RV BBQ - Hmmm, Hmmm!

My camper van came equipped with two methods of cooking:

1. Stovetop burners (propane)
2. Microwave-Convection oven.

I added the following:

1. Portable induction (electric) cooktop
2. Propane BBQ

Portable Gas Grills

We use two. The Weber is used at home and the Coleman is used on the road. The Weber is taller and that has some advantages; we can cook more in the Weber. However, the Coleman is smaller in height and because space is a premium in a class B, we currently take it with us on our treks. 

1. Weber Go-Anywhere gas grill
2. Coleman Fold-n-Go propane grill

Some history

I've been cooking and barbecuing for years. My parents purchased a large Weber grill and rotisserie in the 1950s. We were the first on the block and the eldest children were given the chore of keeping that Weber clean.. My father taught me to cook outdoors. My mother did the same indoors; I was the eldest son and my twin sister and I were the responsible ones. To provide my mother with a break on the weekends, I became the short order cook for Sunday breakfast. I cooked pancakes, sausages, bacon and eggs to order for a family of eight. I began when I was 10 years old.

By the time of the Weber, we ate Sunday dinner outdoors each and every summer weekend. I cooked chicken, steak, chops, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Frequently in combination. I learned to cook steak to order, too. We never went to restaurants, as that was a luxury for our family and we had both the skill and motivation to cook well. I think I ate my first fast-food hamburger at a Henry's Hamburgers while in high school. They, by the way, were the first to open in Europe, but eventually were overcome by the McDonald's juggernaut.

My grandmother was an excellent baker. As a young adult I recall visiting her and she said "Normie, I think I'll bake a pie" and so she went to the apple tree and had me take down a dozen apples. These we cleaned and she proceeded to make a delicious pie. She didn't measure anything; simply a few handfuls of flour, and a large spoonful of shortening. She put her fingers in water and added it to the dough. The filling was cut apples, a few shakes of cinnamon and sugar. She was an inspiration.

I taught my sons to cook. I also did so for a troop of Boy Scouts. My sons are accomplished at this and one could be a chef, if he so chose. However, being an engineer was his choice.

Previous all-electric RV experience
We previously rented an all-electric campervan which included an electric stovetop. However, I prefer gas cooking at home and so too for campervan cooking and hot water. We were also limited to how much electricity we could use in that all-electric RV. If on solar/batteries and the hot water heater came on while cooking the circuit breaker would trip. In other words, all electric vehicles when off the grid require some coordination of activities. I prefer either automatic load shedding or abundant energy availability.

The disadvantages of propane stovetops

Burning propane is a chemical process. The fuel unites with the oxygen in the air and the result is heat, carbon dioxide and water vapor.  If there is insufficient oxygen for proper combustion, a byproduct may be carbon monoxide gas, which is odorless, colorless and dangerous. 

Much of the heat is transferred to whatever is being cooked, The water vapor is released into the interior of the campervan or RV. This will raise the humidity. In warmer weather the combination of heat and humidity adds to discomfiture of the occupants. 

So, if one wants to avoid this and keep cool in summer, outdoor cooking is essential.

Bodie State Historic Park - West Coast Trek

Bodie State Historic Park is an authentic California ghost town which was once a thriving mining town. It is a National Historic Site and a State Historic Park.  It nearly closed in 2008 due to a lack of funding by the state of California. Visitors can walk through a portion of a town that once had a population of nearly 10,000 people.

If you visit Yosemite National Park and drive from west to east, you will exit and go north on US 395.  Going north you will reach state highway 270, which is a gravel road. Take that east about 13 miles.

On the road to Bodie

Nearing the Entrance

The Boom and Bust of Bodie

A cemetery and ruins

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More than a flat tire

Looking into the storefront window

The bluebirds remain

Dawn of the Aerial Age

I own two drones and this is a company whose products I am interested in. The new product might be interesting. Certainly this ad is.

More Yosemite

More from our West Coast trek.

Tenaya Lake

Ah, The Carefree RV Lifestyle

As the winter recedes we begin planning for the milder weather. I have had the opportunity to read some of the blogs, websites and articles which promote full time RVing. Those that promote a nomadic existence are interesting.  This seems attractive; they suggest that we follow the mild weather and keep living costs low. Some promote boondocking (living on public lands for next to nothing), using free solar power and living a modest lifestyle. Sounds great; in particular that "modest lifestyle" which is what I do practice. But as someone involved in my community and who does own residential real estate, and as someone who has raised children,  I do have some questions and concerns.

First and foremost, if I choose to live the carefree RV lifestyle, then who pays for infrastructure? A lot of this comes from property and municipal taxes. Furthermore, in most communities the entire public school system is supported via real estate taxes. Living on the cheap on public lands turns over the financial support and burden to others. While this might be a good thing for the few, it poses problems. The financial burden falls upon the remaining who provide that infrastructure to the few.

Living a nomadic, RV lifestyle implies that I will only pay consumer taxes; mostly sales tax on my purchases and Federal taxes on any gas or diesel I purchase. Unfortunately, these don't cover the entire bill of supporting the infrastructure and benefits of a modern society. While it can be argued that the RVer doesn't use or require some of the things provided by modern society, I find that to be hollow. We need food, fresh water, a health care system, roads, electricity, gasoline or diesel, and propane. We do need to dump those tanks and that implies a water treatment system; for those with a septic system, the question is "how and with what materials was it built?" I doubt it was dug by hand. Ditto for anyone who says "I have a well for fresh water."

That RV and the solar panels, electrical and electronic systems, batteries, wi-fi system, GPS, cellphone, appliances, satellite TV system, personal computers, etc. had to be built somewhere and with a lot of technology. It takes an entire infrastructure system and millions of people to put the entire thing together and the system it is plugged into. The food we eat requires water, chemicals, seeds, pesticides and so on. Yes, I know, we can purchase organic. What about that container the milk comes in? Some will say we can and should adhere to organic and the world will be a better place. False. Most of us would starve if we were forced to only purchase organic goods. Most of us could never eat salmon. Etc. Etc. Etc. Most of the people I know don't want to subsist on the diet available to the typical Chinese in 1950. Nor do we want to live on the mush diet that was concocted in the 1970s for societies which can't afford more than a few hundred dollars a year for food.  So what is really being promoted here?

In other words, I am of the opinion that pretending I am "living off the land" in my RV is a pipe dream. The first time I pull into a gas station I prove that to be a fiction. Ditto if I ever plug my RV into a 30A or 50A electrical receptacle, or to a fresh water spigot or use a dump station. In fact, about 45% of the electricity east of the Mississippi is derived from fossil and nuclear power plants. In other words, electricity from so called "dirty, belching and carbon polluting sources of energy." My dream existence is supported by an extensive industrial infrastructure.  If whatever I am using was produced in China the reality is much worse.

Health care has made this interesting. Obamacare shifted the landscape in health care for the carefree RVer. Prior to Obamacare aka "The Affordable Health Care Act." it was purely optional to have any health insurance. If something happened, one could go to a health clinic or hospital to get medical aid. With no, or minimal means of support or income, it would be easy to qualify for a variety of free, public supported aids. Now, anyone with a means of support is required to obtain health insurance, or pay a penalty.  However, all one has to do is Bing or Google "getting free healthcare" and the list will appear. According to Google, there are 243 million results.

The concept of a carefree RV lifestyle is reminiscent of the wonders of the all electric vehicles. It might be too good to be true, or perhaps only palatable if I ignore some of the consequences. For example, electric vehicles were promoted, for a time, as "zero emission" vehicles. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Today the marketing is "zero tailpipe emissions." That's an improvement as it is merely deceptive. As I mentioned earlier in this post, about 45% of the electric power east of the Mississippi is derived from fossil fuels and nuclear power plants. For a time California had a deal with states to the east to build electric generating plants so California could avoid having these on California soil. That's how California was able to promote itself as a "clean energy" state.

The fact is, the roads all automobiles are driven upon are maintained in part via taxes on diesel and gasoline fuels. Electric vehicles have been given a pass by the politicians and generous subsidies, paid by the rest of us. At my HOA we've even had a few attempt to charge their electric vehicles using HOA paid electricity. When I argued this was the equivalent of free gas paid for by the fees of other owners, a few rallied to the defense of the electrics. Common sense prevailed, because in our HOA the rest of us don't want higher fees. As is so, so true, an idea is frequently a "good idea" until it has to be paid for.

Perhaps a better title for this post would have been "living the dream" at the expense of others. I have concluded that a dream is all that it is. I suspect this is another one of those ideas that is "too good to be true." I take the perspective "if we all lived this way, what would be the outcome?" It's apparent that schools would be unfunded, most municipalities would be gutted like Detroit.

But I'd be having fun on Bureau of Land Management property. Only when I had to go off the reservation would I have to deal with reality.

However, the idea has merit. What is necessary is to balance personal wants, needs and desires with the needs of society. Come to think of it, this it true for all of us, whether we live in an apartment, condominium, home or RV. Isn't it?

Wild Mustangs

One of the opportunities when travelling in the western US is to get up close with mustangs. The mustang is a descendant of the Spanish horses from the Iberian peninsula. These horses were brought to the continent by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. These horses have bred over the centuries with other types and roam wild in portions of the American southwest.

There are a number of organizations that care for these animals and perform "rescue" functions. It's possible to get up close to these animals. We did so on a trek. They are very inquisitive, but skittish. It's best to "ease into" their space and give them an opportunity to get comfortable.

After a while they'll check you out. If you are ticklish it can be stimulating.

They like to be led and will follow you when they become comfortable. 

There will always be a few onlookers to see how you are doing and observe what's going on.

Mustangs love to run; all that is required is an excuse.

We can all get into the act.

Everyone had a good time.

More on our 2392 mile trek - Yosemite

On this particular trek, I took on average about one photo every two miles. We assembled the best 516 photos into a slide show, put them to music and sent them to the guests we took on this trip, as a memento.

This particular trek required three months of planning on my part. At the time I told G that this would be "the trip of a lifetime." She doubted this, but after and on reviewing the many photos and videos she said "It was!"

Now, for those living in their RVs full time, this might be normal. However, I challenge the reader to consider that if life is a journey, and for each of us I do assert that is so, then each and every day is one in  our personal "trip of a lifetime."

The Tools

We have the internet and that is useful. I used Microsoft "Streets and Trips" as a planning tool. That software included a GPS dongle and real time updates. Unfortunately, MS has suspended this software and will only continue "mainstream support" until July 14, 2015.

MS is promoting "Bing.com/maps" as their replacement. Not even close in my opinion. Ditto for Google Maps.

On this particular trek, there were times cellphone coverage was nonexistent. Try to access the internet when your cellphone is down. The version of MS streets that I use performed flawlessly during this trek because it doesn't matter where one is, it is always possible to get line of sight to the necessary GPS satellites. My maps had been previously constructed on my PC. So I didn't require a cellphone connection.

A Yosemite meadow:

On the trail with family walking toward the El Capitan Bridge:

Near the "Four Mile Trail":

MS Streets & Trips Real Time view on my PC (via GPS)