Epic Road Trip, first few days
Aug. 21st, 2015 09:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparrMy laptop died on my Boston moving trip, so this post is a bit delayed. Also, future posts in this series will probably not have exact date labels, so things can flow a little better.
We made it out of Chicago and spent the night at a rest area in Wisconsin. The next day was a shopping and project day, then we stopped overnight in Minnesota. I'm writing this from a campground in South Dakota after night #3. We needed to stay somewhere "officially" to get a receipt that will allow me to establish SD residency to get a driver license later today. I already set up a mailbox with a forwarding service (yourbestaddress.com) in Sioux Falls, so I'll be able to register my vehicle by mail as soon as I get the paperwork together.
We've slept in the ambulance a few times in a row now. Some improvement is needed for lifting and deploying the bed. I think I'm going to add a webbing X to the bottom of the mattress with D-rings, and clip two of those to the ceiling when the mattress is upright, so it's hanging instead of standing. This addition might have other uses as well ;)
My batteries are not lasting as long as I'd like overnight, probably because of the 4A that the cooler pulls all the time. I need to put together a thermostat for the cooler so it stops running when it's already gotten as cold as it's going to get. I might just start unplugging it at night, relying on its insulation to keep it mostly cool until morning. It helps that ambient temp has been in the 60s lately. For now, I'm starting the night with one battery engaged, and then before it dies the next morning I switch to the other battery, and recharge both while we drive. That's ok for while I'm driving every day, but won't cut it once I'm stationary.
Of course, once I'm stationary, I'd like to find reliable shore power. I've got a 12V 74A power supply that I need to do some for, so I can switch away from the batteries entirely. I might also grab a normal battery charging device to use to augment the system on battery power. And there's also the possibility of solar power, when I'm ready to take that step.
After a few tanks of gas, it's looking like it might get about 10MPG at 55MPH with the A/C off. I'll eventually run a few tanks through at 65MPH for some extra data, and try with the A/C if I encounter really hot weather, but 10MPG is better than I expected and will do nicely for most of the trip.
The stuck-starter problem recurred a couple of times. I wasn't able to find the solenoid, but I did cut the battery quickly enough to not kill the starter again. Both times the problem went away while I was troubleshooting it. I stopped at a shop in Sioux Falls SD (Ultimate Automotive) and they got me a new solenoid installed, reconnected an air intake hose that had come loose, and replaced a gas cap that I lost (in IL or MN).
I've put up shelves in the empty space where the gun racks were. I found a Home Depot that had the non-track version of closetmaid wire shelving, and that's working really well so far. We can put bungees across the front to avoid spills. We're still doing a lot of organizing and re-sorting as we get more storage space and figure out which things we use the most often.
Our "kitchen" is working, although we've only used it a few times so far. The kettle boils 20oz of water in about 20 minutes. The crock pot gets 1.5qt of food up to too-hot-to-touch in about an hour. We haven't done uncooked meat yet, just pre-cooked, but we'll be more adventurous than that soon. So far it's been beans, sausage, chicken, burritos, tea, oatmeal, and PB&J.
That's all I've got time to write right now. Time to grab our laundry and hit the road. Next post will probably be from Denver in a few days.
We made it out of Chicago and spent the night at a rest area in Wisconsin. The next day was a shopping and project day, then we stopped overnight in Minnesota. I'm writing this from a campground in South Dakota after night #3. We needed to stay somewhere "officially" to get a receipt that will allow me to establish SD residency to get a driver license later today. I already set up a mailbox with a forwarding service (yourbestaddress.com) in Sioux Falls, so I'll be able to register my vehicle by mail as soon as I get the paperwork together.
We've slept in the ambulance a few times in a row now. Some improvement is needed for lifting and deploying the bed. I think I'm going to add a webbing X to the bottom of the mattress with D-rings, and clip two of those to the ceiling when the mattress is upright, so it's hanging instead of standing. This addition might have other uses as well ;)
My batteries are not lasting as long as I'd like overnight, probably because of the 4A that the cooler pulls all the time. I need to put together a thermostat for the cooler so it stops running when it's already gotten as cold as it's going to get. I might just start unplugging it at night, relying on its insulation to keep it mostly cool until morning. It helps that ambient temp has been in the 60s lately. For now, I'm starting the night with one battery engaged, and then before it dies the next morning I switch to the other battery, and recharge both while we drive. That's ok for while I'm driving every day, but won't cut it once I'm stationary.
Of course, once I'm stationary, I'd like to find reliable shore power. I've got a 12V 74A power supply that I need to do some for, so I can switch away from the batteries entirely. I might also grab a normal battery charging device to use to augment the system on battery power. And there's also the possibility of solar power, when I'm ready to take that step.
After a few tanks of gas, it's looking like it might get about 10MPG at 55MPH with the A/C off. I'll eventually run a few tanks through at 65MPH for some extra data, and try with the A/C if I encounter really hot weather, but 10MPG is better than I expected and will do nicely for most of the trip.
The stuck-starter problem recurred a couple of times. I wasn't able to find the solenoid, but I did cut the battery quickly enough to not kill the starter again. Both times the problem went away while I was troubleshooting it. I stopped at a shop in Sioux Falls SD (Ultimate Automotive) and they got me a new solenoid installed, reconnected an air intake hose that had come loose, and replaced a gas cap that I lost (in IL or MN).
I've put up shelves in the empty space where the gun racks were. I found a Home Depot that had the non-track version of closetmaid wire shelving, and that's working really well so far. We can put bungees across the front to avoid spills. We're still doing a lot of organizing and re-sorting as we get more storage space and figure out which things we use the most often.
Our "kitchen" is working, although we've only used it a few times so far. The kettle boils 20oz of water in about 20 minutes. The crock pot gets 1.5qt of food up to too-hot-to-touch in about an hour. We haven't done uncooked meat yet, just pre-cooked, but we'll be more adventurous than that soon. So far it's been beans, sausage, chicken, burritos, tea, oatmeal, and PB&J.
That's all I've got time to write right now. Time to grab our laundry and hit the road. Next post will probably be from Denver in a few days.