Giving Thanks

Giving thanks for all my dear friends and family today, old and new.......

And for music! Below is my "off the grid" set up for my travel guitar, amp and wireless mic. It struck me that with my solar panel, as a musician, I am completely independent of needing "shore power" to perform with amplification. For ever. Or until I need a new battery. That's pretty cool. And precious.

And for that I am truly grateful to the sun and the technology that produced these amazing tools.

And I hope we continue on as a nation to help move our planet towards cleaner energy and a bright sustainable future. I know that's looking pretty dark at the moment.

With so many of us feeling despair, anger, outrage, defeat....... please remember, it's the small acts every day that make the difference. And if we can collectively harness that passion and turn it towards something productive, something powerful can and will emerge.

So I am off to spend time with these solar powered nomads in a week or so who live in tents, vans and RV's and learn from them...... how we can come together and not only find a sustainable way of life, but a magnificent way of life, which, (from the looks of it), appears to be what they have!

Above...... right to left  "Original" Traveler acoustic electric guitar on an Outad folding chair, Fishman Loudbox Mini amp, AKG Perception SR45 wireless mic, VMax Tanks XTRB4-75 75 amp closed cell marine battery, Cobra 480 400 amp inverter, Innova battery charge meter.

Roadpro 12 Volt Oven

This is my latest fun road gear. A little oven that runs off 12 volt in your car (or solar if you have a panels and enough sun) and is about the size of a large lunchbox. I'm interested in this to make hot tea and cocoa or to maybe heat up dinner, cook a yam, etc while driving. I couldn't use this without running the car, it would drain the battery quickly. This thing ROCKS! It's aluminium inside, which I don't recommend cooking with because of aluminium toxicity, so I ordered a small vintage pyrex loaf dish on ebay AND I just tested a quart size mason jar and it fits PERFECTLY and heats cold water to tea temp in about 15 mins! They'are about $30 bucks on Amazon.

Testing the tent

Bought this Eureka Sunrise 11 many years ago and haven't used it much. I LOVE this tent, 7 foot tall, 11 foot square. I added to that a tiny 6 foot square "instant pop-up" tent that I put inside to make the space smaller for sleeping and staying warmer.

The little tent is a snap to put up and pretty easy to take down so I can do that every day if I want to. It's one of those fold-it-into-a-figure-eight-then-it-becomes-a-circle-things. Gonna try to spend a few nights out in the cold before I go. The desert in Arizona can get down into the freezing zones at night.

Solar!

 I've been buying camping and road worthy "stuff" for years, 12 volt fans, folding aluminium tables, (I love stuff that folds). Once I decided to do this, I dragged it all out to see what I had. Been adding to it with gusto. I now own a very cool Renogy Solar Suitcase https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-foldable-solar-suitcase/

and two ZMaxtanks 75 amp batteries

https://www.vmaxtanks.com/XTR34-75-12Volts-75AH-Deep-Cycle-XTREME-AGM-Battery_p_164.html

The solar/battery stuff was the most confusing and intimidating part of this project. So I went for something that was sort of ready made...... solar suitcase has the controller and wiring built in. Just hook it up to a battery and you're good! 

For more info from guys who have been doing it for years, check out Bob Well's  Youtube channel. He's been a great help!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAj7O3LCDbkIR54hAn6Zz7A