8/5: Root Canal Day!

8/5: Last night from bed I worked on more research for path planning. Found an app that would help me find campgrounds in the area so I can better plan for nightly accommodations while on the road and more spontaneously. I've previously used hotels.com and as I was starting to get tired on previous road trips, I'd pull over and use the app the locate the nearest affordable lodging for the night. Now with hotels.com in addition to the RV parks app, I can find my night's lodging on the fly if necessary! :) App is complete with campground info, links to site, distance from my current location, as well as a phone number and a tie into google maps so I can navigate there with a touch of the screen! It also shows me my nearest Costco, Wal-Mart, cracker barrel, Cabela's, travel centers, etc.

This morning, since I didn't have to be at wok until after my 9 am root canal appointment, I did more research on mosquito repellents. Besides the permethrin, there's something out there called Thermacell unit. Here's how it works:

The heat generated by the butane cartridge is directed to a metal grill that is part of the design of the Lantern or Appliance. A small mat, saturated with repellent, sits on top of the metal grill. Heat vaporizes the repellent, allowing it to rise into the air.
The repellent is allethrin, a copy of a repellent that naturally occurs in chrysanthemum flowers. It repels mosquitoes, black flies, and no-see-ums, and will not harm humans or pets.
Within minutes after turning on the Lantern or Appliance, the repellent creates a 15 by 15-foot (225 square-foot) area of repellency, the size of an average deck, patio, or campsite.

This was a suggestion from some of the hunter co-workers I have. They swear by it. I'm just not sure how well it'll work while I am hiking (moving and not stationary). Both of their applications were for when they were sitting in one spot.

So while I mull on that one, I also looked into making my own bug spray using essential oils. So I googled different recipes but I think I want to try the one pictured below in the screen shot I took.

Today is another Amazon delivery day! I had more work drama today but

I jetted out of there on time! I also got my root canal done and the crown build up, so I'll have one more appointment for the actual crown. Here's the overview of the goods for today:

1.) Got the battery box for my solar system

2.) Got a nice compact and fast dry towel for bathing while camping. It comes in a super sweet bag....and check out the directions...#2!

3.) Mini battery bank to recharge my cell phone on the go.

4.) And a new cell phone holder for the car (my last one broke!) :(

Having a healthy dinner and going to walk the dog before heading off for more work on the car!

I was kindly reminded about another discovery I made this weekend: Avon Skin So Soft Oil as a mosquito repellent. I was totally stoked, then did some Googling and learned that it might not be so great for the skin....at least not any better than the Permethrin or Allethrin....especially after working at a chemical plant that supplies to the personal care industry....kinda is funny, the more places I work, the smaller the world becomes in terms of options I have. Anyways, trying to find a more natural solution.


Today's car project was re-wiring the inverter for the solar system. Retarded me, left the manual for the charge controller at home in Delaware while I was wiring up the solar initially in Virginia. So when I hooked up the inverter to the charge controller, it didn't work. Because I didn't have the manual, I didn't realize you had to push a button to turn on power to the load connectors of the charge controller. So we ended up wiring the inverter directly to the battery. In doing that, there is no way to prevent the batteries from being drawn down too far to keep a healthy battery (extend the life). So today, the plan was to work on rewiring the inverter and mounting the charge controller and inverter on my brand new battery box. I got the inverter re-wired and I pushed the button and

presto! It works! :) You can see the load light is on (orange) in the pic! :) Yay!

Next: Daily fail -of course I didn't have the right screws to mount the charge controller to the battery box lid. I was trying to use left over

screws I had from mounting the solar panels, but they were too big.....and probably too long too. So I guess I am going back to Home Depot. But before I headed out, I wanted to get some more work done. So I organized the bazillion wires for the solar system (with the additional wires from what I had already had plugged into the inverter).

Next mini project: using the left over pallet wood from the bed frame project to make a steady platform for me to step on while getting in and out of my car/car bed. So after the camping trip I found the previously planned entry and exit (the hatch back/trunk door) was not going to

work and I needed another plan. All of the other passenger doors weren't really viable except for the one behind the driver seat. So since I had removed the back seat, the resulting space was not really level. So this platform gave me a nice flat place to step onto while getting in and out of the car. It's also a nice place to store my flip flops for those late night runs to the bathroom (although secretly when camping, I just open the door and step out of the car and pee like 3 feet from my car!) I also plan on using this as storage space while I am not using the back to sleep. When I do use the back to sleep, I'll move the storage (contained in a bin) to either the driver seat or the passenger side where I plan on having the cooler. During the drive I don't want to block the lid of the cooler, but while I'm sleeping, I won't need access to the "fridge" ......unless I have the late night snacking urges? Well, my pantry is planned to be right next to the bed (within arms reach) so hopefully I can find something suitable there to satisfy my cravings/hunger!