wash11
Off The Grid
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- Jan 24, 2011
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2017 was fast approaching. Our youngest daughter was set to transfer to NAU/Flagstaff and the sale of our business was to close the same day. We had spent several years purging "stuff" in anticipation for this move. What once was a life in a 3500sq ft house with a 1200sq ft garage and 2 storage units was now going to fit in one 40' storage container. Take a minute to wrap your head around that.
This wasn't "tidying up a bit". This was the last major transformation before being firmly planted in a simpler life. The things we kept had real meaning or usefulness so we opted to spend a few extra bucks on a "one trip", almost new container. Guaranteed to be wind and water tight. After shopping around, we made a deal on one just South of Kingman which included delivery to our place.
We spent a day building up a pad so water would drain away during big rain storms.
Other than being too tall to easily fit under our front gate, delivery went smooth and the driver was able to set it right where we wanted without us having to drag it around.
Surprisingly, we only filled 2/3rds of the container with 1/3 of that being a stock of dry goods and canned foods that we'll go through on a regular basis. Once the momentum of purging and selling stuff kicks in, it goes pretty fast. Minus tools and equipment, all our worldly possessions, including stuff saved for the house when we finish it, fit in a 25'x8' space with room to walk down the center. It's the first time I can remember not being owned by a bunch of "things". It's pretty fantastic.
December 2016 was a rough month all around. We were already behind schedule due to weather setbacks then 1st of December we got a call that Amy's dad was in the hospital in Great Falls, Montana with some complications. In an hour, we had the truck packed and hit the road at 11pm and drove straight through arriving at 7pm the following day. Within 4 or 5 days he had turned it around and was set to be released so we headed back to Arizona. 3 days later, the same call again so we hit the road once more. We lost him right before Christmas and didn't feel right leaving mom to spend her first Christmas alone after 50+ years of marriage so Amy and I spent the holidays in a small Northern Montana town called Cut Bank getting ma settled. Literally a "One stop light town"
This would also be the first time in our kids lives that we have not been together for the holidays. Our youngest daughter handled the transfer to Flagstaff/NAU on her own including housing (not bad for a 17 year old) all we had to do was come home and help her move her stuff. Our oldest daughter coordinated getting our son from ASU, youngest daughter from NAU and packed everyone to my folks in Hacienda Heights for Christmas so they would all be together.
To say December was stressful on many levels is a gross understatement.
We were basically gone for a month. At this point, winter had showed up at the ranch in a big way. Everything was covered in snow.
So, with a foot of snow on the ground and muddy roads we made the final move.
One final project to make life with 2 cats in a trailer more pleasant was a venting system for the catboxes. I had planned on making this a much nicer install but was just out of time. We used 4" SDR 35 pipe left over from the septic install to pull the dust and smell from right above the catboxes and routed through trailer to the opposite side of where we grill and eat outdoors. A simple piece of plywood separates the cat area from batteries and anything solar related.
I wanted a 12 volt exhaust fan so I could wire direct to the batteries without needing to run the inverter all the time. A standard boat bilge blower seemed to be the right fit for the ducting idea and at a total draw of 2.5 amps would be easy enough on the battery power if I ran it 24/7. Right out of the box we gave it some power and I was instantly reminded how noisy these blowers are and how much vibration they make. We changed up the design a bit to compensate. We isolated the blower with flex hose and screwed it to a chunk of railroad tie, not connected to the trailer in any way. Then ordered a 12 volt speed control from ebay. This allows us to adjust the fan speed until we found the right combination of air movement, noise and power consumption. We've got it down to @1 amp and there is zero cat box smell in the trailer. An added bonus is the system draws heated air from inside to the catbox area and keeps them a bit more comfortable while doing business.
This wasn't "tidying up a bit". This was the last major transformation before being firmly planted in a simpler life. The things we kept had real meaning or usefulness so we opted to spend a few extra bucks on a "one trip", almost new container. Guaranteed to be wind and water tight. After shopping around, we made a deal on one just South of Kingman which included delivery to our place.
We spent a day building up a pad so water would drain away during big rain storms.
Other than being too tall to easily fit under our front gate, delivery went smooth and the driver was able to set it right where we wanted without us having to drag it around.
Surprisingly, we only filled 2/3rds of the container with 1/3 of that being a stock of dry goods and canned foods that we'll go through on a regular basis. Once the momentum of purging and selling stuff kicks in, it goes pretty fast. Minus tools and equipment, all our worldly possessions, including stuff saved for the house when we finish it, fit in a 25'x8' space with room to walk down the center. It's the first time I can remember not being owned by a bunch of "things". It's pretty fantastic.
December 2016 was a rough month all around. We were already behind schedule due to weather setbacks then 1st of December we got a call that Amy's dad was in the hospital in Great Falls, Montana with some complications. In an hour, we had the truck packed and hit the road at 11pm and drove straight through arriving at 7pm the following day. Within 4 or 5 days he had turned it around and was set to be released so we headed back to Arizona. 3 days later, the same call again so we hit the road once more. We lost him right before Christmas and didn't feel right leaving mom to spend her first Christmas alone after 50+ years of marriage so Amy and I spent the holidays in a small Northern Montana town called Cut Bank getting ma settled. Literally a "One stop light town"
This would also be the first time in our kids lives that we have not been together for the holidays. Our youngest daughter handled the transfer to Flagstaff/NAU on her own including housing (not bad for a 17 year old) all we had to do was come home and help her move her stuff. Our oldest daughter coordinated getting our son from ASU, youngest daughter from NAU and packed everyone to my folks in Hacienda Heights for Christmas so they would all be together.
To say December was stressful on many levels is a gross understatement.
We were basically gone for a month. At this point, winter had showed up at the ranch in a big way. Everything was covered in snow.
So, with a foot of snow on the ground and muddy roads we made the final move.
One final project to make life with 2 cats in a trailer more pleasant was a venting system for the catboxes. I had planned on making this a much nicer install but was just out of time. We used 4" SDR 35 pipe left over from the septic install to pull the dust and smell from right above the catboxes and routed through trailer to the opposite side of where we grill and eat outdoors. A simple piece of plywood separates the cat area from batteries and anything solar related.
I wanted a 12 volt exhaust fan so I could wire direct to the batteries without needing to run the inverter all the time. A standard boat bilge blower seemed to be the right fit for the ducting idea and at a total draw of 2.5 amps would be easy enough on the battery power if I ran it 24/7. Right out of the box we gave it some power and I was instantly reminded how noisy these blowers are and how much vibration they make. We changed up the design a bit to compensate. We isolated the blower with flex hose and screwed it to a chunk of railroad tie, not connected to the trailer in any way. Then ordered a 12 volt speed control from ebay. This allows us to adjust the fan speed until we found the right combination of air movement, noise and power consumption. We've got it down to @1 amp and there is zero cat box smell in the trailer. An added bonus is the system draws heated air from inside to the catbox area and keeps them a bit more comfortable while doing business.
