Horse Tanks Hike - Kofa WMA

Kofa Wildlife Management Area offers hikes and exploring possibilities.  This year I got to hike to the Horse Tanks.  These are natural waterholes that nature has carved out and we’re used by animals and Native Americans for centuries.  These are water holes that form as part of cascading water down from the mountains.

Above is my 7.2 mile hike as saved on the AllTrails App.

Most of the hike was on a dirt road that I could have taken my Tacoma down, but I needed the exercise to get into shape for more hikes this season.

The scenery along the way is pleasant and not steep, although you continue to gain elevation.  The peaks in the middle of my hike (recorded above) come from scrambling up in a few places.

The water comes down the mountain in this crack in the picture above.

Further down it forms these natural ponds.

There are numerous signs of human activity including dozens of grinding holes in the rock bottom of the wash.

If you search and look closely you can find old petroglyphs and new graffiti.

There are other things to find and see that most don’t know what and where to look.  As with all my hikes.  I hope you get to learn how to explore and learn and respect what the ancient’s have left us.

Happy hiking,

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

The Vandwelling House Battery Dilemma

Photo of my rig before heading out on my 2022 travels

I have a number of Vandweller friends that have similar  question/problem.

This problem is about having a house battery and sufficient power to do what they want without costing a lot of money.

I may be that they hey have a house battery already, but it is insufficient power to do what they now want or need.  On the other hand they may have a portable battery unit and also have the same issue of needing more power

There is no single answer to the problem of insufficient power for all Vandwellers.

Let’s take my current truck camper setup as a reference.  I use lithium Lifepo4 batteries only.  Lithium batteries are smaller and more light weight than a lead acid battery such as flooded, AGM or Gel Cell.  

Lithium batteries are not right for all situations.   lithium can’t be charged much below freezing temperatures or it may damage the battery.  I live in Massachusets and it’s cold, but I don’t use my camper in winter conditions.

When I leave on my winter travels, as I did this year, I don’t turn on battery charging until it’s warm enough.  My fully charged 50 ah Bioenno Lifepo4 battery gives me enough power until I get to warmer weather.  That’s right!  You can use the power from your lithium battery below freezing but not charge it.  Once I’m in the southwest I stay in the warmth and slowly work my way into colder Utah in March.  Although it can go below freezing at night temperatures are well above during the day and my camper stays warmer than outside.

First example:

This Vandweller spends time in below freezing climate and battery is packed so any heat inside van does not reach the battery, so they need a lead acid battery.  They have a 50 ah AGM battery.  A lead acid battery does not have fully usable amp hours, so you can only expect to get about 25 ah from a 50 ah battery.  This is not a lot of battery power but it is charged with solar and from the engine, which is good to get the battery charged again the next day.

Above is an example of a lead acid AGM battery on Amazon.  I have not evaluated this battery and this is no an endorsement for the battery

The question was can the Vandweller increase the amount of battery in the van and the answer is yes and I recommend a larger 100 ah AGM battery, above..  It’s significantly heavier and uses more valuable space.  It would give them their needed power at usable 50 ah. (Double the power they now have)  Basically what I have in my camper for power in amp hours.  The battery costs just under $200 and is not too hard to install.  The battery is a sealed type so no appreciable off gassing will occur.

Will the change run a compressor fridge, I was asked, and the answer is yes. 

In this first example the best solution for this Vandweller is to replace their smaller battery for this larger one in the example.  It’s not recommended to tie them together as they are not electrically compatible. If one wished to use bath batteries they would require electrical isolation for independent charging.  I wit be covering this in today’s post. You can tie like batteries and age together to overcome the compatibility issue.

I need to also say that if money was not a problem Renogy makes a lithium battery that has an internal heater to keep it warm below freezing so the battery is not a problem in the cold for charging.  But this battery is expensive, and priced out of the available funds for many.  I did want to mention it as someone out there reading this blog may find this helpful.

Second example

Another Vandweller friend has no house battery and can only charge things with the engine running.  They have a battery like the one below.  It is portable so bringing the battery pack to plug in to charge from house current is possible.

This batter pack above in the picture is only an example and not an endorsement. I have not evaluated it.  It is shown for reference only.

In this Vandweller case they like the flexibility of being able to have all the outlets and inverter nicely packaged.  It offers the ability to bring inside to charge if desired.  Since it’s portable it is easier to keep it above freezing inside the vehicle.

There are some drawbacks.  One is the rate of charge is slower than a separate battery tied to the engine. Another issue is that a fixed 12 bolt device like a vent fan has to be plugged in and out if charging elsewhere.  The good news is It can be charged from solar or from vehicle 12 volts as well.  Another good point is that if you camp in the shade you can take this portable battery unit out and put near a portable solar panel and charge where the sun is.

Note: I chose to show the model 500 as although a model 300 may work for minimal demand I suggest the 500 as Vandwellers often under estimate their power needs.

Although this Vandweller could put a fixed house battery in this portable unit will work for them saving the cost of installation, fixed solar and engine charging.  It gets a lightly built out van a head start from having to do all the wiring first.  It’s a great way to get started and try vandwelling, rather than investing in a build fore you know what you want.

My recommendation was to have both a lead acid battery hooked to engine through and isolator and use this for fixed lighting and fan, and use the portable battery unit for portable device charging and usage. With a fixed fan/vent and lighting it is best to have fixed wiring and switches, but certainly acceptable to live with the portable battery unit until you make long term decisions

Summary

There is not one design or solution for all circumstances of vandwelling. It depends on vehicle, needs, space, and money.  

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Dehydrating Food For My Travels

I take the dehydrator out each year to dehydrate ham, more on that below.  What you see above is dehydrated mixed vegetables.  I went to Walmart and paid $.89/ea for 4 bags of mixed frozen vegetables thinking it would be a good add to my travels.

I spread the nixed vegetables out on the dehydrator racks and dried them and put them in a sealed plastic bag.  No rocket science here but I often like soup and I can take a Raman soup packet and doctor it up by adding these dehydrated vegetables and make it more interesting.  

Of course you can also but this container of mixed dried vegetables for $12.95 on Amazon, which I did.  Certainly less work and a bit more expensive.  This blend also comes with onions.

As a test of my dehydration at room temperature, I put sone of my creation and let it sit in water.  The corn takes longer to reconstitute.  So far it’s a great alternative to carrying cans of vegetables as you have to deal with the cans as rubbish. 

Add hot water to thermos with the dried vegetables and this works much faster.  My experiment was room temperature to save on cooking fuel on the road.

My yearly dehydration of ham is the best.  I buy a spiral ham and dis assemble it as shown above and put it in the dehydrator over night.  Then the dried ham guests bagged as the picture below indicates.  This is how I carry it on my travels.

The dehydrated ham makes a great snack out of the bag.  It also can be cut or broken into pieces to put in with the noodles and dehydrated vegetables to make the soup even more tasty.  It is also good cut into pieces it can go on a salad.  Put pieces in when boiling rice.  

I have made peppered beef jerky in the past the same way but beef prices around where I live went up very high making that an expensive option.this year that I didn’t bother trying.

I hope this inspires others to try this too.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Needing Tires On The Road

Picture - From Cooper Tire Webpage 

This is not the first time I have needed tires on my travels and I’m sure others that vandwell have the same problem

I had bought my 2021 Tacoma last fall and decided to run the factory street tires my first year.  I decided the same this year knowing that I may have to address tires on my travels.  I had 24,000 miles on the original tires when I left on 1/16/22.  The tred was still very good on the original tires, but experience in the back of my mind from two tire replacements with my Prius let me think this way.

The advertisement above about Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires was captured before I left, as this would be my tire of choice

————————

Jump forward to my arrival in Ajo this year and waking up and finding my rear drivers tire low (16 psi).

I pumped it up and it was good all day, but the next morning the same thing occurred.  I knew I had probably picked up something but I couldn’t see it.

Tire being checked at Discount Tire

With no tire service in Ajo,or nearby Gila Bend, I waited to address when I was going to Yuma in a few days.  My friend Susan had a similar problem before and suggested Discount Tire to get the tire fixed.

The service guy called me in to look at my tire floating in water spewing air from a hole near where the tread meats the sidewall.  They told me what I already knew, that they can’t repair the tire at that location.

Above - my Tacoma getting the new tires

I knew I didn’t want to buy one tire or two, so I decided on replacing all the tires with the tire above.  I also opted for the E rated version of the tire at more money.  E rated tires are designed to carry heavier loads.  I had the same tire, not E rated, on my 2011 Tacoma and liked them, but I figured many others on the FWC forum use E rated tires for safety and I would go that route.too.

My Tacoma with new tires

The tires needed to be ordered, so I went out in the desert where I planned to camp so the tires could arrive overnight from Phoenix.

We don’t know when we may run into such problems on the road, but I had planned, budgeted for it, and felt good about knowing in advance just what I wanted.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

The Prius Comes Out For A Trip

From time to time I get an opportunity to use my Prius for travel.  This recently happened when I decided to see my aunt that is not feeling well in Chicago. This answers the question I get from time to time if I still have my Prius and if so do I travel with it.

I see my aunt each year on my return trip from the southwest, but with her being ill and having a birthday, I decided to drive to see her from my home in MA.  What better vehicle to take than my Prius when the gasoline prices were peaking in early December.

It’s about 1100 miles from home to Chicago, so I planned an overnight around half way in both directions.  The halfway point is around the Ohio and Pennsylvania border. 

My Prius was not fully packed, the way I did for winter travels.  No fridge and cooking supplies.  I did have my curtains installed and brought basic items.  My plan was to do takeout meals and visit and eat with aunt once a day.

On the way out to Chicago my son of the same name gave me a rest area location he used in the area where I80 and I90 meet.  I took I80 due to up state New York lake effect snow.

I parked off to the side in the rest area pulled my curtains and set Prius to low heat I’m ready mode and slept comfortably fir the night although it was only 20 degrees outside.  You’ve got yo love the Prius fir this comfort.

Google photo

The same son recommended I stop in Elkhart, IN to see the RV Hall of Fame and Museum, just off the highway.  I took my son up on his suggestion and stopped for awhile a tour the excellent collection of vintage RV’s.

Above is only a sample of vandwelling roots.

The picture above shows the museum layout with an inside walking road lined with many vintage trailers and motorized campers.  

It was $10 for me as a senior to get in, but very much worth it to me.  Plan on spending a couple hours visiting each camper and going inside the ones open for viewing

At my aunt’s I usually driveway surf with my Prius, but I didn’t want her concerned about me so I stayed a few miles away in a hotel room.  I visited her for 3 data and headed home happy to have visited.

The way home brought me the same route as I took out.  This time I stayed overnight at a truck stop in western PA near the OH border.  Again it was 20 degrees and slept great.

I could have driven further that night feeling very rested but don’t like driving at night in PA due to deer.  A deer strike could total mu prius.  Even a dead deer in the road that sone Tractor Trailer killed could cause major damage or cause me to loose control.  Safer first!

The next day I was home from my mini road trip. My Prius only has 120,000 miles so it has a lot more life for future adventures.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

P.S.

To: Russell D

This answers your question if I still have my Prius

To: All

Russell and I both have Prius’s and Four Wheel pop up campers for our travels

2022 Travels Begin

Well I finally got on the road.

Above my Tacoma and Four Wheel Camper sit ready for the 2022 travels, but wait I am not leaving until after my niece’s wedding on 1/16.

Look what I have to get through for weather, leaving MA for the great southwest.  I left after the wedding reception at 9pm and I can’t head west due to heavy snow.  

My only window to drive was to head down to the CT coast where temperatures will be warming and into NJ to let heavy rain pass over me.  Then I’ll head down I95 along the coast where it was warmer and no snow or ice.

With light traffic on in CT with slow going in snow I hit heavy rain as I went over the George Washington Bridge in NY.  My, did it rain hard, and there was heavy winds.  No trucks we’re allowed on the NYC seven bridges due to wind.

I did it!  With a few winks at a rest area on the NJ Tpk I drove until 8pm Monday and ended up in eastern GA on I20.

That was 1100 mikes in 24 hours.

Waking in Georgia on Tuesday AM, my next weather concern was expected freezing rain in southern TX by Thursday.

I drove another 1100 miles on Tuesday and landed in western Texas..  This long drive assured me to be out of TX on Thursday, before freezing rain was forecasted.

Wednesday AM as I’m driving to El Paso TX, road crews were laying the liquid salt in the highway.  I drove around 700 miles to western NM, and I was then ok to take my time the rest off the way.

Thursday I drove to eastern AZ to BLM camping at Hot Well Dunes for a 2+hour hot tub relaxation.

Friday was a 2 hour drive to Tucson Walmart to take on supplies fir travels.  But first was a stop at the car wash to get the salt off the truck and camper.  Then 2 hours to beautiful Ajo, AZ for the weekend.

Above is a view from my BLM camping spot.  Why I say beautiful Ajo.

I had been asked to lend a had at a friend’s house to fix the shower controls in Ajo, and with all the various cactus it’s a great scenic stay.  So it was a slow Saturday and Sunday as my friend and I got up do sone off roaring and a hike on Sunday.

I have plenty of things to write about and now that things have slowed down I’ll get some more posts out.

Oh, I only stopped and got gas across the country wearing a KN95 mask to use restrooms.  Having brought all my own food. My friends and I visit mostly outdoors but my friends are very willing to protect themselves too so we are all safe when we meet.

Stay safe everyone 

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

About My 2021 Travels

I dislike cold and winter.  Here is winter at home in pic above.

This summer of 2021 I’ve been asked by many friends, followers, and family if I went on my winter travels earlier this year during COVID pandemic.

Yes I did.  I didn’t write during my travels this year as I thought it was in poor taste to write about driving around the country while others stayed home with Government warnings of COVID-19.  Not to mention if I was to say how much fun I was having.

Ok. So, how did I come about leaving.  I was home alone as my wife had spent 9 months last year in San Diego watching our granddaughters, who were at home from school due to COVID and son and daughter-in-law had to work.  My wife came home for the holidays (2020) and was going back to San Diego in January for the same reason and there I was.  Had worked hard to get my new z2021 Tacoma truck and camper ready to go.  I was waiting to be vaccinated by the state and they kept changing when I could get my shot further out.  

Tic, Tic as time went by and I knew that if I didn’t go I probably would be waiting a long time, especially with up to 4 weeks between shots.  It was Friday February 5th in the AM.  I decided to just go.  I knew I only needed food, water and gas on my travels.  All of those were easy as food I carried over 2 weeks of it. Water I carried extra for 2 weeks.  Gas was at the pump and with mask and sanitizer I could do it!

I rushed all day and at 6 PM I drove south, seeing a break in the weather if I could just stay along the east coast.  Down I95 I went to the last rest area on the “Jersey” Turnpike where I slept for the night.

I woke up at 4 AM and drove past MD son’s house and finically stopped on the western side of Atlanta for the night.  Cold weather was pushing south and east so I needed to put lots of miles on to get ahead of it.  On I20 now I drove over the mountains of west GA and got some rain as slush.  Then I got through Birmingham before dawn.  On to the area of Big Water Texas for the night

The open highway brings me joy

I was talking to my good friend Susan who had her shot already as was scheduled for the second.  It was in the 70’s in TX while just north in OK where she lives it was below freezing.  This was the prelude of the biggest ice storm in memory in TX. 

Arizona near sunset - have to love the colors

This next drive was not planned and should not be attempted.  I drove from around Big Water TX to Ajo, AZ.  This is a 1100 mile drive in one day.  I’ve done over 1000 miles in a day before but it was not planned either.  I was planning to stop in Tucson but I was talking to another good friend Joanne and she was in Ajo and I plotted the extra time and distance and decided to meet here there as I was in communication with family in San Diego and they wanted me to try for my vaccine in San Diego on the afternoon of Tuesday the 9th.  AJo gave me a shorter drive on my 4th day.

Behind me, Susan got her second vaccine shot and got out of OK as it was freezing under her tires.  More behind is my friend Bryce who drove through TX during the ice event and I don’t know how he did it.  The carnage on the highway was great with so many cars and trucks off the road.

At my son’s in CA driveway surfing

I made it to San Diego by noon Tuesday.and went to get my shot at Petco Park, but they wouldn’t give it to me as I was not a resident.  My family was more upset than I was.  My son’s in-laws saw that CVS had shots and were only following Federal guidelines.  Yup, over 65 only and got my first shot in San Diego on 2/12

Boondocking on BLM land

Stayed for the weekend and headed to AZ to meet up socially distancing with friends.  My Travels then started.  Yes I would return to San Diego on March 12th for my second shot.

So this is how I started my travels fir the winter of 2021.  Looking back I shouldn’t have waited the month of January.  At home I had the same risk as on the road.  Getting food and gas.  I’m compulsive about wearing a mask and sanitizing my hands and things.  Sitting in the desert distanced from friends was better than the cold solitude of home.  

I ended up having a great time and made it home safely in May 1.  I will share some of my travels this year and things I’ve done to the camper/truck.  I do plan on traveling again in 2022.  

By the way there were plenty of others that were on the road this past winter.  Not as many as usual.  

Happy travels

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com