ShallowGal

After seeing your setup and reading your post, I just purchased from Amazon an inexpensive 50 watt solar panel, controller with cables. I plan to build a stand like you build with hopes of it keeping our AGM batteries fully charged as our storage site has no powerl Thanks for sharring, like your shed1 Duke and Chris

Two nights ago we were at Clayton Lake State Park in NM & what a gem it is! It's surrounded by thousands of acres of flat farmland & as you're driving there you don't have a whole lot of hope for it being anything special, but wow, it's a true oasis. A perk are the impressive dinosaur tracks that were uncovered/discovered when the park was established. Unfortunately, during the night, our truck was broken into. Duke discovered it & said come look at this, something isn't right. Inside the bed of our truck, that was closed up tight all night, was a huge pile of poop. Walking the dogs the night before I'd seen a big raccoon under the camper & apparently he decided to move in where it was warm. After digging around to make sure he was gone, we cleaned up his mess, packed the bed of the truck back up & hit the road. We are now 200+ miles down the road in Dodge City. Duke is doing laundry & I'm deep cleaning the camper. The dogs were tied up to the picnic table & WOULD NOT QUIT BARKING. They could smell the remnants of Mr. Coon & would not let it go, so to prove to them that he was gone, I let them get in the bed of truck. And that's when I realized, we had a hitchhiker. Hope he likes corn.

Either here or on the Facebook page, someone had sewn cute covers to stuff their bedding in that looked like bolster pillows.

"ShallowGal" because our "flats" boats were always called that because in Florida we fish in shallow water & I'm a gal, &, well, yes, I can be shallow when it suits me. ;) Also, Duke didn't like "Bubbles."

Welllll, how particular are you? Doodles are nature's velcro. We are on day 122 of our 160 day +/- meandering trek from FL to AK & back. When we left home our sweet Ollie looked so quaint. Matching bedding, pillows, rugs & I did my best to keep it that way. After a few weeks, I reassessed my priorities & ditched the fluff. The pretty entry rug was replaced with a plastic grass one to catch as much of the outdoors before it made its way back to the beds. (We have the king/dinette version but because the bed/table made the interior feel tight, we left it with family in KS.) We sleep on the benches with memory foam & the dogs get the space at the back & on a dog bed on the floor. That is where they hang all the time, except to drink from their water bowl that's in the shower. Weather permitting, we are outside most of the time, which I think is the norm. We mostly boondock but between locations we stay somewhere with full hookups & do a deep cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, you know. What I learned the hard way is that trailers do not have enough water pressure to bathe the dogs. Groomers are impossible to schedule. If you know where you'll be far enough in advance, you might be able to schedule one at a Petco or the like. Otherwise, I find a do-it-yourself dog wash. Some places there are car washes with one bay converted to a pet wash. Quite clever! Only restrictions we've encountered is hiking in National Parks or anywhere there are bear problems. But then, I wouldn't take them anywhere dangerous. Despite all of the above reality, traveling with our Doods is a pleasure; they are the reason we have a camper. If you decide you need more space, I wouldn't blame you but there are huge tradeoffs. The obvious is the quality & comradeship you'd lose. Ollie owners are truly special.

Thank you everyone. Perfect timing. We just arrived at Custer SP & were wondering the same thing. I think we're ready.

Yep, user error. Gen is only 2400 watts & now that you mention it, the only other time we tried it we were on shore power. Steve, you had heat & smoke, we had rain & 40° temps our entire time in mainland Alaska. But then, on August 7th, we crossed the Haines Summit & saw the sun. It was glorious. Thank you for the tip to smack the furnace. I'll let you know how it goes. Sherry, we did not stay at Boya Lake because the conditions were perfect to see the northern lights & the sites there were hammocked by trees. We stayed at the Beaver Dam Rest Area & witnessed fantastic ribbons of white light circling overhead. Bucket List ✔ The next night we stayed at the Bell 1 Rest Area & witnessed a faint green glow on the horizon. John, We are now in Pemberton at the Nairn Falls Provincial Park working our way to your side of town & would love any suggestions you have on visiting your beautiful state. Jason, thank you for checking in. The furnice on the fritz hasn't been toooooo terribly inconvenient, for a Floridian in Alaska. Our poor gal has taken a beating so a visit to the Hohenwald Ollie Hospital is on our return home itinerary, we just don't know yet exactly when that will be, but will schedule accordingly. Thank you all for being there! Chris

Hello from the middle of nowhere BC! Our furnace quit a month or so ago but we have been staying warm with a Mr. Buddy propane heater. This morning, while generator was running to charge batteries, out of curiosity, I turned on heat strip. (We have rarely run geni in the a.m.) It came on for a few seconds but then quit & wouldn't come on again. Generator overload light came on. Other than kitchen lights, nothing else was on. Inside temp was 56, outside was 48. Its not crucial but it would be nice to know if this was user error &/or an easy fix. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Chris

Whew, glad I heard about that soft shoulder incident afterward. Amazingly, we did check the weather & hung out an extra day in Dawson. "They" said 20% chance of rain late afternoon. The ferry ride was beautiful & then we climbed the mountain. Hahaha. Fortunately there was very little traffic. We had a late lunch in Chicken & stayed at the YT campground in Tok, which is lovely. There was only one other camper when we got there. The entire trip we've arrived to half empty State/Provincial campgrounds & had our pick of beautiful sites. Tonight we're at the municipal campground in Fairbanks. Partly cloudy, faint smell of smoke, "They" say it's supposed to be nicer tomorrow ... Pete, Bosker has connections the rest of us don't have.

"You must drive the Top of the World Highway," they said. "The views are spectacular," they said. THIS is what we saw for 100 miles.

We keep a couple gallon jugs of water in our home freezer & transfer them to Ollie fridge prior to trip. After fridge is cold & stocked, if they're still frozen, they go to cooler or if not frozen, they go in bathroom.

Goodness Steve & Tali, I'm so sorry to hear your Alaska adventure was spoiled. Hopefully getting there was filled with jaw-dropping scenery. Maybe our 2-month delay will be a good thing. Currently, in Golden, BC resting up for Banff & Jasper. Safe travels everyone! Chris

Hello Alaska travelers! Duke & I have finally made it to the panhandle of Idaho & will cross into Canada Monday. We were curious about how your travels are going & wondering how much the wildfires are affecting your trip. We do hope you are having a grand time & that we'll cross paths. Chris

All great questions & concerns John. Full size photos are downloaded when you have stable wifi, battery usage LLP pwhich correlates to location accuracy is adjustable, & the location access can easily be turned on/off. I haven't delved into the photo book because I've always used Walgreens for those. Mike, when we leave the Badlands, we're heading to Montana to track down Top Gun for fly-fishing lessons. Chris

Great app for your family & friends to see where you've been & where you are! From their website: Once connected to the internet, your travel routes, locations and photos are seamlessly transferred to your personal traveler profile, where your route is plotted on a colourful world map that can easily be shared with friends and family. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.polarsteps