Murphy

Random pictures. Whining and crying below.

Driving to different locations every day allows me to see the coolest stuff on my commute.

My trainer has taught me Jedi levels of finding shade.  I'm going to fill up here while the gas is cheap

I've been hitting the RV stores to fix up my rig.  I've been nosing around the lots.  You can get a pretty nice trailer under 10k lbs.  If I get another motorhome, I lose repair flexibility, fuel economy, and 4WD.  If I get a towable, I'll have to lose the Mazda.  Losing the fuel economy would cost me more than the trailer payment.

I got my Operator Qualifications for Arkansas and Oklahoma.  To the best of my knowledge, I'll be running around in these two states for the foreseeable future.  In my last post, I indicated that I spent another week at Camp Disgusting.  My next destination was about 300 miles away.  That's a pretty long day in the saddle with my rig.

I prefer to have at least a day to get settled in, so I know that I would be making the trip on Saturday.  I spent Friday evening prepping the truck.  I lost the air conditioning on the last trip, and narrowed it down to an issue with the plug to the compressor clutch.  I could have hacked a zip tie to hold it in place, but I didn't want it engaging intermittently.  I considered hacking the wiring harness to bodge it together, but I would prefer a cleaner fix for longevity.  I decided to just pull the plug and tie it out of the way.

I went inside to cool off. After about 20 minutes, the air conditioner shut off.  I then received a text indicating power failure.  I walked outside and asked a neighbor if he lost power as well.  He looked confused, and came over to check my breaker.

I reached into the truck to grab my tic tracer.  I found that I had power to the extension cord, but not in my main power cord.  As I went to unplug it, I burned my hand.

I plugged into a burned outlet back in Canton Mississippi, and it ended up burning my plug.  It lasted for a month before giving out.  Unfortunately, it took the female end of my extension cord with it.

I quickly decided I would cut the female end off, and use the extension cord as my main power cable.  At least this way, I would have a waterproof molded plug end.  It won't fit neatly into the side of the camper now, but it's the best I could do given the circumstances.  Moving the cord to the correct side of the rig, and switching it to something like this was on my to-do list anyway.

As I started to track down where the cable connected, my heart sank.  I found out one of the previous owners had hacked in a shitty generator switch using a 20A three-way switch and about a foot of 12 gauge Romex. (It's a 30A system running through 20A wiring.)

Strangely enough, I was taxing the system heavily earlier in the day, using the air conditioner and the griddle.  It waited a few hours before failing.  Thankfully, it failed at the plug, rather than starting a fire behind a wooden cover panel under the sink.  Despite the bullshit, I'm genuinely grateful it failed this way.

My plans to leave in the morning got put on hold.  It was just getting dark in the middle of swamp-ass Mississippi, and every nearby store was closed.  This was now my emergency.

I opened the windows, and threw all the refrigerated food into the freezer.

Not very waterproof

30 amp extension cords aren't cheap

The screws on the side were discolored.  I couldn't just un-see it.  It had to be fixed before I put power back to it.

Seriously? This is what I found when I pulled the "generator" wire.  It was just hanging loose in the mystery void I spoke about in the last post.  What other secrets await?

It took a while to get this panel out.  I needed access to a wire clamp behind it.  I was giving serious consideration to removing the sink.  I ended up Tetris-ing it out.  I cracked it going back in, but it still keeps the power cable coiled up.

You can see the clamp I needed to remove.  I decided to remove this meaningless junction box with the short chunk of 12 gauge wire.  Cutting that short little chunk of  Romex under the box, blind, with dull cutters, and at arms length, was an exquisite pain in the ass.

I decided that I wasn't ever going to do this again.  I now have the ability to pull the entire box out, and work on it in the light.  The black cable going out is what's left of the extension cord.

Best $13 tool ever.

I finished up fairly late in the evening.  Turning on the air conditioning has never been so sweet.  The prep work for my drive to Arkansas got postponed till morning.

Overpriced Prison Bathrooms and Flooding

*I'm letting the blog fall behind a week or two due to privacy and connection issues.





This has been a busy week, even if there's not much to show for it.  I'm still learning how to select campgrounds.  I moved here from Pats Bluff last week.  At 190+  miles, it was a decent move, and the big Ford performed flawlessly.  Slow, but flawlessly.  I even pulled into a rest stop next to a guy with the same model of GMC that I had before this.  He was cussing about it overheating.  I understood his pain.

There's been a lot of rain, and I seem to come across a wreck every time it gets heavy.  This was on 55.  Despite all the Kings horses and all the Kings men, it looked like everybody was alright.  There were scattered cars and suspension parts on the median.

I chose my current campground based off of Google reviews.  The reviews looked good, and the pictures showed a decent looking site.  I called ahead, and asked about cell service, bath house, and availability.  You'll note I didn't say anything about price.

The website said that the sites were $20-$30.  I assumed that, like most campgrounds, the more expensive sites had fancier stuff like 50 amp service, pull-thru, water, and sewer.  It's entirely my own fault for not verifying this before rolling in.

I came into the campground, and I pulled to the side of the road.  I couldn't tell whether there was room to turn the rig around at the office without backing up, so I called.  I was told which site to go to, and to come to the office after I was parked.

I rolled to my site, and disconnected the Mazda.  I backed into the site to hook up power.  I swapped the refrigerator in Shreveport, and I don't have it on an inverter yet.  I move everything I can up to the freezer the night before a trip, and pitch everything left in the refrigerator before I leave.  I unplug last, and plug back in first when I get to my destination.  I purchased a 300w pure sine inverter last week, and will install it as soon as I can find all the appropriate connectors, fuses, and hardware.

Before I got the truck plugged in, I had dozens of fire ants climbing my legs.  Apparently the vibration of the diesel on the concrete pad upset them.  There was a nest right where my door opened, and I didn't notice.  I didn't step on them, but they were still on the warpath.  This would be the first of several good bites this week.

I stomped them off my shoes and walked to the office.  I was informed that I would be paying $30/night for my stay.  I asked whether there were any $20 sites, and was told they were all taken.

Well shit.

This will hopefully be a short term problem.  This is my life now.  As I bounce week to week, I have to pay higher fees because of it.  Paying $30/night is like $900/month rent.  It gets old fast.

After I finish fighting off fire ants, I set up the RV and level everything.  It was time to check out what I was paying for.  I walk around the campground and it looks decent enough.  I find the $20 sites, and I was glad I didn't get put there.  They are on a literal gravel parking lot spaced out about 10' apart.  If you tripped coming out of your RV, you'd leave a nose print your neighbor's trailer.

The big gimmick of this place is that parts of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? were filmed here.  Particularly the frog scene at the river.  Due to the recent rains, all that is under water now.

There's tent camping at the back of the park, and I noticed a truck camper back there.  I longingly wished that I could have gone back there myself, but there's only 15a power, and I'm not sure how much my air conditioner pulls.

After I went to the river, I looked for the bath houses.  It turns out, there's one bath house and a couple of the blue construction johns.  I walked into the bath house, and was immediately disgusted.  There was a sink ripped off the wall, the urinal was within sight of anybody walking by outside, there was one clogged toilet, the other one didn't have a door and was leaking bowl water out of the seal, the shower curtain was ripped in half, failed to close, and was covered in mold, and the shower looked like something out of a prison, and there are brown streaks on the wall that look suspiciously like retaliation for running out of TP.  I would later find out that the shower doesn't even spray, but shoots a cold stream.  It warms up enough to stand under after you're just about done.

All this for the low price of 30/night.  Perhaps George Clooney's ass touched that toilet a decade ago.  I mean, there's that, right?  Maybe that's why they don't clean it.

I called about the clogged toilet after the first night.  One usable toilet for 25 campers is kinda inexcusable.  After I called, they came and unclogged it.  As I was using it the second night ( LPT: Keep a couple Clorox wipes in a sandwich bag ready at campgrounds), I noticed that I was squishing stuff under my flip flops.  They apparently didn't clean off the plunger after unclogging the toilet.  I was pretty seriously grossed out with their cleaning etiquette.

 I hate when people say this, but it is what it is.  I feel ripped off and disgusted, but it's home for the week, and I'll make due.  The staff is friendly, and the rest of the campground is nice enough.  It's not worth getting upset about.  It's a pleasant campground otherwise.

I kept seeing this down the side of the road as I left for work in the mornings.

Do you think I'm stupid enough to cross a highway bridge with no shoulder and only a butthole high guardrail, tiptoe down this log, and risk falling ass-over-teacup into swamp water without anybody knowing where I am, just to take a few pictures?

Sure am.

Don't you judge me.

During my stay, I was looking out for other campgrounds,  I found one 8 miles away at $22/night, looked really nice, much more wooded, with nicer facilities.  I even gave those facilities a test drive while I was there.  Anything to keep from using the one where I'm at.

As the week wore on, it sunk in that I really need to get my water and power set up on the truck camper,  I've had 3 RV's, but I've never used the water system on any of them.  The previous owner of my 35' motorhome put shelving in the shower.  When I asked him about this, he said something that made a lot of sense to me.  He said that if your boondocking, you can use the woods.  If you're paying for a campground, you almost always have a bath house.  I didn't need much convincing to not have to play with emptying a black tank or winterizing the water system.

I passed my OQ's and found that I'm heading toward Arkansas and Oklahoma as my area till the end of the year.  I thought that I would be moving this weekend, but found out last minute that I would be here another week.

As I was preparing to move to the other site, I thought that I should give the current site's office a call.  I asked about price and availability for another week.  This is the first opportunity that I've had for a month to get a decent weekend.  I figure that if I could get a stationary weekend, I could get some work done to the rig.

The lady in the office quickly repeated $30/night.  This means that I would be paying more for two weeks, than the long term residents pay for a month.  I respectfully explained that I couldn't (wouldn't) afford to keep doing this, and would be heading up the road.  She became all apologies.  I said that it wasn't and issue, and it's what the market will bear.  The campground is full, so they can ask whatever they want.

A few minutes later, I got a call from the owner.  She explained that I could move to the tent sites like the other truck camper for only $15/night,  but there would only be 15a power outlets. I could also pull forward 100 feet to their pull-thru spot for $20/night, but there's no water or sewer there (which I don't use anyway).  I told her that I would take a look at the sites, and we can sort it out the next day.

Now, this really pissed me off.  All the sites she mentioned were here when I arrived, and sat empty during my entire stay.  I would have felt ripped off normally, but I was pissed, considering the conditions of the bath house.  Unfortunately with this job, it's not a good idea to burn bridges.  I might need these folks down the road.  Maybe they'll clean the bathroom by the next time I come through.

Honestly, I needed a stationary weekend just to catch up a bit.  I was giving serious consideration to moving to the tent sites, and even tested the power usage of the air conditioner through my 15a extension cord.  I had a pair of 100' 15a cords, but I gave one away before I left PA.  I didn't realize till now, that I gave the better cord away.  The cord I purchased and gave away was 12 gauge.  The cord I kept is 14.  Another 12 gauge cord will cost me $125+.

The air conditioner, refrigerator, and charger, only pull about 10 amps.  This was lower than I thought, but was still enough to heat up the 14awg extension hord.  It wasn't hot, but it was warm to the touch.  I wasn't comfortable using this as my primary power source.

I opted to pull forward to the pull-thru site that sat empty 100' in front of me all week prior.  At least I wouldn't have to worry about power.  It also meant that I wouldn't have to hook the bikes to the truck to move them, and I wouldn't have to worry about being flooded out near the river.  This ended up being a wise choice.

The river was on the other side of those trees when I got here.

I stepped across this a week ago.  I'm not Jesus.

I told the owner that the water was at this guy's back wheels yesterday.  He wasn't here, so one of the employees went to take a picture to text him.  He apparently decided it wasn't worth moving last night.  The truck was moved shortly after this picture in the morning.  His power cord was under water.

I was told by one of the other long term tenants, that the campground would flood within about 45 minutes if the water got across the road.

I needed this weekend.  Despite not being happy with the campground, staying here gave me the chance relax a bit, and catch up on a bunch of little things that were bothering me.  I found a very helpful diagram of how a camper's water system worked and traced out my plumbing.  Doing this on a fiberglass truck camper is a bit of a pain with everything so tight.

There's only a couple feet of pipe that I couldn't see.  There's a small area that I don't have access to, covered by a mismatched panel inside.  My guess is that this used to be a cupboard door, and was replaced with paneling.  I believe this area was used for the generator on higher end models of this camper.  I'm intend to open it up later in the week and hopefully I'll find room for my fancy-pants battery charger and power inverters.

I built a pressure tester a year or so back, and finally put it to use.  I heard that Lance tests their water systems at 100psi, so I tried to do the same.  My little air compressor would only go to 90 psi.  I lost pressure quickly until the pressure dropped under 50psi.  24 hours later, I still had 30 psi.  I thought that this might be because of the check valve right at the city water inlet, so I opened the valve on the kitchen sink so be greeted by a satisfying whoosh of air.

I believe that the pressure loss is likely in the valves.  I would be willing to fill the fresh water tank to test everything, but the fresh water tank drain was covered be a piece of plywood adhered to the bottom of the camper by a previous owner.  I'll have to provide a drain (likely drilling through the plywood and the truck bed floor) before I put water in the system.  I also need to purchase an anode (I bought the wrong one) for the water tank if I want hot water.

Nothing blew up.

24 hours later.

There's your problem.  I spent a good hour chasing pipes, closing various faucets and valves to get the system to hold pressure.  Righty tighty, lefty loosy... sometimes.  This is why we do it with air first.  I forgot all about hooking the expansion tank up.  It was sitting in the sink when I bought the camper.  The fresh water drain at the bottom is blocked by plywood and construction adhesive.  I'm not putting water in it, until I can get it back out.

I hope I never have to fix a leak here.

The water heater is in better shape than I thought.  You can see the hole for the anode.  I could just plug it, but I might as well do it right.

Upper left is the low point drain.  That's not rust, it's dirty caulking on fiberglass.  The drain is half covered with caulking.

Grey water tank and low point drain valve.  It took me a few tries till I realized that this was open.

Black water tank and sensors.  The toilet sits right on top of this.  Things are tight in a truck camper.  The valving to the right is the hot water tank bypass.  Hot water tank is to the left out of the picture.

Definitely going to need some bleach before I drink anything out of this system.

City water inlet with a check valve that was screwing with my readings.  They make a special fitting that depresses this valve.  It's fifty bucks, but I'll only have to buy it once.  I have it in my Amazon shopping cart.

I'll keep working on it.  I needed this weekend, even if half of it was spent screwing off.  I needed some time to screw off.

Another Week, Another Move

Another week passed.  I have to relocate again.  I've had to move the past 4 weekends.  It's not work's fault.  Half of them were due to campground problems.

I don't mind relocating, other than the fact that it pretty much eats up an entire day whether it's 20 miles or 200.  These days have so far been falling on the weekend.  I just want a weekend to goof off.

I've have a lot of sunset photos.  That's a byproduct of having to sit at the boat launch for signal.

Found a stranded turtle.  I thought he was dead.  I guess the assumption was because of him being on his back, and not moving.  I came by about 20 minutes later and he was gone.  He's either alive, or he got eaten by something.  Lets pretend he was alive.

Latest campground.  It got real quiet once the weekdays hit.

This little beast has been fantastic.  600+ miles last week, and costs me less than $0.15/mile in fuel to run.  Definitely pulling it's weight.

If you're going to vandalize, it's best to be funny.

Signal and power; that's all I need.  The view from my office was alright.  The lake in the background is a bit tough to see.

I got plenty of sunsets this week.

HELLO!  His feet were soaked, so my truck was soaked.

I made a fast friend today.  I'm guessing St. Bernard/Lab, but could argue pitbull/husky.  He hopped up on my door down at the launch, and I gave him some attention.

I think his owners were out on a boat.  He lost his mind as one of the boats went by.  He'd come over and sit next to me for 10 minutes at a time, whimper, then jog over to the other side of the parking lot presumably to check if his people were back.

I sat in the shade with him for a little bit, and earned myself a shadow.  I tried to leave, and he followed the truck.  I took him to the far side of the parking lot, and tried to leave him, but he bolted after the truck.

I didn't want to lead him away from the launch, in case his people came back for him.  I talked to a passing ranger, and described the boat he was barking at.  The ranger told me that the boat was docked right by the campground.

I drove to the campground, and doggo faithfully followed.  I found the boat, but the people said that they didn't own a dog.  I grabbed a bowl and water, then headed back to the launch.  I figured that I'd watch a movie till the owners returned, or doggo got sick of waiting.

After my movie was over, I saw doggo hanging out by the launch as a pair of boats were coming in.  I felt kind of bad leaving him behind.

During my stay with him, a handful of people stopped to talk.  Two of the people thought they recognized him as a local pup, and nodded their heads as I described the boat.  He apparently belongs to "Helmet Head".

Hey Helmet Head, take your buddy with you.

Jerk.

Sectoral heterochromia

He had no trouble keeping up on park roads.

Muscles.  He still has to grow into his legs.

We have a good boy problem.