels to
charge them daily, they provide all the basic power I need with
plenty of power remaining at the start of each day. The monitor
screens usually indicate that I have between 76 and 80% power
remaining each morning. Which will be very helpful on those days
when the skies are overcast or raining out.
The on board
generator provides all the a/c power I need to operate the coffee
pot, toaster, and microwave when ever I need too. It’s also
capable running the air-conditioner as well. With the fuel source
being the diesel fuel, also used to run Mercedes engine up front, I
have plenty of fuel to run it as often as I like.
Because I am doing
my best to stay in place, even with the ability to travel, my plans
are to remain in each location for at lease two weeks before moving on to the
next dispersed campsite. I was surprised to find out that Arizona’s
state parks are still open, but have no plans to use them presently.
Except as a place to use their dump station and fill fresh water.
With Easter only a few days away, instead of finding Easter Eggs, I've been finding painted rocks. I might have to start a new craft project and do something similar while on the road.
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| back side indicates who put the rock to be found |
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| I contacted the artist to let her know I was keeping this one |
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| left this one in place to other to remind folks "leaving it cleaner than you found it" |
Life is definitely
different for the whole world. I am noticing that in many places,
many people are still not getting the need to keep their distance.
Or take this virus seriously.
So what are my days
like so far. Well, having always enjoyed going out to lunch. That
is off the books for the most part. I have loaded a few phone apps
for ordering food for take out. But am still concerned about who
touches the packaging and hands it to me. So will be limiting that
procedure for now. McDonald's is the easiest to order curbside and
having them bring out to the camper, with payment being done
electronically so no sharing of germs handling money.
I’m going for
morning walks daily with an evening walk as well. Not as much
exercise as I need, but it will have to do for now.
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| little finds along my daily walks |
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| already gone to seed, but pretty none the less |
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| a rock garden |
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| cactus flowers in bloom, did you know they only last one day |
I continue to learn
more about the camper and it’s workings. The motor homes
radio/navigation unit are working to a certain degree, but I will
need to replace it down the road when time and current events permit.
I don’t actually use the navigation, as I use google maps on my
cell phone and have for years. The stereo unit doesn’t always
function properly. I can have it on a radio station and suddenly it
will begin scrolling through all the stations for no reason at all.
Coming back to the selected station and starting all over again. I
do have nice overhead speakers throughout the coach providing nice
surround sound. Occasionally the whole unit will go to a screen that
I’m unable to change and I have to use a pin to select the hidden
reset button. But like I said, I’ll replace the unit once current
circumstances permit.
The size of the
camper if quite sufficient for my needs though I believe I’ll
eventually remove the dinette set and put in a comfy lounge chair and
table. That again will be on down the road.
I am really pleased
with the way the Solera motor home handles. I have driven it on the
highway a couple of times going 65 mph with gusty winds and except
for a few stronger gusts of wind, it handles quite well and is pretty
stable driving in those conditions. I get a consistent 12-13 mpg.
Which is equivalent to what I was averaging with the Chevy truck,
even without towing anything.
Boondocking Community
I’ve been here at
Big River BLM site for a little over a week now and in the past
couple of days, neighbors in my area have begun to stop by and say
hi. Steven is a divorced guy and has been doing this for about 12
years now, traveling in a 5th wheel camper and Ford 350
truck. A avid fly fisherman, which I could tell immediately as he
was wearing a fishing vest. He plans to head up to Montana for the
summer where he does much of his fly fishing. We had a nice chat
regarding the safety of being in a dispersed camp setting.
The next
day a couple in a motor home, motorcycle hitched on the front and
towing a small truck w/cab over the bed. They’ve been doing this
for 12 years as well. 4 large solar panels on the roof. Today they
had a visitor who’s been staying here at Big River probably longer
than I have. Indicating that many of the full-time Rvers eventually
get to know each other. The next day, chilly as it was, I went for my walk, have these fine folks came out to have a chat with me. So nice to have warm friendly neighbors, even if we have to talk from a distance.
Fixed Laptop.
Well after a couple
of years having major issues with the touch pad on my HP laptop, I
finally figured one was to completely disable it. I placed 5 index
cards over the touch-pad and controls with tape. Now it only
recognizes my portable mouse. No longer does the mouse and screen
jump around every time I get near the touch pad. Little victories,
but one I really appreciate.
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| my not so elegant solution to stop the touch screen from making the pointer jump all over the screen. I use a mouse instead |
Face Masks.
My dear friends
Martha and Jerry were kind enough to think of me and insisted on
sending me a couple of home made face masks. Really well done.
Already feel safer when needing to go into a store for supplies. To
have such caring friends during this time is almost overwhelming.
The BLM land I am
currently on is normally only a 14 day stay site. However, talking
to a couple of other campers, they indicate that the BLM staff are
permitting us to stay longer for self isolation reasons. I feel
comfortable at this site. At least until it starts to heat up
Currently temps are in the low 70’s daytime and around 50 degrees
at night. The couple days it hit the 80’s, it’s been very
comfortable on the shady side of the camper and with a few windows
open, there’s enough of a breeze to keep the inside of the camper
pleasantly comfortable as well.
Not much to take pictures of since I'm not driving around during this time of recommending us all to stay in place. But I found this neat abandon building at a crossroads on my way to and from the campsite.
Well, I think that’s
enough small talk for now. Be safe, stay healthy and I’ll do
likewise and one day we will almost be back to normal. Most
indications are that we will have to be in this mode for at least 8
months. Don’t let up your guard too soon.
