January 20, 2013
Trial Run
Every big endeavor deserves a test, and a trip to
Alaska is a major endeavor. Last week I did a trial run by setting up Lizzie
and taking her on a trip. We went to Quartzsite, Arizona, to an event called
the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous. This is a gathering
of a fairly large group of people who either live in their rigs full time, or
spend extended amounts of time in them. They gather on BLM (Bureau of Land Management)
land where camping is free. There's no bathroom, no water, no trash pickup,
but all that is manageable if you plan for it. For me it was an opportunity to
meet these people, have a look at their rigs to get ideas for my own, hear
about some of their challenges and solutions, and to test out my theories of
how things would work. 
I even got to hike a little -- these photos are of a place called Palm Canyon. It was the most beautiful desert view I have seen in a long time, and I even got up close and personal with Saguaro cacti. The ones shown below looked like they were protecting the tree. 
I had planned on Quartzsite being temperate –
nights in the 40's and days in the 60's and 70's. That's what is normal for
that time of year, although they do get fronts moving through that throw normal
out the window. That's what happened the week I was there. Night temps were in
the 20's and daytimes were 40's and windy. It was COLD! Luckily, I had a good sleeping bag and a few
blankets, so I was plenty warm at night (especially the nights I wore my hat
and gloves to bed), but the daytimes were a problem. One of the days I was
sitting in a seminar dressed in a turtleneck, a fleece vest, 2 hoodies, and a
blanket (hat and gloves too) and I was still shivering. Someone asked me if I had
a jacket. Yes, I did, but I couldn't get
it on over all those other clothes! So I'm really hoping that Alaska in June is
not as cold as that. But if it is, I'll find a way to deal with it --- maybe a
larger jacket!
I learned several things. First, my mattress would
not work. It wasn't thick enough, and it was like sleeping on a board. I found
someone there who wanted it, so I sold it before I left, and will look for a
new mattress. If I'm going to be driving 10,000 miles, I need to be comfortable
at night.
Second, be very kind to your vehicle. I had been
watching my tires. I had two new ones, and knew that I would probably need two
more new ones before I left. But I managed to pick up a screw in one of the
tires, and didn't realize that it was flat, so had to get a new one. That was a
story in itself, because accessing the spare tire is a challenge on a Toyota
Minivan. It lives under the car, and is released by unscrewing a bolt between
the front and second row of seats. That's where my bed is. I was really afraid that I'd have to
disassemble the whole thing to get to the bolt, but the repair guy was able to
do it just by taking out the stuff under the bed. Whew! But he didn't have a
tire to fit my car, so I had to go on to Lake Havasu City where they had a tire
store that is part of the chain I always use. They fixed me up in about an
hour, and since the tire was under warranty, it was free! Free is a good thing!
ON the way into Lake Havasu City, my brakes were
making a funny sound, and since my mind was on CAR MAINTAINENCE today, I asked
for a reliable place to check them out.
Bad news, needed new brakes. Oh
well, at least now they are ready to go to Alaska! I suppose I could rationalize it by saying
that it would have had to be done anyway. But I should have had them checked
before I left New Mexico. I'll be taking Lizzie to my mechanic about a month
before I leave to have her totally checked out and put in top notch condition.
I was able to do some more organizing. When I set the bed up before I left, I
realized that I would need something like a headboard to keep my pillow from
sliding into the back of the van. I got some pegboard, painted it white, and
attached it to the base of the bed with angle irons. It made a great place to
organize some of my kitchen stuff. The photo shows the start of the organizing,
but there will be much more that I can store there. And it will make it much
easier to find things – rooting around in a plastic tub looking for a fork is
very inconvenient, especially when your supper is getting cold!
