1/29 - 2/11/05 Overlooking Lake Pleasant

Saturday morning & all systems go. I drained the waste tanks, topped off the fresh water, & headed north & west with charged batteries. The forecast was for rain likely today, with partly cloudy & cool the next several days. Should be a good test of our ability to camp self-contained. We headed for Lake Pleasant County Park, at the far north end of Maricopa County & just beyond greater Pheonix.

The forecast was right on, at least for day one. We went through a fairly heavy downpour in Scottsdale, but it cleared as we headed up the Carefree Highway toward Lake Pleasant. The lake is a good sized reservoir on the Agua Fria River, part of the Central Arizona Project; nestled in the hilly Sonoran desert landscape, it's just a little incongruous. At the ranger station they advised that the water level is rising 2' daily, so not to park too close. Not to worry, there was little flat ground near the shores anyway. But we were lucky, the one dry camping spot that was flat & large enough for us was available. It took some jockeying to get Gypsy in & turned so the solar panels faced south. Not long after getting parked & leveled, it turned dark & the rain returned, with some pretty strong wind & a lot of lightning & thunder. Timmy hates thunder, so we sat out the storm on the couch with Timmy trembling in my lap.

After the storm passed, I raised the solar panels & put up the satellite dish (which worked on the first try again). Then I got out my canvas chair & enjoyed an ale, taking in the panorama.

Our spot has a commanding view of much of the lake, though in truth, it's not really that scenic. Before I finished the beer, the next cloud came over, so we headed back inside, out of the rain. It was getting toward sundown & as the sun reached the clear patch of sky on the horizon, it shone back through the storm, illuminating the most intense rainbow that I had ever seen, with a full arch double. It was way more than I could fit in my camera's viewfinder, but I snapped off several pix getting what I could. Maybe the Lord has sent me a sign!

I'm going to be very conservative managing my batteries until I get a good handle on the situation. No more than one light at a time, use the catalytic propane heater for primary warmth, avoid microwave, coffee maker & even TV to start. I went to bed with what appeared to be a half-charged battery bank.

During our first night here, I was awake a lot. Several times I heard coyotes crying not far off. Timmy got excited at first, then seemed to take them in stride. We awoke to clear skies & the solar already charging. But something's still amiss. The battery voltage readings on the charge controller & the inverter don't match. I think I trust the charge controller & it's showing a lot higher, so I'm going to stick it out at least through tomorrow & see how a work day goes. I'll also be calling my friends at RV Solar Electric for more consultation.

2/1 - OK, it's Tuesday evening & I've got 2 workdays under my belt on solar power. But I'm slowly losing ground on the batteries; each night they are just a little lower than the night before, even with the bare minimum usage in the evenings. I spent some time on the phone with the solar gurus & it seems that the discrepancy between my readouts is due to voltage drop, a normal condition. Its impact on my ability to store solar power is compounded by the fact that our days are short & the sun is still rather low in the sky, limiting the available energy. So... worst case it seems, I may need to get a charge from the grid in the next few days. There are hookup sites in the park, so I think we will probably be sticking it out here until it's time to head to Bullhead City.

We had a "neighbor" move in yesterday morning, parking between us & the lake. I went down and told him I felt like he was invading my privacy, even though I knew I didn't own the site. But he just said that with the rising water level, there weren't a lot of other options. He said they would only be there a couple of days & shook my hand, so I let it go. He seemed pretty friendly. When he fired up his antique generator in the evening however, I was really annoyed. It sounded like a broken down compressor & it really was intrusive. I used some of my precious battery power to play music so I wouldn't have to listen to it. He ran it again in the morning, twice; then they left, leaving behind a bunch of trash. Some people!

When I drove out to the park entrance today to pay my "rent" ($5 a day) for the rest of the week, I took a load of waste water to the dump station & brought back a load of fresh water (different containers of course). This was my first go at replenishing fresh water using my portable potable tank & it worked out just dandy. Another essential under control.

Since Saturday the weather has been mostly clear, sometimes breezy with days in the 60s & nights below 40. It seemed to warm up today & the breeze slackened, so we had ourselves a campfire under the Pliedes. I had squirreled away some unused firewood back at Joshua Tree & there were a couple of fire pits here with unburned wood, so we had ourselves a nice blaze. It was very quiet & peaceful, with occasional splashing down below... ducks I think.

2/2 - It's been interesting with the water level rising daily & the shoreline changing. I've been putting stone markers every few feet from the waterline & watching them disappear one by one. I've also been amused by our resident cactus wrens. They often sit in the little acacia tree outside my window and make their odd calls: some times they cluck; other times they sound like squirrels. I also get some kind of finches in the acacia & this morning I saw a bald eagle soaring to the east.

Today I had another technological success. I've been burning through cell minutes like crazy & had a 2 hour conference call scheduled. So I got the IP (internet) phone going & did the whole call over the satellite link. I hear others very well, but sometimes have problems with them understanding me. Today I barely had to talk, so all was well.

2/3 - More wildlife today... On an afternoon walk Timmy flushed a pair of peccaries out of hiding. I managed to get a couple of snapshots, they were very skittish & in no mood to pose. Later we encountered a small herd of 6 feral burros not far from our site. I wasn't able to get a picture today, but maybe later. I had heard braying on a couple of occasions, but thought perhaps someone had brought their donkey to the park. Not the case... they live here. I was entertained for a while this morning by a band of ground squirrels that make their home not far from ours. Wonder what they think of the rising water. We also had a wildlife invasion: I saw a mouse in our house yesterday evening. While we were out today, I bought mouse traps & this evening suckered him on some peanut butter. Kind of cute, with big ears, but sorry, not welcome here. I think I know how he got in & I have plugged that route.

Lots of wind the last couple of days, very steady from the east; I'd guess 20 - 30 miles an hour. A wind surfer was making the best of it today, crossing the lake faster than I would have thought possible.

We are still running short of power in the evenings, though I have sufficient juice to put in a day's work. Today I obtained the necessary supplies to revamp some of my wiring, hoping to improve the charging efficiency by eliminating some voltage drop. I plan to move tomorrow afternoon to a park site with hookups where I'll do the work & recharge the batteries. Then we'll put things to the test again next week.

2/5 - Ran out of juice yesterday morning, not enough to power the inverter & stay online, so I moved early & spent the whole day plugged into the grid. As it clouded up soon after, it was just going to be a matter of when anyway. We took advantage of the extra power, charging up everything that runs on batteries & watching TV in the evening. Today we moved again, after finishing the rewire work. We're on a ridge now, not quite as close to the water, but with a nice view to the north. We unplugged with full batteries & as the sun went down, they are still showing full. It's a good feeling; I'm anxious to see how things work out with the improved wiring.

Went down to the lake to try my hand at fishing after sunset. This was my third attempt, & results the same - skunked. Not that I know how to fish these waters anyway. It's all warm water species: bass, crappie, blue gill, & I've never fished for any of them before. But I've got another week here, so who knows. I have seen people landing fish occasionally, but none of them are using flies.

With these long evenings on limited power, I've been doing more reading & sometimes just enjoying the solitude. As I contemplate on it all, sometimes I ask myself "What are you doing here?" But when I look inside, what we're doing still feels right & good. Life is a gift, an adventure. We're just 6 weeks into this, still learning & persevering. It's been quite a ride & I think it can only get better.

2/6 - Maybe, just maybe, I solved my power problem today. While closely checking my solar output & my consumption, I noticed a huge spike in usage, way over 100 DC amps going to the inverter. But I wasn't running anything. I unplugged the few AC devices that were plugged in & still had the draw. As I was checking my distribution panel, I noticed an AC breaker for the water heater. I thought it was DC only. Flipped off that breaker & the draw fell to nothing. I've been heating my water with inverted battery power for the last month! No wonder I couldn't get ahead. I celebrated my new power wealth by watching half of the Super Bowl game.

During the afternoon, we toured part of the park & went for a hike. I also took several pictures for my new saguaro photo gallery. I've had fun over the past couple of weeks marveling at the endless variety these large cacti display & watching for individuals that are really interesting. Hope you enjoy the gallery.

2/7 - I was already awake early when Timmy sounded the alarm. I looked out the bedroom window into the gray dawn & saw our little burro herd parading by in stately single file. It stayed gray all morning and was cool & mostly overcast in the afternoon too. A good test of our power situation. I hope I'm not boring you, dear readers, with my solar power preoccupation. It's just that the whole game plan rests on being self-sufficient to a large degree. The extra $15 to $25 a day to stay in campgrounds with electrical hookups would bust my budget. So it was encouraging today to finish the day in good shape on that score.

On our various walks during the day I've been noticing more and more flowers. I wouldn't say the desert is ablaze, but it sure is brightening up.

2/8 - Late this afternoon I trekked down to the lake to try again to catch the fish that has been teasing me the last couple of days. Just as the breeze dies down toward sunset, this fish (it must be the same one) has been making very showy jumps in the lake inlet down below us. Last night I tried to cast to where he had just splashed, only to have him splash again further up the inlet. When I went that way, he came back down. Chasing was clearly not a winning strategy. Tonight I decided to stake out one likely spot & just cast about in that general area. Maybe I could attract him as he passed by... Not likely. But not long after I got started, the burro herd appeared over a nearby ridge, headed my way. I cautiously moved toward them & they casually continued in my direction. Ultimately they established a distance of maybe 75 yards that they would allow without getting excited. They seemed curious about this creature down by the water waving a stick. I had remembered to bring my camera & got off a few shots. I went back to my futile fishing afterwards, then back to the trailer to savor the sunset & a beer.

I've been pondering which way to go after Bullhead City next week. We'll be on the far western side of Arizona & a long way from New Mexico where I had thought about getting to on this trip. Since I want to be back in California toward the end of March, that would leave us some long distances to cover & I'd rather avoid long drives. Timmy sure doesn't like them. I read about a free camping area near Sedona with fishing in the area. That sounds interesting, though I think I'm going to spend an extra week or so in western Arizona to allow it to warm up a little more. Sedona is getting into the higher country & still cold at night.

2/9 - On our noon walk today we went back to the site where we had parked last week. Some folks from Washington state moved in right behind us & were still there. They said we were lucky we left when we did. The very next day a bee swarm moved into their air conditioner & they were still there. I could see bees flying around their trailer like a big hive. They said they had to cover the air vents inside to keep the bees from getting in that way. That's one adventure I don't mind missing out on.

Today started with a strong cold wind from the north; I kept the heat on until mid-morning. Then the wind went still & we had a balmy afternoon, shorts & shirtsleeve weather. In the evening I built a camp fire & enjoyed it with Timmy in my lap. I wonder why open fires feel so peaceful and satisfying... Maybe it's genetic, from half a million years when fire meant warmth and security. The forecast for the next few days is clouds, then rain. So we are going to be tested again in the power department.

2/11 - We'll be pulling out of Lake Pleasant in the morning, and I have to say it has been a pleasant stay. We're spending our last 24 hours here back on the grid after 2 sunless days did in the batteries again. I've done some estimates based on actual charging rates & minimum usage rates & here's the bottom line: This time of the year, we only get about 6 good hours of sunshine, ie, the sun is high enough in the sky to get good exposure on the panels. Producing at about 25 amps, that's 150 amp hours. My draw with just the computer, satellite modem & minimal background devices is around 12 amps (going to the inverter), or around 100 amp hours for an 8 hour work day. Add minimal essentials like lights, water pump, etc, and basically we're at break even on a good day. So I just have to get used to the idea that any significant bad weather means some time on the grid to catch up. Or I need to buy a generator for backup in the winter months. Things should be better in another month or so when the days get significantly longer.

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