Boondocking: Some Of My Experiences

I'm not gonna go too in-depth on this post, just give you some idea of where I'm coming from. Later, I intend to post more in-depth articles about some of my boondocking experiences, but for now I just want to briefly describe an RV I have and what we did with it.
I've always been a tent camper and, other than occasionally boondocking in a van or Jeep Wagoneer, had never had a camping vehicle per se. In fact, my wife and I were returning from a camping trip when I spotted the RV for sale. It was a 1978 Mobile Traveller class C motorhome, built on a Dodge 1-ton van chassis. 18' overall length, 360 cid V8, TF727 tranny, Dana 70 with 4.10s, single rear wheels. It ran and drove fine and was in good condition, but the interior was trashed and was absolute bottom of the line anyway. The only things it had were a 12VDC/115VAC fridge, a porta-potty (without even its own room) and a single-basin sink with no tanks, for campground hookup only. I had been thinking about getting some sort of camping vehicle for boondocking on our trips out west, and this fit the bill. The price was right, so we bought it.
I had a slide-in camper for a pickup truck. It was pretty much a basket case structurally, and I didn't have a pickup big enough to haul it anyway, but unlike the RV, it was loaded, with all the goodies except an air conditioner. I had bought it (cheaply, of course) for the appliances, and to use in the interim as a radio shack. So I stripped the RV, then I stripped the slide-in and put the good appliances in the RV. There was a gas/electric fridge (a Swedish Dometic, the best), a 4-burner with oven gas range, a twin-basin sink, 55 gallon water tank, 12V water pump, gas water heater, gas furnace, Thetford recirculating toilet (just the thing for desert use), a fiberglass shower stall, and a few other things. I built a whole new interior in the RV, including an actual bathroom, out of 2x4s, 2x2s and plywood. I added a small window air conditioner in the back wall, 8 Trojan T105 golf cart batteries, and a Trace 2500 watt inverter with built-in 120 amp battery charger. No generator, because we were gonna be driving a lot and could charge the batteries with the alternator while driving, and occasionally spend a night at a campground with hookups if needed to recharge the batteries.
We made a few local boondocking trips to unregulated campsites on the shore of a large nearby lake, then a serious shakedown trip to Lake Superior, before undertaking the trip we had in mind when we bought the thing: a Western trip!
So my wife and myself, and her two teenage daughters headed for South Dakota first. We camped on the Missouri River a couple of nights, then in the Black Hills a couple of nights before heading into Wyoming. The first night in Wyoming we camped at a tiny campsite in the woods, pretty far down what can best be described as a jeep trail. No hookups, of course. This was what we came for!
We did pretty much the same thing every night across Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, back into Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and a few more states; almost 5000 miles total. It was a great time.
BTW, this trip was undertaken in July. The vehicle air conditioner didn't work but the window unit in back did. We drove with all the windows open, and slept in air-conditioned comfort, powered by the battery bank, every night.
A few quick words about the refrigerator, though: it would actually have been better to have left the all electric fridge (a Norcold, btw) installed rather than swapping in the Dometic gas fridge. Gas/electric refrigerators use a heating strip when running on electricity, which is inefficient. They are ok if you are living fulltime in your rig and want to run them on propane, and stay in one spot for long periods of time. But for the type of travel we were doing, driving for a few hours every day, the all electric, compressor type fridge would have probably been better. I have used that all electric fridge many times and still occasionally use it to this day. My only problem with it is that it is quite noisy when camping out in the boonies where it is quiet. The gas/electric absorption fridge doesn't make any noise, but it costs more to operate.

The Philosophy of Liberty

This [LINK] is perhaps the best webpage I have ever seen on the philosophy and principles of liberty. I won't go into a discussion of "small-l" vs. "large-L" libertarianism, vs. anarchism or anything else; this is more basic than that. It is flash media, so those with a dial-up connection may not be able to download it. You'll never know unless you try, though.

Frugal Air Conditioning for Offgrid and RV Living

Right about now is when air conditioning begins to feel like a necessity, at least in hotter areas. But what to do if you're offgrid or camp fulltime in an RV and are on a tight budget? A few solar panels aren't going to power air conditioners. An offgrid diesel generator will, but running it fulltime is expensive, even on diy biodiesel. Of course, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce your need for a/c, such as ventilation, shading, a reflective roof on your domicile (mobile or not), routing any heat produced by appliances (including a refrigerator) outdoors etc. and we should definitely be doing all those things, but it's nice to be able to sleep in air conditioning. So I am going to cover just that, while spending the minimum amount of money.

Click here for more info about the offgrid diesel generator.

First of all, you need to minimize the area you need to cool. If it's so hot and humid that you have trouble resting, you don't necessarily have to cool an entire house. Ventilate it, yes. Make it as cool as possible. But the main thing we are concerned about is a sleeping area, and perhaps a cool area to spend the hottest part of the day. So in a house, you should close off the bedroom and concentrate on cooling it. Of course if you are vandwelling that is a moot point, because you are already in a small space.

Second, you will need a power source, including a generator, battery bank and inverter. Fortunately, inverters have dropped in price enough that one capable of running the smallest air conditioner is no longer very expensive. A 2500 watt inverter can be had for under $500 nowadays, and that will be sufficient to run a 5000 btu window unit a/c while also running a couple of efficient lights, a TV/DVD combo or computer, and even a small microwave oven as long as you make sure the compressor in the a/c doesn't cycle on while the microwave is running. Now, 500 bucks may not sound very cheap but it is, compared to what a 2500 watt inverter cost just a few years ago! BTW, a modified sine wave inverter will work just fine; you don't need to spring for the high-dollar pure sine wave inverters.

On to the battery bank. This is the biggie; the one you can't scrimp on too much. You're probably not gonna want to run your genny overnight, so that means ya gotta have enough battery capacity to carry the load overnight. A small a/c is gonna draw
about 6 amps of 115 volt "wall power" so that means about 60 amps of 12 volt battery power going into your inverter. BTW, that can surge to triple the running amperage on startup, which is why you need such a big inverter. Now, 60 amps times say 8
hours is 480 amp/hours battery capacity needed to carry the load overnight. For comparison, a 12 volt marine deep-cycle battery has a capacity of maybe 100 amp/hours so you would need about 5 of those puppies. But wait; you can't run those
batteries all the way down every night or you would have to replace them very soon! Besides, what if you want to sleep late or you would like to run a coffeemaker in the morning, before having to mess with that generator?
You really should only run your battery bank down to 50% on a regular basis; 80% is even better but we ARE on a budget here.

While we're at it, let's get better batteries than the typical marine battery. The best deal for offgrid folks on a budget is the golf cart battery. Trojan T105 is the industry standard here; they are much better than marine batteries while costing
about the same. The T105 is 6 volts, like other golf cart batteries, so will have to be paired in series for 12 volts. This battery is 220 amp/hours; two of them in series will still be 220 amp/hours but at 12 volts. Four pairs connected in parallel
will be 880 amp/hours, now we're getting somewhere! This battery bank still won't be too heavy for your house-on-wheels to carry (about 500 pounds), nor too expensive (about 500 bucks if you shop around), nor too bulky to find a place to store it.
But it's a big enough battery bank to shut down that genny at a reasonable hour, stay up watching TV for quite awhile, run the a/c overnight, and still run the coffeemaker and maybe even the microwave in the morning, without beating down the
batteries too bad.

Now, what kind of air conditioner do I need? A NEW one, for one thing. I have compared old vs. new, and the new air conditioners definitely draw less current for a given btu rating, than do the old ones. Second, a SMALL one. The cheap, 5000
btu, manual control unit is exactly what you need for offgrid living. If it isn't doing the job, you need to make the area you are cooling smaller, insulate it better, or both. If you have a big enough generator and are living in a house, by all means buy a second, larger air conditioner to cool the whole house during the day while the genny is running, if you want to and can afford it. But for overnight running, you need the minimum amp draw of a small unit. Oh, and by the way, don't bother with the "low" setting on that little air conditioner: it doesn't make it draw any less power. I measured it.

That brings us to the (next to) last item on the list, and believe it or not, the most flexible: the generator. You DON'T need a honkin' 20 kw genny for this usage! In fact, you can get by minimally on one of those 2-cycle, 1000 watt portable
jobs you can buy for just over $100; in fact, I have added a link to one of those if you are interested. Actually, one of those makes a good backup even if you have a bigger genny. A genny that small probably won't directly run the air conditioner, but what we're gonna do here is buy the biggest battery charger you can find (which is the last item on the list); the standard manual 40 amp continuous charger that all auto parts stores and most big-box stores carry will be the minimum. Not the one that says 40 or 50 amp engine start; if this one has an engine start function it will be 200 amps or so, but we're not gonna use it in that mode. You will need this regardless of which generator you buy, unless you buy one of the high-dollar inverters that have a built-in 100 amp or so charger.
That 40 amp battery charger will be just about a 50-75% load on one of the 1000-1200 watt generators; an efficient range to run any generator in. That means you won't be able to run much else at the same time. Maybe a small refrigerator. If you expect to be able to run the a/c and other loads while charging your batteries, you will need at least a 3000 watt generator. It is highly unlikely that you will need more than 5000 watts.
If you can get a diesel generator, by all means do so. You will probably want to eventually anyway, if you stick with the offgrid lifestyle for long. Diesels are indeed more fuel-efficient. But don't be fooled by what some folks say about the efficiency of a gasoline genny; for this
type of use one of the small ones will run 3-5 hours per gallon of gas. You will probably be using about 2 gallons per day
during the hot season.

Build your own wind generator, and other off grid solutions

Study Butte Water System

This is an interesting news article about Study Butte's water system. Study Butte is about 35 miles south of Terlingua Ranch.

Study Butte providing good, clean water

By Linda Bailey Potter / Staff Writer
If there's one thing everyone can agree on, a trip to
South Brewster County will make you thirsty. The hot,
dry climate is a testament that water is in limited
supply. In fact, for years, all you could see were the
crumbling ruins of a long past mining community with
little new development. "You don't want to buy land
here because there isn't any water," they would say.

Well, the "theys" are now eating their words with
recent news of aquifers that possibly run underground
across the entire breadth of South County, and a new
water plant, the Study Butte Water Supply Corp.
(SBWSC), which is providing drinking water to 103
customers through 21 miles of pipelines, serving a
population of about 700 people.

"The taste of our water is excellent," said David
Fricker, president of SBWSC.

SBWSC was created to care for existing property owners
who do not have access to running water. Without a
water system in the Study Butte/Terlingua area, there
were few water source options. Some were hauling water
in jars to the house, and trucks were used to fill
water tanks. Another option was to connect to a small
water supplier's system, though unregulated by the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
because they serve less than 15 customers. Others had
their own well and still others had water catchment
systems whereby water is collected from the roof.

A group of residents saw the need for a water supply
company and met in 1988, not knowing what they were
getting themselves into with grant applications and
decisions about the type of water plant needed and who
to serve.

Somehow, it all worked out, but not without a lot of
growing pains. They received three grants and a loan
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural
Development Program. Funds for the plant were provided
by a USDA colonias grant earmarked for communities
within 25 miles of the border and which lack basic
services for their homes. SBWSC is about eight miles
"as the crow flies" from the border.

They received a permit from the TCEQ for a certificate
of convenience and necessity in a 350-acre area that
covers most of the population in the community. "The
people in charge of the company at the time had no
idea as to the regulations. They had to hire a
consulting engineer," said Phillip Smith, operations
manager.

The water plant is a reverse osmosis desalination
process that sits on five acres. The well is about 100
ft. from the plant with a 122,000 gal. water tank.
They also have 20 acres where they pump their
wastewater by pipeline.

They drilled one well, which is about 1,000 ft. deep,
and started pumping water on March 26, 1999. On Jan.
25, 2003, the water pump on the well failed after only
46 months of operation. The cause was blamed on iron
pipes, which should have been stainless steel, which
rusted from 112 degrees of water that was pumped
through the well. Another cause was poor engineering
design. On top of that, when they tried to get the
well motor out, it dropped to the bottom of the well
and they were faced with the reality that their
customers were going to be without water.

A call for help went out to Brewster County Judge Val
Beard, who helped get TxDOT involved. With tankers
that could haul potable water, Big Bend National Park
provided 66,000 gallons of water from their water
system and Lajitas Resort provided 470,000 gallons,
all in a 17-day period, while the pump and pipes were
being replaced. "In all that time not one water user
experienced a dry faucet," said Fricker. BBNP and
Lajitas did not charge them for the water.

SBWSC now has a second well and is ready to accept
bids on a project to build eight to nine miles of new
pipelines, which will double the number of water
meters, bringing in an estimated 59 percent more
revenue. "It will give us some breathing room," said
Fricker.

They are also getting high-tech equip for the wells
with a submersible pressure transducer, which is
placed deep into the well and will feed data directly
into their computer.

They pump an average of 30,000 gal. of treated water
every day. "The well level returns to level before we
turn on the pump. We barely notice any change, even
before we've had rain," said Smith of the effect of
unusual rains this year on well water levels.

However, everything isn't rosy just yet. They are
barely breaking even on operations. A reserve fund for
future problems is slowly accumulating but there are
current infrastructure problems that are pressing.
Their maintenance vehicle is a four-wheel Yamaha.
"It's the only transportation that we have," said
Smith. They also need to replace substandard pipelines
and make further improvements to the distribution
system.

SBWSC went before the Brewster County Commissioners
Court last month for help with an Office of Rural
Community Affairs (ORCA) grant, which is now in the
works for next year.

In the meantime, their water pump is working just fine
and they are still providing water by the gallon to
those who need it, especially during the chili
cook-off, limited to 25 gallons per month at one cent
a gallon per person. Their grants require that they
charge for all water services, otherwise they would
give the water out free, said Fricker.

Terlingua Ranch and Big Bend Part III, The Ranch

Go to Part I

Go to Part II

When I saw Santiago Peak (the 5th photo in Part II), off in the distance to my
left, I knew I was getting close. I was driving south from Alpine on 118, and I
was watching for this 6500' peak as a landmark, because I knew from the
topo maps that it could be seen from my tract on the northern border
of the ranch. It looked just as awesome as I expected, too; with a low
cloud shrouding its summit.

About 25 miles farther, I reached the first paved road I had seen

(other than the one I was on), intersecting from the left, along with

a sign displaying the Bad Rabbit brand and the words, "Terlingua

Ranch". I had arrived! I turned in, noting the ranch store on the

corner with water tanks for sale outside, and drove slowly so as not

to miss any of the impressive scenery.

The terrain is fairly flat desert interspersed with numerous hills and

a few larger mountains. Small dirt roads, some well-graded, others

faint two-tracks, intersect the main ranch road. You can see an

occasional structure, ranging from modern homes to shacks. Travel

trailers are common, too. The pavement ends after about 13 miles, and

the road is graded dirt/gravel for the last 3 miles before the ranch

headquarters.

Headquarters is a cluster of buildings surrounded by small mountains.

There are several dirt roads heading into the mountains and out into

the desert. One of the roads winds around the base of the nearest

mountain, and has pullouts for RV camping. There are a few duplexes

which comprise the motel, and there is a restaurant, swimming pool,

bathhouse, campground, an open area for tent camping, a landing strip,

a rifle range and separate pistol range, a chapel, etc. In the center

is the ranch office, and most of the other buildings are within

walking distance. Two water wells are located behind the office.

Let me digress here for a minute, to discuss the water situation at

the ranch. Most people who live here fulltime have a large storage

tank and a roofed area that is usually larger than the dwelling, to

not only provide lots of shade in the daytime but also lots of

rainwater collection area. The area receives, on average, 9 inches of

rain per year. I won't go into a detailed discussion of the math, but

1 cubic foot of water is approximately 7.5 gallons; that is how much

water 12 square feet of roof area will gather, per inch of rain.

Working from that, assuming a large enough tank, and that the tank is

well-designed to prevent evaporation, 100 square feet of roof area

should gather a conservative minimum of 1 gallon per day, averaged

over the year. That means 1000 square feet, which is by most people's

standards a small house, will gather an average of at least 10 gallons

per day. Build a small house with large overhangs, a covered patio and

carport for 2000 square feet (and a 10,000 gallon tank to match) and

you've got 20 gallons per day, fulltime. A couple or small family who

can't make it on that, has no business living in the desert.

Wells are not out of the question, either. I've been told that water

is about 300 feet down in most areas of the ranch. That's not bad. I

don't know how much a drilling company charges in the area, but I

think $10 per foot is an average rate in most areas. That would make

your well $3000. That is very reasonable; in fact if you pay, say

$5000 for 10-12 acres and $3000 for a well, you have $8000 in a tract

that you could probably sell for $20,000 just because it has a good

well. The downside is if the driller doesn't find water, you still

have to pay him.

But what if you just bought 5 acres to camp on, don't intend to live

there, and it's gonna be awhile, if ever, before you you can even

think seriously about buying a big water tank or anything else

permanent? Do you have to haul 50 gallons from home for a camping

trip? No. You're not gonna have to travel with 500 lbs of water

sloshing in the back of your vehicle, like I did. The two wells I

mentioned earlier behind the ranch office are for landowners to

purchase water. One of the wells is certified potable, the other is

not. They are right next to each other. The certified water is, I

think, 15 cents per gallon; and last I checked the uncertified water

was 3 cents per gallon. 100 gallons for $3. For short-term use that's

not bad at all. Heck, you could even live that way indefinitely,

although you will eventually want to scrimp and save for a better

solution. One thing, though. The water you purchase from the ranch is

slightly sulphurous, so it doesn't taste very good. You can get used

to it, and I hear it's actually good for you, but I still think I

would use a charcoal filter for my drinking water.

OK, back to the ranch office. The ladies who work there are beginning

to wonder if we're ever gonna come in. Inside, there is a counter

where you can get the help and/or answers you need. There are also

seats, to take a load off, and magazines to read and buy. The front

room to your left is a store for all kinds of souvenirs, and behind

that is another room with maps of the ranch all around the walls, more

maps in a rack for sale, a computer, a coffeemaker (always full), and

a central table surrounded by chairs. This room always has at least a

few landowners and potential landowners hanging around, drinking

coffee, perusing maps, and carrying on several conversations at once.

We'll be revisiting this room later.

I met the ranch manager, whom I had been warned was an ogre; but I

found her to be a very gracious, friendly, and helpful hostess. In

fact, everyone there welcomes landowners like family, and they go out of

their way to accommodate you. Of course they are welcoming to

non-landowners too; but if you own land they know they'll be seeing

you again.

After the long trip, I was too tired to set up camp right away, so I

got one of the rooms for the first night.

Next: The Adventure Continues (Part IV) [Link]

Link: Terlingua Ranch Lodge

Cornbread Festival

Last weekend we went to the Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tennessee; home of Lodge, the cast iron cookware manufacturer. Lodge is the major sponsor of the Festival, which stands to reason since it's all about cornbread (and beans, and all the other things that go with cornbread), and I don't think it's even possible to make cornbread in anything other than cast iron. It just wouldn't be right.

It's a pretty neat 'fest. They close Main Street to vehicular traffic, charge something like $3 entrance fee, and once inside you have access to an antique tractor show, street musicians and all kinds of stuff like that. Of course there are the standard vendors you see at any such festival: food, arts & crafts, etc. Then there is "corn bread alley" where you pay a couple of bucks to walk past a long line of servers, plate in hand, while each server doles out his or her specialty cornbread, beans, or other Southern dish. At the end of the line are servers giving out cups of milk or buttermilk; then on to a covered dining area. Wonderful!

There are a variety of special events too; corn bread eating, buttermilk chugging and homemade ice cream eating contests, cornbread judging, tours of Lodge and some of the other local foundries; and who knows what else. All in all, it's a good way to spend a Saturday in the spring.

BTW, the little girl in the second photo is my granddaughter. I think she's found a new friend!

[Link]

How to sleep without air conditioning on a hot night

This is an appropriate story for a hot night like tonight. I remember when I was a kid and we didn't have air conditioning. My room was upstairs too; which made it even hotter. I remember sprinkling water on the bed and then setting a fan on a chair beside the bed. This was in addition to a fan in the window. Then I had the bright idea of pinning down the edges of the bedspread, and tying it over the fan so it made a kind of inflatable dome tent. Usually I had a flashlight and a book in there too, so I could read until 3AM.