New Mexico Trip, Missouri House Sold

Weight

I'm trying to lose 50 lbs. I did well the first month. Last month, not so much. I didn't gain weight, but only lost about three pounds for a total loss of about 18 pounds.

I blame lots of travel and eating out.

Missouri House Sold

I'm happy to report that we closed on our Missouri house.

Out of complete ignorance and luck, we won the real estate lottery and did well on it financially. We bought pre-COVID when prices and interest rates were down and sold when house prices were up.

We are once-again debt free. And determined to make it stick this time.

New Mexico Vacation

We had a wonderful 10-day road trip exploring northern New Mexico. The weather was perfect for our no-heat and no-overnight AC minivan-based camping mode.

Some highlights:

Scenic Chama Train

I splurged on tickets for the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, headquartered in Chama, New Mexico. We rode the train out, enjoyed their buffet lunch, and returned to Chama via tour bus.

Our timing was perfect. The Aspen trees were still blazing and the mild weather allowed for an all-day windows-down ride. This was the last week of the season for the train and we'd highly recommend the experience.

Overlook Campground in Santa Fe

I think we enjoyed every type of camping possible this trip - rest areas, BLM parks, state parks, national parks, and private parks.

Our favorite was the Overlook Campground just north of Santa Fe. It's a 12-site BLM campground with basic facilities and scenic views. We enjoyed the relative quiet, feeling just remote and rustic enough to avoid mainstream crowds but not so much that we felt in peril with our 2WD minivan.

Camping with Friends at Navajo Lake State Park

This was our most remote campsite, which did end up biting us a little in the behind (see below).

We enjoyed sharing a site with friends from our fulltime-RVing years. We've both downsized from large family-friendly truck and fifth-wheel setups to empty-nester, car-based camping rigs.

Navajo Lake is gorgeous and I'd like to return to further explore the western side of it.

Challenges

Flat Tire

Like, don't ever talk about how rarely you've had flat tires. Not 24 hours after having that conversation around the campsite, I noticed our van had a flat on the passenger side rear.

Which, in itself, isn't a big deal. I've changed tires before. Between our two rigs I had more than enough equipment and help.

But the spare tire on these Sienna minivans are sucked up under the belly of the beast. Out of sight. And low enough that I just never got down there to inspect the spare.

At the campsite, I lowered the spare down and got my first look at it after four years of owning it.

Pretty sure it was the original, 16-year-old rubber. Not good. It was holding air, but was rough and weather-checked.

We were 55 miles from a tire shop. 55 miles of nothing.

I didn't dare run the spare and end up stranded on the side of a remote, rural highway.

I found a mobile tire repair service willing to come out. They determined the tire wasn't patchable and installed a new one.

About $400 is the answer to the question you just asked.

Recharging

We had trouble keeping our house battery 100% charged. We had no troubles during our earlier trip to southern New Mexico, so what changed?

I'm now on a CPAP machine.

I managed to find a 12V power supply for it, but the CPAP runs overnight and uses more of our battery's capacity than the 200W solar panel was able to regenerate, even on a full sunny day.

Van Upgrades

To fix these issues and solve some other annoyances, I've made some upgrades to the camper van:

New spare tire

Obvs.

200W solar -> 300W solar

I replaced a name-brand 200W panel with an eBay 300W panel, but I'm not sure it improved things. The fall sun is low here in OK so the low output on the cheap panel might just be that, but so far I haven't seen over 100W even during prime charging hours.

Ecoflow Alternator Charger

I'm pausing on any more solar changes, however, because I scored a great deal on this Ecoflow DC - DC converter. It's capable of sending 800W from your vehicle alternator to the house battery. That's 4X the capability of my initial solar setup. Since we tend to drive somewhere just about every day while on camping trips, this unit might negate the need for solar at all.

New Side Curtains

I appreciate a well-lit rest area to overnight in. But I don't need that light right in my eyes. I ditched our Reflectix-based side curtains because they were a hassle to stow. I was able to make some reasonably nice double-thickness side curtains using black fabric and iron-on seams from Walmart. They attach using velcro and stow in a seatback MOLLE pouch.

Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer/Clock

Not sure why it took me so long to get one of these indoor/outdoor thermometers in the van. The remote outdoor sensor tucks up in the solar panel frame. I used velcro to attach the display unit to a seat back MOLLE panel where I can see it while in bed.

Jobs

MsBoyink found an internal opportunity for a different nursing position she wants to apply to.My job remains unchanged.

Reading

The Running Man by Stephen King

I read this years ago but had forgotten how different it was from the 1987 movie based on it. The main character in the book is a average "everyday man." Not a muscle-bound, thick-necked action-figure in real life named Aahnold. I'm not sure if casting Schwarzenegger drove the plot changes or the other way 'round, but King wasn't happy with the result and removed his name from the promotional efforts.

Interesting timing though, as there is currently a new Running Man movie in development that promises to stay closer to King's book.

Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr

I'm not sure if I've read anything else by Mr. Carr, but I've never given up on a book faster than this one.

Have you ever seen a TV show from the early days, when they first realized they could also sell products by working little advertisements into the dramatic dialog?

"Sounds good Judy. Hey listen, I'm going to go have a smoke. Yes, a Lucky Strike because they're kind to my throat! You can't go wrong with a Lucky Strike!"

Red Sky Mourning was like that, just in print. Every description of everything each character wore or carried was so specific, including brand name, model, and size I wondered if Carr had somehow worked Amazon affiliate links into a Kindle book.

Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber

I got the audiobook version of this by mistake, so thought I would give listening to it a try.

14 hours?

How do ya'll find that kind of time for one book?

I listened for about three hours it before throwing in the towel. I liked where the book was going, but I either need a long road trip or the eBook to finish it.

Watching

Twisters

I know. It's not meant to be a totally serious movie. Kinda like Sharknado without the sharks.

But I still had to laugh at just how common Oklahoma tornados are to Hollywood.

Missed getting your data from one tornado? Just drive up the road and find not one but two fresh twisters!

Tornados are downright sneaky too. Kinda like those Jurassic Park dinosaurs.

Eight year old girls all on the baseball field with parents watching, and it takes the girl coming up to bat to notice the doomsday-level tornado about to mow them all down.

No weather forecasters? No one watching radar? None of the main characters - weather students all - able to give any more than a few minutes warning?

I also liked the redneck-modded pickup truck that gets rolled by the final tornado, only to show up pristine and functional in the final scene.

And no flying cows?

Internet reviews say the 1996 Twisters was better. It's probably been that long since we saw it. Time to rewatch.