Reno & Lake Tahoe

Visiting friends.  After two successful careers and a lot of smart real estate moves they have a lovely home in Reno and a home-sized 'cabin' outside of South Lake Tahoe. They also have three rescued Maltese. One the quiet, shy matron who, in the equivalent to human age, is in her mid-70s. The second, a male, who judging by his actions, thinks he's 20 times his actual size. The third is tiny, even for a Maltese. She's the equivalent of a teenager; a shy, gentle teenager.

Maureen, Fredy II, Rebecca, Tiffany and Phil

Along Lake Tahoe, every view was wonderful, even on a gray day.

Smooth as glass, cold as ice.

Tahoe's muted winter pallet.

Lake Tahoe panorama

Tiffany, the shy teen

Fredy II - who thinks he punches over his weight.

The Grand Canyon After Christmas

The day after Christmas our daughter and her husband, who were visiting from the frozen Midwest, Maureen and I took off mid-morning for the south rim of the Grand Canyon, some 225 miles from Scottsdale.  Traffic was not a problem until we were less than fifteen miles of the gate. As we entered the small town of Tusayan on Hwy 180 we came to a standstill. It took an hour of inching forward to reach the five toll lanes entering the park. 

Once through the gate the drive inside the park was not busy, but by three in the afternoon the first parking lots were full. Finally out of our car we walked along the rim trail. With so many people clambering onto rock lips, sitting on ledges and backing towards edges while staring at self-stick suspended smart phones I'm surprised more visitors don't plunge down the sheer rock walls. 

It was crowded with every type of visitor; families, groups of young people, older couples and dogs - dogs on leashes, dogs in arms and dogs snuggled inside owner's coats. We heard many languages and saw some variations in dress. Nearly as universal as the smiles were the requests to "Please take our picture" and matching offers to take ours.

The intrepid group. 

In the center, far below in the gray, is a scrap of the thin ribbon of the Colorado  

Beautiful, natural Maxfield Parrish colors. 

The temperature drops with the sun.
(There is a pale blue sky in over the rim, but it was beyond the range of the iPhone camera.)

Night, starting a mile below, climbs up the far wall at least ten miles away.

A panorama of the Canyon from the Mather Point area on the South Rim taken at sunset.

Fading light, looking down into the Canyon

Even after sunset the canyon is full of soft southwestern colors

After the sun had fallen and the Canyon completely bathed in darkness we picked out way back to the cars and slipped into the seemingly endless line of brake lights. After slowly snaking out of the Park we chose to take an alternate, longer route to Flagstaff. It was nearly empty and afforded much faster travel than the shortest route.

Hadn't eaten since breakfast, except for an energy bar en route. Hungry! Stopped in Flagstaff to eat at Beaver Street Brewery. It, of course, had a long wait - 45 minutes - for a table. We asked if there were any seats at the bar. A manager standing nearby said they had an adjoining bar that was served by the same kitchen. We were all well over 21 and he led us there. Smoking is prohibited in Arizona bars, (even friendly ones with pool tables). We were immediately seated in a booth, had a good meal there and were probably on our way home before those in line in the restaurant had a chance to order.

We arrived back in Scottsdale at midnight. Over five hours to get into the park, three hours of being amazed by the views (Maureen took nearly 300 pix) and five hours to get home, plus an hour for dinner. Worth it all.

Installing RV Holding Tank Blankets - Electrical

We’ve been RVing full time for just about three months.  We started out from Indianapolis in early September and headed north and west to see Yellowstone before the snow and temperatures fell. Alas, temperatures dropped a couple weeks early. We are in a new 32 ft Class B+ RV that was not rigged for winter camping. So, we pulled out the Atlas and looked for National Parks where the nights were staying above freezing. At first, we thought we would stay within striking distance of Yellowstone so we could return when the weather warmed. We drove down through Colorado to Utah and started doing the five fantastic parks across Utah’s southern half. By the time we got across Utah temperatures in Yellowstone had stayed down and the snow had accumulated. We gave up on going to Yellowstone for the year, and once again started matching our travel routes to overnight temps.

Now we are into December. We have great friends we haven’t seen for two years and they have two houses we haven’t seen; one in Reno, one on Lake Tahoe. Temperatures in both places are below freezing every night, have been for many weeks. We want to see our friends before Christmas. So we need to protect our RV against freezing.

Executive Summary on Wiring DC Tank Blankets – (if you’re in a hurry.)

1. Follow tank blanket manufacturer’s prep and application instructions.
2.  If you need additional wire, only use a gauge that is equal or heavier: i.e. 14 or 12 - than the wire on the blankets
3.  THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE ONLY FOR DC – BATTERY POWERED – BLANKETS.   
4. IF you are hardwiring your 13.8 VDC blankets you can ground the tank blanket to the frame. DO NOT GROUND 110 VAC blankets to the frame – you will kill someone!
5.  Ring terminals are a secure way to fasten the ground.
6.  Put a switch – rated the same or higher amps than the blanket needs – in the power wire. You don’t want to drain your batteries trying to heat empty tanks or warming the fluids when the weather isn’t forecast to hit freezing.
7. Unplug your RV from shore power and turn off the generator before you open the power panel.
8. Connect the power wire to a DC fuse rated for the tank blanket.
9.  Encase your wires in flex plastic conduit. Zip tie it to the frame here and there – NOT to parts that move (springs, driveshaft, etc.) or things that heat (exhaust pipe).
10. You have wires going through the floor to your power panel. Ours were encrusted with several inches of expanding foam. My wife, Maureen, had the good idea of piercing the foam from the top by sliding a heavy duty 14” zip tie along one of the wires. I lay underneath and taped the new blanket wires to the zip tie and she pulled them up. 

Our Home Depot Supplies, things you'll need . . .

Ring Terminal w/ Shrink Tubing

Butt Splice w/ Shrink Tubing

15-Amp Automotive-Type Fuse

Black All-Weather Duct Tape - GREAT stuff!

15-Amp Dual Switch

Split Black 1/2 inch Flex Conduit

Our fresh water tank is about 35 gallons and is under our bed  aboe the floor. Our Gray and Black water tanks are under the bed and bathroom under the floor. I don’t know the R-value of our floor, but in the morning when it is 45 degrees outside and the thermostat has been set for 70 overnight, the floor is often about 60 degrees. Unlike big Class A (bus) motorhomes we don’t have a basement through which all of our piping, etc. runs. We have a skirt around the outside. There are storage lockers hanging around the perimeter, accessed through that skirt. But, under the floor are just cross members that sit on the Ford chassis and the obligatory driveshaft, axles, exhaust pipes, generator, levelers, fuel tank and the two waste tanks and dump gates.

I have spent more time scuffing around under our RV than I thought I would. Yet, during my time in the underworld I learned we don’t have any exposed water pipes under the floor. The only waste pipes come out of the two tanks and quickly elbow their way through the gates and out the dump.

 We read that some professionals wanted about $1200 to install DC-onlypads and $1600 for AC/DC pads, (now Back in Black and not warranted for a Highway to Hell). Nothing inspires us to learn like a reasonable quote from a trained professional! So, we’ve watched a whole bunch of videos on how to install heating pads on waste tanks. There are videos and checklists on and by “UltraHeat”. Everyone’s instructions stopped at “Electrical Installation.”

Late on a Saturday afternoon, powering out of San Francisco after brunch with a smart, talented cousin and her talented, smart daughter (kickass volleyballer) we slipped into a Camping World in Rocklin minutes before closing. We bought two DC heater blankets for 40 gallon tanks. At about a hundred dollars apiece we hoped they were what we needed! They were each 12” x 30” and would draw 12 amps, 12VDC.  We bought DC pads thinking we would hard wire them into the RV, that we call Harvey, because we needed to keep the tanks from freezing even if we were away from shore power, including driving along frozen highways. Because each heating pad or blanket draws 12 amps, so one 15 amp circuit wasn’t going to do it. 

We opened the Power Panel (Under our refrigerator/freezer, of all places: what if we lose power and ice in the freezer melts and runs down into . . . the power panel?!) and saw we had two unused fuse positions. Labels on the panel door told us the two open DC circuits were each rated 30 amps.  We have a gray water tank and a black water tank, both 35 to 40 gallons. They are adjacent to one another, separated only by the short piping to the common sewer outlet.

A quick note on RV electrical, since a motorhome is the love child of a house and a truck it has the electrical circuits of both. Basic to the truck is 12 VDC – batteries. The house begat 110 VAC – the wall outlets of home. In your RV, those familiar outlets, the microwave and TVs probably run only on 110V AC (Alternating Current), called “shore” power. The truck – the part where you sit to drive – the “cab,” the interior lights – all hopefully LEDs – the fans, porch steps, awning motors, and the controllers of the furnace and water heater, etc. all run on DC (Direct Current) battery power.

In the Power Panel (under our freezer/fridge!!!) we have Circuit Breakers and Fuses. The Circuit Breakers look like what you have at home. They are resettable and protect the AC side of things. The fuses look like they belong under the hood of a car and protect the DC side of things. Each Circuit Breaker and Fuse carries a number rating – 3, 10, 15, 20, 30 – that’s the maximum number of Amperes (Amps) it will let through on a regular basis. So, the two 30 amp fuse circuits could each handle the two tank blankets. 

The instructions that follow are ONLY FOR DC (BATTERY POWERED) tank blankets!!!

Instructions on our Madison Accessories heater blankets said we should remove power to the pads when the temperature might drop to the 40s, but there would be no danger of freezing, or if one or more tanks were empty. The tank blankets have thermostats built in. When they sense 40° they come on and shut off around 58° F (each +/-5°). We could have nothing in the black tank and be half full in the gray or vice versa. So, we decided to switch each individually. That, and I couldn’t find an attractive > 24 amp switch. We bought a double black rocker switch, each rated 15 amps, that fit into a single Lutron® style plate. This can sit in a recessed panel beside our power panel (under the fridge!)

Another side note on RV electrical – amps is amps. Doesn’t matter if it’s for 110 VAC, 120 VAC, 12 VDC or 13.8 VDC, if it says it’s rated for 15 amps it’s okay for 15 amps of either persuasion.

Every “Install Tank Heaters” video or script says to first wash the tank surfaces where you will install the heaters, let them dry and then wipe them well with isopropyl alcohol and let that thoroughly dry. Then, when the tank surface is well above 50° F verify the blankets will fit, remove the both papers, replace the large, outer paper, test position the blanket, peel away the paper on one end and rub the blanket into position. We did all that. Our tanks were only 55 degrees by 3PM when I went under to put the blankets in place.

Once we pressed the blankets onto the tanks we plugged my wife’s hair dryer into a short, 12 gauge extension cord that was in turn plugged into the campsite’s power pole, put it on high and warmed the blankets and the tanks. Once we had them firmly adhered we cut lengths of the all-weather duct tape and sealed the blanket’s edges.

We took care that the blankets would wrap around the tanks and that the temperature sensor in the blankets would be near the lowest point of the tank – where we’d surely have liquid. On the gray tank we only had about eleven flat inches on the bottom. Luckily, on the Madison Accessories the blankets are 12” wide, but the heating elements are only about 10” wide. So, using household scissors we cut the non-electrical edge of one blanket  to fit around the drain line.

Reading on line and looking under our motorhome I verified it is okay to run 12 VDC grounds to the chassis frame. (When you jump a car you put the positive on the battery terminal and then the negative on the frame of the car, away from the battery. It reduces the chance of igniting battery gasses.) That, to me, seemed to simplify things a lot.   DANGER: You may ONLY ground DC – battery powered – devices to the vehicle frame. Doing that with AC (110) will kill people!!!

At a Home Depot we bought a small packet of both ring and spade terminals (with shrink tubing), a small packet of butt splices (with shrink tubing), some 14 ga. primary wire, a package of 11” zip ties, plastic conduit and all weather duct tape (stylish black, thank you). The wiring on the blankets is 14 ga. red and black. So, I bought some of each – red and black. Turns out, we didn’t need the black, because we can ground the DC blankets to the frame, near to the tanks. We’ll took the black wire back for a refund. We terminated the two ground wires within a foot of the blankets. I put a spade terminal on one ground lead and put it on an existing post grounded into the aluminum under our floor. DANGER: You may ONLY ground DC – battery powered – devices to the vehicle frame. Doing that to AC (110) will kill people!!!

We put a ring terminal on the other blanket’s ground lead. To do that we separated the red and black wires, then cut the black ground wire to a generous length, stripped less than a quarter inch of insulation from the new end, twisted its strands and inserted them into the terminal. I used a large pair of Channel Locks to crimp the terminal. Vice Grips also work. My wife, Maureen, carefully and artfully used a cheap butane fire starter to shrink the heat tubing collar of the terminal. We drilled a small hole in a frame piece and secured the second ground with a self-tapping screw through the ring terminal.

We’d bought black, plastic, flexible conduit, like our RV manufacturer used. Using the butt splices we added more red 14 gauge wire to the red leads from the blankets. We then fed the red wires into the conduit before fishing it across the RV under the floor and above the long Ford frame and fuel tank. We then attached the conduit to the frame at several points with zip ties.We needed more than one package of flex conduit. We used the black All-Weather tape to join them.

We unplugged the RV from the power pole outside. I repeat, we completely unplugged the RV from the 110VAC power pole. We verified the generator was not running. Then, all we had in the RV was 12 VDC battery power. 12 VDC will burn you or cause a fire. 110 VAC will kill you. Do not mess with 110 VAC – shore power – unless you know exactly what you are doing.  

Then, inside our RV, we took the plastic cover from the electric panel. We removed the four screws in the corners of the electric panel and set it on the floor leaving all the wires connected. Behind it we could see four flanges holding rubbery, 1”(?) conduit going through the floor. I went underneath and the bottom ends were hidden in a lumpy mass of expanding foam the size of a big man’s brogan. My wife, Maureen, had the good idea of piercing the foam by sliding a heavy duty 14” zip tie along one of the wires. The Zip Tie plastic is harder than the foam but softer than the insulation on the wires. I lay underneath and taped (that strong duct tape) the wires to the zip tie and she pulled them up.

We had a blank, recessed wooden panel next to the power panel. We cut an appropriate size opening in that panel, put an “old work” box in the hole, fed in the wires and attached one to one side of each of the switches. We then took a short length of red, 14 gauge primary wire and fed it from the other side of each switch to a connector in the buss bar of the fuse panel. Then we mounted the switches in the old work box. We attached the wall plate over the switches and that part was done.

      

An "Old-Work" box. Less than a dollar at a home center.
Called Old Work because its 'wings' hold it in an existing wall. 

Making sure the switches were both off – just to be doubly safe - we inserted a 15 amp automotive fuse into each holder. Then we remounted the electric panel and its cover.

We went to the motorhome’s “control panel” and verified we had at least a 1/3 tank of liquid in both the Gray and Black tanks. I went outside and lay under the motorhome when my wife flipped the two switches, turning on the heating pads. By now it was late afternoon and the tanks measured 45°F. They didn’t come on immediately. I was concerned they weren’t working, but later in the evening when the temp dropped a few degrees they were both warmer than the surrounding metal. I went out before 5:00AM with my infrared thermometer to check. Weather Channel said it was 31. Metal apron on our RV was 29 as was a metal pipe near by. The outside of the two blankets were about 34. However the two tanks were in the low 40s. That does it for me. They work!

The red LEDs glow when it is cold enough outside to demand power for the blankets, but the switches are off.

To be able to tell which switch was which Maureen put a tiny dot, with fingernail polish, by the gray tank button on the control panel and a single dot by the switch powering the gray tank blanket. She put two tiny dots by the black tank button and switch. (Black tank has 'number two' in it – get it?)

It’s been a few days and several hundred miles now and the blankets have stayed connected. We’ve been in areas where its dropped well below freezing and everything seemed okay. Toilet, shower and sinks drained. When I had to drain the tanks early one frosty morning, the “effluent” flowed down the pipes and out of our concern. That’s all I care about. The UltraHeat site says tanks with their blankets, properly installed, are protected to eleven degrees below zero(F)! I hope we don’t try them to that extreme. I’m not good to eleven below.

Someone more knowledgeable than I may edit this post. If I made a mistake, I hope they do, and soon. Otherwise, this worked for us. All total we spent about $275 cash, three hours in installation and, as usual, endless hours researching what to do. I hope this made it a little easier for you. Travel well!!!

Monterey

We set out with two goals; buy a loaf of artisan bread and whale watch.
The days here are very short. Here being near Monterey, California in December. The sun sets around five in the afternoon. By six it's pitch dark. (Pitch was a gooey, sticky, bituminous material used to caulk between logs, etc. Very dark.) It may also contribute to the brevity of the days that we often don't even hear the coffeemaker grind the beans at seven. This morning, in the midst of trying to snuggle back to sleep, Maureen had to interrupt a perfectly good night by asking the hour. It was 9:30. She was, I think, a little embarrassed. I was deeply satisfied and ready to snuggle back in for a bit longer. We hadn't gone to bed until 10:30, it was cold (okay, cool) in the RV and it was really quiet outside.  We laughed at dinner tonight how the cooler it gets the more we flirt with hibernation.

Drove the Smart car yesterday from Felton down 17 to Highway 1 to New Brighton State Beach campground. They seemed a bit aloof there.  They had some sites with electric and water. And they had some sites that had gorgeous clifftop views of the ocean. However, the two types of sites did not overlap: you may pick either. It was a beautiful location and easily accessible off Hwy 1. Must be a handful of the most beautiful boondocking sites in the country.

Left NBSB and continued down the coast to Castroville and Moss Landing. A friend said Moss Landing, off the power plant, is one of the deepest areas along the coast and therefore a good place to whale watch. On the way north a few days ago we'd passed through Castroville, a small, California farming town that bills itself as the artichoke capital of the world. Anyplace that sells fresh artichokes 5, 10 or 20 for $2 - depending on size and freshness - must have some solid connections in the 'choke trade.

Went on into Monterey. Looked for Mr. Eastwood, their former mayor, but it's a big town. Interesting in the way so many coastal towns are. A bit of a jumble of homes reminiscent of beach houses back east, some stucco and clay roof and some more Mediterranean looks. Small homes on tiny lots on lurching streets, all nearing a million dollars.

We drove out on the wharf. Costs a dollar or two per hour to park. The wind blowing from the sea quickly confirmed the area to be a working fishing pier. Beyond the end were sailboats moored to large, steel ball, buoys. A seal perched on one buoy. By arching its head over its back, pointing its snout to the sky it could doze off, still balanced on the bobbing ball. Went back to the car for shelter from the wind (and aroma) and had the lunch Maureen had packed for us. Fun watching the sea gulls try to perch on pipes installed along the railing to prevent sea gulls using it as a perch. Colorful kayaks enlivened the surroundings.

 

After a bit of driving around town I realized if we didn't leave then we'd miss our opportunity to watch for whales, etc. Back to Highway 1 and north to Moss Landing. Parked in the lot amid surfer's vans and trucks and trudged over the dune to a view of the ocean. There were a dozen or more surfers waiting on their boards but the waves kept breaking too early. We sat or stood on a foot square length of wood that still slightly smelled of creosote. M spotted a blow to the left of our field of view, near a buoy. We kept watching and she captured two more on video. A success!

We returned home, without a loaf of bread, but with some 7,000 steps and good memories.

Chill in the air? Warm the tummies!

What is it about the cold…that makes me want to bake and eat baked goods? After three cool, damp nights deep in the redwood trees of Cotillion Gardens RV Park, just north of Santa Cruz, California, we ventured on to San Francisco. From there, we moved to Roseville, north of Sacramento. It was the halfway mark to stage ourselves for the drive through the Sierra Nevada’s to see our longtime friends Phil and Rebecca, now in Reno, Nevada.

Campsite at Cotillion Gardens RV Park north of Santa Cruz CA

Sunset at River Reflections RV Park around Oroville CA

While in the Santa Cruz area, where the temps were a good 10 degrees cooler than Joshua Tree National Park, which was 10 degrees cooler than Scottsdale, we availed ourselves of the delicious baked goodies at Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola CA. My talented artist cousin Maggie Renner Hellmann introduced me to this wonderful place when I met her for a morning walk along Capitola Beach and neighborhoods. Dennis and I made 2 more trips to the bakery before we left the area. First, an almond bear claw and egg breakfast sandwich, then an Olallieberry turnover and Three-Ginger Gingerbread, and then a half loaf of rustic French bread for the road. I know you’re asking, “how does this fit in with your healthy ‘grains, greens and beans’ eating habits?” My reply: everything in moderation. 😊

After settling in Roseville for a night where the temps dipped to 35, I woke to my head swirling with muffin, waffle and pancake recipes. Which would I make first? Which did I have all the ingredients for? Blueberry muffins? Yes, but I made those in Tucson. How about pumpkin nut muffins? Yes, but make the healthy ones with oatmeal and yogurt, and throw in a few chocolate chips for fun. Waffles? Yes. Pancakes, yes! I convinced myself muffins were healthier because they wouldn’t be slathered in butter and maple syrup. We had just spent a quick overnight in a Walmart parking lot, thinking our next move was Reno. A Walmart parking lot didn’t seem the right place or time to bake muffins, however much I wanted them.

A quick check of the weather app showed its optimistic forecast for Reno was a little too rosy. Instead of high in the low 60’s and low in the low 30’s, we were now looking 50’s and 20’s respectively, thanks to an inversion! Ugh. Too cold for HaRVee without the heating pads on the water tanks. We were really trying to avoid that purchase, but we so wanted to visit our friends. After a quick call with them to confirm the cooler forecast, we decided to push the trip back a few days, hoping the warmer temps for Wednesday on would hold true. This would give us 3 days to buy and install the heating pads for gray and black tanks.

Can you find Dennis installing the heating pads on water tanks?

Now we had to find a better place to stay than the Walmart parking lot for three nights. A quick check of the road atlas and the AllStays app helped us decide to move north an hour to Oroville CA. Its more moderate farm valley temperature range gave us better comfort with mid 60’s to low 40’s. As soon as we set up camp by the peaceful Feather River, I made it my mission to fix a hot dinner (linguine with kale and artichokes from Castroville CA) and bake some pumpkin oatmeal nut muffins, a new recipe found on Pinterest.

From the Artichoke Capital of the World - 5 for $5!

All I can figure is when it gets chilly outside, my instinct is to warm the tummies and home with the oven. Baking is a comfort task for me. It makes me feel at home and calms my nerves. After 3 months, I still haven’t come to terms with riding/driving HaRVee. Being in it on the road is stressful to me. Being in it as a stationary tiny home, I have no problem.

As we end another day of our RV journey, our tummies are full. We are now sitting at our table writing about the day. The pasta was quite tasty. We ate it as the sunset disappeared into the clear indigo night sky and listened to electro swing (Alice Francis) on Pandora.

Artichoke and kale linguine

The pumpkin muffins taste OK, not great as I was hoping. Maybe the flavors will blend better overnight. Sometimes, though, when it comes to making baked goods healthy, you can cross the line and lose the flavor altogether. This “Pumpkin Oat n Honey Muffin” recipe from Spokane Dinner Club used plain Greek yogurt in place of the oil and egg, honey instead of brown sugar and ground oatmeal in lieu of flour. I used Sigi’s vanilla yogurt for a bit more flavor and ended up adding more pumpkin spice and a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup when the recipe seemed to dry and flavorless. After baking half the batch in my 6-muffin tin, I threw in a handful of chocolate chips to the remaining batter. The latter batch tasted better. We’ll see how they taste in the morning with a cup of strong, hot coffee.