Summer 2024, Life With Alyx

10 June….spending most of this summer in Florida while my niece Alyx is out of school…she turned 10 a few weeks ago and is a little bundle of joy…she’s out of school until the middle of August so I’m helping her dad out by entertaining her during the days when he’s working…he drops her off with me around 6 am each morning…I love hearing the little knock on the door of the camper announcing her arrival…she’s greeted with her favorite chocolate milk…I know my day is going to be great…I have the driver’s seat turned around so it makes a nice lounge chair up against the sofa…she takes her place, snuggled in the beautiful wool blanket my friends from Australia gave mom a few years ago….her iPad is humming along with her Dhar Mann videos…I ike them, they have some good messages in the stories they produce…life is good.

A few weeks ago my mother passed away….May 24 at 10:20 am…her last sunrise was peaceful and calm, the pain is gone, our Lord wrapped her in His arms and carried her to Heaven. I loved her dearly and will think of her each time a gentle breeze brushes my cheek, each time Alyx smiles. I will carry her with me when I travel….she loved going on trips in the RV’s.

27 June…just returned from a wonderful week in the mountains with my niece Alyx…hanging out, exploring in the side-by-side, swimming in the secret swimming hole, eating ice cream, running around assassinating bugs with the zapper, face timing friends, and watching her just being a kid.

Lunch at Dave’s 209 Cafe in Spring Creek

Funny video time!

At the secret swimming hole on Hwy 215 near the Blue Ridge Parkway

Getting her courage up to make the jump

There she goes!

Life at the Stone Bridge RV Resort in Maggie Valley

Got her girl cave all set up just the way she likes it 🙂

1 July…installed a fifth Battle Born LiFe battery today…I now have 500 amp hours of onboard energy (6000 watts)…all good…later this week I’ll be replacing the Dometic Penguin 2 A/C unit with a Velit 12 volt A/C system…should be simple job. The Dometic has always been really loud and consumed a TON of energy. If I wanted to run it more than a couple of hours or so I’d have to fire up the generator or be plugged in somewhere. The Velit unit, on ECO mode uses less then 20 amps @12 volts…with the 500 amp hours of battery I’ll be able to run it only using the batteries for 24 hours before they need to be recharged….gonna love not having to run the 120 volt system in the van to stay cool!

7 July…back in Maggie….escaped the heat and humidity of Florida for a while…maybe a week or two…before I left I installed another (fifth one) Battle Born battery…I now have 6000 watts of onboard power (500 amp hours @12 volts)….when I got to my buddy’s motel where I usually parkup we used his tractor to lift the old Dometic AC off the roof and then lifted the new Velit 12 volt AC back on top of the van…install went with out any problems…the thing works great…MUCH quieter than the old Dometic unit….I ran the Velit all last night on ECO mode…just purred along keeping the van at 76 degrees…woke around 0600 and checked the batteries…down to around 80 percent…very nice…gonna love not having to drag the generator out of the back when I need to stay cool…when I’m parked up for a while I’ll set the thing up as usual but most of the time now it’ll not be needed…felt as sore as a one legged marathon runner after the install but it’ll be so worth it.

Really miss not having Alyx along for this trip…last time I got used to her calling me her peasent and ordering me around…don’t mind at all..it’s nice sleeping in my bed and not the couch as she always takes over the rear bedroom on trips 🙂

My buddies Roger and Patrick are coming over today for lunch and a bit of conversation…really like those guys…honest, friendly, and all around good folks…even though I’ve moved away from motorcycles, they’re enjoying their riding times and making great videos…here’s the links to their Youtube channels.

https://www.youtube.com/@Motoramblings

https://www.youtube.com/@ridingthethinlines

Missing mom…think about her every day…as time passes it’s easier…she was so much a part of mine and my sister’s lives…I have a little container of her ashes that rides on the dash of the camper so she can go back to the places she loved.

The camper is still going strong…no problems at all so far…120,000 miles of good times and comfort…I’m constantly looking her over and keeping her serviced and clean…it’s a way of giving her a good look over to spot anything that may need attention.

My long time friend, Kent, has a place here in the mountains… he just got a new Honda Pioneer 1000…gonna help him get her set up and street legal this week…will be nice to have a buddy to explore with here in the mountains!

Rented a storage unit down the street from the motel here in Maggie…I’m keeping the Talon SXS in it when I’m not here…so nice to not have to drag it back and forth from Florida…it’s only s short walk from the motel…I’m planning to head west in the fall so I’ll stop by Maggie again on the way for a week or so then hook her up and hammer down on I-40 for about 2000 miles.

More after the break…

8 July…second test of the AC unit…used the genset and solar today to bring the battery bank up to 100% fully charged…at 6:15 last night I turned on the AC…set it for 78 degrees on ECO mode…woke this morning at 6 am…the freezer, fridge, cabin air purifier, carbon monoxide monitor, and small rear fan had been running all night…the battery bank was only down to 93%…I am so pleased with the new Velit AC 🙂

10 July…it’s 0500 in the morning here in Maggie…calm, cool, and quiet…been watching some videos about folks making the decision to move into a RV’s because house rents, mortgages, upkeep, home owner insurance, electric, water, yard maintenance, garbage disposal, and on and on are costing so much these days…I took a sip of my coffee and smiled…I have none of that to pay for…I love living and traveling in my tiny home on wheels…it’s been almost six years now…I made a couple of good decisions with my finances over the years…my income is more than I spend each month with my simple calm life…the money I do spend is for fuel to travel, food to sustain me, and things I need for the camper to be comfortable and safe…I try to eat healthy and simply…I rarely eat out…my one kinda luxury item I really enjoy is my Side-By-Side…I love exploring the back country in the places I set up camp…I’m done with motorcycling…have lots of riding gear I’ll be selling over the next few months…all of it is in mint condition cause I take care of the things I buy.

Today is supposed to be really nice…a bit of a breeze to keep things cooler and no rain expected…my friend Kent bought a new Honda Pioneer 1000 to explore with and to use on his property here in the mountains…we’re gonna install the street legal stuff today so we can terrorize the mountain backroads…gonna be lots of fun having someone to chase on the hundreds of miles of beautiful gravel roads with wind through Appalachia!

22 July…after a nice week with Alyx I headed back up to Maggie Valley…all set up and trying out my new Renogy 200 watt suitcase solar panel…high quality and folds up very small…installed a SAE plug on the outside of the camper…all I do is set the panels where I want them and plug in…super simple…all the solar feeds come together at the small busses then feed the MPPT controler and batteries…set and forget….I now have 600 watts of solar…the system runs the new AC and anything else I use completely from the sun.

Oh BTW… the new windshield on the Talon works great…I can drive around without messing up my hair.

Has lower vents I can open when it’s hot…also keeps most of the dust out of the inside with the air coming through.

28 July….had a nice drive through the mountains yesterday….stopped at one of my favorite little places for lunch….always tasty…the milkshakes are awesome.

6 August….one month with the new Velit 12 volt rooftop AC…it’s one of the best investments I’ve made to the camper to allow me to be comfortable off grid…the thing is awesome….knowing what I know now it’s worth three times what I paid for it.

Heading back to the mountains on the 24th…might explore around West Virginia or head out to Dodge City Kansas to explore some wild west cowboy stuff….when it comes to plans these days I’m like a squirrel in the middle of the Interstate….don’t have a clue which direction I’m gonna go 🙂

13 August….found this today…enjoy

Now have two Renogy 200 watt solar suitcase panels that I can deploy when needed to supplement the 400 watts of panels on the roof of the camper….they will give me, in ideal situations, 800 watts of solar capacity….I’ll be headed back to the mountains in a couple of weeks….I’ll leave the Honda generator in storage and should be able to totally rely on solar for all my needs…since changing over to the 12 volt AC unit I don’t have a need to carry the genset anymore…if all works out I’ll be completely gas free….not because I’m a tree hugger….it’s about being cheap and not wanting to depend on the crooks who control the world’s energy supply 🙂

I also have a new Bluetti AC180 solar generator…beautifully made….I can charge it with the solar panels when needed…I”ll be using it to run the microwave, coffee maker, cooktop, and to charge the various balls and chains we call cell phones and laptops…the large battery bank of Battle Born batteries will power the AC, Engle fridge, Engle freezer, air purifier, and be used anytime extra power is needed…with the exceptions of needing to replenish water and food I’m now totally independent of any need to “plug in” to stay comfortable….life is good 🙂

29 August….it’s been a long hot summer…except for the occasional couple of weeks at a time in the NC mountains, the heat and humidity here in FL has sucked…the only bright spot is I’m spending a lot of time with Alyx…she’s ten years old now and curious about everything…except for the occasional stink eye from her because I did something dorky all is well 🙂

Sold the two Renogy 200 watt folding solar panels and replaced them with a single Renogy 400 watt rigid suitcase system…very good quality…800 watts total runs everything.

My prayers are going out everyday for my friends and the people living in Western NC…the flooding and devastation from hurricane Helene is horrible…authorities are calling the event a “thousand year flood”…no communication with any of my friends in the area as all communication systems are not working…I plan on heading up to help them next week.

On a more positive note…I just got my new Lectric EXP 3.0 bike…love it…compact, relatively light, and fun to ride…I’m getting some nice exercise riding about 10 miles a day around the neighborhood…my Rad Bike was nice at first until it took a crap on me and stopped working…think the controller has gone bad…will take it to a repair shop here in town to get it diagnosed and fixed…no sense in trying to contact Rad Bikes for help as their customer service is the worst I have ever encountered with a business…I will never buy anything from them again.

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