Archive for December, 2007
December 3, 2007 at 9:11 pm · Filed under Roadtrips
This time of year, even in the southwest, our major challenge is nighttime cold and early sunset. The short days mean that we need to plan carefully to get our driving done by 5 p.m., and at night the temperature in the desert plummets abruptly and requires us to use the furnace.
Still, I like to boondock in the desert when we get the chance, and today is one of those chances. To be ready, we need all the systems topped off. Out in some of the lonelier spots in the desert, even in some camping areas, you can’t count on any support or services.
So today we filled the fresh water tank and dumped the holding tanks before leaving the campground, our usual procedure. We always travel with full fresh water because — even if we are planning to go to a place with hookups — plans change. This policy has saved our day many times. Then we stopped off for a big grocery shopping expedition near Santa Clarita, and filled both propane tanks. At California prices, 14.5 gallons of propane (we were nearly empty) cost $54.50, the biggest single propane bill we’ve ever had.
Living in the Airstream certainly makes us well aware of what we consume on a daily basis. We took on 30 gallons of fresh water, 14.5 gallons of propane, 20 gallons of gasoline, and nine bags of groceries. We also dropped off one grocery bag of trash, about 20 gallons of gray water (four “Hollywood” showers and some dishes), and about 5 gallons of black water. I’d topped off all the tire pressures in Riverside a week ago, so we didn’t require any compressed air, and our batteries were already full courtesy of the sun.
The goal for tonight was simply to end up somewhere between Ventura and Las Vegas for a night, but what I really wanted was a quiet spot in the desert where we could see the stars. We skirted the north side of the Los Angeles metroplex from Santa Paula to Santa Clarita, then to Victorville and northeast on I-15. This avoided the worse of traffic, but still we found ourselves in a minor traffic jam near Santa Clarita.
Normally I don’t drive in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane because we generally try to avoid places where HOV lanes are necessary. Also, in California all towing vehicles are limited to 55 MPH, which is a speed no self-respecting California will drive in a car if they don’t have to. So driving in the HOV lane with a trailer is a quick way to make enemies on the road.
But this time I made an exception because the HOV lane was the only one moving and legally we qualify with three people in the vehicle. While breezing down the road I reflected that we drive an SUV, and with the trailer we are an SUV-RV combination, and now we were an HOV-SUV-RV. But only for a few minutes.
[Edit: Don’t do this. Apparently towing in the left lane is illegal in California, which I discovered only later from a blog reader’s comment.]
Next morning at Stoddard Valley OHV Area
Along I-15 south of Barstow is the Stoddard Valley Off-Highway-Vehicle (OHV) Area, and after dark it seemed an ideal spot to stop for the night. Two exits lead to large dirt parking lots and a maze of roads through desert sage and cactus. We’re parked in one of the dirt lots, which I think makes us into an OHV too.
There are absolutely no services here, no lights, no rangers, nothing. Just a quiet spot within view of I-15 but far enough back that we can’t hear the highway inside the trailer. According to the web site campers can stay up to 14 days. There’s nobody here other than us tonight, probably because it is Monday and the temperature dropped into the 40s after sunset. That’s fine with us. It should be a pleasant night here, in our OHV-SUV-RV.
December 2, 2007 at 8:48 pm · Filed under FAQs
In years past we’ve come back from a vacation and had to face grim aspects of “real life”, which usually included freezing weather, a pile of backed-up mail and phone calls, and a house that needed some attention right away. In this case, coming back from Hawaii has been a relative pleasure because we landed in Los Angeles where the sun was shining and the temperatures were in the 60s. It was less of a shock to the system, coming from humid days in the 80s.
But the best part was coming back to the Airstream. At last, a bed I can sleep in. Our own kitchen again. No more unpacking and re-packing. No more people at airports telling me that my bottled water is too risky to carry on board an aircraft. My own DVD collection rather than pay-per-view on the hotel TV. It’s great to be back home and yet still able to travel.
To be fair, there were a few things to deal with. We had removed a lot of stuff from the truck and put it in the Airstream for safekeeping, including three bicycles, some tools, the sewing machine, etc. With Los Angeles traffic we got back to our storage spot after dark, and we couldn’t stay in the storage lot overnight, so we had to re-arrange everything, hitch up, and tow about 1/4 mile to a campsite. But in 20 minutes or so we were set up for the night, which is about the amount of time it took us to get checked into our Waikiki Beach hotel, get a parking pass, and unpack in our room. We’ll keep the Airstream hitched up overnight and pull out tomorrow to points as yet undetermined.
One small lifestyle change is the need to re-adapt from the hotel shower to the RV shower. In the hotel, we had a cascade of water, and hot stinging needles if we wanted them, flooding the tub so quickly that the drain couldn’t keep up. This was the sort of shower that people seem to like, not so much because they get cleaner but because it feels like a “spa” experience. You don’t get pummeled by hot water much in an RV, and that seems to really bother some folks.
This is probably why I get so many reports from people saying that their “gray water” tank doesn’t last long enough when they are not connected to a sewer hookup. (The gray tank is the tank that holds used water from the shower and sinks.) It’s true, the tank is never as big as you’d like it to be, but with a little careful conservation you can last a long time. The problem I usually find with people who are filling the tank quickly is that they’ve never learned to conserve water.
There are two things that really fill up the gray tank fast: Showers, and dishes. A lot of people switch to paper plates when they are trying to make the gray tank last a long time. We’ve done that, but we’ll also use campground dish-washing facilities if they exist, as we did at Yellowstone.
You can do the same with showers if you are in a campground where they are available. Some people use the campground shower religiously, because they don’t fit in the small travel trailer shower, or because they just prefer the “home style” shower when it is available. Personally, I like my Airstream shower and I hate using the campground showers, so I’ll go to some effort to be able to shower in the trailer.
This means the “navy shower” is essential. It’s a simple technique: turn on the water, get wet, turn off the water. Then soap up everything, and rinse off quickly. Get really good at it, and you’ll find you can take a complete shower in about three gallons, or about 90 seconds of running the water. That makes you an Admiral in the Navy Shower Fleet.
Even an Able Seaman should be able to do it in less than six gallons (just over two minutes). Get it down to a flat two minutes (five gallons) and you’re a Lieutenant, or four gallons (a minute and a half) for the Commander’s rank. This assumes you have a typical RV showerhead that lets 2.5 gallons per minute through.
If you blow it, the Airstream has a built-in warning sign. The hot water tank is usually six gallons. If you start feeling cold water, you’ve used all six gallons plus a bit more (because the tank is constantly re-heating) and you’ll soon be walking the plank when the rest of the family finds out. Even in a full hookup campground where you don’t have to worry about running out of water or filling the gray tank, the six-gallon limit still applies.
The other thing you need to know is the size of your gray water holding tank. Ours is a fairly roomy 39 gallons, which means all three of us Admirals can take showers in a total of less than 10 gallons, giving us three showers each plus some tooth brushing and dishes, before we run out of holding capacity.
It’s really not hard to learn the navy shower technique. Camping without a full hookup does require some small sacrifices, but you can still have a satisfying shower. The inability to stand under a spray of hot water for ten minutes is nothing when you realize that small sacrifice enabled you to walk out your door into the landscape of a great national park, or a quiet beautiful place far from crowds.
December 1, 2007 at 11:15 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
It has been a relaxed, un-rushed week in Oahu, but with today being our last day we felt the pressure of the things left undone. One of the top items on our list was to have dim sum in Chinatown, since we may not be able to get to San Diego to have it with our friends Bill and Larry. I was also surprised to discover that Eleanor had only had dim sum once in her life, at the age of 19, which was (mathematically speaking) centuries ago. Finding a culinary experience that Eleanor has not had is a rare thing. The things you discover after 14 years of marriage …
Emma had a battle with the chopsticks. She has used them before, but dim sum put her to the test. To her credit, she was not defeated and resisted the offer of a fork.
Dim sum was a huge success with all. We had a delicious brunch at Mei Sum in Chinatown and I can highly recommend the place. For all three of us the total was only $20 and we walked out quite stuffed.
Another thing on our list was to drive the Pali Highway over the mountains and get a view from the highway overlook. The mountains were shrouded in clouds and the overlook was closed, but the drive was beautiful anyway. We ended up exploring a few state beaches on the windward side, until Eleanor spotted the Honolulu Nut and Ukulele Company in Waimanolo. (Strange combination, I know.)
There’s a backstory here. Years ago in Rockport ME I bought a cheap $30 uke and a songbook, and then never really got up to speed with the ukulele. When we sold our house, Eleanor insisted on taking it with us in the Airstream. It has ridden around with us for two years, virtually untouched. About two weeks ago I ran into Tommy Green at the Airstream rally near Los Olivos, and he cajoled me into trying again. Tommy, a fellow Airstreamer, has a collection of ukes and is pretty good with them.
In two weeks we will meet Tommy and Kathy Green in the California desert and I expect to get two or three days of uke lessons. I want to make them count and actually come out strumming. So I went into the Hawaiian Nuts and Ukulele Company and bought a tuner and a beginner’s guide. All was well until I decided to try some of the better quality ukes to see what the difference was between a $30 cheapie and a … um. … somewhat more expensive model.
You can see where this is going, can’t you?
Well, I really liked the tenor ukulele made of mango wood for its big sound and comfortable feel, and of course to take it home I needed a case. Now I have a very nice tenor uke — my Christmas present from Eleanor — and Emma has a $30 soprano uke waiting for her under the bed in our Airstream, in like-new condition. While I was in the store, the staff taught me three chords and I can actually play them fairly well already. With a little more practice I’ll be ready for Tommy’s tutelage, and if I’m lucky Emma may come right along with me.
A little further south along the windward coast is Makapuu Point, and a state wayside where you can hike a paved trail about a mile up to a high point with panoramic views. There’s a cute little lighthouse visible from the trail, but the best part is the view toward Makapuu Beach State Park and the bird sanctuary islands of Kaohikaipu and Manana. The reef areas off the beach are clearly visible with polarized sunglasses. If we had another day I would certainly return for some snorkeling.
All over the island at beaches and waysides there are warnings not to leave valuables in your car. Sadly, break-ins are common. While we were parking at Makapuu State Wayside the police showed up to take a report from some sad tourists whose car was broken into in the middle of the day. The parking lot was busy with people coming and going but apparently the thieves just waited for a quiet minute. That’s all they need to conduct a simple “smash and grab” theft. You really can’t take chances here with valuables in a car.
My friend Bill Reilly called while we were on the hike up the point. He’s decided to build an Airstream coffee shop, and is looking for an Argosy 20 shell. The Argosy is essentially a “painted Airstream” that was built in the 1970s. Anyone who knows of a short one available for a reasonable price in the southeast US, let me know.
So with those things and another round of Bento boxes for dinner, we’ve wrapped up our Hawaiian vacation. Sunday we fly back to California and resume the Airstream life. It has been fun here but I’m looking forward to getting home. I have found I sleep better in the Airstream, and I can work more efficiently, and we only have a few precious weeks left before we have to return to home base for a while. We’re going to try to make the most of them.
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