Well the caravan I signed up for was a bust! No one showed up, many messaged saying they were having troubles getting away on time, and others had a change of heart. I didn't sleep well - massive rain storm and because Mobius, the Nomadic Handyvan was parked so level, the rain pooled on the roof near the metal-fiberglass seam and eventually leaked inside. There was no damage inside, other than my lack of sleep and I had to empty a bucket of about 2 1/2 gallons of water. I put a call out to a couple of friends, telling them of my situation and they asked me to come camp with them. What a relief, eh? I packed up and headed to Parker and met up with my friends who I followed out to their secret campsite. Giselle even gave me a tarp to put over the seam until I can get it fixed later on.
I set up camp, and chilled out until it was time to sleep. I forgot it was Christmas Eve.
Wednesday, December 25
While most of the Western World is woken up by excite children eager to see what Santa brought them, I was woken up by coyotes howling and yipping fairly close to camp! Once the sun was up, I went out to check on things, and found coyote scat near my back door. Brats!
Robert and Debra took off for a bit to capture some video while it's quiet. I continued setting up camp, and connecting with a couple of friends back home. Giselle commented that we'd have dinner around a fire when Robert and Debra returned. I realized that I needed to have some little gift for my friends.....my solution was to give each of them a pack of toilet paper and a pair of my tea towel hangy thingies! Perfect solution! Everyone loved it.
Once Robert and Debra returned we started a fire, and I ate my homemade pizza for Christmas Dinner!
Thursday, December 26
Checked the weather service network, and there are flash flood warnings for this area. That means some serious rain coming. I put the tarp on the roof....it's kinda tricky to do, when I don't have a ladder, and also have a lousy sense of balance. I tied long parachute cords to the 4 corners of the 6X8 tarp and after many attempts I managed to throw two of the cords across the roof and down the other side. Then I used ratchet straps or tie down straps to secure the tarp to the roof. It worked like a charm - the rains came and I was completely dry inside Mobius, the Nomadic Handyvan.
What to do when it's raining and completely miserable outside?? I know! I will make brownies!
Given the weather, it was a perfect day to do a little baking, watch tv and think about my sewing projects. I haven't been sewing as much as last year, but you gotta admit the circumstances are completely opposite - last year I had that gorgeous house overlooking the Okanagan Lake and Snowball, the supervisory cat! This year I am moving almost weekly and I don't have a supervisor.
Friday December 27
Today was an errand day, I travelled around with Giselle in her rig. Once back at camp, I started doing a bit of sewing. Still sewing blocks together - eventually I should have my second quilt done.
Saturday December 28.
The weather hasn't been spectacular of late, but it isn't horrible either. I have ventured out for a few short hikes in the desert. Much of the time I am hunkered down in my rig watching some tv. The wind here has a real bite to it, and makes being outside less than pleasurable. I really can't complain, I could be up north with the snow and ice. I have noticed that I am getting barometric headaches - this is a first. When the weather starts to change, I get a headache. It's almost like a lack of caffeine headache - so unpleasant and the pain relievers don't do much. Drink a bit more water and get doing something I guess.
My electrical plugs connected to the generator started to act up, I eventually got frustrated and pulled that cord off the generator and ran a second extension cord through my window to the generator so I could continue watching some tv. I know I will have to replace that plug - just have to figure out the best way to solve this glitch.
Sunday December 29
I got up and had figured out how to resolve my electrical situation. I removed the original plug-in that was designed for a 30 amp generator cord, and then I cut the plug off a power bar, secured the power bar to the interior wall and fed the wires through a hole and wired it to the generator socket. I have fixed the problem.
I decided to make pizza for my travelling companions. Why not? I like cooking, and I have a great little oven. I started making the dough, let it rise and then made one pizza at a time. I finished 4 pizzas, told the recipients to come get their pizza and a bit of Caesar Salad. By then I knew I wouldn't be getting any pizza - I had run out of mozzarella cheese. Oh well! I ate homemade breadsticks and Caesar Salad!
My friends really enjoyed the pizza, even the guy who grew up in New York City and stated that NYC had the best pizza anywhere!
Monday December 30
Today, Giselle and I went to do some errands today, and on our return to camp, everyone else was packed and ready to move camp. So, in the quickest pack up in the history of my nomadic journey, I packed up and was ready to move camp in about 15 minutes. This includes, disconnecting 2 solar panels and packing them away, turning off the propane, strapping my tv into secure mode, strapping my camp chairs in their spot, securing my computer, making sure all the kitchen items are put away or secured in the sink, then I put my generator in its spot, strap down the gerry can and tool box, double check to make sure everything is secure and then put my step stool in the garage and roll down the back door and lock it. As I am dashing around madly securing my gear, Giselle is organizing her rig, and then we get back on the highway and down the road to a top secret camping spot. Everyone has arrived and setting up their campsites. Now I do the reverse...unpack everything and set up my power systems....
No comments:
Post a Comment