RVing

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A 180 Degree About Face

Yesterday, I spent about three hours with a friend climbing in and out of a staggering number of fifth wheels and… I fell in love.

I especially liked the bunk-model one that had two entrances, including one into the bunk area that had a door. Rip out the bunk, add a desk, and suddenly you have a separate office with an exterior access door… and there’s also a full bedroom. All within a foot print that is not much longer than Miranda.

Even the worst fiver designs were better than the best motorhome. And those kitchens… I’m still not a fan of slides, but they seem to be more useful in a fifth wheel than in a motorhome.

Suddenly, learning to hook up and back up a trailer made sense, especially when factoring in that a good used truck could come in at five to six thousand dollars and a recent-model high end 5er could be had for under forty grand. Compare that to the minimum $125,000 I’d have to spend to get a recent-model high end class C or B motorhome when it comes time to replace Miranda. And I’d only have one engine to maintain.

Is this what the “dark side” looks like?

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AM Solar At Last!

I pulled out of Eugene in light rain at about 8:10 this morning and made it to AM Solar at bang on 8:30 in time for my appointment. I was very pleased with the warm reception. We took a few minutes to go over the rig and discuss where the wiring was going to go in and the charge controller would be mounted. I also pointed out the location of the batteries and 12V disconnect switch.

The work will take all day because they are working on two rigs, but this is okay since I was offered a place to park for the night… including access to a shower. I’ve been dry camping for over a week, so a long shower is going to be appreciated tonight!

Getting ‘solarized’ has been a dream for two and a half years and I can’t believe this is happening at last!

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Sushi Station, Eugene

Tonight, my hosts, Joan, and I went for dinner at Sushi Station on 5th. This is a revolving sushi place where you can sit at a bar in front of a conveyor belt and sushi comes by you on small plates. The plates are different colours, which represent the price. Half the fun is not knowing what you’re grabbing! We also ordered two à la carte items, in my case the Hawaiian roll which had tuna, salmon, mango, and masago. I also had some really good eel rolls (first time I’ve enjoyed eel), spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, salmon sashimi, and a host of other tasty unidentified morsels. Yu-um.

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Long Term Weather Forecasts

I spent several hours today plotting my itinerary from the Oregon Coast to Lethbridge, Alberta. It feels like such a long one, across the breadth of Washington and Idaho and up through Montana. And, yet, I’m looking at just 1,500km, just a little over two tanks of gas. At US prices, that’s only about $400 in fuel to get me back to Canada, and I won’t need to budget for RV parks once the solar panel is installed.

Oregon Walmarts are RV unfriendly, so I’ve had a job and a half looking up other sources for overnight stops, including Our Odyssey (first time using this blog as a reference!), Casino Camper, Free Campsites, and All Stays which has good information about Walmarts.

I don’t know how my internet access is going to be in the next few weeks, so having this reference of good overnight spots along the way is reassuring. I tried to find some places no more than a couple hundred kilometres apart so that I can mix up short and long days.

The long term weather forecasts for Idaho, Montana, and southern Alberta point to days above freezing and nights below. I can definitely handle that! Since so many of the places I’ve found to stay at allow multiple day stay overs, camping rather than just overnight parking, I am going to try very hard to pace myself and stretch out the journey so that I don’t arrive at the border before the third or fourth of April.

I’m just about ready to pull out of Eugene tomorrow morning, but I might be back to spend the night, depending on how long the installation takes. If I get out of AM Solar at or before noon, I’ll shoot straight for the coast, otherwise I can go to the Valley River Center (a giant mall) here in Eugene.

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Why Eugene and Thinking Ahead

I’m in this general area of Oregon because Thursday morning I am having a 150 watt solar panel installed by the RV solar experts AM Solar. Even before I had a rig, I knew that I wanted my solar system to be installed by them. I didn’t want to say too much about this because of the number of kerfuffles since I left Abbotsford five weeks ago, but now I really do believe this project is a go!

Once I have the solar panel, I won’t need to plug in every few nights. Even in this soggy climate, I’m confident that with proper electrical management this solar panel will mean a great deal of freedom for me. It’s a lot of money at one time, but it will pay for itself quickly.

As to why I am in Eugene specifically, it’s that I have friends who were able to put me up with a 15A connection and access to a spigot to top off my fresh water tank. I am so grateful to them!

Climate notwithstanding, I am really enjoying Eugene. It reminds a lot of Ottawa, actually, and the neighbourhood where I’m staying is not unlike the grittier half of Sandy Hill and the Byward Market where I lived and worked during my university days in the late ’90’s. I can walk to all the services I need and the variety of restaurants is staggering.

Here are a few pictures that I’ve taken during my walks about the neighbourhood:

coloured houses

coloured houses

close up of the coloured houses

close up of the coloured houses

palm tree!

palm tree!

crocuses

crocuses

daffodil

daffodil

mallards

mallards

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard out for a walk

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard out for a walk

I like how they have an observation platform jutting out over the Willamette

I like how they have an observation platform jutting out over the Willamette

Willamette River

Willamette River

Willamette River

Willamette River

cinema across the river

cinema across the river

the murky Willamette

the murky Willamette

various fowl on the Willamette River

various fowl on the Willamette River

My appointment with AM Solar, located in nearby Springfield, is on Thursday, first thing, and not wanting to overstay my welcome, I will be heading out of town after. I’d like to do five to seven days on the Oregon coast, then start to work my way back to Canada. I’d have two weeks to get there, so there would be no rush.

Now that I’ve experienced life in the States, I cannot view my RVing life in the same manner as before. Everything has changed. I’ve crunched the numbers and I can do six months here for the cost of four months in Canada, and that includes health and vehicle insurance and an internet set up.

So, what does this mean? Well, I need to start earning more money in Canada and spending as little of it there as I can!

And I’ve decided not to return to Yukon this summer.

Instead, I’m going to go into Alberta, even if it means facing the brutal dregs of winter. I simply cannot afford to set up residence in BC. I want to get over the border and find work as close to the Montana border as possible.

Up until a few months ago, I just didn’t see myself being able to work for someone else again, but now I would welcome a steady stream of income. I could get that in Yukon, of course, but it’ll cost $1,500 to get up there, money I’d rather spend exploring this part of the US that is new to me.

I’ve been growing increasingly bitter about Canadian rules that dictate how I can live and now I have something else to focus on: enthusiasm for learning what I can do to conform to US laws so as to be allowed the continued privilege of vacationing here.