24/7 Chat About Anything

[GypsyJan]

Thanks, DS:

If no door is added afterward, I guess you will have to use bungie cords to hold the fabric boxes in place when driving?

 

[shadowmoss]

In an couple of hours I do my move in the motorhome from my summer spot to my winter spot 75 miles and 5K' lower. I am unreasonably nervous about this move. I'm more ready for it than any I've done so far.

I'll report back when I'm set up down there.

Oh, we lost Sean Connery. Can't believe he was 90. Losing a lot.of good ones lately

 

[travelaround]

Travelaround are you going to add some windows to your cargo trailer? Maybe that is the space you will lie in bed and use a camera to look outside.

If I add windows it will come later, after I have everything else in place. At that point I might decide I need more light. Anyhow, I'm thinking of moving my bed from lengthwise to across the back, and there are windows in the back doors.

 

[travelaround]

As I was assembling it I was thinking of YOU ta. I wish I was starting anew because I would have been very happy with these along a wall or stacked etc.

I checked out your Walmart link and found some good things... like this 5 shelf bookcase...
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Better-H...kcase-with-Doors-Rustic-Gray-Finish/535638842
I like that it is only about 13" wide. Perfect for vanlife.

I like your cubes too - they are similar to what I bought for the mobile home... I bought a six cube bookcase for my sewing area, and a 16 cube big bookcase for my books... all burned to ashes now. I will consider buying more... first must do the paneling.

 

[travelaround]

If no door is added afterward, I guess you will have to use bungie cords to hold the fabric boxes in place when driving?

I think I'd use velcro and remove it for times when the van is stationary for a few days.

 

[travelaround]

I'm just about done exploring this corner of the universe for now. I'm connected to FEMA, joined the lawsuit, and signed away the right of entry to my property so the state can make it habitable again. Only thing I'm waiting for is for my daughter to have her baby, which is due in late November. She plans to come out here with her RV for a few weeks before the due date so they won't have to make a mad rush along the river highway while she's in labor. Good thinking. Hope baby isn't late! I will take care of the older children while they're busy at the hospital.

What else? Well... I think the Red Cross welcome mat is being rolled up. I need to prepare for my exit from the hotel. I feel ready for it. My van is mostly empty and my cargo trailer is a little bit organized enough to deal with. I ordered a new 12v cord for the Iceco refrigerator since the other one burned, apparently... and I will connect it to the solar in the cargo trailer. I have lots of work to do on both van and cargo trailer but can do that while being nomadic. I just need to deal with the cold weather that's coming, but I have experience from last year.

The last month and a half I've gained vital driving skills in having a trailer. I can back it up easily now... which is good for figuring out how to get in and out of tight places. A few nights ago there was a high-dollar huge RV, a truck with a cargo trailer and a semi blocking my preferred night parking space next to the hotel office. (Car theft in this town is epidemic so I park next to the office for hopeful safekeeping.) I was able to edge past all these other vehicles and back my rig into the perfect parking space. I was kind of awed at how much I've improved in the last month.

I'm ordering all I'll need to be able to take showers in the cargo trailer. I think the van will have a new rug this spring (might as well keep the old one for winter) and a recliner... kitchen... etc. Yes, I have big plans... but first the paneling, and insulation of some kind on the windows. I can do all that while living the nomad life.

I have really no interest in the section 8 rental apartment. My heart is in the vanlife, and I think possibly tomorrow will be the day I cut loose from the hotel. Don't want to overstay my welcome here just because I'm afraid of a little cold weather. I'm tougher than that. I hope. LOL ... I did it last year and can do it this year. Suffer a little, Linda, it is good for you.

 

[maki2]

Travelaround a thought about cold weather living to put a grin on your face. If it is really cold you have an legitimate  excuse to stay in bed sniggled up under the covers reading all day until the cold snap is over. Just be sure to stock up on batteries for a reading light.

 

[desert_sailing]

Thanks, DS:

If no door is added afterward, I guess you will have to use bungie cords to hold the fabric boxes in place when driving?

Morning Gypsy,

I did wonder about things flying around  as I have another section of cabinetry with no doors or bungies to hold items. My buddy said things wouldn't move much and being one of those who need to see it to believe it, I took the rig out for a bit of a test.  I made some quick hard turns (fast) and indeed there was very little movement of things on shelves and the the fabric boxes hardly moved.. they fit fairly snug.

I was surprised. I think I would have to  make some significant swerves to jostle much out of place. It may have something to do with an extended rig? I do however think I will get some bungies just in case while travelling. The last thing I want while going down the road is for my jars of sauerkraut and jam about to crash to the floor.  

I really do like the cube cabinet tho. It would have saved me a ton of time and expense in having cabinets built and veneered.

Maybe strips of velcro on the undersides would give a little extra security? My 12v fridge is placed on top of the shelf with only velcro+..LOL.. the corners have about a 2inch piece and each side has a 4ish inch piece..LOL I am pushing on it right now with a bit of force and it is not budging. fingers crossed for the future..HA!

 

[Qxxx]

I'm connected to FEMA, joined the lawsuit, and signed away the right of entry to my property so the state can make it habitable again. 

Any estimate on when the state will do that?

 

[shadowmoss]

I'm set up down in the land of sun and heat. I'm rethinking almost everything related to travel and living nomad. This was not fun. My rig is old. It really struggled to pull the car up the inclines, even though the trend was down hill. More thought needs to happen.

Being nomad isn't in question. I've been working on being more mobile. Not sure this is the rig for that.

 

[bullfrog]

Yes it is a pain when things don’t turn out the way you planned. Big question is if the living space could be smaller and whether you would still like the life style. One of the main reasons we waited to get a 28’ Barth was it had a lightweight aluminum body and the P32(big block Chevy) so plenty of power to pull a little 1988 Honda Civic twenty some years ago. I wouldn’t like doing that now with some states speed limits being 80 MPH for other vehicles on the same road. One of the reasons I usually recommend a trailer is you can always get a bigger truck when the tow vehicle proves to be too small or more likely wears out and still keep the living space that works for you. There is a big difference between even the difference of classes of RVs not to mention converted cargo trailers, vans and cars. We after a few years parked the motor home and used it as a summer home base, while using all types of tents, trailers and vehicles to travel. Unless you can find something that enables you to live comfortably you may never be satisfied so figure out what that is first, then do what you have to to make it possible. The original nomads only moved to follow the seasons and we spend winters in our trailer which is a second home base. Travel is only a few months a year now and so hopefully the Suburban and flatbed/camper will fill the needs during those trips in between stays at our home bases. It can be done on very little money but does take a lot of work and time, in our case getting close to twenty years! Lol!!!

 

[maki2]

What a lovely and SUNNY Halloween day. I am enjoying the extra warmth of solar gain. More sun arriving tomorrow and Monday but then true fall dreck is due to arrive for quite a spell.

I thought this morning I would have an unpleasant chore to transition my two google blogs over to their updated format. One of those two is critical to my business. But as it turns out I must have transitioned that blog to the new format several years ago and the other blog went right over to the new format without needing any changes other than backing it up before I clicked the "just do it" icon. Well at least I hope it is now all done, I will find out tomorrow on Nov 1st, the first day the old blog format will no longer show up on the internet if it truly did work.

Someday I might even get around to doing something with my Instagram subscription for use as a marketing tool.

Went to town, shipped out 2 orders, filled up my tow vehicle with fuel, bought a gallon of diesel so I can test if my diesel stovetop/heater will work. I forgot to take the gas can to fill to run my generator but no hurry on that, I know it should run as I had it professionally serviced by Honda this summer.

I got tabs for both my car and trailer for 2021 so no worries there about leaving the state and having them get lost in the mail.

Now it is time to take a walk in this park and look out over the water to the Olympic Mountain range before I start back in on chores.

 

[Sofisintown]

And Sean Connery is dead at 90.

 

[travelaround]

Any estimate on when the state will do that?

Re: state cleaning up my property so I can get a building permit...

Estimates vary. Some say 2 years but the county office of emergency services disagrees and is ready to start December 1 and they think it will proceed "quickly." I will find out on Monday if they'll allow us to move onto our property while waiting for the cleanup... but honestly, I'm not too excited about the prospect of living in my van in this climate during winter again. I'd like to exit the area, go south, and return in the spring.

 

[travelaround]

Today... had a Zoom meeting with relatives then talked to Red Cross volunteers and my stay here is extended until the 4th - then I'm out in the van, for certain. I will remain in the area until the baby comes, except for trips out of town for van conversion materials.

At 5pm I went to a Historical Society walking tour of the Evergreen Cemetery, and learned a lot about local pioneers and stagecoach drivers and headstone styes and materials. One of the long-time residents was killed in the Modoc War.. age 21... He was a civilian mule train rider. That war was from 1872-3.

 

[maki2]

Had a very nice evening, social distancing safely around the campground host campfire. I know that I will certainly miss this place after I leave here on Monday and I do plan to come back again sometime. But of course it won't be exactly the same, it never is because time does not stand still and the same people are unlikely to be around.

 

[Qxxx]

 I will find out on Monday if they'll allow us to move onto our property while waiting for the cleanup...

I should think they will be a lot of ash on the ground, which you would stir up and breathe in, if living and walking on it for extended periods of time.

 

[travelaround]

I should think they will be a lot of ash on the ground

Toxicity is an issue.. I'm hoping to park at night on the strip of land between the fence and the street. I have a fence running across the front of the property.. probably will get torn out when CA gets there to clean off the property.

 

[Qxxx]

Just an observation. When you camp in the desert, the ground outside the door is generally packed down hard, but as you come and go, you quickly pulverize the dirt and it turns to dust, which you proceed to track into the rig.

 

[tx2sturgis]

A 6x8 foot piece of astroturf as a big welcome mat at your door helps keep the dust and dirt outside the camper or van...

Amazing when you shake it out how much dust and dirt it will hold!