Walt's Corner

This year’s Summer Camping Trip was the first big one coming off the heals of COVID-19. COVID didn’t stop us from the last couple years but it certainly had an impact on where we could or couldn’t go. I think the highest gas prices we saw were $5.56/gallon, but generally hovered around $5/gallon. It certainly could’ve been worse.

This year, the fires and droughts ended up being the big impacters preventing us from hitting a couple of the National Forests we had intended on spending a night or two in.

As usual, we didn’t need to fire up the generator one time. I always bring a little WEN 2000k inverter generator just in case. The trip I don’t bring it will be the one where my solar breaks down and I wish I had brought my genny.

Our first leg of the camping trip was supposed to be at Bluewater Lake State Park, New Mexico, but that plan was scrapped when a couple car wrecks along the I-40 between Albuquerque and Grants caused an over-26-mile line of dead-stopped traffic. People exited their vehicles and began tailgating. We decided to head east instead and spent the night at the Route 66 Casino RV Resort. That line of stopped traffic ended up lasting over 5 hours.

2nd stop we were back on schedule at the Navajo National Monument. Navajo Nation still has high concentrations of COVID so not all of the park is back open. In the meantime, the Sunset View campground is free to stay at. There are over 30 sites to choose from. With a 24 foot trailer, we had several options to choose from. Anything over 24 feet and your options were limited to around a couple sites. There was a 28 foot limit, but there was one site where a 40 foot motorhome was able to back in and just fit.

3rd stop took us back to one of our favorites parks – Bryce Canyon National Park. The campground sucks. If you know me at all, I prefer to park in a forest away from other people. But if you want easy access to all of Bryce’s natural beauty, you put up with a lot of people. Spent several days on several hikes. I will say this, for a crowded campground, the park hosts do a phenomenal job in maintaining the thin line between order and chaos. Kudos to those hosts.

Apparently, when I planned this trip back in January, I had planned a 1-night stop in between Bryce and the next big stop, Mesa Verde National Park. Between January and now, I forgot. I usually plan about 250 miles in between stops. When we left Bryce and plugged in the coordinates to Mesa Verde, I saw we had 396 miles. I gaped at that and said, “OK, let’s do this.” Once we arrived at Mesa Verde and checked in, the campground office informed me that my reservation was for the following day. They were able to accommodate the extra night. Mesa Verde is one our National Parks that is contracted out to resort companies. They handle the job well. I especially like how they give you a slip of paper with your check out date on it, and you find the site you want and claim it. With almost 300 sites, they rarely run full. Sites are well placed with plenty of room between most to trick you into thinking that you’re by yourself. We spent 5 days here and could have easily spent a few more. We did the longer hikes and visited most of the ruins.

Park services are amongst the best. Trash dumpsters are strategically placed and are numerous. The trash truck comes around every day to collect. We stayed in the dry camping loop. There are 2 dump stations with dumps each for a total of 4 choices. 1 fresh water source is available at each dump station. Many national parks could take lessons from the management of this campground. I’m looking at you Guadalupe National Park. The Campground General Store is amazing. Many shirts to choose from. Lots of camping groceries, ice, even liquor to keep you from having to go into the nearest town.

You hear about the man who with no flight experience who came into real trouble when the pilot of the Cessna he was in became incapacitated? He radioed the tower and they gave him a quick block of instruction and he landed the plane without incident. Give that man a license!

Shoot. I just throw my replaced unwanted appliances right on the curb with a piece of paper taped to that contains the words “free” and “works.” The Recycle Fairy swoops in and takes it away for free within minutes. Sometimes I don’t even have to do that. People have actually knocked on my door just to make sure that entertainment center was there to be taken.

According this article people actually pay for that to happen?

Best Buy can go love themself. When was the last time I even stepped foot in a Best Buy? Had to be around the time that X-Files and Star Trek TNG was coming out in full seasons on DVD.

This reminds me I’ve got a fully operational over the range microwave to drag out to the curb this weekend.

For those of us who still wear real watches, and not some Dick-Tracy-wannabe-lets-notify-me-without-having-to-carry-a-phone-yet-another-gadget-tell-me-you’re-a-nerd-without-telling-me-you’re-a-nerd, it’s that time again. Personally, I wish we’d just get rid of Daylight Savings Time altogether.

Those with the smart watches will be really happy when the iBrain iMplants come out. Perhaps they’ll even charge themselves off our bodies, essentially, using our bodies as the battery. We’ll just call ourselves copper tops.

I kid, I kid. I’m a bit envious of Apple watches. But my love of real watches is a bit stronger and wins out. At least for now. I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date.

The irony of the movement of my GS and the title of this blog post is not lost on me. 🙂

Enjoyed a small vacation in the Davis Mountains, located in Southwest Texas. Some good hiking opportunities abound and within short driving distance to the McDonald Observatory, Fort Davis, Davis Mountain State Park, and about an hour from Balmorhea State Park (should it happen to be open on any given day). As most areas in Southwest Texas at this time of year the temperature range is conducive to what I call descent camping weather. The overnight lows dipped down into the 20s and the highs reached into the low 70s. We set that thermostat on 62 degrees at night while enjoying an overly warm sherpa blanket. Next time we might just have to bump that down to 60 degrees.

Sometimes I swear the Lance builders hide stray parts that will eventually work lose and appear out of nowhere on your floor after putting your portable home through a three-hour 8.0 earthquake.

The black tab… who knows? Showed up a couple years ago. I’ve searched high and low. Seems to be of the same material as the fridge but I can’t figure out where it could be from.

The pin is a new development. Occurred on the last FTX. Identical to the hinges of the toilet seat lid. But both of those are accounted for. Perhaps it belongs somewhere inside the foot pedal assembly of the toilet, because I broke that on on our very last day, thank the shit gods that be that it occurred on our last day. My foot accidentally slipped off the pedal, causing it to slam shut followed by the clinking of a small piece of plastic dropping to the floor. Now when I push the foot pedal down to flush, it just turns the water in the bowl on but does not open the flapper.

I’ve already bought the replacement Thetford Style II high profile (with sprayer) so that will be my next big project. Wish I could be happy with a plastic bowl – I could’ve saved myself $50 or so. Replacement is easy enough. 2 bolts and a screw on waterline.

The Mystery parts? Guess I’ll throw them into a compartment box for safe keeping just in case I figure out where they really went.