Techie Stuff:

I know I have covered some of this before but let’s do it again. Folks ask me all the time about the technical issues we face and how we get around them.

 

The RV:

 

                We have a 1994 Winnebago Adventure that we call Maggie, named after Margret Thatcher because she is our Iron Lady. Tough and dependable. She runs great and while a bit aged-looking on the outside, she looks great inside.

Maggie towing the jeep

 

 

Water:  We live in a community that has a shared well that we can get water from. It's good, cold and clean. We go about once every three days and collect about 60 gallons or more, depending on the heat and such. We mostly use water for showering and washing dishes. We use bottled water to drink and cook with. We could use the well but we don’t have a filtration system so this is how we do it for now. In the future we want our own well, but that’s a maybe for 2017.

 

 

 

This is our 60-gallon water bladder that we transport our water with. We fill it up at the well and pump it into the RV’s 100-gallon fresh water tank.

 

 

Waste Water and such:

 

                Well, we have a composting toilet system and if you wish to read about it in details you can go to the web site: http://natureshead.net/  but for us it works and it is great. We never have to worry about dumping a black water sewage tank again.

 

We had our black water tank cleaned and now is our second gray water tank. (Gray water is relatively clean waste water from baths, showers and sinks) We can drain gray water onto our property. Later we plan to have a filtration system so we can water a tree or bushes with it.

 

 

Electric:

We have two means to get electric. The first is solar via our battery banks and the second is by our propane generator. We have no outside power resources and the closest pole is about a half mile down the road. The cost to run this to our property is at least 10k, then the cost to have it trenched to the shed, transformers and all, is just more than we wish to pay. We are very happy with our solar power and most days that’s all we use.

We have 3- 100 watt solar panels on the roof of the RV.

These panels charge the battery bank on the RV which powers the RV lights, fridge, and sometimes other items in the RV. We also have a Onan 4k Generator on the RV and a 45 amp charge controller that runs off of shore power, generator, or the coach engine. Usually the 3 panels keep the RV fully charged.

We also have 3-100 solar panels on the shed, charging our main battery bank which is two 6 volt Trojan batteries.

We also have several power inverters that take 12volts DC from the batteries and convert it to 120 volts AC for normal use with computers, tvs and such.

 

We have two additional battery banks in the shed that power our internet and security cameras

 

I know, it's a mess. I'm planning to clean up next weekend.

 

These get charged up by two small solar panels on the roof and when needed, by our two suitcase solar panels that we move around to catch the most sun.

 

We produce more than we use or can store and we plan to upgrade our battery bank next year to hold more.

Currently, we run three computers, monitors, a coffee put in the AM, our Evaporative cooler if needed, lights, two cell phone chargers, and sometimes a bit more. We run all this just on solar, but only if it is sunny. When we get clouds or need to run the AC or larger kitchen appliances such as electric oven or microwave, we have to use the generator.  Also, if we have steady cloud coverage, or heavy clouds, then we will  have to run the generator to charge the batteries.

 

Our new Generator is twice the size of the last. Much better for us when we have to run the AC.

 

Cooking:

 

We have many ways of cooking here at the ranch. First, we have normal RV kitchen appliances such as a 3 burner stove, propane oven, and microwave. But really, we use much of that for storage. We do use the microwave sometimes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also have a refrigerator/freezer in the RV that operates off of propane or electric, which is where we store are perishable foods. It is on the small size so we can’t store very much.

 

 

RV kitchen is small:

 

 

So I cook outside!!!

 

 

This is our new Camp Chef stove, much better than the old one we have. We also have a

Cuisinart Grill.

 

Here I am cooking on both, at my mom's 4th of July party..

And of course we have the Pizza oven attachment for the Cook Stove:

 

 

 

It's great to have a little wine with our Pizza, and yes, it is Columbia Valley wine!!!

(We are on the Columbia Plateau)

 

 

We do have some Electric items we use that are kind of cool!!!

 

We have a Cuisinart® Oven Central™ Cook & Bake Oven, an induction burner,

and a rice cooker. They all use low power and will work off of our 2000 watt power inverter.

 

 

 

Due to cold storage limitation and the fact that the grocery store is 30 minutes away, we use a lot of canned and dry goods for dining. We keep the fridge and freezer for things like chops, chicken, fish steaks and salads. Lucky for Lisa and myself, I have a nice supply of spices to assist with making canned items pretty darn good. We dine on many dishes such as pork fried rice, chicken and rice, bean soups and soups of all kinds, lots of ham and green beans.  We even have spam and eggs!!! But mostly, we grill and we grill a bunch! Grilled pork chops, chicken, steak, fish, and we'll have those with a nice salad.

Some pics below of our food storage system!!! Try to make it mice proof.

 

 

 

Comfort and living:

We mainly reside in the RV, outside, and in our workshop-barn. The RV is where we sleep, eat, shower and sometime watch movies. Our workshop-barn is usually where we work, and we each have a desk setup so it can be used as an office. This is also now insulated and made much more comfortable with new flooring and paneling. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most evenings we sit outside

 

 

 

 

 Watching the wonderful sunsets we have!!!!

 

But we do have AC in the RV and a window unit in the barn for hot days:

 

 

Also a wonderful Evaporative cooler which lowers the temp in the barn on warm and hot days, down by at least 15 degrees. But if it gets over 100 we turn on the AC.

 

 

And for heat we have!!!

 

MR. Heater Buddy!!!

 

Not much, but then we usually head back to Florida before it gets too cold. So this works for us in the barn. For the RV, we can just run the generator or turn on the coach heating system for a bit. But just in case, we also have sleeping bags designed for cold weather.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I hope I answered some of the questions folks had asked me.