SOLAR INSTALLATION DAY AT SLAB CITY 2013

TONIGHT’S SUNSET IN SLAB CITY (no color enhancement needed)

Gets dark early here in California but also gets light earlier in the morning as well.  Had the normal list of confuselments this morning.  Snow Birds know what I’m talking about here.  Having just packed up the rig again come’s the usual, ‘where’s my socks', ‘have you seen my headphones’, ‘can’t find my towel’, ‘where did I put my shoes’, ‘did we bring the flashlight’, & so on & so on.  Always takes awhile to get settled in, develop a routine, & get things organized again.  Just about when things are up to speed & running well it’s about time to head home & reverse the whole procedure again.  Am I complaining??  Nope just happy to be back on the road going somewhere:))

 

SOME SLABBERS OUT FOR A MORNING WALK & THE LAST ONE IS SOLAR MIKE HIMSELF

Did I mention the big batch of oatmeal raisin cookies Kelly baked up a couple days ago.  Best ever.  Cookies for breakfast, lunch, & supper works for me:))

  

THE ROAD LEADING OUT OF SLAB CITY PAST LEONARD KNIGHT’S SALVATION MOUNTAIN

A SHOE TREE STANDS ALONGSIDE THE ROAD

Unhooked the Jeep & drove the few hundred yards to Solar Mike’s SUNWORKS.  Mike was right out there to greet us.  Talked some solar talk & decided on a system which would be best for us.  Last time we had 2 130 Watt solar panels & this time we will have one 240 Watt panel.  Last time a 2500 Watt inverter & this time a 1500.  All our outlets will be live.  I knew our two 12 volt batteries were not the best.  When we bought the rig almost half the cells were down & I have had to monitor & add distilled water to them about every 3 weeks.  Decided to go with 2 new Trojan 105-RE 6 volt deep cell batteries.  Last time in the Damon we had 4.  For our needs this system will probably be more than adequate.  We are not big power users.

MIKE IS DECIDING ON A SPOT FOR OUR 240 WATT TILT-ABLE SOLAR PANEL

MIKE DECIDES ON WHERE TO LOCATE THE 240 WATT PANEL

 

CHRIS STARTS WORK ON THE PANELS FRAMEWORK & THEN INSTALLS THE PANEL ON THE ROOF

MIKE EXPLAINS THINGS AS HE GOES ALONG

Mike’s right hand man Chris showed up at 9 & the two of them were soon hard at the installation.  Chris built the framework & mounts for the solar panel & installed it on the roof.  Mike concentrated his efforts on the wiring, mounting, & set up of the controllers.  Chris mounted the Inverter in a side bin.  There is a fair bit of work to these solar installations with wires having to be run from the roof down through vents & snaked through cupboards etc to be tied in with mounted control panels.  Old batteries out & new batteries in.  And all new wiring.  I was qualified enough to help Mike lift the solar panel up to Chris on the roof.  Yaaaay me:))  And Pheebs of course was on her best behavior as usual helping out wherever she could.  Mainly just putting smiles on people’s faces as they came & went from Solar Mikes today.

PHEEBS IS ALWAYS RIGHT THERE READY TO HELP WHEN NEEDED

    

STRAW BOSS

 

MIKE’S OFFICE BUS & SHOWING US HOW THE CONTROLLERS WORK

 

MIKE’S GOING TO TOWN CAR & SOME TECHNICAL TALK GOING ON

 

The installation took all day.  Like I said there is a lot of work involved in a solar installation.  I just basically sat in a chair outside under a Mesquite tree, took a bunch of photos, relaxed, & may have even caught myself a few zzzzz’s.  We did take a Jeep ride around the Slabs & to me things looked even worse than the last couple times we were here.  Not as many people as before it seems but the trash & litter left behind will make anyone shake their head in disbelief.  There is a fine community of people here & anyone coming to Slab City must come with a very open mind.  Yes the trash is appalling & the living conditions primitive but there is a soft underbelly to to the Slabs.  You just have to look for it in it’s helping & togetherness people…….

I SPENT A BIG PART OF MY DAY RIGHT HERE RELAXING FOR A CHANGE

 

PHEEBS & MIKE’S DOG GRANNY GOT ALONG JUST FINE

KELLY PUT IN SOME OF HER TIME READING

Sun was going down when the fellas finished up & we still had to find a place to park for the night.  Chris gave us directions to a place near him & not far from Solar Mikes.  We will be back in the morning & Mike is going to check out a few electrical things in the rig for us.  We may leave after that or we may stay one more night.  Always a good idea to hang around a day or two in case there are any bugs in the system.  But we just may head on out & show up in Borrego Springs for a bit too.  Where to from there I have no idea……………

     

A FEW SIGHTS SEEN ON A SHORT WALK

SUN WAS GOING DOWN WHEN THE FELLAS FINISHED UP THE INSTALLATION

Again it was a warm night as I took Pheebs for a walk through the large Creosote bushes.  A rippled cloud cover wasn’t enough to block the Moon from shining through casting a gentle light across the desert floor.  In the direction of the Chocolate mountains to the East I saw a streak of light come out of the sky & streak earthwards.  I knew right away what it was.  I had seen it before here at the Slabs.  Two slow moving & blinking red lights in the far distant sky told me they were military Marine helicopters based out of Yuma.  The Chocolate mountains is where their live fire range is located.  Watched as a shower of lightning fast fire came from the direction of one of the red blinking lights.  The gunfire & rockets were being fired at targets on the ground.  But no sound except for the occasional low muffled chop chop of heavy helicopter blades cutting the night.  One of the Choppers departed the area & came our way.  Couldn’t see it in the night sky, no blinking red light.  The sound got heavier as the invisible sky bandit flew towards us.  Even straining my eyes I could not see it as it passed low overhead.  Maybe, just maybe I thought I may have seen a slightly dimmed fuselage in the Moonlight…………..

 

OUR NEW SPOT FOR THE NIGHT 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  16 Ways of Knowing You're in the Desert

1. You no longer associate bridges (or rivers) with water.
2. You can say 110 degrees without fainting.
3. You eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
4. You can make instant sun tea.
5. You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
6. The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly.
7. You discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
8. You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
9. You notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
10. Hot water now comes out of both taps.
11. It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is out on the streets.
12. You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
13. You break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. before work.
14. No one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
15. Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
16. You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

-------------------------------------------------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

WE ARE IN SLAB CITY CALIFORNIA:))

A RISING MOON SITS ATOP THE WINNIE WAGON IN SLAB CITY CALIFORNIA TONIGHT (

We just turned left in Niland & followed the big yellow Moon all the way back through the darkened desert scrub to Slab City.  This is our third time here so we knew exactly what to expect & exactly where to go.  No street lights in the Slabs.  In fact, no electricity at all for the Slabbers.  Lots of solar garden lights scattered about.  Quite a few folks on solar power here so lights are at a minimum.  A few generators going throwing out some tungsten power into the night.  It was 7:15 p.m. when we quietly rolled in & all is quiet.  We are parked right in front on the Christian Reformed Church just a stone’s throw from Solar Mikes.  This Church building might just be one of the ‘only real buildings’ in all of Slab City

Our morning started out normal enough as we calmly worked away at tying up loose ends prior to travel.  It was when I checked the rigs tire pressures that our day quickly unraveled.  Tapping the tires with a rubber mallet I noticed the outside dually on the drivers side back had a thud sound to it.  Not good.  Same new spare Michelin tire we had put on in New Mexico less than a month ago when we had a blow out.  A quick check with the tire gauge told me the tire was down about 30 pounds.  Still enough air in it to run the rig into the Congress garage less than a mile away.  We left it there & went back home.  Garage fellow could not find any leaks so just aired the tire up about an hour later.  Finished loading up a few last things & we were on the road at 1:10 p.m.  A full 2 hours later than I thought we would be.

ON THAT OVERPASS AHEAD TURN LEFT TO WICKENBURG, RIGHT TO KINGMAN ARIZONA, OR STRAIGHT THROUGH FOR LOS ANGELES 333 MILES AHEAD

The highway from Congress to I-10 east of Quartzite is a nice quiet scenic 2 lane road running fairly straight across the desert floor.  Not a lot of traffic & the traffic we did meet were mostly fellow RV’ers heading the other way.  I-10 heading into the Q was, well…..just I-10.  Figured we had better fuel up in Arizona before we crossed into California’s high gas prices.  We pulled into the same Love’s Truck Stop & right up to the very same pump where our credit card was compromised last winter.  Figured maybe lightning wouldn’t hit the same gas pump twice.  Just up the road from the gas bar is the RV Lifestyle place.  Kinda like Camping World.  We were after some LED lights.  They didn’t have the ones we needed so we headed back down the service road into Quartzsite.  Kelly remembered K&B’s.  K&B’s has everything & of course had the lights we needed.  We got 4 of them.  That stop took about 40 minutes out of our day & I knew we didn’t have much time to reach the Slabs before nightfall.  It was just a few minutes after 4 when we headed west out of Quartzsite.

L.E.D. LIGHTS AT K & B

 

59 FORD AT RV LIFESTYLE BEV

I knew RV SUE & HER CANINE CREW were in the Dome Rock area so I kept watching for here rig.  Not a lot of people in that neck of the woods yet & sure enough I spotted her from the Interstate.  She was configured in an East-West set-up.  Her van facing West & her Casita facing East.  I fired off half a dozen shots (photos) in her direction & blew our horn.  Not that the horn sound would ever reach her.  She was probably three quarters of a mile or more away.  We didn’t stop because we were in a race with the setting sun.  By the time we reached Desert Center the sun was winning the race & slipping down behind the mountains.  I knew then it would be a night time arrival at the Slabs.

 

LOOK CLOSELY ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PHOTO & YOU CAN SEE RV SUE’S RIG

HERE’S A CROPPED VERSION OF THAT SAME PHOTO…7 MINUTES AFTER 4:))

SECONDS LATER A SECOND SHOT…………..

We swung off I-10 at 29 Palms Road.  Had we turned right at the exit ramp stop sign we would have gone right on up into Joshua Tree National Park.  Our destination was Niland in the opposite direction so we crossed back over top I-10 & picked up Box Canyon Road.  Light was fading fast but we could still see the high mud cliffs on either side of the road we were winding our way through.  This was the third time using this route but all 3 times before we had been coming the other way.  From I-10 all the way to a little town called Mecca we only passed one car going the other way.  Now that’s my kinda road.  We got scrambled up in Mecca.

CROSSING OVER I-10 LOOKING EAST

We didn’t know the way through Mecca to pick up the road heading south on the east side of the Salton Sea so we had Garmin Gertie our GPS system leading the way.  Gertie got a little confused somewhere in Mecca & we had to pull over & ask for directions.  Minutes later we were southbound on highway 111.  Had never traveled this section of road before & was hoping to do it in the daylight & enjoy the scenery.  But it wasn’t to be.  Instead we enjoyed the flickering lights of Salton City on the westerly side of the Salton Sea.  I don’t mind driving at night at all & have always enjoyed seeing the lights of towns & cities.  Tonight was no exception as Salton City’s lights shimmered off the placid waters of the Salton Sea on our right.  And to our left we watched the biggest cheesy colored Moon slowly rise over a distant mountain range.  A very peaceful feeling came over me as we headed south through the moonlit night.

A CALIFORNIA REST AREA

I KNEW THE SETTING SUN HAD WON THE RACE WHEN IT SLIPPED BEHIND THE MOUNTAINS

OUR SPOT FOR THE NIGHT IN SLAB CITY:))

There really isn’t any signs or anything to tell someone where Slab City is but we already new where to turn.  I remember one Saturday morning a couple years ago parked along the very street we were on watching a parade go by.  I love old RVing memories like that & tonight’s Moonlit arrival in Slab City will be another one.

We’ll be up bright & early in the morning & over to Solar Mikes to talk some Solar Power & see what we can come up with for the Winnie Wagon.  Not as elaborate as last time because our boondocking trips will be shorter in duration.  Just enough to get us comfortably by without having to rely on a noisy generator or a crowded RV Park.

AND THE ONLY CRITTER WE CAUGHT WITH THE CRITTER CAM LAST NIGHT WAS THIS ONE…………………..

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

--------------------
- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)
- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.