Campground visitors

Sharing the campsite with nature. Sometimes one has to watch where they put their feet. Guess we'll be eating lunch in today.

Yellowstone Seismic Activity

This morning a friend posted that she had been woken up by a 5.8 magnitude earth quake in Lincoln, Montana. That's about 250 miles north of Yellowstone National Park.  Yellowstone is on our bucket list. We'll do a northern trek to get to Yellowstone and beyond.

The USGS has an observatory in Yellowstone. Following image courtesy of USGS.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

"The supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park has been hit with more than 400 earthquakes since June 12. Researchers say it's nothing to be alarmed about, though....... In a statement to the Star Valley Independent, scientists from the University of Utah -- which monitors the volcano -- said the earthquake swarms are nothing new.  “This is the highest number of earthquakes at Yellowstone within a single week in the past five years, but is fewer than weekly counts during similar earthquakes swarms in 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010.”

Here are a few links.

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/

https://watchers.news/2017/07/02/yellowstone-volcano-earthquakes-june-2017/

http://www.nps.gov/yell/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm

Sunsets on the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan

Last glow of the setting sun

A couple of sunset videos. We walk to the lakeshore to view the sunset as do many others. However as the park closes at 10:00pm and it is dark, if we decide we will stay to full dark we will drive in. Takes a season pass, which is inexpensive.

Getting entertained in Three Oaks, MI

When travelling we look for local entertainment.  There are street fairs, county fairs, concerts, art fairs, classic car nights, and so on. There are bicycle events, garden and architectural walks. All kinds of activities.

 Many communities provide free, or nearly free concerts. There may be a request for a donation and we always comply. Compared to the cost of a first run movie, these events are really inexpensive. Other things to consider are local fairs. The Gem Show in Tucson comes to mind, as does the Krasl Art Fair in St. Joseph MI and the Sandwich Fair in Sandwich, IL. In the summer many communities have lots of outdoor activities. Some are free, and some charge a modest admission. Even the Gem Show has free venues.

Here are links to a couple of almost free events. One is an Open Mike which attracts various artist, and another is an outdoor concert. Both videos were made in Three Oaks, MI.

Acorn Theater Open Mike Night:

Three Oaks Music in the Park night:

Keeping cool in summer heat

Well, it is that time of year again, and the sun is beating down on some of us. One challenge is to keep cool, and keep that refrigerator running. A couple of years ago we were trekking in TX and hit 103F heat. We really weren't prepared.

We've done a few things to help us. Some are the same things others have done and based on my observation, some are not.  Of course, one thing is to park in the shade if possible. However that may be easier said than done. So if we have to park in full sun, then what? How to keep our Roadtrek from becoming a sauna?  The Duo-Therm Cool Cat heat pump works really well, but it does need some help when the sun is bearing down upon the front of the RT.

Here's a few things we have done to aid us in keeping cool in our RVs.

Reflectix
A bubble wrap reflective foil in windows has been a big aid, particularly in the Roadtrek, our class B. That has a large front window which simply seems to pull the heat into the vehicle. Reflectix has been very helpful. We use it in all windows except the side entry in summer and fall/winter trekking. Glass has a R-value of about 0.1 which means almost no insulating value. I understand that Reflectix has an R-value of 1.0. I understand the Roadtrek has an R-value in the walls of about 4.5. Anything we can to to improve the insulation is a good thing.

Screens
The Roadtrek came with side entry and rear entry screens. When the outside temperature is acceptable, if we can get better airflow that is an aid. However, we prefer to close the side door. I fabricated a magnetic held screen for the front side window. These can be purchased, if one prefers. The goal is to get the interior temperature down to the exterior without the use of air conditioning. We open the side window a couple of inches and use the Fantastic Fan, or open the rear door which has a full interior screen.

Fans
Our RVs have roof fans. These include Fantastic Fans. That's helpful for pulling warmer interior air out, and drawing in cooler outside air, when it is available. Or, after a shower, these fans can move moisture laden air to the outside, reducing interior humidity.

However, we also use a 12V DC fan in the Roadtrek, We found one that sits on the shelf above the side door. It has side air inlets and variable speed. Very helpful to move air around in the front of the RV, particularly if the vehicle is facing the sun.

A small 120VAC fan is also useful. This we use in the travel trailer to move the air around. Got a small 8 inch diameter Vornado which is also variable speed.

Create Shade
If one can't park in the shade, the next best thing is to create it. Many rigs have an awning, and if possible one might be able to orient the position of their RV so they get some benefit. Creating partial shade is easier than it may seem. We use several sun screens to aid us. One we fabricated from a roll of Coolaroo material. We hung that one the side of the TT which gets a lot of afternoon sun. It made quite a difference. We purchased a triangular piece and we position it as necessary with the Roadtrek. Usually to the front. I use a couple of expandable metal tent poles and 1/8 inch green nylon rope with tent stakes to get it into place. A 36 inch wooden dowel holds the front up to keep it off of the vehicle. I use aluminum carabiners to attach the sail to the tops of the poles. This allows me to quickly drop the sail if the wind comes up, or when evening approaches. The lines are strung to stay in place and hold the poles up with the sail dropped.

Here's the Roadtrek with awning extended, reflectix in the front window and the coolaroo sun sail up.

When not in use the sun sail folds conveniently and with the tent poles goes easily into the side storage compartment of the Roadtrek.

The travel trailer gets a lot of side sun in the dining/living slide. We hung a piece of coolaroo fabric. I used the coolaroo lacing kit to clean up the cut fabric ends. A custom wooden clamp the full length of the top keeps it in place. I fabricated a spacer to keep the upper area of the shade off of the side of the trailer. The spacer is made from a chromed shower rod and foam pipe insulators. That space is important to keep an air gap along the entire length of the shade. 

I use a couple of clamps designed for that purpose on the bottom with a bungees at a slight tension to hold the bottom out from the RV.  I attached the bungees with 1/8 nylon cord to a couple of bricks.

Cover the Roof Vents
A Maxxair vent cover is nice. It keeps the sun from directly striking the lid of the roof vent and it keeps bugs and birds away from an open vent. We added one to the Roadtrek.

However, the previous owner of our TT didn't install these covers and it has three roof vents. While on the roof I noticed that the covers were showing some distress after being in the sun for about 6 years. We also noticed a lot of heat in those areas during hot sunny days. One can install a insulator.  Camco has one which has a bright aluminized surface, which can be pointed up. These aren't very convenient if one wants to open the vent lid frequently. However, in cool weather we use one in the bedroom to keep the heat inside and provide some insulating value.

I decided to cover the vent covers with heavy duty aluminum foil. That reflects the heat away from these covers. It really made a difference in the travel trailer. I used a tube of exterior silicone caulk and after applying a bead on the edges, sides and in a pattern along the top I simply placed the aluminum foil and smoothed it into place. I trimmed the foil and folded the edge under the vent cover lid.  The travel trailer has 10 windows and frosted glass in the doors, so we get ample light even with the vents opaqued.

Camco vent insulator, aluminum side up:

Refrigeration
Our Roadtrek has a Dometic 3-way absorption type refrigerator. When we first encountered 103F we were on a site with the refrigerator side of the RT in full sun. The refrigerator had some difficulties keeping things sufficiently cold.

We had one of those battery operated fans and it was useful. An internal thermometer mounted on the top shelf told us the real condition inside. I did some research and read the Dometic manuals about "Power Ventilator Installation" and concluded that improved ventilation would be helpful. I added two very low power 12V DC fans and a thermostat with an in-line fuse.

Refrigerator interior fan

Ventilation Fans

Refrigerator Thermometer

An Evening at the Acorn Theater - Open Mike Night

The joys of trekking include all of the things one can do and see.  Here's a compilation video made during open mike night at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, MI.

We really enjoyed the evening and we have seen several performances in the recent three years. We aren't in Three Oaks on the right nights it seems, but yesterday we were and G suggested we go. It was a lot of fun. Great artists. Wow! And, we really like the theater, too.  I've included a link to the theater's social media page.

G's performance is at 26:53.

https://www.facebook.com/AcornTheater/

Quetico Provincial Park

I put up a video about a slightly different kind of trek over at YouTube. At one time I was a youth leader and as an adult I learned to backpack and canoe. I never had the opportunity in my youth. As part of my volunteering I went with a group of boys into Quetico Provincial Park in Canada. We canoed 90 miles on that trek. But the sons and I were never able to do this together. Some years later when I was asked by the elder son what I'd like to do together, I said "Let's plan a trek to Quetico."  So we did.

Here's a short video of that trek. G did not accompany us on this one.