Home, Baby!

August 25 2009 by Darrin.

Okay, so we didn’t make Alaska.  It’ll be there next year.  (Unless the Norks get their rocketry right….)

But we did get home safely, and we love it here.  True serenity.  Dad, I know you went with us, and you’ll go again next time!

Here’s one last photo of the camper, taken this morning next to the dumpsters at the rest area…

 How’d the camper do, overall?  I’m really pleased with it in general.  Here are some key observations:

• It’s comfortable to drive, and easy to maneuver, even lost in Calgary
• There’s plenty of elbow room inside for two people and a 55-lb. dog
• There’s ample storage space for clothes
• The extra freezer means you can really take a lot of food along
• Electrically, it’s just perfect.  260W of solar feeding a 600 AHr battery works great.  Overnight, even with TV running off the inverter for an hour or two, the morning voltage is 12.55 to 12.60 VDC under load.  That’s around 85% to 90% state of charge
• We never needed the halogen lighting, as the new LED lights worked really well.  They’re warm in color, and low in consumption - a tenth of an amp each
• The shower, though small, works fine and is always refreshing.
• There’s plenty of hot water too, all from engine heat.  We never ran out, and only let coolant circulate through the camper for an hour or two each morning
• While heating water, the coolant also passes through three heat exchangers.  This feature kept the camper nice and toasty when Anna wanted heat back there
• The auxiliary lighting from Hella is extremely good.  I always use them, so it’s no surprise.  I would never be without them.  On this vehicle, I added side work lights and they’re really handy for finding late-night campsites

We were approached by many people.  Surprisingly, even some who noticed my Palin sticker and wanted to say how much they thought “America” was currently going wrong!  I was really amazed, and didn’t expect that in Canada.  I guess Hugo Chavez ain’t the only person who thinks he and Castro could be more right wing than Obama.  (read it yourself at Reuters if you only watch mindless mainstream media and think I’m nuts)

 And if you think I’m cynical, or even anti-social with some of my comments about “crowded campgrounds” and too many people on holiday, here’s my special camper keyring, which Anna found in a shop and Douglas and couldn’t resist…

To close out this story, I’ll attach two more photos of those Bighorn Sheep we saw on the way into Jasper…

Now it’s time to get some stuff done around here, like fall painting, cleaning, staining, and firewood prep.  It’ll actually be nice to have the extra ~3 weeks available.

Thanks to everyone who read the blog!

- Darrin and Anna

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