Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

I don't like this spring. It's a bit cold.

 

The spring in Wisconsin has been warm although only compared to their normal sub-zero temperatures. When I left Home on Timms Hill there was still several feet of snow on the ground. Here in the Dells it’s bare and is promising to be in the 80’s today.

 

This is a bit unseasonably warm. I like it I'll have my first outing this weekend. The weather is deteriorting slightly, hopefully, it doesn't get too bad. I've got a nice rib roast waiting for the smoker...its been dry aging for a couple of days already... ought to be REALLY good Saturday.

 

I’m finally in shorts and t-shirt!

 

Just in time to finish shoveling snow!!

I'm pretty happy today. I've got a few things to do tomorrow morning, but the weekend is almost here.

My wife and dog won't be going with me --- but a couple friends and I are heading out to a state park for my first outing of the year. I need to pull Serenity into the driveway to prep her for the trip, which is mostly done. The water tanks are still full from a failed trip a few weeks ago. Camper interior cleanup should only take a few minute, then I need to load the side tent, and a new Gazelle "clam style" camper. I expect the total time to be 30 minutes.

THIS is why I love teardrops. The same "first trip" with a 30 footer or a class A would take several hours.

Tomorrow, I need to sign an apartment lease for my parents, and talk to a potential business partner by noon I aught to be heading to my favorite park in the state.

This winter, I added a couple goodies to the goodie list:

1] Gazelle clam style tent --a possible use will be to cover the galley area to make cooking a little dryer
2] Solostove Ranger Pellet adapter. The Solostove itself was a late addition last year, we we love that....
3] Solar Panels --- to allow the potential of "off-grid" camping, the onboard battery is enough for 2-3 days. Still, I start getting "battery anxiety" as I use a fair amount of power --- laptops, cameras, and obligatory fans and lights.

I'm potentially adding a new tow vehicle, waiting on a classic '98 Jeep Cherokee --- its getting some paint and interior work done. The vehicle is slightly higher mileage than I'd like, BUT it is a 4 liter straight 6 which is one of the few engines which has earned the reputation of being "bullet proof." My '12 outback and '21 Toyota both have bells and whistles that I am sure I will miss, but having true off-road capability -- but there's something to be said about repairability and simple ruggedness.

The Solar panel is been really interesting. I thought all I would get is more pawah....but the CTEK charger seems to behave differently than the Shore power charger. @Cary Winch - can you comment on this?

Did the CTEK Solar 'repair' the battery enough for it to take a higher charge? On my first or second outing I accidentally completely discharged my battery to a 0% charged state....wouldn't even light a light bulb.

The Solar charges at a higher rate than the shower power, 7-8 amps (on 220 watt) compared to ~5 amps on the shore power and at a higher voltage. The solar charges to 13.3 which is about half a volt (12.8) out of the shore power. After using the solar to completely charge the Shore Power charger is now hitting a higher voltage in its final state of charge.

Lastly, I've got a dry aged (10 days) prime rib ready for the smoker, St Elmo's Horseradish, and a bottle of Masi Campofiorin ready for Saturday.

It's going to be a good weekend.

 

Looking forward to the Gazelle review, Sweeney!

 

LOL. Sorry, maybe next trip

This trip my intended use was not how it turned out. A friend joined us, and he is a n00b to camping in general. He even complained about rain sounds on the tent!!!

Its big is all I really can say. Very similar to CLAM tents in every respect. I think clam is built better. Having attached privacy screens is very convenient though adds a few ounces. But when you weight 50 pounds...not sure that makes a difference

More to come on this

I got to my camp site on Friday and as typical with the first trip found a few problems and things I need to add. But fortunately, no major problems. Saturday it was 80 degrees and blue skies all day, but Sunday the rains started at 9am and made pack-out more stressfull.

We can talk about grills too --- I took my Traeger Ranger -- We can circle back to that when I have some more time

 

We received about 18” of snow Sunday night. I didn’t bother plowing yesterday because the wind was howling and blowing the snow. With 18” of snow and wind I have 3’ drifts.

 

Yeah, don't you kinda feel a little sorry for those folks in places like Hawaii where the weather rarely gives them anything new and interesting to observe or talk about on a regular basis.

 

Todays breakfast on the Blackstone. High of 76 today at Panama City.

 

I’m surprised my Subaru could push through a foot of slush and get me down the 300 yard hill to Ring School Road. What is more surprising is it made it up the hill too.

 

I use to say 4WD just got you stuck deeper in the woods.

 

Beautifully seasoned 'stone! What a sea of carbon

Subi's are amazing. I used to drive a Jeep with both full and part time 4wd. To this day, I still think the Subaru was better in every way for most conditions. I did an "inclined stop" test on a gravel road. Coming to a complete stop, then resuming the climb. The Subi "started" up the hill with less slippage (almost none in fact) where the Jeep slipped in both of its 4wd modes. Both made it, both did OK --- but the feeling in the seat was by far higher in the Subaru.

Perhaps if you're on unimproved roads (off road) or "logging roads" the jeep would be better or but that is mostly clearance, nurf bars, and skid plates.

The biggest disadvantage to the jeep is if you find yourself stuck in 2wd as can happen in snow and ice, you have to "move" some to allow the transfer case time to shift -- with the Subi, its always in AWD so it takes no planning or even thinking about it.

 

Any baseball fans here? I was an M’s fan while living in Seattle but switched to the Brew Crew when I moved to Wisconsin.

 

Brewers won last night!

 

After losing two out of three to the lowly Nationals over the weekend, last night, the Twins beat the Yankees, the team the usually knocks them out of any play-offs they get into.

 

I enjoy the game, my earliest memories are of my Grandfather sitting in front of the TV watching the White Sox. I've mostly forgiven him for that, I'm far more at home in the western suburbs...just sain'.

 

No. He liked the sox.