Monthly Archives: August 2021

At the end of the day, when the engine’s shut down and the a/c with it, it can get pretty stuffy inside the SUV with the windows closed as they have to be in mosquito infested areas. There are all kinds of netting devices that can be purchased on Amazon and other venues. But I saw a neat hack on one of the Facebook groups I’m a member of.

The poster bought a couple of those 10″-high sliding screens, and used foam pipe insulation around the edges. I thought it was brilliant and did the same thing when I was in Gettysburg on what was supposed to be my epic adventure. At night I set my small USB fan that runs off the Bluetti power pack in front of one of the screens. It sucks in the air from outside and cools the interior of the vehicle.

The sliding metal parts of the screen are white and the insulation is black.

Makes the setup stand out like a neon sign. While holed up for the weekend at the Susquehanna Auto Service yard waiting for my second alternator to be installed I painted the screens black with some Krylon spray paint I had with me. In the dark they are nearly invisible.

Works great! EXCEPT when it rains. Then you have to take the screens out and close the windows until the rain stops. Now you’re all stuffy again. My solution for that was the use of large, plastic garbage bags. I trap the top of the bag in the top of the door with the screen and let the bag drape down.You need to have weight on the bottom of the bag to keep the wind from blowing it around and letting rain hit the screen. 

At first I used whatever was available…my rain boots, small bottles of water, canned goods. But that really wasn’t satisfactory. So, after getting my THIRD alternator of the trip installed in Lake City, FL, I went to Home Depot and purchased four magnets. They’re small; 3/8 in. x 1/2 x 1-7/8 in. They come two to a pack and, of course I bought two packs for a total of about $5.

One goes in the bottom corner of each bag. Rain comes, it only takes a second of two to drop the bag and bam! the magnets grab the side of the door and the wind is NOT going to move them. Doesn’t look sleek but it does the job.

I struck my campsite at the Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park in Warm Springs, FL, Monday morning, 8/23/2201, getting ready to head back to what serves as “Home” these days. Does anything really qualify as “Home” when you’re living either on a boat, vehicle, or tent? Took about three hours to do it.

Fold up the cot. Sit, rest, catch breath.

Lug the Alpicool 12V/110V fridge freezer to the SUV and plug it into the Bluetti Portable Power Station . Sit, rest, catch breath.

Strike Coleman portable table and bag it and put it in the SUV. Sit, rest, catch breath.

Pull up all the stakes and remove rain fly. It’s wet from previous night’s rain so I spread it over the picnic table to dry off. Sit, rest, catch breath.

Collapse tent, roll it up and stuff it in its sack. Shove it under the bed in the SUV and store camp folding camp cot on top. Plenty of room. Sit, rest, catch breath several times.

Fold up rain fly which is mostly dry by now, put it in its bag and toss in bin on trailer hitch carrier that serves as my basement/attic for stuff.

Super sweaty now because it’s hot, muggy and the start of an enervating heat index day. Gather up soap, shampoo, and towel, fold up Coleman camp chair (a wonderful, comfortable thing, by the way) and store it in SUV. Sit, rest, catch breath on the picnic bench before heading off to the showers.

Reading this you should get the idea that being a 79 year old with COPD is a bit of a pain in the pooper.

As I’m heading over to the showers it starts to rain. When I get to the shower building it’s POURING! Back at the SUV I find that where the tent had been is now covered by at least three inches of water!

It rained most of the three and a half hours it took me to drive the back roads to DeBary. Quite glad that I had new wiper blade installed at Jim’s when they replaced the faulty alternator. Oddly, looking at Google Maps, taking the Interstate, macadamized rivers of death, would only have saved me about 20 minutes overall.

Back in the swamp the river’s really up. The gangplank is on an upward incline to the boat where most of the winter it was just the opposite. Went on board, scooped leaves out of the cockpit drain, pushed back the hatch into the cabin. What a mess! A lot of work to be done so I’ve spent the first two nights back in the SUV and probably will for quite a while yet until I get the boat scrubbed up and knock back the mildew that’s formed.

Now I need to get a few things straightened out on the Montero. Get the hitch carrier off and situated. The box will still be a great place to keep extra stuff, though.

It may be a while before there are any more adventures. I have a doctor’s appointment in two weeks. I’ve been having some adverse effects from the new med put me on for the COPD. So there won’t be any “adventures” for the next month and the posts here will be slight. But I’ve gotten a taste for this camping thing again. There are some state parks fairly near by so I think I’ll be visiting them from time to time and will let you know about them.

Ciao.

Shortly before I made it to the Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park in White Springs, FL the combination Battery/Brake light warning on the dash started flashing. I made it into my campsite fine, but checking things out with the multimeter indicated that the alternator wasn’t charging…AGAIN!!!

I looked on line and found an AAA repair facility in nearby Lake City and called them. They were able to schedule me in on Thursday, which is fine since that’s the day I’m supposed to check out of the state park. One problem, though, is I have a couple of things waiting for me at the local post office. Have to see if I can get a ride there with someone on Monday.

Weather forecast is gloomy for the week. Looks like Fred is drifting further to the west and going to miss us here, but Gladys is on a track that could be a real problem come Thursday. Ugh!

Had a strong thunderstorm pass over yesterday afternoon. Knocked out the electricity. My Bluetti kept the fridge going and in the morning still had 60% charge. However, wasn’t getting any power. Thought perhaps the “brick” that charges things had died. Then checked the power box. Breakers were fine, but even when plugging in my corded drill I got no power. A bit later I asked a passerby if he had electricity at his site. He said it had come on about 5 a.m. Went back to the outlet and, now with better light, I discovered that the ground fault had tripped. Pressed the button and power restored.

Haven’t set up the tent. When I arrived it still looked like Fred could be a real threat and then, with yesterday’s heavy rain the area where I would have set up had a couple of inches of water. Drained of quickly, but the tent floor would have been under if it had been set up.

This is a lovely spot, but heavily overcast. Going to rain today, no doubt about that.