Busy, Busy–Lazy, Lazy

 

OK, Bad Barry. I dropped out of Blog Land for almost three weeks. I’ve just had a spell where I couldn’t seem to get motivated to write. Went camping, went to Disney, worked a Card Stunt for the Daytona 500, nothing seemed to move me to sit down and write a post for this blog.

So now I’ll give ya’ the Readers Digest version of what’s been happenin’.

I said we went campin’. Well we drove over to the Wildlife Management area to see some friends that were supposed to be spendin’ the winter in AZ. Seems he missed all the folks they normally camp with so they drug the 5’ver back across the US to sunny Florida. Speakin’ of Sunny Florida, the weather here has been 10 degrees above normal for the last two weeks. Feels more like late spring than winter.

We stayed with them a few days on our way to Rose’s house for a visit there. Upon arrivin’ she said they were doin’ another Card Stunt for the Daytona race and we were welcome to work it. Well it’s not hard work and a little spendin’ money never hurt. This one was sponsored by driver Danica Patrick and we worked six hours to complete it. The theme was to raise awareness for COPD which I understand affected her Grandmother. Along with the cards for this one their was also a magnet to insert in each piece. After six and a half hours my back was tellin’ me “We’re done in fella, Go Home.” So after some lunch we all went back to Rose’s to rest up cause Sunday we went to Disney.

Going to Disney with Rose & her daughter is kinda’ like runnin’ a small marathon in short bursts. They know all the angles, all the attractions that we have to run to so’s we can get ‘Fast Passes’ and skip the 40 minute to one hour waits. Of course we then had to run to the next Fast Pass station to get passes for that one.

This is where we started our day.

After a full day of Safari’s, Bugs, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and a astronomically priced lunch we left the Animal Kingdom fer’ The Studio. This park was known as MGM Studios, but the name has been changed and I simply can’t remember it. We did a lot of shopping Rose & Courtney rode the Rockin’ Rollercoaster, then we went to the Stunt driving show. By now we had a full day and we left the park behind for a dinner stop at Logan Roadhouse before headin’ home. Monday morning we headed for  the home.

Since then I’ve been workin’ on the electric upgrade for our fifth wheel, since all the ‘goodies’ I ordered arrived just before we left. What have I been doin’?

Let’s see I ran a line, #10 wire, from the panel in the rear to the front basement for the inverter power.

That’s it inside that gray conduit along the frame rail.

Installed an IOTA Automatic Transfer switch next to the main panel to feed the smaller panel in the converter.

Mounted the inverter on the ceiling of the front basement and plugged in the wire to the transfer switch.

Pulled the wire for the inverter remote switch and also for the Trimetric meter and installed the remote switch.

The Trimetric meter will be installed beside this switch on the side of the entertainment center. I haven’t installed it cause I’m not sure of the placement of the battery shunt that it has to be connected to.

Yesterday I went to Sam’s Club with my Mom, since we don’t have an active card anymore, and purchased the batteries.

Here’s the new 440 Amp Hour storage for our Challenger Fifth wheel. I’ve also constructed a box to contain the batteries, maybe I’ll get that sealed & painted tomorrow. Then I need to cut a hole in the bottom of the battery box for a vent and one in the side for the other vent. I’m going to use a computer CPU fan on the upper vent with a toggle switch for now. This will be replaced with a voltage controlled switch that will run only when the charging batteries reach a voltage that causes them to start to gas.

I also ordered three 85 Watt solar panels from Sun Electronics in Miami today, cost $157.25 each. Eventually I will add one or two more panels to these.

I still need to order a charge controller with remote temperature sensor, have couple of custom length 4/0 cables made up at NAPA & some tray cable for the panels.

When I get the battery box installed I will be able to determine the exact length for the additional cables. I’ll also install the fuses and shunt at that time. Also need to run some #6 wire to the roof, (and I know that’s gonna be fun), to a junction box for the solar panels. I should probably use #4 wire to the roof but I have 500’ of #6, so it wins out.

In addition to this work Linda’s aunt & uncle showed up the other day for they’re annual visit. Jay & Ellie our friends who were wintering in AZ are stopping by for a few days. So I’ve been very busy doin’ nothin’!

I better get a goin’ fer now. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

People of WalMart! Where?

Got an email from a friend the other day with some new pics of those ever evolving WalMart folks and thought I’d share some with ya’ll. I don’t know, maybe I don’t want to know where these people,( and I’m givin’ the benefit of the doubt here), reside. On the other hand maybe it would be good to know where they are so as to avoid those WalMarts like the plague. The title of the email was ‘Walmartians’. I like that as it gives them they’re on identity, like creatures from the planet Wal. Kinda like those folks we always heard about when we were kids or saw in some of the movies at the Saturday afternoon matinee from the ‘Angry Red Planet’, Martians.

Personal Note;
While I was still working the stressful life in Management, I often thought that when I retired a part time position as a WalMart Greeter would be nice. No worries, no stress. Just cordially greet folks as they come in the door and try to put a little smile on their face.

NO WAY JOSE’

OK let’s start off with the ‘Fashionistas’ those folks who ‘Dance to a different Drummer’. First up we have ‘Rainbow Man’, who seems to have sunlight emanating from his choice of garb.

Next up is a few Babes (I’m really goin’ out on a limb here), that you just have to draw your own conclusions about.

What the F**K?

 

This last one was arrested for drinkin’ out of the toilet a little while later.

And the Queen of the fashionistas,

Can’t tell whether this is a dress or just high waisted shorts. This is NOT somethin’ I’ll be lookin’ forward to in my senior years.

 

Next up the ‘Breeders’ of the species!

 

Just plain scary.

 

I don’t think so!

 

I’d feel luckier holdin’ an iron rod over my head in a thunderstorm!

 

Then we have the ‘Sports Nuts’, beefin’ up fer’ the ‘WalMart Bobsled Team’.

 

 

Up next is one who neglected to change into his ‘Non-descript’ earth clothes. Must not have good magazines on Wal.

 

‘Beam me up Scotty’

 

OK only a couple left. This one is for Nellie over at Diary of a Midlife Cruiser. You were talkin’ about the ‘Bloated Buddha Belly’ your supposed to be sportin’ these days, Well girl you aint’ got nothin’ on this one.

 

Hey maybe those are a pair of spare bobbies? That’s neat. Or is it a case of serious ‘Front Butt’?

And for Blogma Donna of Cave Dwellings, I want you to be please careful when you’re out there on you’re ‘Combat Food Retrieval’ missions cause this thing looks like it could ‘Kick you’re Butt’.

Scary!! Looks like ‘WWF Monday Night Raw’ gone to WalMart.

 

Well that’s all the other species photos I’m gonna burden ya’ with today. I didn’t even get into the hairdressers of ‘Planet Wal’, you lucky people.

Oh yeah. Fer’ Wayne & Maureen over at Wayne’s RV Travel, this is the ‘ONE’ vehicle that coulda’ transported them all here.

 

REMEMBER

What Has Been Seen, Can Not be Unseen!

 

On a couple of other notes I’m still waitin’ on all the goodies I ordered to arrive, so’s I can go to installin’ our new power generation station.

 

I’d like to welcome a couple of new followers to the blog. Lori & Dave from The Trailer Tales, The Good Luck Duck & philipsvnnh. I try to keep it real, I try to keep it interesting, occasionally I get it real interesting.

 

I’d also like to thank those who sent my girl ‘Birthday Greetings’ last week, as she hit the milestone of 62, Senior Pass, Social Security and all the discounts she can handle.

Well that all fer’ today. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Roundin’ up some new power

 

Well as I said I’ve been workin’ on Phase one of our new electric upgrade on the 5ver. In this phase I’m installing four new 220 amp Sam’s Club 6 volt batteries, a 1500 watt Cobra inverter, IOTA 30 amp transfer switch with remote switching and a Trimetric 2025RV monitoring system.

I’ve been spending my time going through the shore power electric system as wired in our fifth wheel. We have a 50 amp service which powers a 30 amp converter panel. I don’t want to and can’t power the entire system from a 1500 watt inverter. So I’m workin’ on separatin’ some circuits. First the converter is powered from the same breaker as all the GFCI outlets in the coach, the wires are crimped together, no way to turn it off when boondockin’ without killin’ the power to most of the outlets. So I’ve put a switch in the converter feed to disable it while runnin’ the inverter. I could have put it on a new breaker in the main panel but I already had everything needed to switch it. Can’t have the converter tryin’ to charge the batteries from power originating from the inverter which is runnin’ on those same batteries. Since I don’t know if I want to get rid of the converter, we’ll live with this fer’ a spell.

Most of the new equipment will be added to the front basement compartment with the exception of the transfer switch. It will be mounted in the same cabinet as the main breaker panel so I only have one wire run from the inverter to the transfer switch. I’ve had to move the main breaker panel about some to get some room for the switch that disables the converter and the transfer switch.  I got a sweet deal on an inverter from Don Rowe fer’ $119 on sale. The remote switch was another $20. I decided to go with a modified sine wave inverter in that I’m basically running lights and appliances that I feel won’t require a more expensive pure sine wave inverter. If I encounter a problem with something in the coach I can always add a small pure sine wave inverter to power that device.

I’ve already ordered most of the needed items and my battery interconnect cables arrived yesterday. Nice hefty 4/0 cable to reduce any voltage loss and carry the current for charging. I’m hoping all the other items arrive next week as we’re headed back to Rose’s in Kissimmee for a few days. I have yet to build a battery box & get it sealed and installed in the basement. The batteries I’ll pick up at our local Sam’s Club later. My son found a source for ‘Blem’ batteries for cheap, as a matter of fact he purchased an “Optima’ battery for his airboat for $40 which was manufactured two months ago. I gave some thought to purchasing 6 volt batteries here at a reduced price of $50, but I need the batteries to be the same age, condition and size to keep the battery bank at peak performance. Mixing batteries is not the best idea for longevity as weaker batteries will draw down fully charged batteries reducing our total power. The Sam’s Club batteries are $72 and change. I have old batteries to exchange, so I’m lookin’ at only payin’ the $1.50 Federal tax and sales tax still keepin’ the total under eighty bucks for brand new batteries. I’ll feel a lot more comfortable this way. I looked into other Branded batteries such as Trojan and US Battery but they are twice the cost or more. Folks seem to be havin’ good luck with the batteries from Sam’s Club and if they only last half the life of the others, I’ve only paid half the price.

In addition to this upgrade I’m going to run #6 wire from a disconnect in the front basement to a combiner box on the roof for the solar panels I hope to add in the near future, just got to get rid of a ten ton, twenty foot, tandem dump trailer and some of those proceeds will go to the rest of this upgrade. I already know what size and how many panels and what vendor I’m usin’. Just have one more job fer’ that dump trailer then she’s goin’ on Ebay!

Well I’m not getting’ anything done on my project cliclin’ keys so I’ll say “Adios” fer’ now. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Campin’ Cousins & Old Age

Howdy! Folks been checkin’ in with us to see if we’ve fallen off the face of the earth. Truth is we had company, then I started on the 5ver and then  ***SOMEONE***had a birthday.

Lets start with the “Campin’ Cousins’ comin’ to visit us at home in sunny Florida. They arrived on a Thursday and I’m sure they were as glad to get here as we were to have them. Diane & Denny came from north of Pittsburg and the weather has been bad up there this winter even by their standards. I tease Diane about the ‘balmy breezes’ makin’ the palm trees sway in the front yard. But they got to see ‘em fer’ themselves while they were here.

We only had five days together but we made them go into ‘Relaxation Mode’ every day. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, hung around in our ‘jammies’ till 12 or 1, then either had lunch or went out to lunch and some sightseein’. I think they had a real good time just doin’ nothin’. Their normal life is always goin’ 50 MPH runnin’ three convenience stores, two car washes and a Dairy Queen like they do. I think to get away fer’ just a short spell and relax was a nice break fer’ them.

We shore seemed to do a lot of eatin’ when they were here. One night we all went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and they liked it so well we returned the next day for lunch, it was some good food. Denny & I ordered Fajitas fer’ two.

Eat your heart out Nellie!

Another night we went out to a local place for seafood. We had a wonderful time visitin’ with the cousins, they can come back anytime.

Next up? It was Linda’s birthday yesterday and we were up around 8 & made some coffee in our ‘Go’ cups. We have some really great ‘Go’ cups that I’ll have to show ya’ sometime. Then it was off to Arby’s for a quick breakfast before headin’ up the road to Titusville. We were on a mission. We had a determined purpose. We were focused.

Our destination was the headquarters of Canaveral National Seashore. Our mission, well someone turned 62 and we were after her, ‘Senior Pass’, America the Beautiful and Federal Lands Pass. Free admission, reduced tour fees and best of all half price campin’ at Natl. Parks, Natl. Forest, COE, BLM, Fish & Game & TVA campgrounds. Now that’s what we been waitin’ for.

Yahoo!

Here’s the lucky gal with her prize.

After our visit to headquarters we decided to head over to the park. Ya’ see the office is on US 1 on the mainland and the park is located on several barrier islands to the east. Canaveral National Seashore is the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline along Florida’s Atlantic coast.  After a brief stop at the visitors center we headed north to check out their Manatee viewing area on the Haulover canal. For centuries as far back as 1605 explores, mariners, Indians and the military used the narrow strip of land here, between the Indian river and Mosquito Lagoon, as a portage point. They would ‘haul over’ their boats, thus the name. Early settlers moved schooners across with rollers and skids from one body of water to the other. The original canal was dug around the time of the third Seminole War, then replaced with a deeper wider canal in 1887. Since then the canal has been dredged deeper and wider and is today administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The day was warm and there were no manatees to watch.

Knowing we hadn’t eaten lunch and mindful of our dinner engagement we headed back to the mainland. We didn’t visit the beach today, maybe next time. This park stretches throughout two large counties on the coast so sightseeing on a one day visit is limited.

After a stop for lunch we headed back down the highway for home. Later we picked up Ashley and took Grandma to Ruby Tuesdays for her birthday.

Happy Birthday Honey!

a Well that’s all fer today. I’ve been workin’ on our fifth wheel and maybe if I can tear myself away I’ll tell ya’ what happenin’ there. Until then Safe travels and we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.