Our site in Grand Junction

Wet and cool but it was a nice visit as we head S/W for a few months, and warmer weather😎  I would give this KOA a 5 out of 5 and we will be back to it.

Below we arrive in Palm desert, have a drink and start exploring the area to include 29 palms.  We enjoyed our visit to the nearby national park and date farms.  We stayed a month in the area and loved it.

First time using our extendastay propane

We are visiting our son in Colorado as we start our full timing, with temps in the 20's at night we will run out of propane before we leave here.  So i hooked up our extendastay for the first time.  I have a standard gas grill bottle and figure it will last two days/nights.  I can either fill it at the camp ground or do an exchange at a gas station or grocer.

Here is our set up.

 

At 45 day and 32 at night and lots of rain we added a 25 foot heated water hose below and the extend a stay bottle 20 pound BBQ bottle hooked up above.  The bottle has lasted two nights so far and looks like it might go three but we will not push it to that.

Photo after two nights.

New Antenna's I Made

In the last post I said we will be hitting the road soon, so I wanted to make two quick up antenna's. Dipole antenna's are quick to set up when I am outside.  They are made out of some wire and a length of coax ran to the radio.  Here I am just showing the antenna's.

Only one or two more posts on me and my radio stuff then on to our RV travels and more.  Kathy flew off to see her Mon with our Daughter so I am dog sitting and prepping the RV as well.

Below are some photos of the antenna's.  Below you see a simple 2 meter antenna I put together and hung of a extendable painters pole that is not fully extended.  You can see a black peace of Velcro around the pole holding up one end the black wire hanging down is the coax to the radio and the brown wire hanging down is the second half of the 2 meter antenna.

The following is the 10 meter dipole antenna set up in an inverted V.  About halfway down each line the wire ends and is tied off to some para cord to keep it in the proper configuration. When I extend the painters pole and mount it on the RV ladder the top of the antenna would be over 20 feet up and the ends would be about 8 feet off the ground. 

I carry my 2 meter and 10 meter HAM radios in ammo cans so I can set up what I want when we are stay in an area for a while.  Also this gives me more antenna options for both radios. I can take out one ammo can with a radio and a antenna in it and one with a small 12 volt battery and operate anywhere, without shore power if I want.  I also have a 50 watt solar panel I can use to recharge the battery if needed.

Been a few months but we are back

Been a few months off but we are back and will be increasing our posts by the end of February at the latest.  Once we retired we set up several short trips around the south east and set up all our medical appointments so we will be set for some full timing.  Found a few issues on the medical front and had to take care of them.   Now that those are behind us we are preparing to head south for a while.  

While in this down time I went ahead and obtained my HAM Radio Operator Technician Licenses so I can now use radios to talk on the 2 meter (UHF/VHF) and part of the 10 meter (HF) HAM Radio Bands.  We also have some old CB walkies-talkies for local contact if out of cell coverage.  CB's do not require a license so anyone can talk on them.  HAM radios require a license along with some training and testing to receive a license to operate.  

With a HAM Licenses I can use repeaters to increase my UHF and VHF range to over 100 miles.  On HF and with the right conditions I can talk or send data, and CW thousands of miles and around the world. I can also use some satellites and even talk to the International Space Station (ISS), many on board have HAM Licenses as well.

For me I am just starting out and still need to learn CW and some Data systems so I will be voice only in 2019 (may try to learn email over radio in 2019).  Note the ISS only is open when the Astronauts have time to schedule it in to their work time and when they are over the US.  Don't get me wrong with the ISS these contacts do not happen every week/month.

Since we will be traveling I picked up some simple radios to allow me to gain operator experience on the areas I am now allowed to operate in.  This first one shows my two small mobiles one UHF/VHF on top of my 10 Meter HF with a small UHF/VHF walkie - talkie below them.  I also show my lap top.

With any radio I need an antenna here is my UHF/VHF which I can set on my car or the metal parts of our RV.  I have my mobiles mounted on pieces of wood and store them in ammo cans when not in use.  The ammo can for the UHF/VHF is metal so I can take out the radio and set the antenna on it while at a camp or picnic site, if I want.  I have a small battery in the can with this one so I can work off battery for a few hours away from the car or RV.

This final photo shows my 10 meter HF vertical antenna on a 12 foot painters pole at our daughters home as I test the set-up out.  I added a PVC pipe to the side of our RV ladder so I can set the pole in this which raises the antenna by 4 feet plus the antenna height itself, so it is now over 16/19 feet when we are parked and set up.

In closing I also made a wire HF 10 meter antenna not shown. I also considered getting a GMRS license (has some repeaters to increase range up to around 100 miles).  This requires a license but no special training so my wife could use it as well as I. She is not licensed for HAM and does not want to be so cell phones are still number one:)  Also GMRS and CBs as well are limited to a couple dozen channels (these are pre - set frequencies).  With HAM I have hundreds of frequencies to use, not limited to channels.  So it depends an you individual wants and needs.

Prescriptions while on the road

prescriptions while on the road can be confusing. It will be about two years before Medicare kicks in so until then we are down to one health care system/insure VA system.  Which means while at our home clinic or at a VA Medical Center all costs are covered.  While on the road with no near by VA we will use civilian clinics using our HSA to cover cost.  Prescriptions away from a VA we will cover with our HSA fund and drug discount cards we have saved between 20 and 70%.

Identification of our vehicles

Identification of our vehicles in-case of theft.  Our RV and Auto have numerous ID's on them, but our Dolly is not required to be licensed.  So, I have a photo of its ID plate and added other identifiers to help the police it it is ever taken.  I will also be adding identifiers from the air as well soon. 

I have also added bicycle locks to the ramps on the dolly and other locks on our other RV electrical equipment.

Range Mate Cooking

Range Mate Cooking On The Go!
The mix in a regular oven makes six and prep tome is about four minutes and cook time sixteen  minutes.

Add water berry muffin mix.

 Mixed with water added.

 Cup of water in range mate base.

 Steamer and muffin insert.

 In the Microwave.

 After 10 minute cook.

 Little more oil next time to avoid any stick.

They tasted fine and with 2 minutes prep and 10 minutes cook time not a bad option at all:)

I have also cooked my breakfast potatoes, sausage and eggs in this as well as several pork chops and steaks, all came out great.