We're heading out tomorrow afternoon on our first winter trip and we're going to Yosemite. The park doesn't take reservations in the winter months so we're hoping to get a spot but I'm not too worried about it. There are lots of sites in the park and lots of NFS land outside of it. While the weather forecast shows lows in the upper 20s, I noticed that it was only +9 F this morning so we'll see how the Airstream furnace does on keeping the tanks toasty. Since the furnace draws so much battery power I've also brought along the Mr. Buddy to supplement the heat so I don't have to use the furnace quite as much. I also have a spare battery in the form of the Duracell/Xentec battery/inverter. Last time out I used it for watching a couple of movies and for Sadie to watch a Sesame Street and it worked out great. Of course I always travel with the generator too so those things combined with fully charged batteries, a 110 watt solar panel, and many of the interior lights being converted to LED, I think we should be okay.
I don't expect to get all the way into the park tomorrow afternoon/evening so we'll probably pull over somewhere along the way on Highway 120 and set up for just the night and pull into the park early in the morning on Friday.
Both Carrie and I need a snow and mountain fix since we've not been to the mountains since early last year when we camped in the Hope Valley (between Markleeville and Kirkwood, one of the nicest boon-docking areas imaginable!).
We're all excited about the trip. I'm burning a couple of movies for Sadie to watch on the drive (more Sesame Street, actually), got the cameras, the Autonet Mobile wireless (let's see how that does in the park....), iPhones and chargers, bicycles, and firewood. Carrie got lots of good camping food and we're fired up. Hopefully I can sleep tonight and will be able to focus on work to get the last bits wrapped up before we shut down for the day.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
What I've Done So Far
While at first I didn't think there'd be that much that I'd want or need to add to my Safari SE 25' FB, it turns out I've done a fair amount. I'll try to compile my list here:
added a solar panel and charger (see earlier post)
added Xantrex 400 watt pure sine wave inverter--while I don't use it a lot, it is good to know that I have 120 volts available at half the trailer's outlets when dry camping if I want it; I put the remote switch on the galley wall, using the pre-wired cabling
replaced the stock 10 watt recessed halogen bulbs with 5 watt for virtually no discernible difference in light output but reduced power consumption by 50%
added a 19" 16:9 Polaroid LCD/DVD player TV to the bedroom, mounted on a Peerless articulating wall mount; this draws 3.5 amps on 12 volts and doesn't require an inverter since it comes with an external power 'brick' that converts from 120 volts to 12 volts, perfect for dry camping with relatively low power drain
added an AppleTV with 160 GB hard drive; I keep this at home and have it automatically sync new movies & music and pop it into the trailer when I go out
I am in the process of replacing many of the incandescent bulbs with LED's, warm white in color though it still is a little 'cool', slightly warmer than fluorescent but not quite halogen or traditional incandescent in color/temperature but uses 10 - 15% of the power
added a TriMetric battery monitor; since we usually dry-camp, this is an indespensible device for monitoring charge state, power consumption, and percentage of power left
replaced the stock water pump with a ShurFlo Extreme 4.0 pump; it's almost silent and no more pipe rattling!
I just ordered custom fitted flannel sheets
There's still more experimenting to be done with LED lighting on my end, though I may wait to replace the halogen lights until the color is better tuned
I like the idea of another solar panel but I'll have to find room on the roof
Probably going to replace the factory vent in the bedroom with a second Fantastik Fan but I'll wait until it's warm out
The factory mattress leaves much to be desired so at some point I'd like to replace it with something more akin to the Tempurpedic we have at home but hopefully lighter and nowhere as tall
We've made at least 15 trips with it since getting it at the end of March this year and have slept in it at least 30 nights and really like it. The walk-around perpendicular queen bed is a mixed bag--nice size (over the full size in the old trailer) but since I sleep on the side closest to the front of the trailer, it's a hassle getting in and out of it, not to mention making it is a pain, the 27' is mounted length-wise and is probably more convenient but adds weight and cuts down on the number of places you can take it
added a solar panel and charger (see earlier post)
added Xantrex 400 watt pure sine wave inverter--while I don't use it a lot, it is good to know that I have 120 volts available at half the trailer's outlets when dry camping if I want it; I put the remote switch on the galley wall, using the pre-wired cabling
replaced the stock 10 watt recessed halogen bulbs with 5 watt for virtually no discernible difference in light output but reduced power consumption by 50%
added a 19" 16:9 Polaroid LCD/DVD player TV to the bedroom, mounted on a Peerless articulating wall mount; this draws 3.5 amps on 12 volts and doesn't require an inverter since it comes with an external power 'brick' that converts from 120 volts to 12 volts, perfect for dry camping with relatively low power drain
added an AppleTV with 160 GB hard drive; I keep this at home and have it automatically sync new movies & music and pop it into the trailer when I go out
I am in the process of replacing many of the incandescent bulbs with LED's, warm white in color though it still is a little 'cool', slightly warmer than fluorescent but not quite halogen or traditional incandescent in color/temperature but uses 10 - 15% of the power
added a TriMetric battery monitor; since we usually dry-camp, this is an indespensible device for monitoring charge state, power consumption, and percentage of power left
replaced the stock water pump with a ShurFlo Extreme 4.0 pump; it's almost silent and no more pipe rattling!
I just ordered custom fitted flannel sheets
There's still more experimenting to be done with LED lighting on my end, though I may wait to replace the halogen lights until the color is better tuned
I like the idea of another solar panel but I'll have to find room on the roof
Probably going to replace the factory vent in the bedroom with a second Fantastik Fan but I'll wait until it's warm out
The factory mattress leaves much to be desired so at some point I'd like to replace it with something more akin to the Tempurpedic we have at home but hopefully lighter and nowhere as tall
We've made at least 15 trips with it since getting it at the end of March this year and have slept in it at least 30 nights and really like it. The walk-around perpendicular queen bed is a mixed bag--nice size (over the full size in the old trailer) but since I sleep on the side closest to the front of the trailer, it's a hassle getting in and out of it, not to mention making it is a pain, the 27' is mounted length-wise and is probably more convenient but adds weight and cuts down on the number of places you can take it
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