Finding Fun when Fun Finderless

[Travels with Yoly]

Yoly and I are Fun Finderless as you know, having sold The Heart of Gold one week ago. We've abandoned our $24K investment and reinvested a total of $390 in our new agenda so far to include the propane grill and separate stove, a new bike rack and a 10 x 10 x 10 enclosed screenroom. (This is less than one monthly payment on the camper). Our new prime directive is to visit all 48 Georgia State Parks and document them in video. Picked up a Georgia lifetime senior fishing license for free on the way

Our first outing this week to Black Rock Mountain State Park set us back a total of $66 which included an annual State Park Pass (senior discount), camping fees, ice and a stop at Burger King on the way home. Consumed less than 1/4 tank of fuel in the truck total. We picked this park mostly because it is the highest elevation park in the state at 3,400 foot elevation and it's remote location promised a clear sky to view the Perseid meteor shower. The elevation also provided a relief from the high temps and humidity of the area where we live so no A/C was necessary .... highs of 75 and lows of 60. We did have to forgoe video games on the 42 inch flatscreen but we greatly enjoyed the hiking and views in the north Georgia mountains.

We set our alarm for 2AM and got up to watch for meteors. We watched for about 45 minutes and saw about 6 "shooting stars". Obviously I couldn't help but think of Dan's night sky photography skills and the heyday he might be having knowing his propensity to involve himslf in this kind of stuff. Gotta ask you Dan if you were out and about this week in your neck of the woods checking it out ?

In any case, I promised to share some our new adventures with all you fine folk so here's a bit of it (our bike rack and screen room hadn't arrived yet).

Yoly's traditional afternoon nap

Typical scenery in all directions

Our new screen room was waiting for us when we got home. We set it up in our driveway for practice this morning.

 

[profdant139]

That looks like fun! Your new way to travel is very "nimble" -- much more maneuverable (I think I spelled that right).

And you were right that we were out looking for meteors -- blog post will soon follow -- we were high in the Eastern Sierra. We saw quite a few, even though there was smoke from nearby forest fires. My camera died the day before the meteor shower -- don't yet know if it can be repaired. I was all set to capture meteors with it -- I had carefully researched the techniques -- but nope. Maybe another year.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

That looks like fun! Your new way to travel is very "nimble" -- much more maneuverable (I think I spelled that right).

I'm always picturing your remote boondocking sites in my mind and thinking that we'll have to come out west to take advantage of all the BLM land and free forestry lands to camp. Not as much of that here in the southeast. The 4WD and long range fuel capacity with the diesel would really be at home in that environment.

The next addition will be one of the 12 vdc/110 vac fridge/freezer units with maybe a portable solar unit to run the fridge and Fantastic Fan.

 

[Dakota 1120]

Appears you have made some nice adjustments since the sale of your 'heart of gold' but ---- do you miss her yet?

:?:

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Appears you have made some nice adjustments since the sale of your 'heart of gold' but ---- do you miss her yet?

:?:

We just came from a nearby lakeside campground where we got to visit him with the new owners. It wasn't far from our house and it was their first time out with him so I offered to come by and make sure everything was set up and working correctly for them. Also, they didn't care for the big 42 inch flatscreen and replaced it with a more conventional 19 inch so we picked up the big one from them and brought it home. They've been decorating and personalizing him just like we had so it makes me feel good that he's being used and appreciated by nice people. We've made the transition to the simpler life (as depicted here) and I really don't miss the maintenance and stress of wondering what's going to fail next and when. I really can't explain it but there is still a sense of relief that I don't have to deal with the responsibility and work involved anymore. Also quite surprised that we're quite excited about camping out of the truck and spending more time outdoors. Maybe someday we may get another trailer but it will probably be smaller and easier to deal with and will be purchased used for less than $10K if we ever do this again.

 

[Dakota 1120]

How very wonderful for you and the new owners.

Great that your arrangements to continue to enjoy the outdoors and beauty of nature remain strong.

Certainly will be looking forward to reading of your new adventures and sights.

8)

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Since I'm always saying "Film at 11", I thought you guys (and gals) might like to see the "moving pictures" version of this new chapter .....

Watch in 1080p

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Now that we no longer have to hook up the Fun Finder we have a new use for the receiver

And the new rack still allows access to the back of the camper without having to remove either of the bikes

And then this handy little item arrived today. This is one of the final pieces for our future Fun Finderless explorations. If anyone wants more info on this item, let me know. I plugged it in at home today for the first time and it went from 72 degrees to 22 degrees in exactly 1 hour

Unlike the Fun Finder fridges, this one uses a Danforth compressor and operates from 50 degrees down to 0 degrees in 100 degree ambiant and at any angle below 30 degrees

 

[Dakota 1120]

I looked at those and liked everything about them but the PRICE!!

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So ............

I purchased one of these off ebay for about $38...and it cools or heats, works great too & with 12V or 120 V adapter.

http://www.amazon.com/Wagan-EL6224-...qid=1440070267&sr=1-6&keywords=12+volt+cooler

It's a great addition to the tow vehicle for a cold drink while traveling.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Hey Eagle,

I have to agree with you about the price, but in all my research I couldn't help but bite the bullet and get this unit. For us, the 2 major selling points are it's ability to keep food frozen even if outside temps are around 100 degrees (if unit is in shade). Also, it uses an American made state of the art Danforth compressor while all the others use a much lower quality Chinese made compressor. The major upside of this is that the ARB consumes as little as 0.8 amps (compared to the 3.3 amps of the unit you bought). This means that in a boondocking environment, this unit can run for about 3 days without discharging the vehicle's cranking battery beyond safe limits. It seals very well so that once down to programmed set temperature, it only runs for a minute or so every hour. It also has an auto-shut off feature with a programmable set point where it can be set to shut off when the vehicle battery reaches a specific voltage.

I realize that the two units cited here are completely different with completely different duties. You have to remember that we don't have the option anymore of going back into the trailer and popping open that nice big Fun Finder fridge so this is our best alternative .... in spite of the cost

BTW ...... we didn't have to pay that much for it

Our fuel costs traveling now are reduced by 44% so one typical cross country trip for us will more than pay for this unit

 

[Dakota 1120]

OK ~ Yes, I understand the totally different circumstances w/o the camper frig. to justify the cost of the unit. Also reduced space for a big ice chest.

I only use the little one in the TV when en-route. Once stopping for the night or longer, it's not used since have the frig in the camper or the ice chest w/beverages.

Also, we don't keep beverages/water in the frig but in an ice filled cooler in the camper. We discovered the frig doesn't recover very quickly when in/out of the frig frequently.

When we are ready to hit the road, we put ice cold drinks from the big ice chest into the little portable cooler, add a little ice and plug it in the TV for cold water/soda while traveling.

Mine will both heat and cool but only used the heating portion once to see if it worked as got it used on Ebay.

Happy travels.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

We have a smaller version of what you have also. It barely holds a six pack and has a padded lid that acts as an arm rest if you place it between two car seats. We got it as a Christmas present from a friend maybe 20 years ago. When we used it in the car, plugged into the cigarette lighter, it would cause an annoying feedback loop through the stereo everytime the motor would run and it was very loud. It actually came in handy though when car traveling and staying in hotel rooms that didn't have a fridge. We could plug it into the 110 and at least have cold bottled water at night.

It's cool that we all have our little individual routines worked out from years and miles of experience

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Vogel State Park

We just got back from our second outing (3 days 2 nights) checking off Georgia State Parks. We visited the oldest state park in Georgia, Vogel State Park. So far, in our combined outings, we have spent about $100 and that includes camping fees and fuel in the truck

Vogel State Park is really pretty and popular especially with Floridians escaping the summer heat and humidity of Florida. It's 2,800 foot elevation and lots of shade make it very comfortable. It offers all the typical park activities including kayaking and canoeing.

We had a great site backed up to Wolf Creek where we were serenaded by the soothing sounds of running water. Here's a taste in advance of the full production video.

You can see the creek right behind our site ...

Here's the "white noise" device behind our site ....

One of the great things about why we all do what we do is simply that we get to meet really cool people as our camping neighbors and I'm happy that this part of the equasion hasn't changed

Film at 11

 

[Dakota 1120]

We also have one of those mats ~ in brown, not blue.

First tried indoor/outdoor carpet but in pine trees dropping needles, IMPOSSIBLE to get the needles out of indoor/outdoor carpet!
:?

 

[Travels with Yoly]

My first reaction was that it was cheaply made and flimsy and didn't think it would last very long. It proved me wrong as 3 years later I understand why the synthetic material is so loosly woven since it passes water and dirt throught it like an efficient membrane and still serves the purpose on the top side. Good Walmart $39 investment.

 

[Dakota 1120]

Yes, I didn't think much of them when purchased either .. seemed flimsy but they do stand up well.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Vogel State Park - Georgia

OK boys and girls, here's installment number two of the Georgia State Parks Collection (from this week). Watch in 1080p and hope you enjoy it

 

[Dakota 1120]

Hummmm .... did you move just a fast doing the tear-down to leave as the arrival set-up?



Nice video too 8)

 

[Travels with Yoly]

I may be dating myself here but time lapse editing always reminds me of the Keystone Cops (yes, they were still being shown in theatres in my youth). And surprisingly, the tear down did go nearly as fast only without the editing

 

[Dakota 1120]

Swifty nifty!

8)