Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Winter Blues - What to Do? Plan!

What Happened To "Global Warming?"
    Here we are again. After talking about Solar power for the last few weeks, it really didn't sink in that winter is here in the Northeast. I'm watching a snowstorm blow through while I write this. Of course, I didn't put my cover on the RV yet. I was too busy tinkering and testing the new solar panels. When I was in the rig yesterday, I noticed a small line of de-lamination on the wall next to my vanity mirror, below the light fixture. I had a small leak at one time that traveled down the curvature of the roof and ended up at the wall. I thought it was already fixed. Must be the cold shrinking the materials and the crack is back. Why do I bring this up now? Simple, it's a good time to plan your repairs and mods for the next season while you are forced to sit around and NOT go someplace in your RV!

Solar Thermal Roll (For HOT Water)
"Idle hands are the devil's hand-maidens." Umm, OK. That may be true, but I get antsy without some projects to keep me going until it warms up and I can get back on the road. What's planned so far? Well, I have the solar thermal hot water heater project that one should be fun AND useful. After that I've always wanted to replace the decals and refresh the paint on the lower 1/3 of my rig. I was looking at changing the curtains inside to gray? I am definitely going to re-visit the Lithium Phosphate battery question. I truly believe that it's the future for RV house batteries. Well, either that or some other new battery chemistry. I'm going to take a closer look at generating electricity from waste heat from the furnace, if it works well, it would be a great economizer, especially since you could extend your cold weather boondocking.

Typical RV Covers
Christmas is coming up! I have to get my list to Santa (and my friends and family!) out soon, I've been wanting a new cover for the RV. (Yes, I am well aware I forgot to put the old one on!) I've been eyeing a couple of welders so I can fabricate some heavier duty brackets and maybe a new battery drawer assembly and make other repairs as they come up. Oh, and an in motion satellite dome. OK that last one isn't all that useful, since I mostly travel alone. Watching TV while driving is  BAD! But they are much better protected than my current crank up dish and far more streamlined. Of course, They are higher than the folded dish, so I'd have to re-examine solar panel shading. You see, it's easy to get excited about projects you haven't even started! The imagination is a powerful tool, my friends.

An "Off The Beaten Path" Aviation Museum Find
Trip planning, is also a great way to pass the winter slow times. I try and seek out new places to explore, maybe even boldly going where I haven't been. Sorry, bit of a geek moment there. The internet is a great place to ferret out new and interesting destinations. I've found some really good ones over the last few years.

The weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's always seem to be hectic without getting much done.  I have a great time (mostly) but feel a bit like I am shirking my responsibilities. Maybe I'm just replacing one set of responsibilities with another, but you get the idea!

Much as I prefer warmer, nicer weather, the snow does look beautiful. Especially on Christmas eve and day. While I may not dream of a white Christmas, it's sure nice when it happens!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

2 comments:

  1. It looks like you have room to build a RVport (carport) back there. Then you wouldn't have to keep buying those covers.........

    ReplyDelete
  2. Smitty,
    I'd love to build something back there, but I've been issued the "no more stuff" edict by the powers that be.

    How was that? Politically correct enough to not get me in the doghouse?

    Come to think of it...I could build a doghouse!

    Rich "The Wanderman"

    ReplyDelete

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