Plan for 2015 Travels

Hi all,

Well I have a plan for my 2015 Travels.  Having sold my 1994 Campervan to a broker in Canada, this only ended one chapter of my travels.  With over $5,000 in gasoline costs for my 13K+ mile trip I needed to make a change for cost reasons alone.

I loved my Campervan trip and have no regrets about the cost, but the cost was a concern and with 10 mpg I made decisions on where I went after awhile due to ever increasing fuel costs.  It was a fun trip that had a lot of fabulous memories, so I decided to take the opposite extreme by buying a Prius in July.  It is a 2011 that only had 8700 miles on it.  Since purchasing it I have driven to MD twice and only using a tank of gas each way (440 miles) costing me $26.50 to fill up and having 100 miles I could still go on the 11 gallon tank.  That's 56+ mpg!

This will be my new Campervan with the many of the same comforts I had but space is not one of them.  The one thing that the Prius has is a climate controlled system that runs off the high voltage drive battery (hybrid).  This means that I can leave the Prius in ready mode and the A/C will run off the battery (not the engine).  The engine only turns on when the battery needs a charge.

I will be camping from time to time in a 2 man tent as well as sleeping in the mini-Campervan along the way.  Oh yes a few motels too.  I am not a pioneer doing this with a Prius, following others that have done it before me.  I hope to have the most technological one of them all.  I have many things planned for the vehicle that I will share over time.

My vehicle fuel estimate for costs to make a similar trip to FL to drop off mom & head to CA and southwest is $1500.  A big difference to the 1994 Campervan!

In addition to the 2 man tent I bought I bought a rectangular sleeping bag and 2.5" Thermorest pad.  My mummy bag would be too restrictive for 3 months.  I also bought a single burner butane/propane stove.  An advanced lead acid battery charger.  To charges wet cells, AGM, & sealed lead acid batteries.  This way when I am at a campground I can charge the vehicle 12 volt battery & sealed lead acid batteries that I will use for accessories when I don't want the vehicle to run.  I will be able to charge the sealed lead acid from the vehicle charging system while driving & possibly solar too.

Well more on all the technology later.

Stay tuned to future updates and then my travels.

Brent

Trip Learning 12 - Trailer Hitch Extensions

I'm still traveling since getting home in the beginning of May.  Two trips to VT to the camp, one trip to MD to build the shed, and now I am on the Cape at the Cape house, having come down for the night to fix a bed, replace, add new smoke detectors, & meet the home inspector for the insurance company.

All this travel is about another 1000 miles.

I took the trailer hitch extension and bike rack that I had purchased for the camper and it fit perfictly.  The 14" hitch extension gets the bike rack far enough back so I can still lower the truck's talegate.  The extension also worked great on the camper to get the bike rack past the big spare tire on the back of the campervan.

Trip Learning 11 - AT&T Coverage

Some years ago I had trouble with maintaining a connection to Verizon on the Fire Department laptop as I went yo my came in northern Vermont.  What I didn't know, and now I do from my trip is that both Verizon and AT&T have coverage gaps handled by other carriers that are not their network.  When you are in one of these spots you can make and keep phone calls as well as text but you can't use data or you are limited to some very small amount of data.

I ran into this problem on my trip when my niece Brianna was with me and we were at the Grand Canyon.  My phone had a hard time downloading data.  My phone said AT&T and I got a text message from AT&T saying I reached my limit for data for being out of network.  My phone still said AT&T so I kept downloading.  I then got a text from AT&T saying that I would be shut off if I kept using data and that they would charge me for more usage than out of network allows.  They shut off my data and downloaded something to my phone to change AT&T to out of network.  Thsts right they changed what I see to out of network after it said AT&T.

They allowed me to make and perceive phone calls and text but no web surfing or downloads.  With this change to my phone, when I drive through Troy, NH my phone switches to out of network and back to AT&T when I get to Swansea, NH.

So, when you view either Verizon or AT&T's coverage maps the map doesn't show all their networks, and for the partner networks that you can't see, you do not have all the benefits of your home plan even though you are in the USA.

Since they changed my phone I now see out of network where you all still see your carrier name.

They didn't charge me extra and I think for good reason as if it says AT&T then I should expect the service I pay for.

Now I know why Verizon data didn't work in some areas on my way to Vermont.

Trip Learning 10 - People Without Medical Insurance

During my trip I watched a TV and listened to podcasts about Obama Care.  There was much to do about the number of people that had signed up.  When I had returned the number was 8M.  Listening to my podcasts I learned that 5M of the 8M were people that had lost their insurance when their plans were found to not meet the new requirements of Obama Care.  So it was told that there were 3M that were newly insured that previously were not insured.  Of the 8M that signed up there was no report how many paid their premiums.  So, some number of the 8M were not insured.

Regardless of the number and information mentioned above being true or not, I met many people that were not insured and many that would not be insured under Obama Care.

The reason is mainly financial.  Some people that I met on my trip didn't have the income to live and pay for any insurance.  These people live on the fringe of society.  Food and a place to sleep is the only thing that matters to them.  You have to have sufficient income to buy the insurance and these people who live in vehicles do not show up on census reports.  They do not file taxes and get buy on what money they get and are happy.  They don't read newspapers or listen to the radio.  

So what do they do when they need medical help?  Veterans go to the veterans medical center for assistance if they live near one and can get there.  Nonveterans use free clinics.  

Together they do not feel there is even a need to get a job and make money to pay for medical insurance when they get what they need elsewhere.

One man I met was happy to spend his little money on 24 packs of beer and spends his time drinking.  When I asked him about his future he told me that he was hoping to just die.  He was far from having anything that would cause his death soon and when I pointed this out to him and asked what happens if you live and don't die, he had no answers.

These are people that do not look to tomorrow and only look at today. What was interesting is that they were all nice people.  They were generally happy with their exixtance, just above being homeless.  They all didn't see a need for more of anything. They are generally truthful, polite, caring, and respect others.  They just don't have health insurance.  

If they go to the hospital the hospital provides care to them and the hospital will never be paid.  We all pay for them in our rates to the hospital.  You can't get money from people that don't have it or ever will have it.  Since they don't have an address they can't be found if a bill was sent.

I don't see Obama Care addressing this segment of our society and I wonder how many of these people there are in the U.S.

Trip Learning 9 - Choosing Not To Insulate Myself

Being on the Fire Department for 46 years gave me the chance to see lots of good and some bad in our society.  There is something in seeing both the good and bad that grounded me to a level of appreciation of what I have in life.

During my trip I also got the same exposure from my visit to "The Villages" in FL where no blades of grass was out of place to the poor sections of cities I visited.  What is appealing to many about "The Villages" was unappealing to me.  Yes the houses, neighborhoods, and yards were immaculate and beautiful, but it reminded me of the movie Stepford Wives.  It was a bit too perfect.  

Since my visit to "The Villages" was early in my trip this impression stuck with me and it was well into my trip that it came to me that I wouldn't like to live there.  There is no diversity!

I have always looked for veriety in life and I like being around all kinds of people including children (youth).  I remember being in Geniva, Switzerland sitting in a restaurant one evening on a layover for a flight home in the morning and a young lady was obviously excited and with a bunch of friends.  She went from table to table giving a kiss to everyone saying it was her birthday in French.  When she was finished with all the tables she and her friends left.  I was excited for her birthday happiness and I was also glad to have had the experience.  I have had experiences on my travels all my life and my campervan trip was no different meeting all walks of life, economic levels, people of all ages, and people happy and sad. I wanted to experience as much as I could and I did.  

I do appreciate that there are 55 and older places to live, but at least for now they are not for me.  I want all that life has to offer.  I don't want to block out certain segments.  Instead I want to embrace it all just like I always have.  My choice for a place to live is a small town with a community spirit with all the problems and challenges that society has in store for us now and what it will give us to deal with in the future.  I want to be part of this community and travel to expand my world so I don't get a false sense of what reality is.

Trip Learning 8 - Medical Needs When Traveling

I once flew 75,000 miles a year when working for Digital Equipment Corporation.  

Travel, especially overseas, can be a cause for consern for travelers, but with medical benefits being cut over the years by employers and employees who have had to choose medical plans with limited benefits seeking medical help while traveling in the U.S. Can be troubling.

I am lucky to have good medical coverage but I choose to use caution when accessing the medical system as this drives costs for everyone.

Just a few years ago while visiting the in-laws in Mesa, AZ, I was injured while hiking with Denise on a backcountry hike.

We were climbing a mountain and we let a woman and a man pass us as we approached the peak. With them out of sight I was leading and I was faced be a rock about a foot in diameter bouncing down the V shaped trail at me.

Since it was going back and forth I didn't know what way it would go and I jumped to the right as it passed to the left.  It hit a rock next to me and shatters a pice of rock off and as my leg was in the air the large shad hit my right leg calf taking a hunk of meat off my leg.  

We were two hours out on this hike and I examed my wound and tied it up with my handkerchief and turned to Denise and said we have to go now.

We hiked out of the mountain as I blead through my temporary bandage, down my leg with my sock absorbing the blood.

I knew I needed stitches so I looked up a local urgent care and had Denise drive me there.

A doctor sewed me up and in the end it cost $800.00.

My insurance didn't want to pay as I didn't go to an emergency room.  I appealed their decision with the logic that they waned me to take an ambulance at $1K, ER with X-ray $3K, and Dr fee of $1.5K and they would have paid when my cost to them was $800.  I told them that they were driving up the cost of insurance and I should be the example on how to control health costs.

They paid!

So, I have this and more experiences on the road that I have needed medical attention.  My 3.5 month travels was not that bad but I did need medical support.

It was early on my trip while in FL that I had a sore throat that didn't go away after 5 days and I feared that I had strep throat soi called my Dr. and he sent a prescription to a local CVS and I took the meds and cleared up the problem,  

I don't take medicines and avoid the Dr. but I needed to understand that I need a medical support system.  Later on the trip I had a common cold and related problems and I picked up over the counter medicine.  I had minor cuts and blisters from hiking and again I picked up what I needed.

I use the logic that if I can get buy without a Dr I will, but if I need one I will call mine or go to urgent care places like I had an ear infection on another trip.  I will use an emergency room when this is the appropriate level of care.

Shed Building Day 6

Yesterday (Sunday) we were done with the shed less the double doors.  I was to drove home Sunday but decided to stay to finish the roof and set Brent up with all the parts for the door.

I was going to drive home first thing this am, but decided I would leave by noon and surprise Brent by working on the doors for him.  He was planning together out of work early to work on the doors but I knew there wasn't enough time for him to finish today by himself.

Well,  I worked on the doors and got the frames hung.  Denise, who flew down Friday helped me and painted the frames and the panels that get screwed to the back of them. They are the painted gray textured plywood left over from cutting the door openings.

The doors have 3 hinges and I mortised them in the jam and doors that took extra time.

I sent this picture to Brent as we left to drive home.  He was happy and when he came home he put on the panels and door hardware so he can now lock it up and get rid of his old plastic storage shed.

We got back to Westminster at 10:00 tonight having to drive to Manchester Airport to drop off Denise to pick up her car that she left there Friday when she flew down.