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9 Feb 0800….man the wind blew like crazy last night…glad I put the awning up and the shower enclosure away…they would have surely blown away! Slept well though. I lack about an inch of space to be able to stretch out all the way across the bed in the back. It’s not a problem though as I’m a side sleeper. If I do want to stretch out I just turn a bit sideways and all is good. I use a nice 6 inch thick memory foam mattress I got from Amazon. It’s a twin size.

Today was a day of chores. Got the van tidied up, went to the Roadrunner Market in Quartzsite to restock my groceries for the week ($75), refilled all my water containers and the main tank in the van (about 20 cents a gallon). The market is a little pricey but there’s little choices in town. Now I’m back a my camp spot watching a beautiful day in the desert.

I’m going to meet my buddy Len and his son at Death Valley later this week. They’ll be attending a BMW Airheads rally at the campground at Furnace Creek. It will be great to sit back for a few days and talk bikes. I’ll head out of Quartzsite Wednesday and may stop over at my buddy Phillip’s place again in Lake Havasu City on the way over to DV.

While I was shopping I spotted this cool couple riding down the sidewalk on their two seater electric scooter….really neat!

10 Feb 1100…Many folks have asked about living in the van and how can I live in such a small area. My reply…“I eat, sleep, travel, and relax in the van…I LIVE outside the van seeing the places I go to and meeting nice folks”. Here’s another example….“It actually takes very little money to live….most of what a person spends is just for showing off”. Having a large RV or house would not make my life easier or more comfortable….it would only add cost and upkeep…that I don’t need or want. We here in the States have been told all our lives to work hard and get a lot of stuff so others can see how successful you are. I realized a few years ago I was supporting tons of other folks and not really myself. That’s all changed now…I have less physical stuff but able to do MUCH more.

Any way, I’m in no way dissing folks who have nice homes, cars, boats, pools, airplanes, big RV’s, girlfriends on the side….each to their own. I just like being mobile, and comfortable. I may have a tiny home but I’ve got a HUGE yard to play in and that’s a gift every day 🙂

Payin Da Bills

Some of you have asked me to post what I spend each day I’m on the road so here goes starting today. I’ll do it with each days post.

10 Feb….Zero

I don’t care what anyone says, a peanut butter sandwich and a cold glass of moo juice is the best lunch in the world!

You can now post a public comment for each page…scroll to the bottom to see the link, thanks!

Been raining most of the day today….TV, satellite, lights, and other stuff have been running…watching The First 48 and Forensic Files most of the day…love those shows…batts are down to 12.74 volts (about 80%). That’s pretty good!

Here’s the readouts from my Victron monitors. One is the battery monitor that draws it’s info from the 500 amp shunt that’s inline with the batteries. It shows the battery voltage/power/other stuff…the second screen is the solar panel power output/other stuff. You can see the panels are not outputting very much with the rain and clouds.

11 Feb 1037…nice morning after a rainy night…no dust today! Packed up like I do every other day and headed into town to grab a shower…would set my shower tent up but the wind would blow it away. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends Phillip and Susan tomorrow and hopefully having Mex for lunch (hint hint)…I know Phillip will probably read this when he gets done drag racing his 1,000 hp Charger 🙂

Total money spent today….$8 for a shower.

12 Feb 2200….had an uneventful drive up to Phillip and Susan’s home in Lake Havasu City today. They seem to be my new shipping address for lots of stuff…much appreciated!

I got the tools out and moved my water tank over a bit to make room for one more Battle Born Lithium Battery. It will be here Friday. That will give me three in total and that will be enough to meet any of my demands…whew thank the Lord I’m done with the battery stuff because they’re $900 each 🙂

I’m thinking about getting an enclosed trailer for the bike, buggy, and other stuff. That may come next month. To better handle the weight of the trailer and to help with stability I also ordered a set of Sumo Springs for the rear of the van. I already have a beautiful set of SuperSprings installed and they’re working perfectly.

These are the Sumo Springs that replace the stock rear bump stops over the axle. One for each side. They will add even more stability with the weight of the open trailer I now have or if I decide to get the enclosed one.

BTW here’s my current trailer…it’s a nice BIG TEX 7×14 foot car hauler. Beautifully crafted and very easy to tow.

13 Feb….The drive back to Death Valley was nice…left Phillip’s casa around 0700 and headed to the Pilot Truck Stop north of Lake Havasu at I-40…topped the fuel off there right before I would cross into California…price was $2.69/gallon as compared to $5.29/gallon here at Furnace Creek. Weather was perfect and not a cloud in the sky. I felt great as I’d had a good night’s sleep in my little cocoon in back of the van. A quick stop at the Walmart for grub supplies, Maccas for a treat (sausage/biscuit/senior coffee) and I was off. I-40 west to Kelbaker Rd. Kelbaker runs north and south through the Mojave National Preserve…stunning and no traffic. A short stop at the old train depot in Kelso for three oatmeal cookies and the journey continued. Connected with Hwy 127 to Shoshone. I decided to take 178 (Badwater Rd) from there to Furnace Creek and glad I did! OMG what a wonderful drive…roller coaster hills, sweeping and tight curves and best of all no traffic.

Here’s a few shots grabbed from the GoPro. This is along Badwater Basin. I’m driving along at about 240 feet below sea level.

And yes there is water in Badwater Basin…it’s liquid salt!

The set up this time at the CG. Vee’s van is next to mine. I’d met her in quartzite a couple of weeks ago and our paths crossed again. Gonna do some sightseeing today.

If you’ve never been up to Dante’s View you need to go. It’s one of the best overlooks I’ve ever seen. The whole Badwater Basin unfolds below you. When you stand on the cliff the basin floor is 5, 600 feet below….stunning!

I’ve been here at the Sunset Campground for the past four days. Vee and my new friend Janis in her beautiful Hymer camper van is parked next door. There is very little useable internet here so the updates have been sparse. Sorry.

Took a walk out on the salt at the Badwater visitor area…really neat.

Total money spent the past four days….$20 for showers, $28 for camping, and I paid $23 for a $10 pizza at the restaurant 🙂

17 Feb 1800….left DV this morning and drove down (again) to my friend Phillip’s casa in Lake Havasu City. I had another Battle Born battery, rear suspension bumpers, sand blanket, and a new step stool coming. All had arrived before I got there around 1400. Took about 20 minutes to install and hook up the new battery. I have three now so I’m all set with power.

18 Feb 0800…Left this morning around 0700 and headed south. Topped the fuel off in Parker and made toast with jelly/butter for breakfast…too cheap today to go to the Maccas across the street for a vegetarian sausage and biscuit…continued on to the Pilot in Gila Bend for the night…huge paved parking lot mostly all to myself…got here around noon…short day…lots of magazines to read furnished by Phillip…thanks!

Vee took this nice photo of me at Dante’s View Overlook the other day…I can’t get over how handsome I look 🙂

Money spent today….$35 for fuel…$12 for dinner.

Decided to leave the Pilot and travel about 70 miles on down the road….had a nice dinner at the Cracker Barrel on I-10 south of Phoenix tonight…staying in the parking lot for the night too. About sunset I heard a racket outside and saw the tree I’m parked next to is full of birds…pulled the van back to keep the front end from turning white from the thousands of pounds of bird crap that’s coming down out of the tree…geez 🙂

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