Overland

Today being Friday, it's time. New music! • For some reason I feel like starting off with something... rebellious - • Countered with some quiet piano stuff - • Oooo, something new from Aldous Harding. We all love her, right? • New IDM from Leon Vynehall - • Jimbo Mathus joins Andrew Bird for a version of Three White Horses: • Nice new electronica from Modskeletor, a bit different from their usual stuff - • Maceo Plex provides us our David Lynch fix and some dreamy shots of the VLA and I think Bisti, via a new version of the Chromatics' Shadow - • How about some more quiet piano stuff? • Here's some music made by bats. Actual. Bats. • Oh, look! Is it German Techno? No, silly, it's German EDM combined with Austrian Electro Swing. • This is techno. Not German Techno - Irish Techno, but named after an album from German Dance Metal band Oomph!. • That is all. But not without a shout out to Moneybagg Yo, BIG30 and N-Less for a super successful new album. I'm sure they're all regulars here on the forum.

Ya know, you can haul a tent and an Ollie at the same time. The Ollie makes for a marvelous base camp if you don’t mind leaving it behind for a few nights.

If you’re suggesting that my New Music Friday posts are acts of terrorism, well… I’m ok with that.😇 💣💣💥

Don’t do it man. Terrorists thrive on German techno. It’s like feeding gremlins after midnight.

I doubt you do. We essentially lived on 200 during our trip last November and it would have been fine had my battery monitor been in on the secret. Just with that little and a DC fridge, you have to be extra judicious with inverter use, and Mojave sun is certainly helpful. Not news to you guys. But I still bet 300 is where you end up! I say go for it on building your own battery - I'm serious when I say I want to do the same.

Well, it's true that I once heard of a guy who could run his AC all day off a broken 50W portable panel, and another who's trailer glowed with the light of god after just looking at some lithium batteries online. But despite that, I'll stand by my four years of experience with both that neither are magical. Math and science and the law of averages apply, and so I would strongly advise anyone who's thinking about spending thousands of dollars on electrical goodies to place a higher stock in the more pessimistic estimates of what you'll get for your investment.

The answer to your question is Batteries! Unless you only travel from hookup to hookup, you'll always need a battery. Whereas if you've got a generator you don't need solar at all. I suppose with a generator you could do without batteries, too; but that would be a true pain. I have to admit that when you added your 12 volt fridge, I was trying to figure out how you were going to make it work with 300W of solar and 200Ah of batteries. I kept quiet though - you know how polite I am. 😂 600W of solar is about right 😁, and 300Ah of LFP storage is, I prophesize, where you'll end up. (I'd say 400 for anyone else, but you guys watch your usage and batteries like hawks.) Where you'll put that battery, I'm eager to see. My suggestion is to build up one of Will Prowse's kits, since they're pretty compact and you could sort of shape it to whatever space you have available. I'd bet that's what you're thinking already. I'd really love to do that myself, actually. It would be a lot of fun. °°° Side note for everyone to ignore - LFP batteries are really super nice, but for most they are a luxury indulgence. It seems like a lot of people right now just have to have them, which is fine, but man that's two to four grand that I'd want to find some other use for unless I really needed it. Until you get into DC fridge territory, the value isn't there. But if you have limited space and need a lot of power storage, then LFP becomes the only answer, at least until Russel figures out his nuclear mod. I heard the Nimitz is being decommissioned so there's a possible parts source. I'd get in touch with your local surplus store. I wish people would look at LFP batteries like they do Andersen hitches; i.e., a reluctant purchase that you want to make only when you have to. No one is looking for an excuse to buy an Andersen - at least I hope not. And yes I'm being hypocritical since I can rationalize a shiny purchase like no one else on earth, but still.

The problem with the old bridge is that back when it was the new bridge it was just two lanes and was later reconfigured to four very narrow lanes. And it also kind of bounces as traffic goes over, so cars naturally slow down on it already. With double the traffic, it's super slow. That bridge gets most of the freight traffic, so it'll be crowded.

Duck season is months away.

Not deer season, but the bbq festival is coming up so all the welders are busy building new rigs. I offered to fix it with some 3M 5200 and VHB tape but I haven’t heard back yet.

We west Tennesseans are pretty chill. We’re not panicking about gas and we’ll get to the bridge maintenance next week. Maybe the week after.

Huh. I'd never heard of Grit TV before. Wikipedia says that it's targeted to men between the ages of 25 and 54, which is oddly specific and makes me wonder what changes I can look forward to at 55. But I saw no Maverick reruns on their schedule so despite age compatibility it's no network for me.

LOL, tell us about the jet pack!

Interesting - what kind of sensor? My sticker isn’t fully visible to the camera but the truck hasn’t had any trouble locating it except in very low light. Works great.

I suspect that for the twin arrangement, most people use the beds. The dinette is comfortable for short periods but in my opinion not great for lounging around. Of course, with the king bed arrangement, the rear seat area is more conducive to a lounge than the beds. For that reason, we got rid of the mattresses in our twin, and had cushions made to fit the deeper seats. For us, that plus adding an adjustable Lagun table has been a very good combination to make the rear of the trailer into a comfortable multi use space for sitting, dining, and sleeping. It functions similarly I think to the dual bed/couch arrangement that @topgun2 has, but I think it works better for two. Our trips are three weeks typically, and usually in cooler weather, and we've found the trailer to be incredibly comfortable to hang out in. Too much so, really - it's a challenge sometimes to get my wife outside to enjoy the campfire.

Great idea - thanks for starting the topic!

Hate that you guys are having to change plans. FYI for anyone traveling to Oliver or to the non-rally, west TN and north MS should be unaffected.

Good eye. I thought it was a II as well. I guess the other two clues are a single side light and the vents in the basement door.

All in good fun. But an interesting choice for a mountain dweller - I’d love to read a review from someone who’s towed with one.

You guys can keep your carpets. I’m not vacuuming on vacation.

Looks like they’re towing with a Honda Ridgeline, so that’s probably a jet pack mounted to the roof to help get them up the mountains. 😝

On the other hand, you’ve demonstrated the ease of repairing those connections. Of course, if the leak had been someplace less easily accessed, then you’d have had a very bad day. It’s a bit of a trade off, but obviously I mostly agree with John since I went through and replaced all of mine with brass and crimps. Very glad that you were able to get things fixed so quickly. After you’re done with your trip, you might think about doing some zip tying of plumbing and electrical wherever you can reach. I think securing those lines so that they can’t vibrate too much goes a long way to preventing those sorts of leaks. Keeping a spare fitting or two (elbow and tee) in a drawer isn’t a bad idea either, since they can crack.

Some new F150 news - The truck is getting an active suspension upgrade, which should improve towing stability; and a new onboard ride height sensor that will act as a self weigh feature. The self weigh includes software that will tell you when you're within the proper tongue weight - looks very useful for loading flatbeds but probably of little use for travel trailers. I also don't remember anyone mentioning the new F150 Tremor, which is going to be kind of a Raptor light. It will get a beefier suspension, slightly higher clearances, and most importantly, the Raptor's transfer case - and of course a higher tow limit than the Raptor. Looks like it might be a nice option if you don't want the full blown Raptor nor the F250 Tremor.

It's new music Friday and man, what a week for new music. As in, I've got nothing for you - it's a desert out there. But I refuse to leave without posting something new, preferably something that not a single one of you will like: the perfect candidate for that being an hour long session of German techno being danced to by a guy in a dress. Enjoy, and have a great weekend -

I cooked outside with an umbrella. Stubborn, I guess. ☔️😛