February 10

I was going to take the Runner for a ride this morning, when a fellow Bigfoot owner pedalled in and introduced himself.  Steve Conca has an immaculate 2004 Bigfoot 27 SL.  He and Sue have been full-timing for the last three years.  He operates Go Further RV Solar out of his Bigfoot.  His Bigfoot, as you might expect, is a showcase of solar and energy efficiency.  He installs roof panel systems, sells portable suitcase systems, and has LED lighting as well. We were considering a roof system, until Steve pointed out that you have to go up on the roof every week or two to clean the solar panels.  I can’t, and I’m not thrilled about Nancy doing it.  We’re still considering a suitcase system.  He had a good price on LED lights, so I bought 16, installed them, and now have all-LED interior lighting.  LED lights have 1/10th of the amp draw on the batteries for the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs, with no heat.  They’re visibly a warm light, not the blue-white light of the first LEDs.

Steve is also a font of information.  We wondered why many people in the OPCNM campground have their engine hoods propped open all day. The same folks have LED rope lighting under their rigs at night.  Propped open to prevent their engine batteries from overheating, we wondered, these folks like the christmas tree LED look for ever fancy, we pondered. Nope. Packrats. You may have heard of them; they scrounge many and any small articles and cement them with their concentrated urine into a nest. (Nice)  Turns out they are attracted by the residual engine heat and darkness and are prone to destroying engine compartments by suddenly nesting in them. Learn something new every day.  Apparently Harbour Freight has a little solar panel/battery/LED rope light on sale for $33.  Now on our list.

Nancy and I had a good visit with Steve and Sue in their immaculate and improved-by-Steve Bigfoot.  Nancy came home, and again, in the heat of the day, decided that our Bigfoot needed the Big Clean; so she was at it all afternoon.  Looks great.

Steve also confirmed our suspicions; everyone else has cellular data here but us. Another Rogers "Rome Like Home” mystery.  We shall call and find out why. or rather why not?

Another lovely evening, sitting on my recliner in my shorts and short-sleeved shirt, watching Venus and Mars appear out of a red dusk, with a Saguaro silhouette or two thrown in for atmosphere.  Nancy tried scritching in the sand tonight, as suggested by Meagan, to attract the Pallid Bat; to no avail.  We figure the background campground-at-evening noises drowned out the scritching.