With no bike commute downtown to work, I took the entire weekend off! Unbelievable. It really felt like I was on vacation. The last few weeks have been heavy mileage for me. I never post my cycling miles, but a regular commute week is about 30 miles of riding … pushing  50 + miles of running, my legs are tired.

The point was to have a stressful training block – and then back off to recover. I was starting to feel my hip flexors and my heels were bothering me. Not much other than that – didn’t run anything very fast, just piling on mileage. That was 11 days straight with no rest days.

Worked on a few house projects that had been lingering. I replaced 3 basement windows 2 years ago 😉 (reframed / new pressure treated bucking / new windows) and never finished the exterior trim… worked on that on Saturday and then started to get the pop-up ready for camping season.

I always take the magnesium anode out of the hot water heater over the winter when I drain the water lines, so I had to put that back in and sanitize the water tank and lines with diluted bleach. The battery is questionable. It will be fine for a weekend, but it hasn’t been conditioned in a while so I’m not sure how much life it has left.  At 7 years old it still holds a good change – last year in the North Cascades I was able to keep it at 12v for almost a week using one 15w solar panel.  Maybe I’ll replace it after this trip – ideally with 2 @ 6v golf cart batteries wired in series (for 12v + more amp hours than a single 12v deep cycle).

The battery powers the water pump, LED lights (super-efficient) and the fan on the furnace. The refrigerator, stovetop, furnace and water heater (6 gallons) run on propane. On a long trip, the water pump is getting heavier use if we’re taking showers (outside shower hookup). I got a Weber baby q grill for Father’s day last year and with the cast iron griddle, I can cook every meal on it (no cooking in the camper). I make a mean huevos rancheros.

If anything, managing daily activities on 12volts and solar for an extended time give you a new appreciation for your energy usage. Plus it’s just rad living off the grid 😉

I’ve still been researching Sprinter vans and found these guys out of Cali – Habat Vans. Love the little 2500 High Top.