Monday, January 20
“Just a minute, Les! I need to change. I’ll be right out.” I can see Les climbing out of his red pick-up parked next to the Best Little Trailer. “Okay,” he answers.
Rocky sand next to a wash in the Sidewinder Road area west of Yuma.
It’s mid-morning.
I’m still in my sleeping clothes. I pull myself together and step outside. I don’t see Les.
“I’m over here,” he calls. “I’m admirin’ your solar panel.”
I follow his voice around the Perfect Tow Vehicle.
Les comes down off the stepladder that I keep handy for raising and lowering the panel.
“Two hundred watts, right?” he remarks, looking up at the panel. “You’ve got a real nice set-up here.”
I can tilt the panel at several angles in 5-degree increments along the metal rods. Look at that pretty sky.
We walk around to the camp chairs.
“Gee, am I glad to see you, Les,” I begin. “I drove by your place twice on the way out and you weren’t home. At first, I didn’t think much about it. Then yesterday we walked down that way. I caught sight of your trailer but I didn’t see your truck.”
“Yeah, I went out for a little while yesterday.”
“Well, I’m sitting here thinking, gee, maybe I ought to call the local hospital.”
Les looks at me and smiles.
“That’s nice of you to want to do that.”
In case you don’t recall, I met Les when the crew and I camped here before Christmas. He’s the cowboy lyricist, Les Buffham. He camps in his travel trailer at Sidewinder Road during the winter for about six months. The rest of the year he works as a camp host.
Les is a clever guy.
He’s a tinkerer. You know, the kind of guy who’s always coming up with novel ways to do things, like laying 600 feet of black tubing on the ground in order to heat his water. He also has a pulley he fashioned that extends out the back of his pick-up. I assume it’s to lift and position containers of water. I’ll have to ask him about that.
His trailer has four solar panels angled out from its backside.
He likes to buy dehydrated foods in bulk. It’s interesting to learn how boondockers handle the necessities of living. Especially a clever boondocker like Les.
We never seem to run out of things to talk and laugh about, and then there are the paperbacks to trade.
After Les leaves, I eat some lunch and straighten up the BLT. It’s such a beautiful, warm and sunny day that I find myself reading in the lounger until mid-afternoon. I don’t feel like driving into Yuma. We can go tomorrow.
I don’t know where the days go.
I always seem to have more than enough to do without doing a whole lot. How is that possible? Oh well, I enjoy every single one of my days.
I didn’t take any photos today.
This picture is the result of my experimenting with the settings on my camera a few days ago. I tried the near-focus-but-fuzzy-background setting with the “brilliant” setting and, after cropping, the sunset shot looks like this . . .
Painting a sunset with a camera . . . What fun!
Here’s an experiment with very little color . . .
When I see jets streaking across the sky, I like to guess the cities they took off from and where they will land.
One could do nothing but photograph the sky in the Southwest and never run out of inspiration.
Okay, tomorrow we WILL go to Yuma!
I’ll pick up the stuff I ordered from Amazon. It’ll be fun showing you what I got.
rvsue
THANK YOU, RVSUE SHOPPERS!
I appreciate you shopping Amazon from my blog.
Hello Sue, sounds like Les is pretty handy. You should experiment with black and white pics. I took some photography classes in college and was disappointed to learn the first class was black and white but by the end I loved it! I misd my old Minolta 35mm. These new fangled digital cameras just cant do right, uou cant push the fstop or do multiple exposures or time exposure etc. I think you can but you have to buy a awfully expensive rig. Anyway have a good evening, Bill
Hi, Bill,
I have posted a few black-and-whites, but I’ll be danged if I can find them! Black-and-white are fun. It makes me focus on silhouettes and composition while shooting.
It’s nice to see you commenting here regularly, Bill. You have a good evening, too.
Ask and you shall receive:
http://rvsueandcrew.com/2013/03/26/an-extended-road-trip-or-a-satisfying-life/
Thank you! You know my blog better than I do.
Hey Sue I have seen a few b and w pics by you. As listed below, oops. Thanks Sue I enjoy reading your blog and now that I have read it all I just have to be a part of it by commenting. You have put so much useful info in this blog for camping, boondocking, water mgt, cooking, oh I could just go on and on! I look forward to every nugget of happiness, joy and contentment that you, project! Plus…. Hey woman you, luv horses and I have had a luv affair with them since I was 5 years old! 51 years of horses and syillbluving them!
Only won second……
The important thing is that you’re here. Or at least you were.
Can’t wait to get on the road at the end of this month. We will be heading down to Ajo in a couple weeks. What is the coordinates for your favorite camping place around there if you don’t mind. We are also planning to stop and visit friends in the Slabs and stop by our favorite campground Agua Calienta in eastern San Diego County. We love the hot springs pools. Reading your blog just makes me want to see the sunsets sooner but it will be time soon. Your photos keep my wandering spirit happy even when I can’t physically wander.
Hi, lindale,
I don’t keep coordinates. I’ve camped in a couple places in the Darby Well Road area. Take the road out of Ajo that goes to Why. After you turn onto Darby Well Road and drive about three miles, you’ll come to a fork. A sign warns of smuggling in the area. Take the road to the right. There are campsites on both sides of the road. I don’t have a favorite.
You may already know about this . . .
01/30 to 02/02 2014 – Ajo Old Time Fiddle Contest, Ajo Country Club – 77 Mead Road, 85321
A Live Music-Concert Event organized by Arizona Old Time Fiddlers Association, Inc..
We will have no exhibit booths and local food booths. There will be 1 stage with Regional and Local talent and the following music, Country, Gospel and Bluegrass. This event will also include dance and fiddlers show.
There will be more campers in the Darby Well Road area that weekend.
Being retired means getting up in the morning with nothing to do… and only being half done by the time you go back to bed at night.
Exactly! And more of the same the next day . . .
Hi Sue,
Remember when you said the only way you would go thru parts of Quartzite is if someone held your hand?…
I believe you said that, well I thought about coming to get you this morning. You know…misery loves company. Yeah the Q is crazy, I got there early, left L.A. at 4:40AM and got to the Q at about 8:30AM. Not too many people but traffic was insane, I decided to leave you alone and get the F out of dodge, and drove back to L.A, and am back at home now.
Roger
Oh, I do need to mention I went thru the whole RV show and then got out of there.
Roger
Hi, Roger,
Too much! You drove to L.A. to get away from traffic! I’ve never heard that before. Sorry your Big Q experience was overwhelming. I know what that feeling is. I hurried out of Dodge myself.
At least you saw something. Now you know what I meant when I said I would only do Quartzsite if somebody held my hand and walked me through it. Glad you made it home safely.
Hi sue,
Where I live in Hollywood believe it or not, today was a holiday and traffic was lighter than the insanity in the Q.
Roger
Ha Sue, loved the camera setting play….got some nice results, you go “photo girl”.
Glad you ran into Les, he sounds like quit a boondocker engineer.
I am also intriqued with your solor panel’s frame and brackets, would love to see close ups of the set up. I have not installed mine yet and have been wanting to find a way to tilt it on a frame.
It sounds like a good day for you, take care.
Hi, Diane,
The solar panel is mounted on a roof rack. The tilting mechanism was designed and fabricated by my cyber-friend Mick of Tennessee. I’ve posted photos of it before. I’ll see if I can find them.
Nice of you to mention my photos.
I hope you don’t mind if I save you some time
http://rvsueandcrew.com/2011/12/07/its-goodbye-for-now/
Hi Sue,
While you are looking for the photos I was wondering how many watts it takes to power a microwave and/or micro-convection oven and will the 200 watt solar panel power either of them? How do you figure out what size would be needed to power them as well as what size inverter and type of batteries you would need. I know you don’t have one in the BLT, but thought if Mick sees this or you email him, he might know the answer. All the electrical stuff boggles my mind. (as does most electronic/electrical stuff) LOL. Thanks for the help.
Hi, Barbara,
My mind is boggled, too, whenever anyone says words like “watts,” “amps,” “inverter” . . . I understand their meanings but my mind refuses to have anything to do with them. It’s like somebody pulls the circuit breaker in my head.
I do know that a generator or hook-ups are needed in order to run a microwave or oven or anything that generates a lot of heat.
Mick? Hello? Mick?
The important thing here is watt-hours. If you have a 200 watt solar panel charging your batteries for 8 hours you will probably get 800 watt-hours of energy. (100% efficiency would be 1600 watt-hours). If you run your 700 watt microwave on 100% power for 10 minutes (1/6 hour) you will use 167 watt-hours. (Please note that a microwave oven that is rated at 700 watts cooking power probably takes 1000 watts of power) To run the 700 watt microwave you would need a 1000 watt inverter, absolute minimum. A 2000 watt inverter would be much better. Your 10 minute microwave blast took 21% of your available daily power.
I love it what you talk like that.
Hey Mick I have a 700 watt/1800watt peak inverter from Harbor Freight. I found a old microwave like the convience stores used to have, u know with the dial that only goes to 5 minutes and the inside is only big enough to put a small plate in, like 6-7 inches. Its 600 watts. I can nuke my breakfast oatmeal and use my 4 cup drip coffee maker, same wattage for 5 days off my two marine batteries and only go down to 70% charge. Trick is turn the coffee off as soon as it finishes and use quick package oatmeal and only warm it up. I dont have a solar system, only a tiny little 1800 watt generator. I so admire the system you made Sue, maybe one day I can get one.
Sue, you know there is no shame in post editing photos. Sometimes it’s more fun than shooting them to begin with. Digital photos lend themselves so well to photo editing. You know for as long as there have been motion pictures we’ve had very skilled people doing the post production editing. One example might be simply cropping. You take a picture, then upon looking at it find a much more interesting picture by cropping down to just a segment of the original. I play with post editing all the time. Years ago when I was a young photographer in a large industrial photo department in San Diego one of the old timers told me, never be too timid to move in close to get the shot. He was right. So much beauty can be found in moving in close to the subject. A good example is maybe a cactus flower consuming the entire frame. Everyone has seen the cactus but that closeup of the flower is often breathtaking.
You have a good eye for “the shot”. BTW I notice Hollywood has reverted to B&W when they are trying for suspense, etc.
Hope you get your goodies from Amazon tomorrow that’s always fun.
Hi, Jim,
Interesting that you mention close-up shots. I looked for close shots on the day we walked the wash but didn’t do too well. I’ve missed taking close-ups. This is a tough area for those. The plants are beat-up looking, dried leaves, and such.
Almost every photo I post is the result of a crop.
About editing photos. I don’t mind fooling with the photos. What I try to stay away from is editing a landscape photo to make it look spectacular at the expense of reality, because I take photos for this blog and I don’t forget that some of my readers want to see what the desert (or wherever we may be) really looks like.
The tracking info says everything I ordered has arrived!
Ahh I was going to ask if you used the tracking. It sure makes it easy to be available when something is due to deliver. I understand about “glamorizing” your landscapes.
That’s exactly what it is — glamorizing. I like that term.
Hi Sue…i just wanted to pop in and thank you for all your hard work in maintaining this blog and sharing your life with us!! You are so gracious about answering each comment – even when there are over 100! I cannot imagine the time that would take! I think that you should take a couple of days off on a regular schedule so that you can actually rest! You can love something the best of all and still tire of it occasionally. We will all understand! Just a thought…Hugs! Sheri
Hi, Sheri,
You are very thoughtful and kind.
Sometimes this blog seems like a bucking bronc and I’m hanging on to its tail. Yes, there are days when I don’t feel like blogging. At the same time I do enjoy hearing from my readers, and in order to receive comments, I have to blog!
When a topic spurs a lot of responses, I keep my laptop open and online. I do other things — take care of indoor chores, checking ever so often for a new comment, stop and reply, then go back to whatever I was doing. Or I surf online between comments . . . or read a book, reply, read some more, reply. In other words, I’m not sitting all day looking at the screen. It does keep me indoors more than usual, however.
I give myself a break by not blogging every day. I’ll take a “night off” and then blog the following morning. That’s probably annoying for some readers, me not being consistent, but it gives me a chance to recharge. Some days the words just don’t come or the writing is too “flat” to post.
Sweet of you to write this to me . . .
Sheri, Thanks for expressing what I have been thinking but couldn’t figure out how to say – rvsue needs downtime sometime. Heck, even working folks get the weekend off. 🙂
Sue, we will understand and can always go back and re read older posts. Your writing is always entertaining and informative.
Thank you, Mary, for your kindness and understanding, and for the compliment on my writing.
I should admit to another motivation for blogging as frequently as I can muster . . . When I don’t blog, my Amazon sales drop! That task master and penny-pincher, who reside in my brain, both nag at me — “Get busy, you slacker! Make money while the sun shines!”
So there it is . . . ugly greed . . . LOL!
And here we thought you blogged so frequently for the sheer joy of communicating with us!! My day is not complete until I can read something from your site, get my daily full-timing fix, and turn green with envy until I can get out there!
Lana, I hope it is a very pretty shade of green. 🙂 I agree, I need my dose of vicarious living. 🙂
I doubt that I’ll ever full time but I sure enjoy retirement and hope you will be doing so too – soon. 🙂
Sue, I love all your photos! What camera do you use and what program do you like for photo editing?
Hi, Kristi,
My camera is a SONY Cyber-shot Exmore 18.2 megapixels. I use Picasa. I don’t necessarily recommend it, since I’ve never used any other photo editor.
Thanks for the positive feedback on my photos.
And thus, dear readers, we discover the real reason RVSue doesn’t want drop-ins…..you never know when she’ll be decent! 😉
I know what you mean about losing track of your days…just had a three day weekend, and before it got here, I was full of things I was going to get accomplished. Now it’s Tuesday morning, and I think I got one thing done.
Love the ‘painted’ sunset!
Hi, Ladybug,
You’re right… That is one reason. I do occasionally take a bath outside!
I appreciate the positive feedback to the “painted sunset.” That photo wasn’t going to appear in the blog. I didn’t take any photos for this post, so it got a second chance.
The photo doesn’t have much “life” to it and I figured some would see it as boring. I like it though. To me it looks very much like Someone painted the hills and sky.
Ok, now I’ve figured out why I love that pic so much. It reminds me of ones that I’ve seen of sunsets and sunrises in the Smoky Mountains.
You’re right! It does look like the Smokies.
After reading about Les drooling over your solar panels, I jumped to your tab about Solar Power. You (and your readers) are an awesome resource. Now maybe it’s just me, but I sense a “bounce in your step” when Les comes around?
It’s fun to see your progression of photography skills. I still ooh and ahhh over Al’s pics from the Bayfield Bunch. Can’t wait till I get out there and make my very own pics. Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
BuckeyePatti, I noticed something too – just a tad.
Okay, Emily and Patti… Let’s not stir up something that’s not there. 🙂
You two would love a little romance to show up on my blog. Well, it ain’t gonna’ happen!
Les is a person with a bright aura. He has a good sense of humor. We do have a lot in common. We’re both problem-solvers and story-tellers. We both like to fool around with words. (Les writes cowboy poetry, lyrics, essays.)
Now see? If this were romance, I wouldn’t be dissecting it!
I seem to recall various readers trying to stir up these hook-ups any time you mention a guy….Rusty, then I seem to remember some other guy you pal’d around with for a couple of weeks during a summer (don’t remember which year); maybe a couple of others. Being a single female, I get the same treatment in real life, so I try to avoid reading into things.
Hi, Patti,
You’re welcome. My photography has improved over the past two years. I’ve learned a lot and I also have a much better camera (thanks to Mick) than I’ve had previously. When you look at the first year-and-a-half of this blog (cringe), please realize that those pics were taken with a cheap point-and-shoot and I didn’t use a photo editor.
Speaking of cringing . . . That’s what I do when someone mentions Al’s photos. He gets fantastic results with his eye and his cameras. *sigh*
Love the layers in the sunset photo. Just had to tell you. It’s cold here in MI again…zero this morning and we’re the lucky ones..it’s snowing a blizzard on the east coast.
Hi, Dawn,
I think the sunset layers are lovely, too. (See reply to Ladybug, above.) Thank you.
I haven’t read the news and weather yet this morning. Another blizzard? 🙁
Not here in MI, but up the east coast they’re getting socked in again. 🙁
Hi RvSue….I know about how the days fly by….I have been fixin’ to get ready to put things up in the M/H so that I can try to get mosyin’ on out to AZ.since last October!!!!!
Enjoy,enjoy and enjoy!
Hi, Betty-Shea,
I remember the last few days before our “lift-off” were jam-packed. It helped that this procrastinator had an appointment at the Casita factory in Texas and I had to get there from Georgia. Maybe you need to make a reservation somewhere more than a day’s drive away!
In the meantime I’ll keep posting stories and photos to lure you this way . . .
Sue….I love your photos and I enjoy all your posts!!!
I do have an appointment…my son Mike’s 38th(oh my!) birthday!
He is in Tucson and I am in Lobo,Texas….The “appointment” is Feb.8th.!!! :-))
Les is a great friend to have.
Say Hey ! To him from “Sunglass Richard” andShea
Will do!
I too wonder where the planes have taken off from and where they’re going…we love to travel and can’t afford to do it by air…so we RV!
Hi, Linda,
I’m not fond of flying. I don’t like the hassle of getting to the airport and through the terminal and then more hustle-and-bustle at the other end. I find it disconcerting to leave one place and be “dropped” into another. I know that’s silly. I suppose I’d become accustomed to these things if I traveled by air a lot.
I like to journey to my destination or to have no destination at all and wander. Wouldn’t want to be on a wandering jet! 🙂
Love your life Sue…………..I would be like you………..the hours of the day would pass quickly without thinking. I would always have plenty to occupy myself and would never be bored! Love that you are experimenting with your camera………..turning an ordinary shot into something brilliant is so much fun. Love those two sky shots and the one at your header today……..the colour in that is beautiful!!
Hi, Glenda,
Your compliments on my photos are very encouraging. Thank you.
How can I be bored living this life? I don’t have to run to museums or climb mountains or drop money at the casino or whatever.
It’s enough for me to putter around camp, walk the crew and laugh at their antics, take photos of the sunrises and sunsets and the desert, read, go online, cook, write a blog, listen to XM radio, do some maintenance or cleaning on the BLT and PTV . . . . There’s always something to do!
Totally agree………….I would love it!!
What is the advantage of XM Radio? Is it just the lack of commercials? Is there any conversation at all before and after playing a piece of music?
Here are the advantages for me:
I can listen to radio wherever I go. Without satellite radio, especially in the vast areas of the West, I can’t pick up radio signals.
Wherever I go, I can listen to stations only available via satellite. Commercial radio stations are available also, complete with ads, i.e. MSNBC, Fox News, etc. However one can sign up for a gazillion stations (local, national, international) that have no commercials. . . Lots of choices in music, talk, sports, religion, public radio, in various languages . . and you can store to listen later . . .
Lately I’ve been listening to the station “Bluesville.” All it plays, of course, are the blues with no annoying chatter.
Tuesday which was a Monday at school today…sigh…well, only three more days until another weekend. T.S. Eliot wrote that his life is measured in coffee spoons. I guess mine is measured by class periods in a day. I don’t want to think of how many more I have until I’m living the desert life.
Hi, DeAnne,
Every day can seem like a marathon for teachers. Do whatever you can to stay healthy and strong, to protect yourself from negative forces, and to keep your dream alive. . . Each day brings you closer!
Thanks Sue! I’m okay–just get in that rut sometimes.
Visited Amazon yesterday to order some stuff, through you, Sue. Thanks for the prose and photography. You and your talents are appreciated.
Don
Hi, Don,
You’re welcome. Shopping at Amazon through my blog is a gift to me which I appreciate very much.
Hi Sue,
I have reposted this here in case you don’ have chance or don’t check other comments once you have posted a response.
While you are looking for the photos I was wondering how many watts it takes to power a microwave and/or micro-convection oven and will the 200 watt solar panel power either of them? How do you figure out what size would be needed to power them as well as what size inverter and type of batteries you would need. I know you don’t have one in the BLT, but thought if Mick sees this or you email him, he might know the answer. All the electrical stuff boggles my mind. (as does most electronic/electrical stuff) LOL. Thanks for the help.
See above ^, but I didn’t answer the battery question.
Taking the numbers from above, where the 200 watt panel would give 800 watt-hours on the average day, the battery should have about 5 times the absolute capacity. This is because for long battery life you should not discharge the battery below 50% of its rating. Batteries are normally rated in amp-hours so you need to multiply this number by the battery voltage; 13 is a good number for normal 12 volt systems. That means a 100 amp-hour battery stores 1300 watt-hours of energy. So 5 times your daily charge of 800 watt-hours gives 4000 watt-hour. This could be three 100 amp-hour batteries. (3 batts X 100 amp-hours X 13 volts = 3900 watt-hour) or two 150 amp-hour batteries. This would allow for two or three rainy days. If you are sure you could get along on 400 watt-hours per day then you could reduce your battery requirement. I think RvSue will agree that the 200 watt panel was a good choice. If you really love your microwave multiply by two!
Well, before hubby retired and my life got so incredibly busy!! I sometimes would nap off and on all of a day…sure felt good to do that once in awhile!! That is why I would want to know people were coming by…would not be brave enough to bathe outside!! I suppose the doggies keep you busy enough too…they no doubt have things they want to do to (like go explore a bit)!!
It is ok to write to make a bit of change on the side…why not?? We get the enjoyment of reading…no matter the motivation behind it.
Hi, Elizabeth,
First and foremost, I blog to record and share the my life with Bridget and Spike living in a small travel trailer.
I don’t strip naked when bathing outside (well, once I did). I’m a little more discreet than that. 🙂
Well, Sue, I see nothing wrong with folks blogging to earn some extra cash or benefits on the side…nothing at all. I know that you never did that at first…but you are likely like us…on a fixed income that does not go up…while expenses do!! So do what you need to and without apology!!
Wow…glad to know you are discreet when bathing outside!! Heh!! They do have some cute little tent type shower houses…we have looked at those with thoughts of maybe later on…but you are terribly space limited in your setup too…all things have to be considered with the space one has.
Hi Sue ‘n crew,
I have enjoyed your site for 2 1/2 yrs, living vicariously through you & crew.
Your Spike looks very similar to my now departed J.R.T Cosworth.
This is my year to buy a C Class & hit “the bush” as we Aussies say.
Sue, is there some way that I can send you some info privately on something you recently posted ? I’m never sure what get;s posted or not, this way you can decide what goes up or not.
Thank you for the fab site.
Sharon
Hi, Sharon
You’re welcome.
Please, please, please, if you feel it’s necessary for me to receive the info, please consider writing the info here. It’s been my experience, with very rare exception, when people ask to contact me via email or when they send me a “private message” on a forum, it’s something that could’ve been shared here.
Good luck shopping for your Class C!
Hi Sue,
“The airplane trails” that you , Nina, at Wheeling It & others mention are in fact known as Chemtrailing. Look up Geo Engineering.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1TRQpJrYmU#t=77
I drove to Q last Friday, tried to find Bob & his RTR group but despite asking several other groups couldn’t find them.
Would have loved to sit in on a seminar.
It was amazing to see all that was available there, see why you high tailed into the bush though !
Thanks for the link, ShaznAZ… I had no idea.
I’m sure Bob and his group are sorry you missed them.
Hi Sue;
I used to read your adventures a few years ago when I first got the RV Bug, I always found your musings fun and interesting and sometimes laugh out loud funny. Now I have that bug again and scour the internet for the best (lite) trailer deals, tips and tricks and such and decided to find RVSue and see what she’s been up to, yep two hours later, love your site, your wisdom and most of all your humor. I have always wanted to camp way far away from others, not a campground kind of woman either, but I may change once I actually hit the road, who knows!! Thanks for your postings we all really love your adventures!!!
Tina
Hi, Tina B . . . Long time, no see! I’m happy to see you back here. Thanks for the positive feedback on my blog.
If you think you’ll prefer camping away from the crowd, “rvsue and her canine crew” is a blog to follow!
we are camped on a road on Ogilby. I THINK we might have seen you today as we were driving around 🙂
Isn’t the weather the BEST today? We were in the dunes, but moved yesterday.
I do have a question. I guess we will have to go into Yuma, or is there a place at Sidewinder to take trash? I’m finding each area has it’s good points, and not so good points. The dunes had spotty internet, but trash recepticles and pit toilets, and the place is crawling with people lol Ogilby is quiet, has GREAT internet, but no toilets or trash lol
Hi, Barb,
You can get water from a spigot and dump your trash at the rest stop further west than the dunes on I-8. It’s not far past Grays Well.
To dump go east toward Yuma to the next exit from Ogilby called Sidewinder Road. There’s a gas station and store where you can dump tanks. The fee is based on the size of your rig. It cost me $6 for my 17-foot BLT.
Yes, I think today is the warmest day since the crew and I made this our camp.
thanks Sue. Sure is fun reading your adventures! I loved the colors of the stuff you got at Walmart….that’s also what I like about NOT having a huge house. Doesn’t take a lot to make it
look great 🙂
Hi Sue and the furkids.
Been reading your blog for a while now and love it. Really impressed with your resourcefulness. I want to do much the same someday. I plan on being down that way in a month or two. Last time was 2007 and trying to get back ever since. Your photos are great.
Hello. I enjoy your blog.
Quick question: I’m in the process of choosing a new travel trailer that I can pull with my 1-ton Chevy Cargo Van. I’ve been reading that it’s best to stay under 25 feet so that I’ll be allowed to camp anywhere, including Federal Parks. Unfortunately, almost all of the trailers under 25 feet have a single axle. I’ve read many places that it’s better to get a tandem trailer (carries more weight, safer if tire blows, etc.)
Besides camping in Federal Parks, I also hope to spend a lot of time camping on BLM land, which probably means driving on unpaved roads, etc.
Seeing as you have a single axle trailer and have traveled many miles, could you give me your thoughts on the subject.
Thanks, Jim
Hi, James,
Great to hear from you! Before I respond to your question, let me remind you that my experience and knowledge is limited to my 17′ Casita. I’ve never owned or camped in anything else.
A trailer under 25 feet will allow you to camp in more places, both boondocks and campgrounds. The older campgrounds which often are in primo locations tend to have shorter parking spaces for their campsites. The PTV and BLT together are 34 feet and in some older campgrounds we fit with only inches to spare.
As far as towing a trailer over rough roads on public lands, my blog is evidence of the super spots one can get to with a single axle trailer. Again, I don’t know anything about tandem trailers, maybe there’s no difference on the “challenging” roads.
Also, I don’t know anything about tandem trailers being safer. I suspect other factors figure into the situations causing tires to blow… Things like driving several hours at high speed in hot weather with incorrect inflation or carrying too much weight inside the trailer.
I’ve browsed two forums over the past ten years: casitaforum.com and fiberglassrv.com I don’t recall reading about blow-outs. That doesn’t mean they don’t happen with the single axle trailers, but I think I can assume it’s not a big issue.
I like single axle because it means only two tires, rather than four, to purchase, maintain, and replace.
BTW… Great choice for a tow vehicle!
Best wishes making your decision, Jim!