The Philippines was like that… fuel in pop bottles… stuff like that…
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Morgana
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I bet. Were you there in the service? I would love to see it but $$$. I was on a packed microbus in East Timor once when someone got on with a jerrycan of gasoline & parked it next to the door. Uh, I think this is my stop, 'bye!
This coming week the temperature in the AZ high country is going to be dropping down to closer to normal for this time of year. So by the end of the coming week some lows at freezing might be happening. That means it is now time for me to start sorting out stuff, a little downsizing perhaps before I start moving South.
I am going to try a different route south towards Quartzsite this time. I will start south on Hwy 89 but meander off it at Prescott onto a flatter less twisty journey towards Skull Valley on towards Congress AZ. A friend has given me some photos of the turns needed from image captures on google maps. He is not quite up on how to just share the route itself as a link. So I will have to rebuild it from the photos referencing back and forth to Google maps app. But my phone screen is too small for viewing those images clearly so I will need to tether my iPhone to my laptop and work on the larger screen. But not today. Maybe sometime later this weekend I will get it done. I have other things I want to do today including an afternoon nap?
I am going to try a different route south towards Quartzsite this time. I will start south on Hwy 89 but meander off it at Prescott onto a flatter less twisty journey towards Skull Valley on towards Congress AZ. A friend has given me some photos of the turns needed from image captures on google maps. He is not quite up on how to just share the route itself as a link. So I will have to rebuild it from the photos referencing back and forth to Google maps app. But my phone screen is too small for viewing those images clearly so I will need to tether my iPhone to my laptop and work on the larger screen. But not today. Maybe sometime later this weekend I will get it done. I have other things I want to do today including an afternoon nap?
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Morgana
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Haha so i think I am getting the hang of these guaguas. I've been in 3 vans and 3 pickup trucks. It's easier out in the country where there are only a dozen ways to get lost instead of 3000. Today I went inland, very mountainous, incredibly gorgeous, scary as h3ll, twisty roads, high speeds, & traffic lane markers are advisory only, especially on blind curves of course. Fortunately more than half the traffic is motorcycles so room to maneuver. There were horses on the road four times! People just swerve around them. People have been so helpful as i bumble around. The tourist books make this sound easy which is BS. I havent seen another tourist on any of these yet. Scenery = in-effing-credible.
With all the loss of homes from the recent hurricanes and insurance coverage issues for repairing damaged housing it seems like there will be more of those persons having to, at least for a while, adopt Van Life. The reports are that there is no immediately available temporary housing left in those affected areas or surrounding highway routes out of those areas. Eventually FEMA will create some temporary mobile home housing but that takes infrastructure of power, water and electricity to get those temporary villages habitable.
Our very own member “Travelaround”who started this “ chat about anything” thread went through this scenario initiated by a wild fire in California destroying her home and making her land unusable until cleaned up of hazardous to health soils. She documented in this thread that move into a motel housing and then into a temporary travel trailer in a trailer park and then the trailer eventually moved onto her own property after it had debris and contaminated soils removed. But at last just under a year ago she moved into new housing in a sticks and brick brand new house on her own land.
Our very own member “Travelaround”who started this “ chat about anything” thread went through this scenario initiated by a wild fire in California destroying her home and making her land unusable until cleaned up of hazardous to health soils. She documented in this thread that move into a motel housing and then into a temporary travel trailer in a trailer park and then the trailer eventually moved onto her own property after it had debris and contaminated soils removed. But at last just under a year ago she moved into new housing in a sticks and brick brand new house on her own land.
vanbrat
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I expect you are right about there being a few more folks traveling around in vans/RVs or ? after this latest mess nature has delt everyone in the SE. I sure would want to find some other place to be. Not sure I could stay after this is all done. I would be looking for a new safer place to land.
Morgana
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I'm sure there are people ask themselves that after every storm. It would probably be just as hard to face that your home base can't be home any more as it would be to face that you can't be on the road any more. People get very attached to home whatever it is.
Morgana
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Got home in one piece but with a hefty case of traveller's ick. Wouldn't have missed it for the world; not feeling a strong urge to run out and do it again right away. I think riding the guaguas was the worst and the best part of it. In the middle of all that commotion, how the drivers pick out the signals that someone wants to get on and off, I do not know. (They will pick you up and let you off anywhere rather than having regular stops.) Seems like quite the skill to me. Zipping around in the back of a pickup truck with the wind in your face ... yeah OK I know some people do that all the time but not me, I loved it. Scenery to die for. People reminded me of Mainers (of all things) -- they won't gush all over you but if you need something they'll help you. I never needed so much help on a trip in my life. The gimp ankle definitely put a damper on things but it was much better than my worst-case scenario. Definitely have to put fitness first now cuz it feels like the gremlin of geezerdom is just waiting to pounce. Now if I can just get a laundry done I'm going back to bed. Thanks for listening to all this!
I got down out of higher elevations where snow is predicted. But not as far South as I was planning as there was too strong of head and crosswinds today and tomorrow. I am camped next to friends, but there is a lot of constant interstate highway noise. So I will move on in another day or two when the wind storm is over. Just part of the normal nomadic life during seasonal migration times. Not everyday is a good day for travel.
Arrived at my next potential two week camping area. I was too tied yesterday afternoon to get leveled up just right so I settled for a quick leveling without unhitching. That kind of leveling up means “at least I wont fall out of my bed”. I will level up better this morning and then get to work with cutting Etsy orders. I may or may not stay here for two weeks so I am not unhitching my trailer today. I have stayed here for two weeks or so stretches before and it works fine for that.
I seem to have a lot of indecisions about staying in camping spots at the moment.
I need coffee so I can focus. One of those days that I am also achy in my shoulders and neck from too many hours of driving yesterday. So add some Tylenol to that coffee order! Slow start today but I will recover from the tired grumpy indecisions
I seem to have a lot of indecisions about staying in camping spots at the moment.
I need coffee so I can focus. One of those days that I am also achy in my shoulders and neck from too many hours of driving yesterday. So add some Tylenol to that coffee order! Slow start today but I will recover from the tired grumpy indecisions
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Kerosene is also known as Diesel #1, we ran our GMC buses on Kerosene only. Trucks used Diesel #2.
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Older diesels will burn coal oil, kerosene, fuel oil, fry oil, etc but #1 diesel & kerosene are not the same.
Kerosene and #1 diesel are both petroleum fuels derived from crude oil, but they have several differences:
Refining: Kerosene is more refined than diesel, meaning it has fewer impurities.
Boiling point: Kerosene has a lower boiling point than diesel.
Uses: Kerosene is used in a variety of engine systems, while diesel is almost exclusively used for vehicles.
Price: Kerosene is usually less expensive than diesel.
Gelling: Kerosene doesn't gel as quickly as diesel.
Energy content: Diesel fuel has higher British Thermal Units (BTUs) than kerosene.
Cetane: Diesel fuel has a higher cetane number than kerosene, which means it ignites more readily.
Lubricity: Diesel fuel has more lubricity than kerosene.
Viscosity: #1 diesel has a lower viscosity than #2 diesel, which makes it better for cold weather.
Kerosene and #1 diesel are both petroleum fuels derived from crude oil, but they have several differences:
Refining: Kerosene is more refined than diesel, meaning it has fewer impurities.
Boiling point: Kerosene has a lower boiling point than diesel.
Uses: Kerosene is used in a variety of engine systems, while diesel is almost exclusively used for vehicles.
Price: Kerosene is usually less expensive than diesel.
Gelling: Kerosene doesn't gel as quickly as diesel.
Energy content: Diesel fuel has higher British Thermal Units (BTUs) than kerosene.
Cetane: Diesel fuel has a higher cetane number than kerosene, which means it ignites more readily.
Lubricity: Diesel fuel has more lubricity than kerosene.
Viscosity: #1 diesel has a lower viscosity than #2 diesel, which makes it better for cold weather.
No heating with diesel for me for a while! The nights are once again manageable with a few layers of fleece blankets. But I have to start at bedtime with fewer blankets than I need at the coolest hours around dawn. That does make for some sleep disruption 
. Likely why these last few years I feel like taking naps in the afternoons.
. Likely why these last few years I feel like taking naps in the afternoons.vanbrat
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I think you don't want one..... but electric blankets
frodo2222
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SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD A BLAST!! Broke apart some conceptions and got to go to the BEACH Congrats
Not based on anything factual….just my personal speculative ponderings.
Lately I have seen a few very much unconfirmed comments saying that the reason the new waste facility at The Tyson Wash LTVA new waste water and drinking water facility is not open is because the well they drilled for it is incapable of producing enough water for the facility.
I have also heard for several years that the reason the La Posa South water gets turned off in the evenings is the well needs time to recharge.
So that has me seriously wondering if the huge jump in price is simply to reduce how many people are going to stay there because that area simply can’t produce enough water and likely never will be able to. They did blame the price increase in a big jump of a “variant population” in the last few years. But what is interesting about that is the van dwellers use a fraction of the water compared to dwellers in large RVs where there are flush toilets, kitchen sinks and showers. Those long lines at the waste water dump station and water fill stations are not car and van campers.
Lately I have seen a few very much unconfirmed comments saying that the reason the new waste facility at The Tyson Wash LTVA new waste water and drinking water facility is not open is because the well they drilled for it is incapable of producing enough water for the facility.
I have also heard for several years that the reason the La Posa South water gets turned off in the evenings is the well needs time to recharge.
So that has me seriously wondering if the huge jump in price is simply to reduce how many people are going to stay there because that area simply can’t produce enough water and likely never will be able to. They did blame the price increase in a big jump of a “variant population” in the last few years. But what is interesting about that is the van dwellers use a fraction of the water compared to dwellers in large RVs where there are flush toilets, kitchen sinks and showers. Those long lines at the waste water dump station and water fill stations are not car and van campers.
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vanbrat
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So, how's the new camp sight???
