Living off the Grid with Batteries

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

FROM RICH: Some people get excited about the idea living off-the-grid. No electricity, hauling water (we estimate that we - eg Rich - will carry a metric ton of water this summer), pit toilets etc. And it's a great idea.

But, well, we realized the other night that we are now living with batteries. The three big batteries in the vehicles - the one in the truck and the two with the trailer are rechargeable (we have a generator for that purpose). And then we have 9V batteries for the smoke and co2 alarms. And 12 AAA batteries for our four flash lights, and two computer batteries, two Nook batteries, two cell phone batteries, a weather system that has at least 12 AA batteries, three cameras that have batteries, a hanging light in the tent that has 4 AA batteries, one bike with a light which takes batteries, a rechargeable battery in our electric toothbrush, and shaver and trimmer, a head band flashlight with batteries.....

Ten years ago we would not have had most of the above. We would have had a car battery and batteries for a couple flashlights! And that's it! I had always looked at the big packages of batteries at Costco and wondered who might use all that many batteries.... 

Hmmm. Next trip to town, guess what we are buying!

Convenience and technology that's fueled by batteries. It is interesting to think about how electricity has changed out lives. First we were tied to wires, and now we are tied to batteries. 

And, I would not change it. It is too damn convenient. But on the other hand, we can no longer maintain the illusion that we are living wholly off-the-grid. We just take the grid with us in the form of batteries. And tomorrow we go to Prospect and can plug our lap tops into the electric outlets of the library and charge our puters so we can do e mails and send out rambling blogs to our community...

Right now I sit in camp with the sun creeping into my shady spot and use up battery time. It is a pleasant 70 degrees, gorgeous day. Tonight I get a fishing lesson from a man in camp who has been coming here for 35 years. Promised me I would have trout for dinner. (That will be another blog).... Life is just too hard.

VISITORS WELCOME!

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

We'd love to have you visit us at Natural Bridge Campground, whether it's a day visit or overnight(s). We'll be at Natural Bridge Campground thru Labor Day. You can just drop by, but we'd appreciate a little warning. Natural Bridge Campground is located in a beautiful wooded forest, filled with peaceful serenity, birdsong, riversong, and big blue sky.

If you choose to stay over, here's what you need to know.

• The campground has 17 spacious sites. You can choose your own site or join us. We have no neighbors. Yes!
• May and early June temperatures range from 40 – 80 degrees. July and August can reach the 100's.
• You will need to pay the extra vehicle fee of $4 a night.
• There is no running water so be sure to bring some. If you have an appropriate water filter, the Rogue River is close by.
• There is no electricity.
• There is no cell phone service whatsoever at the camp.
• There is a spare single bed available in the trailer for guests. Please bring bedding or sleeping bags.
• Our days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. We will do our shopping in town, check phone messages and check email on one of those days. If we are off site when you arrive, just settle in.
• There will be a few times we will stay overnight in town. We'll keep you posted when we know what those dates are.

Hope to see you!

Camp Hosting is What You Make Of It

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

Only two days into learning the ropes, we are finding the service part of our stay here to be quite rewarding. Our Ranger (who works Friday through Monday) works long hours and obviously does this out of caring about the people and the forest he is working in. It is inspiring. 

So far, meeting, greeting and helping newcomers to the camp fits our temperament well. And, at least for now, the routine of checking out the latrines and campsites feels grounded and simple. It will be interesting to see if that feeling continues through the whole summer.

Amongst our residents, we have had several campers who have been coming here for years and seem to be delighted to have a camp host. As it turns out, apparently there was not one here last year. 

They also lament the fact that we are not well-compensated for our labors. But, this is a Forest Service camp, and it is struggling under cutbacks. They are short-handed and have had to economize, so we do not get any compensation for our labor. But we knew that coming in, and we deliberately sought this kind of off-the-grid experience.

Here, there is no electricity, no water, and no dump stations. We do not have wifi or cell service. Living off-the-grid in this way, that is the experience we wanted to have. We chop wood for our fire and carry up our own water, and we find that satisfying. Of course, we do not have to prepare for a long winter! Ask me that again, if we did!

First Visitors

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

30 May 2014, Saturday

FROM CHERYL: We're having a quiet evening, when the roaring sound of a diesel engine assaults our senses. The truck, traveling at a brisk and intense pace, pulls into our campsite.

I think it must be an emergency. And, yikes! The nearest medical facility is an hour away from the site.

But no, whew. Instead, out jumps my cousin Howard accompanied by his wife, Cathy. It's a surprise and welcome visit from family, and they come bringing gifts of wood and Jiffy-Pop popcorn. And a shared meal and fine conversation ends our first full day on site.

Rough Take Off and Landing

Special Note: Blog posting failure. Apparently, public wifi here is not strong enough to post text or photos on the blog. We have enlisted the help of my son, Aaron, to post the emails that we will send him.

Back to the blog.

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

Weekly high: 73.9

Low: 43.2

Wind gust: 4.3

Rain: 0”

Humidity has been about 80 percent.

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE (apologies to Garrison Keillor)

So, leaving Portland at 5pm in rush hour traffic while pulling a trailer. Our progress was a bit slow, to say the least. Stopped at The All American for food, and it lived up to its name. Bleh. But it was easy to find a parking place there, and that's become an important issue, what with the rig. Currently developing a new skill to scope out where we can go. (There was a near-disaster on the second day when we stopped for a bathroom break at an Arby's and Rich erroneously tried to pull around the take-out line. Close call on that one.)

The first time you do anything it takes 3x as long as planned. Looking back, we probably should have started prepping everything and loading the trailer two days earlier, as the initial take off time was 3 hours after we planned. Not to mention, several things got left in the dust and several things that we packed (we think) have not emerged from the chaos of our trailer.

“Rich, did you pack the gigantic package of paper towels?”

“Do we have the solar lights?”

“Oops, only brought a small bottle of olive oil.” That, when we use olive oil daily instead of butter.

And so on.

BLACK AND BLUE, BUT WE'VE ARRIVED

Rich bashed his thumb lifting up the stairs to the trailer, and on Friday, Cheryl wiped out

Geriatric Gypsies

on her new bike that is designed for someone at least two inches taller, adding another gash to accompany all the others on her left knee.

But we're here.

We arrive at our camp host site and someone is camping there, so our day for landing is delayed. That's meant we are still in process of finding, stowing, and setting up. But, our guest spot for the evening was a riverside site, which was gorgeous. Our host site is away from the river, so this was a very nice bonus.

SPECIAL NOTE FROM RICH: I would say we are happy, as all of the above was just part of the process. When I returned from Haiti (or was it just before I left?), Sue Liss gave me a diary with the saying “We find our way one step at a time.” That has been a mantra for us, these past several months. And we are holding to it, as we move forwards on this journey.

It's the weight stupid

Part of the learning curve for Rving.  When we looked at our new trailer I was impressed with the amount of storage available..  As we prepare for our first long adventure and load the trailer and truck we now are aware that the volume of storage access is not the problem.  It is the placement and amount of weight.  Now it is somewhat like reducing gluten or salt in your diet, you start reading labels with a different eye.   How much does it weigh?  Do I put it in the trailer or truck?  How does it balance front to back side to side.  Tongue weight now has a new importance.  There are lots of blogs out there and as we get further into the process some things start to make more sense.


How things change.Ten years ago we would not be carrying nearly 50 lbs of technology puters, nooks, cameras or calculating how much they weigh.  One of these blogs we will examine the  comparison of a typical wagon train weight to what we are taking.  And we don't have to have a three month supply of flour sugar and beans!

And it does not take long to have a "ton of stuff"  literally.

Stay tuned as we near weigh in time.

Bit By Bit The Bird Builds Its Nest - Haitian saying

Bit by bit Rich and Cheryl get ready for their summer adventure.

                                                         Piti piti swazo fe nich

 

Rephrase: What was I thinking? Working and getting ready for a four month camping trip! There isn't enough time in a day. But a little purchase here, a little purchase there, organize a few meal plans, network ideas with others and I think when the leave day arrives we'll be ready. Mostly, the two weeks before we leave I won't be working so will focus on getting ready; clothing, toiletries, gathering my sanity, organizing three weeks worth of meals. Yikes! I told Rich that was a lot of spaghetti for lunch and dinner (a small joke).

Photo credit link:

http://www.deviantart.com/art/Scream-22521151

Cheryl