Favorite places: 2024.03 FORT BRAGG California

200 Miles in Three Days

Callie is bored. Callie is following me around from room to room. There is no doggie bed in the bathroom, so she improvises just to stay close to me as I take a shower.

But we really are going somewhere. Her wait is over. We are going to Fort Bragg. I can't tell her yet, untill I get the trailer hitched up.

And I can not use the word "Sea gull" yet. I can not ask her if she wants to see a Sea Gull? Otherwise she will spring to life.

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I am not going to tell her yet, because it is a surprise. She is following me around, and is so sad.

First stop, Yuba City California and the Sizzler

I hitched up the trailer. It took about 30 minutes to load more clothes, enough for a week, and get the tire covers off, check the tire air, start the refrigerator, remove the styrofoam from the windows, check medicine cabinet for enough pills, load a bag of ice into the freezer bin, fill an ice tray with water, fill the refrigerator with tea drinks, eggs, butter, hot dogs, 3 oranges, celery, and assorted snacks.

Took another 30 minutes to have Less Swaub fill all tires to 45 lbs. Total time was about an hour; Far cry from just hop in and go.

The truck has an automated feature to check all lights: Running lights on the side and back, Brake lights, and Turn signals. Nice feature where one person can check out the RV single handedly. I hurried along as everything is checking out.

I changed all to LEDs during the Virginia trip, and they all still work great.

I installed the Back Camera for the RV. I installed it for the trip to the east coast, and ever sense, has been invaluable.

Unlike other rear cameras, it stays on all the time; It is not a Back Up Camera.

The placement for this large screen was difficult. The only place for it was recessed down into the console. But can be removed easily if not pulling the trailer.

It is a HardWired system, and there is a wired connection at the hitch. I have had RF types before, and they can flicker due to low signal and interference. When I need it, I need it! And I do not have time for a blank screen. People do not realize that a Back RV camera is a safety hazard unless it works perfectly!

Infrared.
The trailer is backed up against some trees. The camera is also infrared, and plants sometimes appear purple.

The other thing, before we take off, is the GPS System.
It is a terrible GPS, and is sponsored by TomTom; the cheapest GPS company ever.

The original female voice for the TomTom was a neutered old womans voice which was so obnoxious that it could get you into a wreck. This voice is only a little better, but still a little old and moody, and at times can be a little testy.

For example, when in the middle of traffic and you have to make some fast decisions, she can change on a dime, and become sarcastic, and even down right lie to you. And many times, over and over, will go silent, and delight in having you guess. And she will do it at the worst times, when there are many roads to choose from. When she goes silent, it means that it is time: You are supposed to guess. What a stupid game! WTF!

I do not have that problem in the van. The van is a 1997 with a Garmin; the best GPS ever. I payed $5.00 for a pleasant young girls voice. That option is not available for the truck. In the Van, her voice is consistent and pleasant, always eager to please and help. She is constantly paying attention, never goes to sleep, and in the thick of things, knows when to speak up. And best of all, when I screw up, she is polite and pleasant about it.

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It was only an hour or two to the Sizzler located in YubaCity.

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Before we can go in and eat, the little woofers need to pee. And after that, then they need to "sniff". They are part of the family, and everyone has their needs. I did not have to tell them about Sea Gulls, because just being in the trailer means we are going somewhere. And they are all for it. In fact, really happy!

Super happy doggies...

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IMG_20240315_181717SizzlerChicken.jpg, 240kB

This Sizzler hen kept following us around. What a tame bird! The bird won't last very long when people can reach down and touch it. The clucker is too tame. Unfortunately, many untrained people have unruly dogs. It is the people that are untrained. And unfortunately, many dogs and people are down right viscous. The clucker does not have a chance.

Genesis
"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

Gen.6.6

I have seen three dead rousters in two parking lots. Demented boys probably killed them with dogs, or killed them with pellet guns. In any case, this trip or any other, I have never seen sick or dying chickens. These chickens were intentionally killed.

Perhaps I am being too quick to judge: Perhaps rousters have killed each other during fighting. But, then again, I have seen a lot of chickens on Maui and a lot on Kaui; and no - not one - dead chickens. So, I do not think that is it.

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It is evil people. And it would be great to wash them away from the Earth.

According to Genisis in the Bible, there will not be any more floods.

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After a super good dinner, we settle-in at a Walmart. Linda tells me, yet again, to not be so negative. So, I will think of Rainbows and divine promises.

Good feelings, to get to your next spot before dark. Kind of a motto for me. We went 2 miles, not too far. We had to go from Kohls to Walmart. We had to hurry a bit, but we made the sunset, or slightly after.

We have stayed here before, and every time, witnessing police activity. Police have to chase down homeless.

With me, rainbows do not last too long. ...Just as a disclaimer.

There are so many lurking phantoms wearing hoodies. Last time, the police were here, there were lights, "red and blues" as they call them, blinking several times in the night, over here and over there.

Most camping is "overlooked", with a legal reserve always in hand and available, if needed. Its not Mayberry RFD anymore, but law enforcement does a better job with liberties of "discretionary authority". Love it. Never, have the police spoken to us in a negative light. Thumbs up for the police.

I seem to be out of rainbows:
This time, we witnessed a blue haired girl and her boyfriend car-camp. Their fighting was constant, and their language was full of profanities. But not the loving kind. ...a way different context. In the morning they were gone, leaving behind gobs of their garbage on both sides, from were their car once was.
Makes it look bad for all of us, and soon the managers of all these stores around here, will say no, and the police will have to enforce it.

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I would like to take my rainbow, make it into a sign, place it over a parking lot, and make RVs and cars legal to camp with an App. A couple of bucks to camp! And available with free water, air, and WiFi. Perhaps a free parking section too, for those without. But perhaps, registration for the homeless, so the good can be helped, and the bad tracked. It will be used by travelers to get from point A to point B. Supported by the city, and Public Safety. Just a chunk of pavement on flat worthless land, a few painted lines, and a few cameras on poles.

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IMG_20240316_071845NightCombiner0618.jpg, 81kB

At 06:18 standard time, not DST, there was enough light to begin lighting the meters on the Combiner panel. The Combiner voltage is 9.06 volts; not enough to start activities like charging batteries, or heating, or anything else. In the dead of night the voltage is zero. However some street lights can bring the voltage up to several volts.

In fact, that is this situation!
In fact, little of this 9 volts is coming from the sun; SunUp is not untill after 7. This light is coming from store and parking lot lights.
And that - in fact - is why I took a picture of it!
...Just now remembered. I am sorry.

Wow! 9 volts from parking lot lights.

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We awoke in the Walmart parking lot. Actually, this is a huge lot with many many stores.
HomeDepot, Walgreens, Starbucks, Micheals, FootWear, DollarTree, Sportmans, JackInTheBox and many more.

Actually as you can see, we are not parked in the Walmart Suppercenter area. We are technically in a different lot, straight accros from it. This place is huge!

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The sun is up and the Combiner output is about 12 amps.
The amps will increase or decrease, keeping the voltage at a Maximum Power Point.
In this case the voltage is 16.5 volts. It can be anywhere from 0 volts to 21 volts.
The Combiner is just a big Power reservoir, dispensing voltage and amperage.

I am the only RVr that has one. Manufactorers are confused as what can be combined. My Combiner can combine power from any DC source: Solar panels of any voltage and type, Rectified Shore Power, Alternator power from the truck. Anything.

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This dog can not be left alone. I went in to Walmart to get some more toilet paper, and this is what I came back to: Taffie stranded on the sink.

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She can not get down. ...And her paws are black from the black pavement.
But that is OK, no need to clean them. She will need to go pee again, and cross a lot pavement.

We had a good time this day. We went shopping and ate again at the Sizzler. We took our time at doing nothing.

But soon the afternoon was getting away from us, and I did not want to travel at night to our next destination: Clear Lake California.

Clear Lake

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We got to see the Clear Lake in the day time. So many times before, we did not make it in time, and the view of the Lake was at night or dusk. This is why it takes three days to get to the coast; you want to see everything in the day! When it comes to the RV, I am not goal oriented. I don't care where it is, I am in no hurry to get there.

Here is the Ranchero Casino.
It is just a few miles more, and out of the rift-raft of Clear Lake. The guard stands at the entry door of the Casino, and watches out for us - all night long. You can not beat that.

And now, the inside of the Casino is way more pleasant: They have banned smoking. Great! Great! Great!

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About 4 in the morning, I was awoke by my system. My system verbally announced that it was getting close to freezing outside: "36 degrees". It also announced that it turning on the hot water to the solar hot water collector located on the roof. It only does this if the copper coils could freeze. In fact, it said the panel was about to be "Freezing Cold". I did not think it was that cold outside. I jumped up out of bed to check it out.

I got up and was fascinated by the outside temperatures. Yes, on the meter, the outside temperature was about 36 degrees. Of all the outside temperatures, I was fascinated by these three. I disabled the pump from pumping hot (warm) water into the coils, which would otherwise protect them. You might think that this was a stupid idea, but I wanted time to think about this... I did not want anything warmed up or changed.

The water flows through all three sensors:

First through the Input Sensor at the beginning of the coil, just as the copper inters the panel.
This reading, and the last, is more subject to ambient air than the center.

Then the very Center of the coil, also the center of the panel, were maximum temperature is created from the sun.
The LM34 Sensor is located physically in the center of the panel, heat sinked to the aluminum backing. The center is supported with layers of styrofoam insulation on the bottom, and clear insulating plastic on top. And incoming solar radiation can deffenitly create steam if there is no water flow to cool it down. The center gets hot! This reading is the most insulated from ambient air. This difference is important. Light and infrared can go into, and out of, this area of the panel.

Then finally, the Output at the end of the coil, as the coil leaves the panel.
The sensor is connected to the copper pipe. This reading is more subject to water and copper, but also to ambient air, and conduction around the housing and such; the same as the first. The First and the Last are reading input and output lines directly, which is copper and water and ambiant connections.

What I have discovered, is the center of the panel is the hottest in the day. No surprise.

But also the coldest at night, especially a clear night. Wow! And this is what was unexpected.

What I am witnessing, is the coldness of Interstellar Space!
What a demonstratable effect!
What a demonstratable proof!

After I got this reading (picture), the water was getting close to "0.30", or 30F degrees, and is starting to freeze inside the copper tubbing. I allowed the controller to pump hot water through the coils. After about a minute the temperature returned to exactly 36 degrees in all three sensors, and controller shut off the pump. And, in a few more minutes, the temperature continued to climb to 38 degrees. Just before sun up the center temperature was again less than the outsides, about 35 degrees, but not enough for the pump to come on again. It was clear enough: The effect was showing up again! Wow...

After sun up the center skyrocketed above the outsides, just as expected, and returned to its normal job: Making hot water.

I later came back and edited this in, to explain what is going on...
If you point an IR Thermometer at a clear sky, even in a hot summertime sky, the reading will be ice cold, perhaps minus 50 degrees.
The sides of my panel read only Ambient temperature, and are intimately connected to nearby metal and air.
However, the center of my panel, unlike the sides, is isolated. Heat loss is restricted to Radiant Cooling.
And follows this amazing equation...

The center of the panel, being better insulated from convection, is radiating its thermal energy out into deep space.
The center is NOT in equilibrium: In fact, never will be. The water in the copper tubes is HOTTER than deep space.

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Rising and Shinning
Taffie wakes up wiggling like a worm on her back. And as you can see, she is just a blur.

Callie had the covers thrown over her, and can not leave the comfort of a purple blanket and purple sheet. I usually have the dogs sleep in their harnesses. They may need to go pee in the middle of the night. I choose Callies to match the purple blanket as well as one leash.

We never use a top sheet in the RV, as the feel of fury velour is like sleeping in a soft cloud. And we wash the purple blanket just as often as a sheet, about every week or two. So, why not eliminate the hard sheet? I hate the feel of sheets.

As we get older, Linda says my hand rail (bars?) was my greatest invention. Two at the inside of the front door, and one at the edge of the bed.

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Thats my rig, behind the trucks, and all by itself. You may have to squint.

The Donkey Park

This place is half way between Willets and Fort Bragg.
We definitely had to stop here; Callie was starting to hyperventilate. This is the first time that I am worried she might have motion sickness. The curves were brutal. Lexy had motion sickness, real bad, for the last years of her life. But Callie has never had it before. Or at least, not this bad.

Thank goodness, she now is running and sniffing. Her tongue remains out a little, but she is getting better.

We had lunch and two ice cream cones, kept from Clear Lake the day before.

Safeway Parking Lot

We are arriving in Fort Bragg. Here we are staying on the bluffs temporarily, next to the ocean. We stayed here for part of the day. No overnight camping allowed here. We played at the ocean.

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But this is where we stayed the night: in the parking lot of Safeway. When we were younger, we stayed in many parking lots in vans. No one else can understand it, but I love it.

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Went into Safeway and bought a cucumber and a bottle of red vinegar. It was just like walking into my private kitchen. What better place to fix a nice dinner; in the parking lot of a supermarket. What ever you can think of making - and without loosing the thought; just walk across the parking lot, and find in a big monstrous "pantry". With an RV, Safeway is a big convenient refrigerator. Love my RV.

I made the best mashed potatoes - EVER! Heavy on the butter and milk.

But there is a down side to staying here:
I heard a strange grunting sound. I peaked out the left back window and could see the top of a hoody of a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk. He was more or less hidden between a lamp post and the side of my trailer. I hoped my side bins were locked, but not quite sure. He was grunting in hunger pains, as he devoured an intire rotisserie chicken. Caveman style. The plastic container was mangled and smashed, I assume from being hidden and stuck in his pants. He devoured the chicken as a lion, with both hands desperately shoving the entire carcass in his mouth. He left behind a mess; Bones and flesh, and a smashed container. A real sloppy mess! A biohazard. He threw down the last scraps, and left.

I went around and checked my bins. They were all secure.

Then, as another event, I saw two women push a cart full of groceries to the back of my RV, just under my big window. They unloaded cases of soda and hid them in the bushes, 10 feet from my RV. After hiding even more items in the bushes, they took the remaining items in their arms, and walked up the street. I assumed that they had a place to live, and could not carry everything, and simply did not have a car to transport the stuff. I would like to believe that. I don't want to misjudge them; as they may be just poor women.

So now, it is looking bad; I have a dead chicken carcass mess, and an empty shopping cart up against me. Like I am a slob! Not looking like the Hilton around here...

Around two or three in the morning, there were gangs of young hoodlums rooming the parking lot; spreading out and coalescing again like waves, in different groups. They were all talking at the same time, and shouting and laughing, as they spread through the cars as a swarm. They were arguably casing the cars. They ruled the lot, and arrogantly announced it. They met up at the entrance of Safeway in unison, all at the same time, and entered with the same vigor and opportunistic excitement. They must have thought a welcoming site: An open door, an untapped avenue to explore. They came back out with no visible groceries, and disappeared into the night as quickly as they appeared, suddenly vanishing like a locust plague. What did I just see? No dream!

Harbor RV, Fort Bragg California

I took three days to get to Fort Bragg, and I am proud of it. It was over 200 miles.

We have a beautiful site. We have been here many times in this same spot, on the front row.
Can see the ocean 120 degrees left and right. And can see part of Noyo Harbor.

We have Electric and Water. It is nice, but do not need it.

We have access to Garbage, and they are working on the Laundromat.

We can walk 500 feet to a Restaurant.

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The box on my RV antenna mast is a WiFi receiver antenna.
And the box on the parks lamp pole is a WiFi Transmitting antenna.
Talk about close...!
Here, there is excellent signal capture, and I can stream without interruption.

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IMG_20240318_152833CliffSluff.jpg, 183kB

We can walk a shot distance from our back window and see Noyo Harbor. The face of the cliff is falling away. I guess the heavy rains have caused the dirt to gain weight.

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We have park electric here. And it is free. But we really do not need it. But it is super nice for the Heat Lamps.

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At night, with insulation in the windows, one heat lamp is about right. One heat lamp gives a 20 degree rise above ambient outside. If the outside is 55 degrees, the inside will be 75 degrees all night. There is one 250W in the dining area, and one 250W in the bathroom. Either one will give this 20 degree rise.

Perhaps a little vain; The one in the bathroom serves to keep the pot warm, without an electric seat. Stupid fetish.

I have a third 75W above the bed. It is lower wattage, but it is too hot to leave on. Also, it is somewhat dangerous with bedding around. We have fallen asleep because it puts out almost no visible light. It feels like it puts out a little more than an electric blanket. I do not know why I still have it; We never use it.

It would have an application if the furnace should fail. If on batteries, running 8 hours would only consume 48AHr. And it would not need to heat the whole place, just the bed.

No heat bulbs are left on if the RV is unattended. Easy turn off switches.

We have two smoke detectors, one ionic.

Make sure bulbs are tight in their sockets, and the electrical plugs are clean.

Make sure AC Power Transfer Switch is never using batteries while HeatLamps are accidently left on. Heat Lamps will run down the batteries excessively, and their use may go undiscovered.

Years ago, I calculated the Average R-Value of the trailer.
It was around 7.
Sense then, I have added more insulation.
I will take a look at it now...

Perfect.

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Some of my wood is beautiful. This is Popular Wood, and it is not popular. Generally it is not pretty at all. But if you can find a piece that is ugly with rot and age-stain, then a toad can be transformed into a masterpiece.

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We can walk to this restaurant; Just a few hundred feet.

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Linda's relatives in Anderson Valley supply this restaurant, and others, with their Ales.
However, they are expensive: about $18 dollars for this one.
We have stopped by, and visited some of her Cider relatives.
She is happy for them, and proud of them. Makes her happy too. She shines for days.

Some of her relatives she is proud of, others not so much.
I am being polite about the "not so much" ones. Linda has a great spread of relatives, the same as me.

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IMG_20240320_111552DaisyCallie.jpg, 245kB

And then a nice walk along some daisys back to the Place.

Callie has the beginnings of mild cataracts, and she stares a lot. I pray that God gives her many more days in beautiful places like this.

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There are not many blackberry fruits. And the vines are very low, and are only a red and brown ground cover. I have known these vines for decades, and known them to be related to blackberries by their leaves. But only now do I see actual real blackberries.

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Linda does not like me getting this close, but the cliff is falling away. I think it has been going on for millions of years and nobody has noticed it.

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Lots of IcePlants.

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The soap dispensers; a very good purchase.

The White one on the right is shampoos. Actually, a mixture of shampoos.

The Blue one on the left is a mixture of almost empty body washes.

And you can use either one with eyes closed. ...Or either one with eyes open, if you do not mind soap in them.

You can not mount anything on RV shower walls. They are two flimsy and thin. So I use thicker white pieces of plastic, mounted on the shower plastic with liberal amounts of adhesive caulk. The thick plastic backing also helps prevent water leakage.

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This plant uses little water... Actually; No water. It reminds me of the outside. That is why I have the RV: to live amongst the Green.

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Callie puked up some foam on the purple blanket. Evidently, Callie is not over her motion sickness. Or she ate too much food yesterday. Otherwise, in a couple of hours, she was doing great. Lots of energy walking along in the coolness of the ocean.

As for the purple blanket, I washed the spot out by hand in the sink, and swapped it out with another in the bed of the truck. The laundromat is down for maintenance.

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The Donkey Park

I never knew this park had a name. "Camp 20"?

I have called it the "Donkey Park"

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Taffie can not stand to be left alone.

Willets

Linda got hungry, and that is what we are doing here: stopping to eat. This is McDonalds. I explained that McDonalds is not a food company. It is a realestate company. The company has nothing to do with food, nor has any interest in food.

So, after I explained it to Linda, I too, got a hamburger and some fries. She said something about being too negative.

Clear Lake

Stayed the night at the Casino.

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Absolutely fascinating phenomenon!
I have stared at these meters many times, and never saw it. Never appreciated it.
Until now!

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Across the street from the Lucern FosterFreeze. A convenient park, that fills up with lost boats, and drunk fishermen that float in them. Yes, they float in them. But before they float in them, there is a training boat ramp here. And from the antics, specially designed for slow learners. You can watch from pier one or pier two. And it is free to the public.

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The sign says do not let your dogs near the water. Clear Lake is infected with bacteria and has high levels of mercury. Lexy fell off the pier - in fact the pier in the picture - and fell into the water, and lost her life to an eye infection.

Clear Lake is not clear.

Drugs are rampant, and are a staple of the walking dead. There are full grown zombies in rags, and pregnant children walking the roads. There are dead fish on the banks. And the smell has become a signature of Clear Lake. The ducks are doing well, but like to sleep in the middle of the road.

Don't go here.

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