A Very Busy Summer That Is Quickly Coming to An End

Last full moon in Portland

I tried to make a video showing all the things I did to improve my trailer and every clip came out weirdly terrible. They were all too long and slow and boring. I'm hoping a blog post will work better and be more interesting. This is good example of where blogging works and video doesn't.

From the day I parked my trailer in Paul and Bev's driveway, I set out to whittle down a lengthy to-do list I had been adding to for over a year. Quite surprisingly, I got through the whole list with time to spare. Now I'm concentrating on preparing to return to solo RV life - this time it will be full-time.

For the last 15 years I have spent my summers in Portland at my friend Mitzi's home. Every summer Mitzi goes to France over the summer months and I move into her home in Portland. When she returns I go travel. For 13 years, I traveled by trike all over the world. 2 years ago I changed things up by traveling through the US in a truck and trailer. The Portland living arrangement has been terrific for both of us. Until this summer.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my truck is too big to fit in the garage and it has been broken into twice while parked in the driveway. Portland has the distinction of being the #1 city for car break-ins and thefts in the US. Catalytic converters are also valuable and every day I'm relieved to see mine still attached. I've only got a few more days before I start a new adventure and I hope to escape Portland without any more theft issues.

My final days of summer are being filled with taking care of last minute stuff. I am not returning to this home next summer and all my belongings that have been stored here for years need to be out. I brought a ton of piano, chamber and orchestral sheet music, family heirlooms, pictures and posters to my sister's in Crescent City. It was a big deal to find a good and safe home for everything.

2 170w solar panels on the trailer roof

I had a fairly long list of things I wanted to improve and upgrade in the trailer. RVing was completely new to me when I bought my truck and trailer the end of 2019. It took time to be certain I actually liked RVing and the trailer was a good fit. After 18 months, I felt confident I liked the trailer enough that it was worth improving. I also learned that I really enjoy boondocking more than staying in RV parks or campgrounds. This showed me that adding a more robust solar system would be a worthwhile investment. On my way to Portland at the beginning of summer, I stopped in Bend to have 2 170 watt solar panels added to the roof with 3 100ah lithium batteries. The batteries will run everything in the trailer including the microwave and ac. With the smaller AGM batteries that came with the trailer I didn't have access to the outlets. Unless I used my generator or was plugged into shore power all I only had access to was the USB ports and led lights. If temperatures were cold overnight sometimes the AGM batteries would be dead in the morning. Even though the frig, furnace, stove and hot water heater all run on propane the refrigerator needs a little bit of power even when running on propane. When the batteries died so did the refrigerator. This was easily remedied by using the generator or plugging the trailer into the truck. Now, with the solar and lithium batteries, I have access to everything without using the loud generator. It feels very luxurious.

Video talking about solar install and generator conversion

Honda Generator converted to propane fuel in a locked box on a trailer tray.

I also converted my Honda EU2200i generator to run on propane. The generator lives in a locked box that sits on a trailer tray above the propane tanks on the front hitch triangle. The lithium batteries replaced the AGM batteries and fit in the same space. I love the way all of this worked out. These changes and enhancements added 70 lbs to the hitch triangle. It is so nice not dealing with stinky messy gas anymore.

I'm eager to see where the limits for the solar charged batteries are. I explained to the solar installer what I wanted and he felt 2 panels and 3 batteries would be enough. I've also read where lots of people promote adding as many panels and batteries as you can. It's possible these people are doomsday preppers planning for long term off-grid living. The biggest energy hogs are the microwave and AC. I use my microwave for maybe 2 minutes a day. The trailer is also so small it doesn't take long for the AC to cool it down. The AC is also so loud that I expect to be using the generator for longer term needs. I think I've done the most expensive and complicated part of getting solar installed. If I need more panels or batteries I have room for both. We'll see if I need it. 

Cell phone booster base tapped into the bumper with attachment points on the trailer

I also added a cell phone service signal booster. There are a few types. I went with an antenna that expands to 25 ft in the air. I've only tried it once for a weekend stay at Ft. Stevens State Park on the Oregon coast which is notorious for poor cell coverage. Without the booster I had 1 bar of T-Mobile and 1 bar of Verizon. With the booster I had 4 full bars of each. Download speeds were very good but upload speeds were terrible. I had no service from ATT with or without the booster. You do need a bit of a signal in order to boost it. This signal booster was expensive but being a woman traveling solo I consider having usable cell service to be a safety issue. The antenna goes so high that the cables are also very long. I'm having a bit of an issue with what to do with the excess cabling but once I know how I'm going to be using it I might be able to shorten the cables to the booster and inside antenna.

LevelMate Pro phone app showing that the trailer isn't level

Another device I bought was a LevelMate Pro. This is a small box that attaches to a wall inside the trailer. It connects by bluetooth to an app on my phone where I can see exactly when the trailer is level from the truck driver's seat. This is especially helpful for solo RVers. I have a few levels on the outside of the trailer and sometimes I'll use a can of tuna to see if it will roll on the floor to check for level. The other thing this device does is set the hitch height when you lift the trailer off the hitch ball. This way, when I go to re-hitch I'll know exactly how high the trailer needs to be lifted to get the truck ball under it. This is something that has always required I get in and out of the truck many times when hitching and unhitching. 

Paul's handiwork

Shelf and basket hooks

Very handy bumper box for tank dumping hoses and accessories

My friends Paul and Bev have generously allowed me to keep my trailer in their driveway since the middle of July. Not only that but Paul has helped me with many upgrades. He added a shelf and basket hooks to one wall that I think will add needed organization space. Paul is very good with woodworking tools and he does it all so fast. Last summer he added a door to access storage space under my bed. This was a genius idea and it looks great too. He also helped me attach a bumper box to the rear of the trailer. I keep all things used for dumping the grey and black tanks in this box. These items are bulky and took up a lot of room in my pass-through storage area. All these items are also much more accessible in this bigger box. Again, great idea!

Video describing the genius under bed storage access door.

New bed, bedding, pillows and curtains

I bought a new mattress, bedding and pillows. The mattress that came with the trailer was very uncomfortable. I added a topper from Ikea that was made the bed more comfortable but slid on the mattress. I tried all kinds of things to keep the topper from sliding but whenever I got out of bed the topper would slide with me. Not anymore. I replaced the original mattress with a Novaform from Costco. This mattress, just like the original, is a tight fit and changing the sheets is a major chore especially putting the bottom sheet back on. I bought a set of Quickzip sheets. Quickzip is a bottom sheet that only needs to be put on once. The top rectangle zips off for much easier bed making when I want to clean the sheet. 

Cycling friends Dave and Edna were also real rockstars who helped me with many projects. Edna made curtains for the window over the bed. The trailer came with pleated shades on all the windows. These shades work well on all the windows except the one over the bed. The bed pillows are next to the shade and would hit the shade overnight. The pleats always needed to be popped back into shape every morning. When I wanted more airflow I had to raise the shade to open the window. This meant I lost privacy as anyone could see right in. Edna brought a small sewing machine over and completed the project in the trailer dinette. The curtain looks great and I think it will work much better.

New shower faucet and shower head with better water pressure

Dave helped me replace the shower faucet and head after a small leak developed. These items were already on my list to replace and the project was much easier than I expected. This new shower head has more water pressure without using more water. Cool trick! Dave has also been helping me sell items I no longer need and don't want to carry with me. These include old cameras, phones, gimbals and a drone. I love buying stuff and hate selling it. I'm also uneasy having people come to the house or knowing when I'm being scammed. Every so often he'll hand me money which I think is a good deal too. With Dave's help I've managed to clean out everything I had stored for the last few years from Mitzi's house. It's been fun making money from things that are essentially useless to me as well.

I'm sure there is more I could add but that is enough for now. Just a few more days and I'll be back on the road of adventure exploring the magnificent USA while looking for places to ride my trike.