Our RV Adventures

I spent most of the morning working on client stuff. It seems like they all want things done at the same time, and this week has been a perfect example. Every thing comes to a head at the same time.

I mentioned back in January after I installed my new power converter/charger that there was a slight problem with the voltage output.

Powermax 110 Volt to 12 Volt 55 Amp Power Supply Converter Charger

The Powermax unit has 3 voltage levels: A Bulk Charge Mode at 14.4 volts, a Absorption Mode at 13.6, and a Float Charge Mode at 13.2 volts. When you first power up the unit, it starts out in Bulk Charge Mode for up to 4 hours, before dropping back to Absorption Mode, which is where it will stay under heavy 12volt usage. But with mostly LED lights, our unit usually runs in Float Mode.

But Float Mode is 0.1 volt too low for the rig power system to switch over and keep the rig engine batteries charged. Up to now I had a separate battery charger on the engine batteries that I plug in every we part. But this is a PITA, and just one more thing to do when we park.

So this afternoon, I set up something different. Using an AC Timer like this one,

I set it up to turn the converter off for 30 minutes every 8 hours around the clock. When it turns back on, the converter starts back up in Bulk Charge Mode and then drops to Absorption Mode. Both of these voltages are high enough to keep the engine batteries charged. And so far today it’s working fine. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I had planned on trying to paint the center section of the rig bumper this afternoon, but by the time I got out there, the sun was directly on the bumper, making it too hot to paint without it drying too fast. So maybe tomorrow.

For supper tonight Jan heated up our leftover Grimaldi’s Pizzeria pizza from the other night, as well as the Fried Green Beans from last night’s Joe’s Farm Grill visit.  Both just about as good as before. We both agree Joe’s is a place we would like to go back to before we leave.

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Thought for the Day:

The more I get to know some people the more I love my cat.

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I did get the first coat on the rig done early this afternoon, and it looks really good. In fact Chris did such a good that so far I haven’t found any places that really needs to be sanded or smoothed.

Since this is enamel I can only do about 1 coat a day, but in a good light it’s already pretty glossy.

Tomorrow I’ll take off the license plate and do the center section. It wasn’t damaged or repaired, but it should match.

I was a little disappointed in the resulting color, which is called Smoke Gray, and looks a lot lighter on the can. Of course it may get lighter as it dries, but right now it looks more like Battleship Gray. Hopefully I’ll be able to do another coat tomorrow.

About 4pm we picked up Nick and Terry and headed out for dinner and some shopping. Our dinner destination was a place we discovered yesterday on our way to Wal-Mart / Sam’s Club near SanTan Village.

We passed a place called Joe’s Farm Grill that looked interesting, and was very busy to boot. Then this morning, I checked them out online. Turns out that Joe’s Farm Grill is a Triple-D winner, i.e. a Diner’s, Drive-ins, and Dives place, and their menu looked delicious.

From things like Grill Salmon, Ahi Tuna, and Fresh Beet Salad, to pizza, hot dogs, and burgers, Joe’s pretty much has it all. Their logo is “Common Food Done Uncommonly Well”, and that certainly describes their food.

Jan and I have both been jonsing for hot dogs recently and Joes’ seemed like the place to fill that void.

Jan had the regular hot dog basket, with an all-beef dog, onions, and farm-made relish, along with Garlic Fries.

I had Mix-n-Match, with a Carolina Dog, with Pulled Pork BBQ, coleslaw, and BBQ sauce, and a Sonoran Dog, wrapped in bacon and topped with farm beans, two cheeses, sour cream, and jalapenos, as well as an order of their Triple-D rated Onion Rings.

We also got an order of their Fried Green Beans for everyone to share. (Well, not Nick. Nick doesn’t eat vegetables . . . except for potatoes, which he swears are not really vegetables.)

Nick had the Fried Shrimp Platter, that he really liked, while Terry had the Fontina Burger, another Triple-D selection, and the Fresh Beet Salad. Jan, Nick, and Terry all had their farm-made fresh Strawberry Lemonade, so good that Nick said it was almost good enough to come for by itself.

It was easy to tell we all loved this place, Everyone got really quiet, with a lot of lip-smacking, but very little talking going on.

Joe’s is part of a real family farm that provides much of the stuff they serve, with the rest local-sourced as much as possible. The restaurant, built around the old-family home, looks like an indoor fast-food place,

but the food certainly doesn’t taste that way. This is a great place to eat, so check it out. You can see their menu here. Joe’s Menu

Our next stop was the nearby Sam’s Club. We were there to pick up a prescription that wasn’t ready yesterday because they were out, and Nick and Terry wanted to look at TV’s to replace theirs that’s slowly dying.

Then it was on to Fry’s Electronics. I wanted a new HD for a computer I’m building up, and Nick and Terry were still looking at TV’s. They didn’t find anything, but I got a 3TB HD on sale for cheaper than what the 2TB from the same company costs. Nice.

Thought for the Day:

Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and further more, always carry a small snake. – W. C. Fields

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