Going off the grid, our family story.

[DILLIGAF]

Looking good!!!! Glad to see some more posts in here to follow along.

 

[wsuwrhr]

"Fantastically violent"

Noted.

 

[grumpy88]

Great work !

 

[Sandlord]

I gonna put some poop in there some time.

and a yuge shoutout to Yarder for being there for you.

 

[rivrrts429]

Nice job, Wash [emoji106]

 

[Havasteve]

Joel, When's the runway going to be finished?

 

[Dirtbag]

i just read this whole thread start to finish and all i can say is you are one bad ass dude

 

[TITTIES AND BEER]

VERY NICE , The wife and I were watching the show "Homesteaders " the other night and how some of these people have no clue on how to do this , she said to me "Thats You only you do it right " and prepare for everything around our little ranch ( made me feel good ) and she said we should plan on doing this in a few years :cool

 

[Joe mama]

Hell if I was your inspector I would put VERY NICE on everything you've done..:thumbsup

 

[Kailuaboy89]

Absolutely awesome, I wish I could do the same!

 

[wash11]

We skipped a garden up there this year as fighting the deer only being there part time is pretty tough without extensive fencing etc. Instead, we offered to make all the years soil/compost for our favorite neighbor if she would agree to take a chance on us (and of course share in the bounty).
She planted like she always does with the only change being the compost we made for her. No synthetic fertilizers or "bumper" additions of compost needed during the growing season. As usual we were terrible at pictures even though someone is in the garden several times per day, everyday. These pics were a couple months ago, it's a overgrown beautiful mess at this point and is hard to navigate.







Amy and I took off to the Sand Show for the 1st time in 5 years to catch up with friends and celebrate Yarders 40th birthday. No one harvested anything for 3 days so we needed backup Sunday night. The below picture is just 3 days of a 30x40' garden that has fed us all for months now. Dawn (middle in picture) has a experienced green thumb so seeing our compost recipe cut loose with a seasoned pro is pretty exciting for us. Needles to say, we are very happy with the results.

 

[prosthogod]

Do you have a root cellar? How do you keep all the perishables?

 

[wash11]

Do you have a root cellar? How do you keep all the perishables?

No root cellar yet but it is in the master plan. Honestly, no one expected this kind of output so dealing with it is new for everyone. It gets used up pretty quick just keeping everyone fed and the rest is going to pigs finishing up. They eat like little queens.

 

[paradise]

No root cellar yet but it is in the master plan. Honestly, no one expected this kind of output so dealing with it is new for everyone. It gets used up pretty quick just keeping everyone fed and the rest is going to pigs finishing up. They eat like little queens.

Can't wait to try some [emoji106] (pig that is )

 

[YoPengo]

Wow! Very impressive. :thumbsup

 

[mbrown2]

That bounty is impressive!

 

[wash11]

We are so used to this adventure twisting and turning, we'd probably have heart attacks if even one thing went as planned.

The plan was to be completely moved out of Havasu by April 2017 and into the new house. Lofty goal indeed. The more we pushed, the more it pushed back. My inexperience with construction of any sort was showing at every turn. Choosing an architect out of area as opposed to a local draftsmen had cost of a few months and a couple thousand dollars. The county cringed when I walked in proudly with a expensive set of engineered plans. The contractors I needed to do major items would just shake their heads when I unrolled that same set of plans.
To be fair, the architect engineered an awesome house. Built to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes and all the other things we don't ever deal with here in Northern Arizona. The cost per square foot to build our little house using these plans bordered on insanity. At the urging of EVERYONE we spoke to (including the county plan checkers) we hired a local draftsman to re-draw the house using simple and standard construction methods. No more 4500psi concrete, no more special inspections and no issues with deviating from an engineer stamped set of plans.

After licking our wounds from that debacle we started calling in more contractors as we were running short on time and realistically could do less and less ourselves if we wanted to be in by April. Trying to get people interested in driving the 80 mile round trip was the first hurdle. The fact that there is so much building going on right now was the second. Zero deals to be had if we wanted to push it. Offering $100 bills didn't even get people excited. We only have so much money to work with but more importantly, we desperately wanted to experience building this house ourselves. Together.

Our solution was to upgrade the 5th wheel so we could be here full time and get the dream of building the house ourselves back on track. After 3 years of part time living in the beat down tin can of a 5th wheel, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted in a full time rig. It took a bit but we found a clean, 10 year old 5th wheel in very nice shape. It had the floorplan and quality construction that we wanted so a deal was made and the work began.



This was after Jesse at Adrenaline buffed and waxed it.





The furniture and layout didn't really work for us so we threw the couch out and relocated the dining set to the rear. We found a couple of big comfy recliners at Ashley furniture to replace the uncomfortable sofa sleeper.
This is a online photo I found of the original layout. Forgot to take one of our trailer before making the changes.


After:



Since we are going to strictly solar power we replaced the original television with a LED flat screen which uses a small fraction of the electricity. We have not had television service for years but we do like to watch movies. This will be a nice upgrade for snow days. We had to get a bit creative to build a mount for the new set to sit flush in the giant hole the old one required. I also had a local cabinet guy make me a matching trim piece to fill the hole in better.





Replaced all the bulbs with LED's, huge drop in power consumption with these.



The hardest part about deciding to full time in a RV for the next year (or however long it takes to build the house) is that we have 3 cats. Every house we have ever lived in, I always install a commercial exhaust fan above the cat box as I can't stand the smell. Using a 12volt bilge fan with a 12volt motion sensor programmable to 14 minutes was the answer to venting every time a cat hit the box but finding a home for said box was tricky.
Since we won't be traveling, the storage compartment under the bedroom was the obvious choice. Building a pathway for the cats to get to it took some work as the 5th wheel is built pretty well with aluminum frame work. Here's what we came up with.

We rebuilt the intake for the furnace and relocated the wooden grates so it still gets the same amount of air. The cats enter or exit the living area from here.



This is the other side of that first wall. It opens up to a storage area just past steps leading to bedroom. We carpeted everything to keep them clean etc.



Then, we finished off a hole into the storage compartment where the catbox will live.



Here is the view from inside the storage area. There was a shelf that we moved to make a divider (in picture). The other side will be inverter, charge controller and batteries.




We did most of this in Havasu while we were finishing septic and getting its new home ready.

 

[Rzncain]

Pretty awesome Joel. Keep up the good work. Your actually doing what most of us can only think about. Good for you guys! Had some Italian sausage in the spaghetti tonight and it was delicious.

 

[LuckyDaze]

Awesome thread. We are doing something very similar up here in rural Wa only instead of being completely off grid we are buffering ourselves and creating the majority of what we need while still plugged in to the power.

Just butchered 800 lbs of pork through a meat coop some like minded friends and I went in on. We finished those bad boys on locally grown apples. Apple trees grow wild like weeds up here. Can't wait to see how it looks back from the butcher. Next year I will be butchering them myself and makin my own ham and bacon in a smoke house I built.

It has been a huge learning curve and we continue to learn daily. Tomorrow we are butchering all our young roosters. Between the poultry, pork, fish I've traded for and garden our grocery bill is only ice cream and other things we don't care to make.

Keep up the good work, being able to provide for oneself is a dying skill.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

Living the dream......love it.

 

[wash11]

Next we plumbed in to the new septic system and ran a water line for the RV pad.





We laid down a plastic vapor barrier and brought her home!



The vapor barrier helps with moisture since we will skirt it for the winter. Since RV's don't really have rain gutters to direct water we installed a french drain on the high side to help keep things dry. Basically, you get to keep your grade and still direct your water. They work great without being an eyesore.



I've got enough stick time now that digging this close to the trailer didn't freak me out too bad.









We hauled in a couple more loads of the same pea gravel we used for the drain to spread around and keep us out of the mud.







Our water pressure is perfect on gravity alone. Our water quality is awesome but like all Arizona water, it's hard. I found this RV specific water softener that goes 1600 gallons before needing to be recharged with just a box of table salt. Works bitchin,


Here is the final layout for water inlet and sewer.




We have a bit more dirt work to do on the high side and we'll start skirting and insulating next week. Winter will be here before we know it and typically gives very little warning.

 

[fmo24]

IN the last pic is that a hand pump spigot ?

 

[wash11]

IN the last pic is that a hand pump spigot ?

It's called a frost free valve. Has a sucker rod that controls the actual valve below grade. When you shut it off it drains the water from pipe through a weep hole so there is no water to freeze. Sure looks like a hand pump though.:thumbsup

 

[LuckyDaze]

Looks great!

 

[OutCole'd]

Always love the updates. Still the best thread ever.

Thanks!

 

[wash11]

Our monsoon rains were just what our bees needed. The wildflowers went crazy this year. Lots of pollen everywhere. The hives are a couple years old now and are really established. Last year wasn't super exciting production wise so we were surprised to have pulled 70lbs of honey this year. The taste is as good as I've had (i'm biased of course). It's a ton of work but that first taste makes it all worth it.

 

[wash11]

Last update for the night.

I have fought with my weight and high cholesterol for years. I hit 260lbs at my heaviest and that is probably what got me kicking my own ass. This whole thing started as a search for a healthier lifestyle without the yo yo diets and 3 month stints at the gym before sliding back into a Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger and a large Coke.

Here I am 2 years ago, down to about 235 from my heaviest about a year in to working up here.



Here I am a couple months ago at 205 when Robbie came up for the weekend. Yeah, that RDP shirt is a Large. Not XL or XXL like the rest of my closet.



Heck, I'm even down to a large in a bee suit.



I still drink too much beer and still LOVE good food. Raw milk, real butter, bacon that we raise along with all the other goodies we grow are on my daily menu. I eat like a king so I was a bit hesitant but I stopped taking my cholesterol meds about 6 months ago knowing I had a annual checkup coming with blood work. I figured I was gonna really piss Dr. Wrona off or impress the hell out of him once the numbers came back.

All tests came back "best case scenario". My cholesterol was in the 160's.

I finally found the health I was looking for. This is the first time in my adult life I have not been on some sort of medication. Pain meds for a blown disc in my lower back, Simvastatin for cholesterol, or Advair for asthma. I really should have started this shit 20 years ago.

 

[Devious_Chris]

You are certainly doing it right!!! The food you are creating and offering is amazing, you are helping others to better quality lives as well!! Thank you for sharing your adventure with us.

 

[wash11]

Awesome thread. We are doing something very similar up here in rural Wa only instead of being completely off grid we are buffering ourselves and creating the majority of what we need while still plugged in to the power.

Just butchered 800 lbs of pork through a meat coop some like minded friends and I went in on. We finished those bad boys on locally grown apples. Apple trees grow wild like weeds up here. Can't wait to see how it looks back from the butcher. Next year I will be butchering them myself and makin my own ham and bacon in a smoke house I built.

It has been a huge learning curve and we continue to learn daily. Tomorrow we are butchering all our young roosters. Between the poultry, pork, fish I've traded for and garden our grocery bill is only ice cream and other things we don't care to make.

Keep up the good work, being able to provide for oneself is a dying skill.

Great post:thumbsup

 

[Sandlord]

Here I am a couple months ago at 205 when Robbie came up for the weekend. Yeah, that RDP shirt is a Large. Not XL or XXL like the rest of my closet.

looking good Joel,
I'm still rocking the XL, but should be in the L soon, I hope.

 

[Activated]

Our monsoon rains were just what our bees needed. The wildflowers went crazy this year. Lots of pollen everywhere. The hives are a couple years old now and are really established. Last year wasn't super exciting production wise so we were surprised to have pulled 70lbs of honey this year. The taste is as good as I've had (i'm biased of course). It's a ton of work but that first taste makes it all worth it.

Well, shit. Local honey was what I was going to send you if I ever got around to it.:thumbsup

Nothing better in my opinion and is supposed to be good for allergies.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Fat doesn't make you fat and cholesterol has a lot more to do with genetics than anything else. Being active is the last layer. We eat full fat everything and very few carbs. My last cholesterol check came back perfect.

Great job, and good to see that hard work paying off.

 

[rivermobster]

Nice work Joel. Nice work. 👍👍

 

[boatnam2]

I have pretty much eaten all my beef, going to figure out my strategy moving forward, hopefully get myself a 1/2 next time around.

 

[Victory32]

Whew! I'm new here (kinda). Just read through all 39 pages of this post. Amazing does not come close to describing your efforts and accomplishments. One question though, why the heck was this not documented by a reality show? Just the pictures here are ten times better than any real life documentary I've ever seen on TV. Great thread!!!

 

[wash11]

I have pretty much eaten all my beef, going to figure out my strategy moving forward, hopefully get myself a 1/2 next time around.

That didn't take long! Just let me know when you are ready bud.:thumbsup

 

[wash11]

Whew! I'm new here (kinda). Just read through all 39 pages of this post. Amazing does not come close to describing your efforts and accomplishments. One question though, why the heck was this not documented by a reality show? Just the pictures here are ten times better than any real life documentary I've ever seen on TV. Great thread!!!

Thanks!

I'm not sure it'd make a good show. There's no fighting or drama between Amy and I. When friends come up to help, we sweat a bit then drink and giggle a bunch but 90% of this is just two people, sweaty and dirty, making slow progress. Although, I'd tune in just to watch Amy climb in and out of the backhoe in those jeans she wears

 

[boatnam2]

That didn't take long! Just let me know when you are ready bud.:thumbsup

Well i split it lol, but yea it was good and didnt last long.

 

[Abc123]

It's taken me a few months to get caught up as I discovered this thread late. This is hands down, the coolest thread I have ever read on a boating site that has nothing to do with boating. :thumbsup

 

[Abc123]

Love the jams. I have a pantry full, from a family friend up north. I haven't bought jam from the store in years! Had plum this am, on my toast. :thumbsup

 

[wash11]

We are just a few weeks away from living here fulltime. Our youngest daughter has finished her associates degree at MCC and leaves for Northern Arizona University January 2nd. She's the reason we have kept a place in Havasu. It has been a bit of a rush to finish setting the new 5th wheel up for winter, which showed up in a hurry.



Even with a belly pan and great insulation on the trailer, we still needed to skirt it to help hold the inside temps and keep water/sewer lines from freezing. This took several days as I figured out how to frame it up with no carpentry skills whatsoever. We started with using 12" spikes to attach 2x6's to the ground, rolled the vapor barrier over the top then used 2x4's to hold plastic down and build frame work from there. Nothing actually attaches to the trailer, it all anchors from the ground up. Since we will need to sell this when we are done, I didn't want to start putting holes in it.




Insulated with rolls of bubble wrap to leave an air gap between the siding and insulation.





Then we started cutting T-111 siding to fit.



Finally, we pulled all the pieces off and painted them individually with an airless sprayer followed by reassembly and caulking.






This is the final result. 28 degrees outside but 54 degrees under trailer. 66 is inside temp and the 46 is compartment where batteries are. Heater runs less than half the time it did before.

 

[charlyox]

Looking good Joel and Amy. [emoji106]

 

[Sandlord]

Keep up the good work my friends. Love ya, and miss you.

 

[5oclocksomewhere]

Best thread ever!!!!

 

[wash11]

Next up was a solar system large enough to run everything except the air conditioner. Microwave, hair dryer, electric blanket for Amy, crock pot all day...... No more running the generator. The sun is taking care of all our needs now.

660 watt total charging with a second, redundant 120 watt panel and charge controller (since it was already on trailer when we bought it, we just included in the system), 2000 watt inverter/charger with low voltage generator auto start. Overkill for an RV? Maybe, but we plan on using this system to power the outdoor kitchen and freezers once the house is built. We spent a bunch of time designing to be removed at a later date without tearing things up. Special thanks to my buddy Chicken Dan. Without his expertise I would have surely burned the trailer down installing myself. He owns Done Right Electrical in Havasu and is a very talented fabricator, this stuff comes easy to him.

Northern Arizona Wind and Sun out of Flagstaff provided most of the parts and pieces with a easy to follow wiring diagram. We had to fabricate an adjustable rack system for the panels first. Then get it up and mounted on the roof.









We started laying out components and built from there with space and serviceability in mind.





A majority of the cost was in the sealed batteries. Installing inside the RV would make maintaining flooded batteries a pain not to mention venting issues from charging gasses. This is as safe and maintenance free design we could come up with.



The completed system.





The first night dipped into the 20's and somehow I left the bathroom roof vent open so the heater ran quite a bit. The largest 12volt draw any RV has is the furnace, so I guess this was the test. Once the sun popped up and hit the panels it took 9 minutes to charge the batteries back to 100%. Very happy with the end result.

 

[Go-Fly]

You're not true white trailer trash until you have a blue tarp over the roof, held down with milk jugs full of water.

I love this thread, have gone back and re-read it a few times. Keep up the good work or fun work, however you look at it. :thumbsup

 

[BasilHayden]

Best thread ever!!!!

Agreed, though a GoFly thread always delivers as well!

 

[5oclocksomewhere]

Agreed, though a GoFly thread always delivers as well!

True!

 

[SoCalDave]

I agree with the others here on number one thread of the year and like your Christmas tree as well. :thumbsup

 

[wash11]

I agree with the others here on number one thread of the year and like your Christmas tree as well. :thumbsup

View attachment 526605

LOL. Trying to find the time to get a bit more festive!