index all PLACES FRTBRAGG
BRAGGLOGO.JPG, 2 kB Favorite places: 2025.08 FORT BRAGG California BRAGGLOGO.JPG, 2 kB

IMG_20250819_Grapes.jpg, 207kB Before going to the ocean, one must have snacks. All the bunches of Thompsons are letterally falling on the ground. These bunches will not last past the middle of September. Grape leaves already turning brown and falling away, exposing all these beautiful full bunches of grapes.


IMG_20250819_BackSeat.jpg, 127kB Before going I washed the doggies, or I should say "doggie" (singular) as Callie is gone, blanket. The blankit can finish drying right here on the seat. Also, refill the doggie water glass. It is there on the side of the ramp. This ramp is easily removed, and it protects the center console. Taffie rides between us, and is part of us. Why would anyone make their dog ride in the back seat?



The heat is insane. We are out of here! Why would anyone want to live in Chico?


IMG_20250819_Casino.jpg, 35kB We enjoyed a good part of the first day of our trip in Yuba City. In Yuba City, we splurged, and had a super good dinner at the Sizzler. This picture is after ClearLake, and it is the Casino about 5 miles west of ClearLake. We are done. It has been a long day.

The parking lot is relatively empty. There are no trucks running refrigeration all night long. It is going to be a good sleep.


IMG_20250820_Casino.jpg, 68kB See! It feels good to wake up here. We could have went in for breakfast, as we have done many times before, but we overslept. Well, I should not say "overslept" in a negative context. I am an engineer, and I have designed this RV to accommodate oversleeping with normalacy and joy. It is part of the design.


IMG_20250820_Callie.jpg, 102kB Feels good to be refreshed. We woke up energized at the Casino, and now on our way to the ocean. This is a nice stopping place; the Donkey Park. It is the first place where temperatures are survivable and fit for human habitation. Also the first place where Redwood trees are native and prolific. Redwoods love the fog and coolness. Taffie loves it too, as she is hot blooded with energy and excitement. I have quite deliberately posed a similar picture of all three dogs here on the steam Donkey. Lexy is passed away, Callie is passed away, and now Taffie plays alone. But later today, we should be at the ocean, and she can play in memory with the others, and chase seagulls. I have already told her.


IMG_20250820_Donky_Anam.gif, 367kB The Donkey Park has a grove of redwoods in the middle of the park. Lots of shade here, and its cool! Already feeling the coolness and the closeness of the ocean. High 70s.


IMG_20250820_Beach.jpg, 76kB Finally! The ocean. This is FortBragg, on the down side of the bluffs, next to the waves, hitting the rocks. I backed the RV with the big window pointing toward the ocean. We will eat here and walk near the ocean. We have no plans. We have no reservations. I do not need to plan. I live for the moment. Taffie shows us how to live for the moment and to play. Later, I drove to Safeway and stayed the night. Maybe I planned it a little, a tiny bit, just enough for a Safeway.


IMG_20250820_CallieCounter.jpg, 53kB Taffie is waiting for the Linda-Cooker to find something in the refrigerator for her.


IMG_20250821_MTotal.jpg, 44kB There is fog overhead, with a SolarFlux of about 62%. And that is out of a possible 95%, at this Latitude and time of year. If there is no current usage the voltage is about 20 volts from all the solar panels. With SolarFlux at 62% and pulling 12 amps of current, the SolarCombiner voltage drops to 17 volts.


IMG_20250821_MAB.jpg, 45kB Each Solar Panel is monitored individually too. This "A" panel is producing 2.2 amps. It is a 100 watt panel.



And the "B" Panel is producing 2.4 amps.


IMG_20250821_MCD.jpg, 48kB The "C" and "D" Panels are producing 4.1 amps.



And the "E" Panel is 2.1 amps.


IMG_20250821_MF.jpg, 44kB The "F" Panel is producing 0.6 amps. The F-Panel is producing less because - at the moment - because external conditions such as temperature does not favor this panel in a sharing scheme. This panel can easily increase to 5 amps. The working criteria for a Shared System is the combined community voltage. Each panel has slightly different OpenCircuit Voltage. All approximately 21 volts plus or minus 0.3 volts manufactured voltage. This voltage varies depending on shadowing and panel temperature. This voltage is compared to the Combined Community Voltage. Which panel sees the greatest difference, will be the one that contributes more. Of course each panel has a different internal resistance, and that too will determine which panel will contribute more. It can change from minute to minute, some up, some down. But the Combined Effort will establish a Maximum Power Point that always has the highest voltage possible. I am the only solar powered RV that has such a system.



Also, I can test the maximum current possible from any individual panel. No one else has that either.


IMG_20250821_MFlux.jpg, 70kB Here is another Monitoring and Control panel, just happens to be located above the Refrigerator. This shows the Solar Flux at 62.4%. This meter is just for humans; all my microprocessor-based controllers also know what the Solar Flux is. And they each verbally tell me about it. So I can see it and hear it as the parametters are seen and used by the microprocessors. The 12.2 volts is the "Coach" voltage, the Utility voltage fed to all 12v devices in the RV. This voltage is a combination of several power sources. A Solar Combiner regulator supplies 12.2 volts. Each Battery regulator supplies 12.1 volts. The idea is that each battery is spared from supplying current during the day, as the voltage is satisfied by the Combiner. This helps with MicroCycling, which shortens the useful life of batteries. During the day time, the batteries do not supply power.


IMG_20250821_Solar3.jpg, 36kB Here is one of the SolarControllers, Controller-3. Each Controller controls power delivery to one battery, in this case Battery-3. This battery, I think, was the first reputable battery made, BattleBorn. And it was made in the US, Nevada. I have had this battery for a decade with no problems. The battery reads 13.34 volts on the dedicated blue meter. It also reads 13.33 volts on the selectable green meter. This meter can read several parameters that the Controller also sees. Linda and I ran the computer and TV for about 5 hours yesterday, and drained the battery down to 13.34 volts. This battery was chosen as the default AC Inverter power source. Other choices are other batteries, or Shore Power. I was one of the first RVer to electrify ALL outlets with both Inverter or external AC, not JUST SOME. Decades ago there were no RV engineers. Non that understood Balanced Single Phase were there were two hot wires, both the black and white, and one chassis ground. Early inverters ONLY had this type of power delivery. And I still had GFI integrity in the bathrooms. Easy as pie. Never a compatibility problem with Shore Power, or Generators. I have a lot of experience with 3 phase high power, and 6 phase high voltage systems. For an Engineer, an RV is a meer afterthought. Designing RV wiring is trivial, and becomes exciting and fun.


IMG_20250821_Solar2.jpg, 38kB


IMG_20250821_One.jpg, 37kB


IMG_20250821_Table.jpg, 79kB This is MacKerricher State Park. We got 5 days here with BlackBerries in the back window. But that is great; I love BlackBerries. You really can not get much closer to the ocean, it is just right over "there", over the rise in the sand. This is space 80.


IMG_20250821_TaffieFloor.jpg, 53kB


IMG_20250822_Deer.jpg, 72kB Taffie is only three years old, and I don't know if she has ever seen a deer before. Darndest looking dog that she has ever seen. It is amazing to witness a young life seeing something new for the very first time.


IMG_20250822_Rig80_Ana.gif, 465kB During the night, you can sometimes feel tiny rain drops, made of dew. Just enough to make you question if you really felt a real rain drop. But when you see everything wet in the morning, you know it was not your imagination.



A half dozen blackberries are ripening black every morning. And a few greens turning to reds. I harvest the black ones immediatly, from fingers to mouth.


IMG_20250822_Spot80.jpg, 101kB


IMG_20250823_Crow.jpg, 90kB


My sister has me beat on BlackBerry pictures. I will include hers, cause she is my sister. But I will make it itsy bitsy.
IMG_20250824_BlackBerries.jpg, 156kB
My picture
IMG_20250904_ItsyBitsy.jpg, 72kB
Sister Carolyn's

Monkeyh.gif, 10kB Oh no. Darn! That was my blackberry picture. I just screwed up my own picture. Fate has struck me down again. I just itsy-bitsyed my own picture.


P1360824_Me.jpg, 111kB I used to have two of these things.


P1360822_MeBack.jpg, 79kB


P1360816_Me.jpg, 75kB


P1360812_Sea.jpg, 133kB


P1360811_Sea.jpg, 123kB


IMG_20250824_Trailer.jpg, 104kB


IMG_20250825_Cone.jpg, 231kB Good thing I checked the roof. I found a foot long limb, and also this strange cone. This cone had fallen down on top of the RV. I do not know where it came from. So, I can't identify the tree. I do not know when it happened. But it is now off the roof, and will not fall on traffic behind me. Not that I ever have traffic behind me.



The bright lipstick-red seeds fall out easily, and taste like a pine tree. Taste pretty good.



I am still alive.


IMG_20250826_173223.jpg, 60kB


IMG_20250827_BoatNoyo.jpg, 142kB


P1360801_NoyoBridge.jpg, 48kB I wanted a picture of the Noyo Bridge with car lights showing.

A dusk picture, like this, normally requires a tripod because of a long exposure. I ether got lucky or have steady hands for an old man. I like to think it is the latter. The disadvantage of a single long exposure is the car headlights can smear, but maybe the effect is desired.

The other way to get this picture, and it is a better way, definitely requires a tripod. You take one picture in the day, and come back in a few hours and take another at night, exposed on the same frame. This method requires a camera with a multiple exposure setting, and the exposing is done internally, in the camera.


GhostP1350622_800.JPG, 75kB
That is my beloved Callie on the corner of the bed. Strange that I am using this example, as she has just passed away, 2025.03.15 17:47. I planned for her to be looking at me, and she would have to be still for 8 seconds. I hid behind the bed, and after 4 seconds I quickly pupped up and took my pose. Callie may be in an old rag of a sweater, but underneith she had a heart of gold. This is the first trip that she is not physically with me. She had seperation anxiety, and could not ever be without me, unless I told her that I would be back.
My camera does not have this feature. So, I use yet another method. In the past I have done this: I take one special long exposure. My camera has one of two settings that allow me to do this. One is Manual Apperature, and another is Manual Speed. I put the camera on a tripod, use one of these settings to give me a long exposure, at least 8 seconds. Here is how I do a "ghost" of myself. I prepair the Main sene. It will run for the full 8 seconds. But I will put myself in the same sceen after the first 4 seconds have past. I will be underexposed, and you can see through my body. And as you can see, ghosts do have a reflection in mirrors.

Or, you can take two or more pictures and combine them in a paint program, which is a very synthetic process. But opens the door for creative expression.


IMG_20250827_Loader.jpg, 67kB After we stayed 5 days at Makericher, we moved to the "Bluffs". We had a front row, with the view of the ocean in this back window. Big beautiful view, comfortably setting at our dinning table. But as you can see this is no longer the case. Here is how the SkipLoader got in the picture.

We still did not want to go home. That was the problem. So, I got my instructions; Linda said, Go and get a couple more nights. In doing so, I was informed that the view in our back window would change. That is not a deal breaker if you still have some fog and are near the ocean. The space was 43, and not a pull-through. So, I did not have a choice of which view; a forward view or a backward view. Therefore, in the back window, we watched construction. Lots of dirt and gravel going back and forth. But that is OK. We did not want to go home. And we didn't. And there are free spots too: We have stayed at the all-night Safeway. There is also my secret parking lot. There are also several side streets that are possible. We have also stayed behind Dennys. Drives Linda crazy. She likes reservations.


IMG_20250827_SunSet.jpg, 54kB I waited for a light reflection path to the shore...


P1360795_SunSet.jpg, 71kB ... and I got it!


P1360731Home.jpg, 105kB Safely back home now, but almost did not make it. I forgot to bring my iced tea from the trailer to the truck, for a two hour run, as we left the Donkey Park to the Casino.

The hydration precaution was something that I should have known from a month ago. A month ago I was working outside in 95 degree heat. It was at the same time that my sister Donna was cutting limbs in Redding, but unlike me - she quit. I came inside the house with every muscle of my body in pain, and nauseous. I was nearly passing out. My heart pulse rate was 39 BPS, as read on a cuff meter. An oxygen meter read 41, and 42 BPS. My systolic was 168. The graph of the oxygen meter clearly showed that I was skipping beats. My heart felt "hollow" or "fluttering". The doctors gave me an EKG, and put a two week heart monitor on me. They gave me a Nuclear Stress Test. I was not happy about the radiation hazards of this test. Nor was I happy about the actual results of the test. Bad news.

Something a trip to FortBragg might fix, I thought. That is a stupid thought. Nothing can fix it. But here we are coming back from FortBragg, seemingly in perfect health. I stupidly thought, perhaps the cool fog has worked wonders. Heaven knows the ocean breeze and fog feels good to body and soul. Better than any medicine.

It worked. What do Doctors know? FortBragg was refreshing and fixed my health. But know we are heading home. The Casino parking lot was 5 miles ahead, where we were going to stay and sleep. But we agreed that we could not stay there; Should not even stop; It was too hot. 95 degrees outside the truck. No one can sleep in that kind of heat. The decision was made to continue on, and stay the night somewhere else. And perhaps it was cooler by the lake in ClearLake. The problem was that I could not continue. Exhaustion and fatigue was quickly overtaking me. We had to rest NOW. Immediatly! The situation was critical as I pulled into the Casino parking lot.

I made it out of the truck into the 95 degree air, and into the trailer. As I made my way to the bed, I read the temperature gauges on the wall as I passed by: 95 degrees outside, 85 degrees inside, and 100 degrees under the trailer above the hot asphalt. I fell face down on the bed, my face hitting a pillow. The pillow felt ice cold underneath, from being by the ocean environment for a couple of weeks. Linda was yelling that we could not stay in here. But my body felt fine. Her voice faded. I was so comfortable, and at peace. But in my foggy logic, I knew that Linda was right. But no matter: I could not move at all. No matter the logic, my body would not move. I told Linda to give me 15 minutes. That was my last thought. She woke me up after a while, and insisted, as she said that we have to get me to the truck where there is air conditioning. She seemed to think that the world was ending. I struggled to wake up. It was hard. For her, I would try. But I, myself, was not hot, and I could have slept there forever. But of course, I may have not woke up. And that really has a "forever" sound to it.

She mercilessly forced ice water down me, despite the fact that I was not thirsty.

We made it to ClearLake, in cooler conditions. We relaxed around corn dogs and hambergers at the FosterFreeze. We had shade and a cool breeze. I recovered. Later that night we made it back to the Casino, as "creepos" began to wonder about there at the lake. We are always welcome at the Casino, as the guard watches over us. And now, with smoking banned, it is much more pleasant inside. I wish all Casinos were as progressive as Robinsons Casino.


RULERYEL.GIF, 4.2kB

Getting ready
Before anything moves




RULERBOW