You know the locals are well-paid when you see a Ferarri at the grocery store.

Made some cheddar biscuits in a sandwich press; yummy!

Normally the dog is in the pics looking at the food but she was still busy on cleanup duty.

recipe in blog link

[Vpanel] can reveal much after we learn what the controller is doing.

The spot was lovely but had mice. I trapped them but they kept coming. By the time I decided to relo it was too late; they had chewed into the wiring harness...

Last night I watched Oppenheier. I took Muffin out for a break afterwards and could see the lights from Los Alamos, the town Oppie built for Project Y.

I moved into the campervan on Aug 18th, 2018 and headed off to the job I transferred to in El Paso. I hadn’t planned on moving into the van FT until 2028 when I retired but everything fell into place ahead of schedule.

Not only is it a weekend, but the so-called "Ring of Fire" eclipse will be visible from states where boondocking is common:

The narrow path of annularity begins in Oregon and crosses Northern California, Nevada, Utah, northeastern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, New Mexico and Texas - livescience

Be prepared for a deluge of casual campers looking for spots from which to ~~burn their eyes out~~ watch the eclipse.

... in which the high pressure dome moves off New Mexico so the monsoon weather can approach on little cat feet.

Musings on relocating in mud, water provisions, and a wiley coyote

I've been using an angled tarp but it catches too much wind. Just reset it flat and installed a center grommet for drainage. We will see...

I'm hiding from the heat under a forest canopy, so I rewired my series panels into parallel. This revealed a weakness in a poorly-chose breaker...

Today's lunch and dinner were dictated by logistics

• good sun
• a bag of Mexican squash I got for 99c (manager's discount for blem items)
• fridge is very full from yesterday's reprovisioning and needs some relief. I used half of a sausage to make room.

Made two meals, $1.37 each

pics and brief write-up

I usually stay out in 14d stretches. Because of the heat I was staying in one place for 28d and lived to tell the tale.

Bonus story about a dumb-ass sensor design not letting the vehicle lock.

I "baked" some whole potatoes in the IP yesterday (17mins at pressure, didn't measure the Wh) and ate some with butter and sour cream.

This morning I peeled the leftover potatoes, diced them for hash browns. Sauteed 1/4 onion in the pan over the small 300w hot plate, then added pots, salt, pepper, and cooked them until they started to brown. Added a bit of shredded cheese. pic

Hearty with this morning's creekwater coffee.

Total time on the hotplate was 25 mins, so 125Wh.

AKA corn pone, corn dodgers, etc. ~35Wh per patty... Not quite as tasty or crisy as pan-fried, but easier and no grease spatter.

...camping is prohibited and RVs can only remain parked on any street, alley or public parking lot for 16 hours or less

I had iffy results cooking biscuits in a flat pan and in a dogbowl oven. This morning I tried some Pilsbury biscuit mix in a sandwich press. Worked out pretty good. ~40Wh.

Details here if anyone is interested in this approach.

I often cook a chub of sausage then add egg to it to make breakfast burritos. In this case I had 1/2lb of sausage cooked (refrigerated leftovers). I mixed up 6 eggs and poured over the crumbled sausage...

120Wh to cook, although it took a couple tries. Another 65Wh to heat the tortillas on the mini-hotplate.

I don't think the energy savings is worth the trouble.

1. sprouted mung beans, ~2.5 days
2. salt, pepper
3. added a couple ounces of smoked sausage (like eckrich)
4. pressure cooked pot-in-pot for 4 minutes
5. natural release

80Wh, 30mins total (13mins cooking + 17mins natural release)

I've been collecting ordinances that affect vanfolk, nomads, etc. Primary or secondary sources provided so you can follow up with your own research.

I choose not to spend my money in any town that doesn't want us.

including harvesting, portage, straining, and use

Spoiler: schlepping water is serious cardio at 10,000ft elevation

... in which I hike to a spot which actually has cell data. I post pics and add some to yesterday's blog

minimal blog post because I barely have one bar of cell service...

[originally posted to reddit]

Summary: the IP took about 1/3rd the energy, 1/2 the time, and 3/4 the water. Downside, took about 2 1/2 times the wattage (and therefore current).

I do not recommend people build big power systems capable of greater current, but if you already have such a system a pressure cooker can save energy (Watt-hours).

• more info on the instant pot approach
• blog entry about rice cooker version

^1^ appliance only, not including inverter losses
^2^ natural pressure release

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/938907

Okay, it seems like this is quite an aged discussion. How would you define the term “vanlife”? Also, I’m aware that many individuals dislike it.

Is the label exclusively reserved for full-time van dwellers?

Personally, I align more with being a weekender, despite having traveled extensively for several months. Where would you set the boundary in this regard?

Or is it primarily about the conduct of individuals while they are traveling?

... in which I see some common animals doing unusual things, and a rare animal doing a usual thing.

Plus bonus coffee content.