Port Lavaca

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More Finetuning of the Electrical Setup

The battery monitor still hasn’t been working properly even after I redid the bad connection on it. I haven’t had a full charge to recalibrate it, but it would have been nice to get an accurate read on the amps going out instead of it claiming that my laptop was pulling 500A and that even with that, I surely had 150 hours of running capacity left! I ended up completely disconnecting it until I could deal with it properly.

Since I will have a full charge by the end of today, I could finally synchronize the battery monitor and get it working for me again. The plan of attack was to remove ALL the terminals, even the ones that seemed good, and replace them with new ones.

In a classic example of lack of foresight, I did not have what I needed to work on the project, so I had to drive back into Port Lavaca to find terminals and, perhaps, a better crimping tool. The Radio Shack didn’t have much in the way of terminals, leaving me at a loss and desperately missing Canadian Tire. I remembered that there was an auto parts store on the way to the Walmart, so I decided to try there. They ended up having a better selection of terminals and I found a crimping tool for just $11 that, *spoiler alert*, worked great! The connection kit came with two fork-type terminals that I replaced with ring ones, figuring that they couldn’t work their way loose from a screw.

I came in and spent a half hour cutting, stripping, crimping, screwing, and swearing (not necessarily in that order and sometimes in combination). Done, I decided that if I came in and the monitor wasn’t working or was still giving screwy readings, I’d done my bit and it was time to quit and call in a pro. Well… everything is looking good! I’m getting the correct amps out reading. I’ll be able to recalibrate shortly and life will be good!

One thing that I have concluded is that I have enough amp hours but not enough charging capacity. In other words, I have enough batteries, but I need another solar panel. I’m averaging 5A in average conditions (a little cloud cover), so with 11 hours of charging time total (the charger clicks on at about 7AM and clicks off at about 6PM), I’m getting in about 55A per day, which is about 10 more amps than I use in an average day if I’m not running the furnace and only using one computer. With another panel, I could double those figures and get about 110A per day coming in, which would be plenty to replace what I’m burning with the two computers running. And that 5A really is an average. I tend to get a full 1A coming in by 8AM, by 11AM I’m running at peak capacity with 8A or more, by 4PM, I’m down to just about 3A, and then I peter out as the day ends.

I’d really prefer to have another panel installed by AM Solar, but I don’t see myself getting back out to Springfield ever again. I could get a complete 150W solar panel kit sent to me for $400 (free shipping) or $300 for a 100W (I need to check how much space I have left on the roof), and I suspect they might be willing to walk me through adding the panel to my current setup since they did the original work. At any rate, I can’t afford that right now, but it’s a consideration before I return to Canada.

That math is good news. For $400, I could just about solve my electrical shortage, leaving me to use the truck in really dire circumstances. This is a MUCH cheaper option than repairing or replacing the genset.

It’s okay that it’s taking me this much time to get the electrical setup right. My math was good when I originally did it, but circumstances have changed and, thanks to an unusual amount of foresight, my system is expandable.

I’ve been here a week and a half already and I think I just might make my goal of boondocking for four weeks!

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Like Being At An RV Park

I am inexplicably exhausted and lethargic today. I think it’s because I’ve been getting up too early after not quite enough sleep. I always have that problem when I go to bed before midnight. I wake up super early and cannot fall back asleep. At least, I go out for exercise when I’m up that early, so the exhaustion isn’t for nothing.

Late morning, I headed into Port Lavaca for some produce. I had a disappointing lunch special at La Antigua. My special was a cheese enchilada (minus ‘beef gravy’), rice, beans, and a chicken flauta (which was a fried corn tortilla with yummy seasoned chicken in it). The enchilada was lukewarm and smothered in plasticky cheese sauce. I was really not impressed. They do serve their meals with a really nice salsa and chips so I was able to brighten up my lunch a little and give it some kick by drizzling the salsa all over everything. I’d go back there, but I’ll be sticking to their full priced menu next time as those items seem much fresher and have pico de gallo and guacamole.

I then got my groceries and headed straight home… to find this:

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Visitors From Houston

Reader Pam and her mom drove out here all the way from Houston today to visit Miranda and then take me out to lunch! Two and a half hours each way! They also brought some packages that I had shipped to them.

It was really great to get company and to be able to show off my rig at a time when it is in the best shape it’s ever been in.

We had lunch at La Antigua (formerly La Parilla) in Port Lavaca, a Mexican and seafood restaurant with really good reviews. My chicken and shrimp fajitas were delicious and I have enough leftovers for at least one more meal.

Pam convinced me that my decision to skip Houston and Galveston is a good one and that I should be focusing on San Antonio and Austin. She also gave me some ideas of places near here that I could day trip to.

Thank you for a lovely visit, ladies!

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Rae au pays de l’or noir

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Today’s drive was tricky to plan and I spent hours yesterday with Google Maps, my Texas Shunpiker Guide, and my GPS to find the best route. Both Google Maps and my Garmin wanted to route me straight through Houston while the Shunpiker Guide wanted to send me through Galveston. I finally came up with a route that looked pretty good and planned to solidify it once I got my hands on another Texas road map (having lost mine to a cat and coffee collision).

It was foggy when I woke up at 6:30 this morning and visibility was still poor at 7:20 when I had had my coffee and toast and was packed. I decided to hang out for a bit longer until the visitor centre opened at 8:00 so I could get the map and confirm my route. I entered the coordinates for my destination into the GPS but knew I’d be mostly on my own for this drive.

That done, I set off on I-10 westbound, stopping a few miles away at a Conoco pretending to be a Flying J. I missed the first entrance, which wound up being good as entering through the next entrance allowed me an easy exit out of the first and a much easier return to I-10.

From I-10, I took exit 798 and meandered my way down to route 35 by way of route 146. I checked the GPS a couple of times and it finally came up with a route that resembled mine, but with a few more twists.

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The Fred Hartman Bridge was very impressive!

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The first part of my day was in a world of oil refineries, hence the title of this post.

When I started to run out of road, I finally listened to my GPS and turned into… Pasadena.

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I was on Nasa Road and everything was space themed, so I figured I was near the space centre. Yup, I drove right past it! Note to self: you haven’t seen Apollo 13 in a long while.

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At some point, I passed a relic of olden days:

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Entering Bay City, I was overdue for a break, but I had been holding out for a real grocery store, passing only little food stores. So I was quite glad to pass a Walmart, where I was able to stock up on fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and beer before landing at my somewhat remote destination, saving me from having to go out tomorrow.

Port Lavaca was soon upon me:

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Today’s drive was difficult. The roads were in poor shape and I was mostly passing through towns so there was a lot of stopping and going. I really felt the toad today, my gas mileage was the pits, and I could feel both the engine and brakes working hard. It would have probably been easy to just bite the bullet and go through Houston on I-10, but I don’t regret my choice.

Just one damper on the day: I have a nice big crack in my brand new windshield. 🙁 I don’t think a glass place will be willing to fill it. Since it’s well out of my view range, I’m going to get a DIY kit and try to fill it myself before it gets worse.