Flutterby™! : Tweaking the Status Quo 2007-06-25 00:11:24.140059+00

Tweaking the Status Quo

2007-06-25 00:11:24.140059+00 by meuon 6 comments

	It started life in 1988, a simple 15' travel trailer, here on it's first camping trip after ripping the borken fridge out, and fixing the borken frozen plumbing. Add Solar panels, charge controllers...
	As we get ready for the 'burn, it's evolved a little more. Nancy and I painted it, added New 6 ply heavy duty tires, a new water heater, cut the old bumper off with a plasma torch, and welded a new one on it.
	And here is the bike rack I built and added on to the rear.. that will hold 3 bikes, including my recumbent bike. I reinforced the rear corners of the trailer, and the rack is on hinges and cables, so it can be lifted out of the way. You might also see the wheels I welded to the frame.

Next, we have to figure out how to add more water supply.. and proper grey water evaporation/filtering...

But it definitely tweaks the "status quo" both on the road, and when we park it. Little kids love it, as do interesting people. But we've also heard gasps of "Oh my God!" that just make me smile..

See ya'll at the 'Burn, or on the road somewhere..Honk, smile and wave. We'll do the same.

#Comment Re: made: 2007-06-25 00:36:27.785248+00 by: meuon [edit history]

Oh, and this weekend we were at Tims Ford State Park.. just up the road. While we had a good time, it was just a mellow weekend escape from reality. Unless you are a (power)boater or golfer, it's not that great, except for the EXCELLENT paved bike/hiking trails. There were so many boats on the lake it was insane.

Although when Mike reported hearing a gasp of "oh my god" I SO did not relate it to the trailer in any way. I thought someone in the nearby vicinity had just gotten lucky. We were packed in like sardines and it wouldn't have been inconceivable, except with all those kids and dogs when would they find the time?

Also, the only other thing I didn't like about Tims Ford SP, besides the utter lack of any space or privacy between sites, was that despite the rules asking that you not leave your pets unattended, in at least two RV near us there were obviously dogs left alone who were most unhappy about it. Sorta interferes with the peace and quiet.

RV parks suck. It's much better once you get West of the Mississippi. For the most part, 1/4 to 1/2 mile off the road in a National Forest constitutes "camp site".

Yea, we've done it (RV/Campground) twice now.. and will do it once more this weekend with some friends. After that the 30 gallon water tank should be here, and I expect to not use such facilities often. On my list is camping at/near some SCCI properties (and doing some caving) as well as just 'off-road'. We took it 30 miles down a park access road (rough dirt and gravel) up by the Ocoee, just looking around and seeing how it performed (Very well!) and/or to see if it fell apart (Nope!) but ended up camping at OAR to chill with Ben and his river rat buddies. Note: OAR has a great campground and are nice people.

The reason it has solar panels, 2 batteries, and a big water tank (Princess Nancy likes to shower and smell nice... but more I think she likes me to..), heavy duty tires, is so that I can take it places without power and water. I expect we'll abuse it over the next few years and when it falls apart, we'll buy a Casita or I'll get better at welding and we'll build done from scratch. I'm thinking titanium frame and carbon fiber shell.. (at at $3+ per gallon that makes sense).

Bring a kiddy pool and some water hyacinths and use the gray water to make a fountain or water garden. The hyacinths can live in a plastic container with a wee bit o' water until you get it set up. Remember to use the right soap. ;)

Using Dr. Bonners (Soap). problem with kiddy pool is some drunk person will... Oh, well. That is their right, eh? Laughing.