© Hawk Hickok Hickman, 2008-2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Hawk Hickok Hickman and harleyhawk43.wordpress.com, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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Hawk has written six books, four on his full time RV adventures and two on the Irish Sea Mossing Industry in Scituate MA. Click here to purchase them either in paperback or e-book form-
0r, to obtain a personalized, signed copy, contact Hawk directly by text at 617-605-6594 or by email at harleyhawk43@gmail.com or by going to Hawk’s Facebook page, Hawk’s Books.
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Arriving at Imperial Dam BLM dispersed camping area on November 10 after our grueling 10 day trip (see previous blog for our misadventures), we went through the usual set-up procedures
- Disconnect the truck from the 30 foot Wolfpack Trailer/camper. This is not an easy task. The wheels of the trailer have to be chocked, the front jack on the trailer has to be utilized to raise the trailer off of the ball hitch (it is a tag-a-long trailer, not a fifth wheel), the anti-sway bars have to be removed, then the truck pulled forward, then the trailer jacked back down to a level position. Then the corner jacks on the trailer have to be lowered to provide stability. This is all if you are on level ground. If not, you would have to employ block risers under the wheels of whichever side of the trailer was lower than the other).
- Next you get out your gas powered generator for your electricity (no electricity at BLM dispersed campgrounds).
- Prior to selecting a site you would have filled up your water tank (110 gallons in our case) and emptied your sewer tanks in the dump station.
- Then you get out your heavy duty shore power cord , start up your generator and recharge your batteries (two 6 volt deep charge, connected in series) and charge your phones and computers. We usually run our generator about 3 hours per day. This was all before we purchased a 140 watt solar panel (more on that later).
After getting set up, we spent the next few days getting organized and acclimated. Then we set about trying to make arrangements to get our damaged equipment repaired under warranties and insurance coverage. The major damage was to the Conversion Van and the utility trailer (see previous post for details). As hard as it may be to believe, it was more stressful trying to get things repaired than the initial fire event on the conversion van and the tire blowout on the utility trailer.
The insurance company refused to pay for a new refrigerator so that had to be paid out of pocket. The replacement grill never arrived in four months, so we had to leave without it and keep the area duct taped over a cardboard insert. we are still waiting for it to arrive as of this writing, 6 months later. Nor were we able to get the body work done where the fire scorched the outside finish of the van.
Turning to the utility trailer, we had to argue with the warranty people for the better part of 2 months to get the damage to the trailer fixed. During that time we lost the use of the trailer in which we had planned to store our two motorcycles out of the weather. All in all, a nightmare, and this on a brand new trailer!
Instead of dwelling on the negative details of our repair travails, we now move to the fun we were able to squeeze in between trips to the various repair shops. We had some fun hikes, a couple of motorcycle rides and some spectacular sunsets and sun rises. The attached pictures will serve as a review and summary of our 4 months of winter hibernation in far southern Arizona/ California (We were right on the AZ/CA border)
As you can see we had a great time, got away from the gloomy New England winter weather and were able to ride our motorcycles all winter. Gotta love it!
Now we return to a more mundane subject, namely electricity. For the previous several years, my travels had been mostly involved with regular campgrounds with supplied electricity, so I had partially forgotten the intricacies of electrical supply and demand in a boondocking environment (no electrical supply except for that obtained from a generator or solar panel). I was quickly reminded as our lights began to dim at night after a few weeks. I quickly found out after consulting with my next door neighbor that my wet cell batteries were close to failure due to them not being charged up on a regular basis. We discovered that the built in battery charger/converter was not putting out the amperage needed to recharge them on a regular basis.
So, over the next month we purchased two AGM 6 volt batteries, an inverter (converts DC battery power to AC power), a 140 watt portable solar panel and a battery charger. With all those in hand, my neighbor installed a system that allowed us to have all the AC we needed each day by charging the batteries with solar power and generator power and then drawing upon that power at night and in the morning to watch tv, make coffee and charge our phones and computers. Our cooking, heat and hot water continued to be supplied by our propane tanks (two 30 pounders). Life was good again, electricity wise, and we were able to live relatively comfortably for the remainder of the winter. A big round of applause for our neighbor, Brad, who made this all happen. And, the good part is it was a bartering exchange for the most part, whereby I downloaded over 10,000 songs for him from my Itunes library. He got all the music he will ever need and we got an electrical system that allows for camping virtually anywhere without electrical concerns.
During the four months we were at Imperial Dam, Donna practiced on her Harley Sportster motorcycle. She had not ridden since she was 23, 47 years prior and had a tough time getting reoriented. She did take 3 or 4 spills, mostly while stopping suddenly, but got right back up and soldiered on. By the time March rolled around, she had reached an intermediate stage of proficiency and we were able to go on a couple of trips of over 100 miles! Lots of spunk in this woman!.
As the months of November through February rolled by the weather cooled down considerably and then started warming up fast as we hit late February and early March. The 7 month unlimited camping season ends April 15, but most people, especially the Canadians, pack up in late February and early to mid-March. The Canadians have to be back across the border within 6 months to keep their health coverage. We were in no particular hurry except that we were somewhat bored with the same scenery for over four months and wanted to visit some western national parks before we made a bee line for the East Coast. We packed up the second week in March, said our goodbyes to our neighbors and left Imperial Dam on March 14th. Our first stop would be Joshua Tree N.P. followed by Death Valley N.P., Zion N.P., Bryce and possibly a few others. Little did we know that the Covid 19 Pandemic would put a severe crimp in our plans Stay tuned for our wild Covid adventures in my next blog!
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Hawk has written six books, four on his full time RV adventures and two on the Irish Sea Mossing Industry in Scituate MA. Click here to purchase them either in paperback or e-book form-
0r, to obtain a personalized, signed copy, contact Hawk directly by text at 617-605-6594 or by email at harleyhawk43@gmail.com or by going to Hawk’s Facebook page, Hawk’s Books.
