Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Things I Learned-So far- In Quartzsite




In spite of all appearances, this boon-docking thing is harder than I thought it would be. I've hiked some and so far, have not encountered any snakes.
While putting normal systems in place, I've learned a bunch of things.

To keep it simple, let me innumerate them here.

1-Getting the best possible campsite is a toss up. Do I want to kill the car by driving over rugged roads to the best off grid view ever?
Or do I want to locate someplace convenient to town so I can utilize the library, stores and host of fun activities.
Yesterday, I chose the later. Its working much better.

2-Its all about water. Wash dishes in a small bucket in the sink, then wash the car with that water Wash the hair and be shocked by how much dust it collected in three days. Wash the counters daily, and be shocked by the film of dirt. Hummm. Forgo soap, as much as possible. And, use jugs to transport water rather than unhooking the home (RV) very often.

3-Sunset comes fast. Always bring a flash light and water.

4-Adjust the solar panels and keep them free of dirt. No house power also means all the water in the holding tank is unavailable. It means the propane frig won't run, either.

5-Use the silver insulating panels on the outside of the windshield, not inside. This prevents heat from entering in the first place.

6-Sit with feet in a bucket of water to cool off, then use that bucket of water to wash the layers of dust off the fender of the car.

Below, you'll see some activities that were performed way back in the last campsite possible in the South La Posa Campground. The batteries turned out to be fine. They just needed overnight power-charging, which was done at a local mechanic's shop.
After they were reinstalled, the generator started from the outside switch. The switch on the dash, however, refused to start the generator. The air now works, as before, but the outlets still do not.




7- Locate every town resource and ask questions. I found the post office, community center, QIA (a public building used for all sorts of fun activities) two dollar stores, and library. Everyone here seems quite friendly and helpful.

And lastly, as most women know, beware of new friends. They can seem nice until you disagree with them. True colors come out when you least expect it.
But all is well. I'm not called the female-survivalist for nothing.

2 comments:

  1. You picked a very warm time of year to boondock in that part of the country, any thoughts to boondocking up around flagstaff or Payson? The weather is very nice, plenty of streams, miles of boondocking and lots of hiking.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did get an early start to the winter season didn't I?😉 How ever I ended up loving it.Ill check out the areas you mentioned this fall. Thanks

    ReplyDelete