good emotions, lost jacks, fog fence,and last time in Utah for awhile

With all the light-weight trailers out there now, I went back to the November 2006 page, “choosing a rig,” and added my thoughts on these rigs. Might have touched on issues that could be missed.

Noah Smith, PHD and economist, stated that economists who study happiness have begun to entertain the notion that perhaps what matters isn’t the degree to which people get what they want but how much they like what they get. Good emotions may be more important than satiation of desires. I like that.

I missed staying in the parks last winter, and this winter I was somewhat bummed with the increased numbers of RVers. But it jives with the increase in RV sales. Guano. The last few years I noticed the increase of women RVers. That, at least, is good. This winter I met five whom I enjoyed talking with. Sure beats talking with the scruffy, old fat guys that inhabit the parks.

At one spot where I exchanged some paperbacks, I looked through a stack of magazines that were up for grabs. There was one I was not familiar with, RVW, for women who love to RV (www.rvingwomen.org). Their mission statement reads: “Provide women RVers, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or financial status, a supportive network and the opportunity to enjoy the RVing lifestyle in a safe and knowledgeable manner.” The organization had been around for 25 years and this is the first I’ve heard of it. I am so out of touch.
The organization holds national and chapter events offering classes on safe driving practices and RV maintenance.
“Wherever you go, RVing Women connects you to members who are interested in RVing and who can offer information, suggest places to see and things to do, and provide assistance when needed.”
Might prove beneficial. No matter how much one researches prior to full-timing, the first year is quite a learning curve. A prime period for having a sense of humor.

I stopped at my 5x8 cargo trailer for my annual visit. I cleared out more things and took them over to the local thrift shop. Also, I had purchased a set of stacking jacks and put one under each corner of the cargo trailer. Why do I feel the jacks will not be there when I get back next year?

I went off into the Apache National Forest northeast of Luna, NM on the way up to Utah. Within minutes, Mesa was walking up that log.

“In the foggy, desolate hillsides outside Lima, Peru, water for drinking and irrigation is a luxury. The area’s 1.5 centimeters of annual rainfall barely helps, and buying water isn’t an option for residents of this poverty-stricken region. Surprisingly, a piece of mesh hang vertically between two poles is an idea that holds water, literally. Invented by the Meteorological Service of Canada, the so-called fog fences capture water droplets in fog, and they trickle into a collection trough and drain into buckets or tanks. During the nine foggiest months of the year, the community of Bellavista (pop. 200) can harvest 75 gallons of water every night using five large fog fences. ‘These fog nets have improved our quality of life’, says a resident. ‘We can grow vegetables for our families.’ Fog fences are also helping irrigate arid regions in other parts of South America and in Africa. Recently, researchers from the Netherlands and China developed an absorbent fabric that may help fog fences collect even more water.”

I love hearing about stuff like this. A simple, helpful idea—way to go.

It felt good to be up in Utah again and visiting with friends. Don’t think I’ll be coming back until I start going north for summers. That won’t be until I can find a mechanic who can fix my truck’s lose of power. It just doesn’t have what it used to. The truck had to be down in D2 for many of the miles up rt.191. Guano. It’s either that or buy a newer vehicle with more umph.

It was cold out in the high desert. No water, so I had to truck it back from Moab in the 5-gal buckets. And yes, I left room for expansion and had no problem. One day I took the water-tight lid off one and the water was skimmed over. I broke through and pulled the ice out. Pretty cool. Now I know how water starts to freeze in a bucket. Maybe it will be a trivia question. Anyway, I placed the ice on a rock that afternoon, and did not get around to taking a photo until the following afternoon. Like I said, it was cold. The Olympian Wave catalytic heater is priceless for this lifestyle. Still don’t use heat during the night.

The coldest inside temp so far was 34. Beat it here.

If you hear someone say, They just love the smell of books, don’t you want to pull them aside and ask, To be clear, do you know how reading works?

Mind how you go.

If you want one thing too much
it's likely to be a disappointment.
The healthy way
is to learn to like the everyday things.
I forget where I saw this.

RVwest article ‘Following a Free Spirit’

RVwest article ‘The Spaces Between the Places’

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