Solar … Storage … Bugging Out Tomorrow

Wednesday, 12 June
Americamps KOA — Ashland, Virginia
TEMPS: LO 69F / HI 91F [feels like 96F] (20.5C / 33C [35.5c])

We’ve accomplished what we came to do here in Ashland, Virginia.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is that there is a big storm heading in our direction.  We were going to stay two more nights at the Americamps KOA, but have decided to leave tomorrow morning instead.  (The campground refunded the fee for the fourth night; that’s a bonus we were not expecting.)

We considered heading south, but we’d have to drive 400-450 miles (640-720 km) just to get out of the red zone (bottom half of the collage).  Not only would we be risking getting caught in the storm while still on the road, but the storm is projected to cover much of South Carolina by Thursday night, so we’d be in the same boat.

No worries about tonight (top photo); we’re outside the red zone … can’t say the same about tomorrow night.

So, even though Virginia Beach (near Norfolk) falls in the highest risk area, we are going to head there.  I can hear the gasps and everyone thinking we must be nuts.  Not so … at least at Naval Air Station Oceana, where we have campground reservations, there will be a real shelter should the worst happen.  Oceana is only 120 miles (192 km) from where we are now, so we should get there well in advance of the storm.

But enough about the storm.  We have a plan in place; borrowing trouble in the meantime isn’t going to do us any good.  After all, there’s still a good chance the storm will weaken as it crosses the mountains.

Tuesday, 11 June …

We came to Ashland primarily to have solar panels installed on the roof.  We expect to take periodic vacations from our life on the road and wanted to have the means to trickle-charge the house batteries in our absence.  Solar panels seemed like a good option, with the added bonus that they would allow us to boondock in mild-climates without being entirely reliant on the generator.

From top left: specs; a solar panel awaiting installation; the regulator;
back of the solar panel showing the branch connector and positive/negative cables.

After doing considerable research, Mui consulted with RV Service of VA, the company that worked on our satellite dish last December.  They helped him figure out what we needed, and at our request, ordered three solar panels and a digital solar regulator from GoPower.  The install went smoothly, and by the end of the day we were “solarized.”  Provided we have a tree-free site at Oceana, we’ll put the panels through their paces and make sure they are operating as expected.

Solar install completed.

The digital solar regulator showing the batteries are fully charged.

I’m not going to include a whole bunch of technical specs in this post.  If you have an interest in that information, drop us a note and Mui will be happy to provide details and answer questions.

Back to Today …

The second reason for returning to Virginia was to stop by our storage unit in Winchester.  Having been on the road for 6½ months now, it was time to purge some stuff from the coach and return them to storage.  More importantly, we needed to pick up some Arctic gear for our off-road vacation this fall.  We debated driving to Winchester with the Phaeton and staying at a campground in that area for a couple of days.  In the end, however, we decided we would make a day trip in the toad instead.

120-miles (192 km) each way is faster to drive in the toad than it would have been in the Phaeton.

We were both up early, so we had breakfast at home and headed north shortly after 6:00a.  Traffic was minimal — a pleasant surprise.  Listening to radio reports of traffic jams further north on I-95 and delays due to accidents in the area where we used to live in Northern Virginia were all too familiar.  Luckily, none of those problems had any impact on our drive and we arrived at the storage unit around 9:00a.  An hour to take care of things, and we were back on the road by 10:00a … and back at the campground by 1:00p.  A long drive to be sure, but a productive one … and one we don’t anticipate repeating any time soon.

Following four busy days since leaving Lake Greenwood — three of them driving in either the Phaeton or the toad — we had hoped to chill tomorrow.  But thanks to the forecasted storm, we’ll be driving to our next campground a day early.  I guess we’ll just have to chill after we get there.

I Brought Us to Virginia

Monday, 10 June
Americamps KOA — Ashland, Virginia
TEMPS: LO 69F / HI 81F (20.5C / 27C)

Notice that I didn’t say I drove us back to Virginia.  But, in addition to “nag”givating us here, I did take over the wheel for a while, and under Mui’s watchful eye, brought us to the Virginia Welcome Center just over the stateline from North Carolina.

We are safely off the road now.  Heavy rain is drumming on the roof, and thunder claps are renting the air somewhere off in the distance.  There is a wide-spread tornado watch in place until 10:00p.  Our go-bag is ready by the door, as are our rain jackets — just in case we need to make a dash for the bathhouse.  Be prepared and alert — that’s about all one can do in such situations.

Anyways, on with the story …

After breakfast on the deck of our site at Lake Greenwood in South Carolina, we got on the road yesterday morning to head north.  With a 441-mile (706 km) drive ahead of us, we broke the trip into two segments.

Our route was mostly on I-85, making for easy freeway driving.
2 days and 441 miles (706 km) later we’re just a short distance from
where we started our fulltime RV’ing adventure last December (see inset).

Campgrounds with easy freeway access are practically non-existent along certain stretches of I-85.  In fact, we found only two at the halfway point of our drive: one in Greensboro, North Carolina; and one in Durham … also in NC.  We debated staying in a Wal-Mart parking lot, or even a rest area.  But it was simply too hot to be without a 50A pedestal overnight.  Yes, we have a generator, but I refuse to run it when we’re asleep.  So we pulled into the only campground off I-85 in the Greensboro area — the Greensboro Campground ($36/night for 50A FHU after a 10% military discount).  This is not a destination stop by any stretch of the imagination, but it served our purpose for one night — even if we were unable to get level.  In the end, after trying two sites, we decided to just drive the front wheels onto wood blocks and call it done.  (My campground reviews are here.)

Despite our proximity to I-85, and on/off rain beating a tattoo on the roof, we got a good night’s rest.  Shortly after 7:00a this morning, we were off on the final leg of our drive.  Light rain dogged us here and there, but otherwise we had an uneventful drive.  The highlight of the day — filling up at the Pilot truck stop in Colonial Heights, VA with the cheapest diesel since getting on the road six months ago … $3.46/gallon (~.99 cents/liter).

We pulled into the Americamps KOA in Ashland around 1:00p.  Visions of quickly settling into our site and having a leisurely lunch were dashed when Mui went to disconnect the toad and found the battery dead.  He’d been thinking that the time for getting a new battery was at hand, so now we had proof.  Parking the coach, we asked the campground escort to give the CR-V a jump, and drove 8 miles (13 km) to the nearest Costco to buy a new battery.  Mui made short work of swapping out the old battery right there in the parking lot, thus eliminating the need to return to Costco in order to drop off the old battery for proper disposal.  (Costco charges a refundable $9 when you buy a new battery; if you return the old one to them for disposal, you get the money back on the spot … a good re-cycling incentive).

After cleaning off the battery terminal clamps …

… Mui removes the old battery.
sorry, no photos of the rest of the job … he installed the new battery
while I was off returning the old one for proper disposal.

With the car purring like a satisfied cat, we left Costco and headed off to find a restaurant so that we could recharge our own batteries with a bit of sustenance.  Tripps Restaurant turned out to be an OK choice; we wouldn’t go back a second time.  To treat ourselves, we then detoured to the nearby Coldstone Creamery before returning to the campground.

The Americamps KOA in Ashland is another one of those “only game in town” campgrounds.  We’re in Ashland to have solar panels installed, so we are paying the $45/night rate for the convenience of being within a few miles of the RV service center where we have an appointment for 8:00a tomorrow.  (We had a 10% discount for a four-night KOA stay, which essentially covered the taxes.)  We would have overnighted in the parking lot of the service shop, but with the storm that was brewing, we felt it would be smarter to stay in a campground.  Besides, we need a place to leave the Phaeton for a day when we drive up to our storage unit in Winchester.

The campground is a decent one.  The front section has concrete pads and few trees, but it is also close to the freeway.  We’re in site “lucky” 13 in row E (switched from site E-9).  It’s a long gravel site that is fairly level.  The trees block the satellite signal, but there is free cable; sufficient for our needs for a short stay.  Besides, there’s less freeway noise back here.  The sites are generally close together, although we seem to have lucked out with a reasonable amount of space on either side.  The free wi-fi not only works, but is quite fast as well.  We’d return to stay here should we someday come back to explore the immediate area.

E-13 is a fairly level long site …
there’s plenty of room behind the coach for the toad (not pictured).

Well, the rain has stopped; and I’ve come to the end of my post.  Time to wrap this up and go finish my leftover ice cream from Coldstone Creamery ;-)

Parking Lot Camping

Tuesday, 4 December
Parking Lot of RV Service of Virginia — Ashland, Virginia
Temps: LO @ BRRP 47F / HI in Ashland 76F (8C / 24C)

Tonight we’re getting our first taste of parking lot camping.  We’re overnighting in front of the service bays at RV Service of Virginia in Ashland, just north of Richmond.  Though this is a far cry from the kind of camping we usually do, with a 50 amp hook-up, we’re certainly not roughing it.

I didn’t sleep well last night; I think I was just a bit too anxious to get this adventure on the road.  So, I was up at 4:47a.  Since Mui was already awake as well, together we prepared the Phaeton for the trip ahead and took the time to eat a stick-to-your-bones oatmeal breakfast before pulling up stakes.

Part of our getting-on-the-road routine involves rolling up the rug and securing
it on the sofa with bungee cords.

At 8:30a, we pulled out of site 109 at Bull Run Regional Park, stopped at the campground’s propane station to top off our tank (the first time since about a year ago), and headed over to Fannon Petroleum to top off the diesel (3.94/gal).  By 9:30a, we were finally on the road.  We easily negotiated the Prince William Parkway to connect to I-95S.  The latter was surprisingly free of any traffic troubles, and we made the 92-mile (147 km) drive in record time, arriving at RV Service of Virginia well before our 1:00p appointment.

Mui makes himself comfortable in the RV Service lounge while we wait for our appointment.

We came here to have the Winegard tech look at the signal-lock problem we had with our satellite dish.  Though we were hoping for a quick in-and-out, we knew there was a distinct possibility that would not be the case, so we had no plans past getting here today.  Good thing, too; it was 5:30p before we got the Phaeton back with the signal-lock for one of the three satellites in our programming band resolved.  From what I gather, the LNBs (Low Noise Blocks) — those white thing-a-magies in front of the dish — will have to be replaced to get the other satellites.  After checking to see what channels we’d be getting from the remaining two satellites, we’ve decided we’re not missing anything.  So, for the time being at least we’re going to hold off on this part of the fix.

Seeing as how night had fallen and we didn’t relish getting on the freeway, we were considering our options when Mui decided to ask the service shop owner if we could stay in their parking lot.  Not only did they say yes, but they also offered to hook us up to 50 amp electricity.  Better than the Walmart parking lot ;-)

Snug as a bug in our camping spot; note the satellite dish is up and ready to
entertain us tonight with no manual intervention required on Mui’s part.

After making our home habitable for the night, we decided to take the recommendation of the tech who worked on the satellite and go to the World Famous Islamorada Fish Company Restaurant for dinner.  The eatery, which has a 12,000 gallon saltwater aquarium in the center of the oversized dining room, is part of the Bass Pro Shops restaurant family and was doing a booming business tonight.  Not bad at all, but we wouldn’t go out of our way to seek it out again.

We knew there would be parking lot camping in our future, but didn’t think we’d be experiencing it on our first day on the road ;-)  We’ll see what tomorrow brings as we continue to head south.