[VACList] Boondocking

[Terry Tyler <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi David, 

Basically, it means a safe place to park, no more, no less - and we leave
nothing but tracks when we continue our travels.

Boondocking can occur in a wide variety of places, such as the Air Museum
parking lot in Tucson,  BLM land at dozens of sites in the southwest,
certain Wildlife refuges throughout the USA, Flying J truck stops, County
Parks and Fish Camps where no electricity is offered, gas company picnic
areas where RV parking is allowed, along the shores of lakes and rivers in
USA and Mexico where short term RV parking is allowed, Alligator Alley along
US41 in Florida, restaurant parking lots in all three countries on the
continent (after permission is asked), RV service centers when we arrive
late Sunday afternoon and dozens of other locations I'm sure will be
mentioned by anyone following this thread.

For us, these places are used mainly when we're in the "traveling" mode.
They are typically for short term although we've stayed longer when
conditions are optimal.

Those of us who use our Airstreams for traveling the continent (as opposed
to those who prefer to stay in one place most of the time) are more likely
to be boondockers.  Generally, we add solar panels to the roof of our
Airstreams. The panels recharge our batteries every day.  I have 3 panels
and 3 deep cycle marine batteries.

We also have an INVERTER, (in addition to a converter). The inverter changes
12 volt power into 115 volts. This enables us to use our electronic toys
when parked in the desert, i.e. Quartzite, the Slabs and other primitive
places where there are no hookups.

The inverter enables us to us our color TV set, our satellite TV, the DVD
player, the VCR player, my Macintosh laptop, our color printer, our vacuum
cleaner, the charger for the batteries to our electric drill and flashlight
(Makita 14.4 volts), my two Handspring Visors (PDAs), our grinder for coffee
beans and our CB radio. Each family differs in favorite appliances.

We do not use the inverter for lights because our 12 volt fluorescents are
bright, yet frugal in their use of power. We do not use the inverter for air
conditioning or our microwave because both of those appliances would use up
all our electrical capacity very quickly.

If you are interested in more detail about boondocking or solar panels, go
to Tom Patterson's archives and run his search engine. He has highly
specific data in the archives.  Several of us on this VAClist have
contributed to it. 

Terry

'78 Ford Van E-250 460CID V8 full towing package
'77 31' Airstream Excella 500 restoration ongoing

PS - Today (01/06/03 Monday), we're at Hill Kelly Dodge (ex-Airstream
dealer) getting service work done. We arrived 4pm yesterday (Sunday) and
parked alongside the service bay. Electrical outlets are available for those
who need them. 

This is one of the RV service centers we've found that is well equipped to
deal with our needs. The Manager (Pat Lassiter) is honest, extremely
knowledgeable about Airstreams and has always treated us right.

The waiting room is comfortable and has a phone (dial 9) which we can use
for email.  The entire staff are cordial and considerate.