I’m so sick of the word “torque” that I’m going to try avoid the word for a while. Suffice to say, our wheels are still attached, and we are now parked for a few days of rest in this suburb of Denver. (We were here last October, and you can read about it in the blog archives.)
Not long as we arrived, I got an email from The Health Chic asking where we were. Turns out they were at a cybercafe in Denver catching up on email. I told them where we were and about an hour later they showed up for a night of camping in the next space! This is the third time we’ve crossed paths since last month. Are they stalking us? 😉
After work, Bill and I took Emma out for a quick bike ride and Eleanor and Wendimere sat in their trailer gabbing … for hours. I think Eleanor and I are still decompressing from the events of the past few days, and having someone else to talk to has been nice this evening.
This week will be busy. I’ve got to run all over town to get my new cell phone, get my laptop fixed, and meet with people. Eleanor plans on running her errands too, so we’re going to have to negotiate “car time”.
I have neglected to mention our recent experience with the solar system. It has exceeded our expectations. At this time of year, we can go indefinitely without plugging in. When we reached Victor ID, we had been unplugged for eight days straight — and our batteries were still at 95%. The only reason we bother to plug in now is for A/C. Everything else we have runs on the batteries and solar panels.
I’m going to be interested to see how well the system performs this fall and winter. Obviously it won’t be quite so good, but I still expect we will not feel the need for a generator at any time, which makes me happy.
July 25th, 2006 at 8:06 am
Glad that you’re doing OK after your recent wheel troubles!
Fixing the lug nuts yourself was probably the right thing to do — you may know more about wheels than you care to, now, but you know how to take good care of them for your future travels. And the knowledge will make you that much more self-sufficient.
You alarmed your readers (or me, at least) in this last entry. After pondering the source of your recent troubles, as in “There’s a force in the universe that is out to get us…” (July 22), then you start a new topic in this entry by saying “I have neglected to mention our recent experience with the solar system.” !! You were on the “Going to the Sun Road” a few weeks ago, perhaps you had more experiences there than you’ve shared? Perhaps Mars is in the wrong “house” or something?
And I’m just happy that there’s more daylight than dark this time of year ….
🙂
July 25th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Rich,
Glad things are improving or at least mellowing out.
What kind of solar panels and contoller do you have?
If you have a generator, why didn’t you run it outside of Napa auto parts store a few days ago when it was 98 degrees in the trailer?
Good luck on getting your technology back in working order!
July 27th, 2006 at 10:48 pm
you are our hero for figuring out all the lugnut and torque stuff and for keeping on keeping on in the heat and adverse conditions…these words you have written are good for all of us to read and I am certain it will all lead you to something you else you can win at…our love to all of you…