“The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.” ~Christopher McCandless
Into The Wild
I woke up early Sunday morning. The sky was starting to get light, but the sun wasn’t up yet. I always feel way ahead of the game if I get up before the sun does. I slept well, in spite of having to talk myself off a mental cliff the night before. I was nearly out of propane. I’d driven to the closest place that offers propane, but they said there was nobody there to pump it. I could have driven 35 miles in the opposite direction, but instead I went back to my campsite. I stewed a bit. I was going to pass several places that had propane when I left for Palm Springs in the coming week. Would my propane hold out that long? If not, my fridge wouldn’t run, and I’d lose all my cold food. If I let it run out, would I end up with air in the line? Would I need to bleed it before the propane flowed properly? On top of that, Cosmo let his ball roll under the van. When I went under to retrieve it, I noticed my freshwater tank was dripping. Could that have been overflow from the rugged drive? Or was there a problem. I put a bucket under the drip and before bed, I checked it. It was definitely dripping, but extremely slowly. So then I could stop worrying about my lack of propane and begin worrying about who/how/where would I get my water tank repaired. I sat down, took a big breath and exhaled my worries. The water drip was minor. It needed to be repaired, but I could go weeks or even months with it in this condition. I decided that I’d make the drive into Coachella on Sunday if necessary to get propane and stop fussing about it. Crises averted. I got in bed, and Cosmo snuggled up on top of my chest. He seems to pick up on my internal drama and does his part to calm me down.
In the morning, I went and got propane, and returned to find my favorite spot still vacant and waiting for me. I pulled back in and made a fresh pot of coffee. The water tank would still need to be addressed, but there is nothing that can be done on a Sunday morning, so I let it go and had coffee and a muffin.
The wind kicked up Sunday night and rocked me to sleep. The gentle rocking was short-lived and soon the van was being hit with intermittent gusts that felt like someone hitting the van from the side. Every time it shook, Cosmo got up and barked at the invisible ghost bumping our van from outside. The wind continued through the day on Monday. It was supposed to die down by 6:00 on Monday evening, but it raged all night long and was still blowing furiously when we pulled out Tuesday morning.
I first drove up into the park and topped off my fresh water. I noticed that the dripping sped up when the tank was full. (Duh.) I then drove into Indio to Walmart and picked up a few things that I’d run low on and got the ingredients to make a spinach pie for Thanksgiving. I also got some Flex Seal. I believe the leak under my van is coming from where the intake pipe connects to the freshwater tank. It seems a relatively easy pipe to remove, but another pipe is connected to it, and that other pipe would first have to be removed. I haven’t decided if I’m going to try to take the pipes under my van apart myself or if I’m going to keep trying to get someone who knows plumbing to do it for me. It looks to be pretty straightforward, but how many times have I said that about a plumbing project only to regret having started to do it myself several days later. At this point, the plumbing is working. My kitchen sink works and so does my outdoor shower. I am losing slightly less than a gallon a day. My tank holds 32 gallons. If I take the pipes apart and cannot fix the issue or can’t get it back together, I won’t have a working kitchen faucet or outdoor shower. If I do nothing, I’ll have to get fresh water much more often. I could try to patch the leaky connection with my tube of Flex Seal, but if it doesn’t work, it may make a mess when I finally DO find a plumber or RV repair person to work on it. Decisions, decisions. For now, I have a full tank of water, so I won’t do anything until the tank is empty. I have some time to contemplate which is the right decision. In the meantime, I put a pan under the drip and collect the fresh water to soak and wash my feet at night. Water is too valuable a resource to allow a gallon of it to drip onto the ground.
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I got to Tom and Roy’s just before noon on Wednesday. Roy made us an amazing lunch of fresh vegetable soup and bread. It hit the spot. We sat and caught up, and then took a soak in the hot tub. Roy made a delicious (and somewhat exotic) apple souffle for dinner and a bit later, Cosmo and I went to the RV Storage lot where my van was parked. We both slept soundly. On Thanksgiving morning, we walked down to Tom and Roy’s and I made some cranberry sauce (Thanks Leslie. Your recipe is a hit wherever I take it) and a spinach pie and Tom and Roy made a wide variety of dishes—everything vegetarian except the turkey breast. We had a Manhattan mid-afternoon and then ate our Thanksgiving feast at about 4:00. Tom went to bed early and Roy and I sat up and chatted a bit before Cosmo and I went up to the RV lot to sleep. We left Friday morning and headed back to the casino parking lot in Indio, CA.
My water tank started to leak very badly after I filled it up. I couldn’t do anything with a full tank of water, but by Friday, the tank had leaked itself dry. I had Flex Seal from Home Depot and sprayed it liberally on the connection where the pipe screwed into the tank.
I let it sit overnight to dry, and on Saturday morning, I headed east to Joshua Tree National Park to fill the tank again and see if the repair held. It did not. It was leaking as badly as before I applied the Flex Seal. So on to Plan B: I got my toolkit out and took the plumbing apart. It came apart much easier than expected.
I cleaned all the pieces up with water (from a storage jug) and a toothbrush. I wrapped all the threads with new Teflon tape and put it all back together. I would have to wait to fill the tank until I returned to Ehrenberg to see if I’ve solved the problem.
Lessons From The Road: Pointing in the right direction is so important. I’ve found if I park facing north, I get optimum solar power on my rear panels for much of the day. I also do well if I park east to west, with the southern sun hitting all my panels all day long. I pay attention to my compass when I go to a new location.
We had horrendous wind two days this week. The van rocked and I felt like I was on a small rowboat out at sea. The wind whistled through every tiny space where the windows were not closed tightly. I had to go outside and push a couple of them in so they sealed completely. The cold wind blew from the north, and fortunately I was parked facing into the wind. I think I wouldn’t have been able to sleep if either side faced the oncoming gale.
When I left Cottonwood Springs on Tuesday morning the wind was still howling. I drove slowly past a pop-up tent in the bed of a pick-up truck. He was smart. The tent popped up from the rear of the bed and the hardtop sloped from the front of the bed upwards, therefore minimizing the effects of the tempest outside. Farther down the rutted dirt road was a large class A (greyhound bus) with solar panels that were on hinges and could be raised on one side with just the push of a button. Unfortunately, the occupants were parked exactly the wrong way, so when their panels were angled, they faced directly north, minimizing the amount of energy they could absorb. Money doesn’t buy you smarts, but perhaps it makes it so you don’t care.
My big lesson of the week is never take anything for granted. I think I’m very conservative with my water usage, but I didn’t fully appreciate what a luxury running water is until I turned on my sink faucet and nothing came out. I had backup water in a large, 2-gallon jug that Kitty had gifted me, so I didn’t have to do without, but I can’t tell you how many times I turned on the faucet in two days only to be reminded that I didn’t have running water at the moment. Next time you turn on your faucet and water comes out, say “thank-you.” It is a miracle of modern life and never to be taken for granted.
And I am reminded on this Thanksgiving weekend, to be cognizant of the wealth I have in supportive friends who are there to take my call when my plumbing breaks down or my new solar panels don’t function and the blessing of not only enough food to eat, but DELICIOUS food to eat. In a world where people are lonely, I am grateful for my awesome friends. In a world where people go to bed hungry, I am grateful for not only a delicious Thanksgiving Day banquet, but also for the leftovers that will sustain me throughout the weekend.