We have used the Camco Awning Hold Down Strap Kit for over 20 years. The majority of our trips are in deserts, and deserts usually means wind is fairly common. Wind wreaks havoc on RV awnings. Our Camco Hold Down Kit has saved our awnings many times!
Continue reading Camco Awning Hold Down Strap Kit: 20+ Year Review
We’re back from a two week trip to the Sequoia National Forest, which is in California’s Southern Sierra Nevada.
Our only goal was to leave the 120° F days in Palm Springs. Other than this, we had no plans, goals, or agenda. Sometimes doing almost nothing on a camping trip is the best kind of camping.
Our travel trailer is almost 10 years old and the Tank Monitor has been a constant struggle. This system is the typical unit found on most RVs these days. First, it isn’t very accurate. Secondly, the sensors in the gray and black water tanks often become contaminated, requiring cleaning and flushing. Lastly, we don’t have a way to monitor our LPG (propane) levels.
In this post I will share installation tips, advantages and disadvantage of the Mopeka Tank Sensors.
Just returned from Lake Mead a few days ago.
Over the past 23 years Joyce and I have spent more than 1,000 nights camping at Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir, by capacity, in the United States. In addition, I have done numerous solo backpacking and bicycle trips in the area.
Much of Lake Mead is within the boundaries of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which is administered by the National Park Service. At just under 1.5 million acres, Lake Mead NRA has a plethora of outdoor recreational activities.
In recent years Lake Mead and its declining water level has frequently been in the news. Many people wonder how this winter’s record snowfall in the Western US has impacted the lake.
At the end of April, I shared pictures of the desert in bloom in this post. I also mentioned that the flowers in the higher elevations hadn’t reached their peak and that should happen in a couple of weeks. We had returned home because I had jury duty and we had some doctor appointments. Three weeks after that trip we left home to return to the Mojave Desert.
The Weber Baby Q grill has been a centerpiece of our camping trips for at least 20 years. At first the grill was stored in our camper. Inside storage left odors in the camper even if stored outside of the living space of the camper.
So for nearly 20 years it has been stored it in a plastic container. It is stored in our garage. Before each trip, it is moved to the camper. Even though the storage container was similar in size to the grill, it was kinda big and bulky.
It was finally time to search for a better option, an option that wasn’t available in the past.
Finally getting our lives back into normal mode. More about that later.
Southern California received an inordinate amount of rain the first three months of this year, which we desperately needed. Instead of being able to use my telescope every night at home, as in the past, I only had about 12 good nights for telescope use in the first quarter of 2023.
As many had hoped, some of our deserts experienced a wildflower super bloom. As the bloom reached its peak, the Coachella Music Festival opened. Along with the reported 250,000 fans that attended the festival, hordes of social media people descended upon our desert to take selfies and trample flowers.
Being rational people, Joyce and I left for the eastern Mojave Desert for a couple weeks of camping solitude.
I thought this bag was older than 15 years. Checking my financial program, Quicken, I found it was purchased 15 years ago for $360 at Adventure 16 (a.k.a. A16). A16, a stellar company with expert and knowledgable employees, was my favorite backpacking retailer for decades.
When I bought this sleeping bag, it was in person at one of their stores. Not only could the staff make excellent recommendations, they had a room set aside just for trying out sleeping bags. Of course, there were numerous sleeping pads on the floor for this purpose.
Alas, A16 is gone, dying at the age of 58 years. A victim of the public’s preference for cheap internet goods, while ignoring the value of knowledgable sales people and hands-on inspection before making a purchase.
If you want a quality sleeping bag, and don’t live near a brick and mortar store that sells backpacking equipment — you can’t go wrong by buying a Western Mountaineering sleeping bag, quilt, or other apparel. They are that good! Plus, everything is made in the good ‘ol US of A.
Continue reading Western Mountaineering UltraLite Sleeping Bag —15 Year Review
Recently an acquaintance asked me to help him find a suitable down jacket for backpacking when nighttime temperatures could dip down to 20° F (6.7° C). He wanted a 900 or higher fill power garment because, “The higher the fill power, the warmer the garment.”
But is this true? All things being equal, not really. The most important factor is the thickness of the insulation, not fill power.
In this post I will explain fill power, insulation thickness, and the difficulty of shopping for suitable equipment because the equipment manufacturers (clothing, sleeping bags, and quilts) try to confuse us with worthless marketing instead of useful facts.
Continue reading Down Fill Power Explained — Is it an Important Measurement?
On January 20th I had cataract surgery on my left eye. The other eye was done last December. Today my vision is nothing short of miraculous — a similar reaction I have heard from others who have had the surgery done.
It is time to get back outdoors for a lot of backpacking and camping.
Well, almost time. I’ll explain in a bit.