Fine tuning things before the next great adventure.
Over the next couple weeks I’ll be double checking systems and tweaking them if necessary.
Over the past few days I’ve left several coach lights on around the clock with “shore power” disconnected but with the 100w solar panel connected and pointed toward the sun. Half of yesterday was overcast so we didn’t have optimum sunshine. This morning I checked the coach batteries (I usually call them house batteries) and they are sitting at 12.6 with the lights on (under a slight load). They’re at or above 80% charged. Since I don’t use a whole lot of power when boondocking this has been a good test of the solar charging system.
Well, I don’t use a whole lot of power unless it’s cold and I turn the furnace on that is. The fans on the furnace are big electricity users (compared to burning a few LED lights). I know it will get chilly at night on the high plains and in the desert and mountains. I’ll use the furnace. Hopefully I can cover up while I sleep and just use it in the morning when I get up.
So, the solar system is checked out and passes muster. Let me see what’s next on my list…
Cheers
Paul and Heyleigh the Wonder Dog.
Time for some serious planning
Before long the dog and I will be shoving off for parts west. I’m not a planner. I really don’t like being boxed in so my modus operandi is this: unless I’m at a destination where I want to spend time, each evening I look at maps (usually using the ALLSTAYS app on the iPhone) and decide where my next resting place will be and then what the best route will be. Now, my preferred routes are usually quite different from most folks. I avoid major highways! Frankly there’s rarely anything to photograph on them and even if there was, it’s impossible to just stop, get out and shoot pictures. No, I travel small roads through small towns and sometimes through miles and miles of nowhere!
My first real destination (not just a waypoint where I can park for the night) is the Moab area of Utah. I figure that at my pace, it’ll take me a week to get from these Georgia mountains to there. Last year I went through Alabama, Mississippi, a bit of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona to get to Utah. And then my RV was totaled (yesterday’s news). I think this time I’ll choose a higher latitude. But not too high being that I’m a southern boy and prefer not to run the heater.
I think that on the west side of the Mississippi River I’ll do Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. Although, I really like those bath houses in Hot Springs Arkansas. On the east side it’s still a toss up. Tennessee or Kentucky. It’ll be Tennessee either way as I’ll have to go through it to get to Kentucky. But I could go straight west from Tennessee to Arkansas or Missouri.
Some of the deciding factors on this first leg of the Heartland RoadTour Rewind are sights to see, places to park overnight and people to visit.
If you have suggestions or want to share your thoughts with me. You can use the contact form below to get in touch.
[si-contact-form form=’3′]
Dismantle The System
I drive back roads. I mean BACK ROADS. Back roads to the back roads. On this particular day I was heading to Hovenweep National Monument in Utah. I left the Grand Canyon in the morning and was heading through Monument Valley on U.S. 163 to get there. Just because it is a Federal highway, don’t think it isn’t a long lonely drive through some desolate spots.
This was somewhere close to the Arizona – Utah border.
Sleeping Ute Mountain
Looking at Sleeping Ute Mountain in South East Colorado from Hovenweep National Monument in Utah.
May 27, 2015
This was all the further we made it into Utah. The RV was totaled and we were on our way home a day or so later.
I smell a road trip in the immediate future.
I located just the model RV I am looking for. Darn, it’s almost in Canada. That’s gonna be a long drive to check it out. But, it has all the options I require and the price is in my ballpark. Sounds like it has been very well taken care of. Maybe I’ll get the totaled T.O.A.D. replaced and go pick up where we left off while there is still some of 2015 left
Now where’d I put my road atlas? Oh yeah, it’s built into my iPad.
As we were leaving the Grand Canyon
We returned to the Canyon on the 3rd morning to catch some sunrise shots. When we left, we headed east along Desert View. Our target for the afternoon was Hovenweep Utah.
This was one of the best views of the Colorado River from within the park. Most anywhere else there was just a tiny bit of river in sight.
Hovenweep – final campsite
Hovenweep National Monument is a very remote area in Utah with a nice but minimal camping area. Its habitation by humans dates back some 10,000 years. Most recently, Ancestral Puebloans occupied it in the 1200s and 1300s.
This was my last campground before the RV accident which forced my return home. I was only a third of the way along my Heartland Tour. Perhaps I’ll get the RV sorted out and continue next year.
We left the Grand Canyon today ….. early.
We went early to catch the sunrise.
What a wonderful way to begin the day. 
Slipped into Grand Canyon around 07:00
It rained most of the way there and was very overcast when I arrived. However the forecast was for it to break mid-morning. And it did.
I drove back roads (hwy 180 to 64) all the way there. Here’s a shot from along the way.
The sun was just beginning to light the horizon.
Here are a few shots of the Canyon. I’m going back tomorrow for more.
Wow! Once the clouds broke it really was breathtaking.
Meanwhile I’m enjoying a great campfire and some Irish whiskey at 10X national park for the night.
Ciao for now.