So much happened in such a short amount of time.

I'm sitting outside my daughter's house in Winfield MD.  I'll be here until the last week of July, when I will go to teach again (hopefully) at Campbell Folk School.

Thanks to Leonard and Robert I now have:

Solar Panels (thanks, Leonard); slight modifications to said solar panel (thanks, Karen VH and Robert)
Extra Deep Cell Battery installed on the Trailer (thanks, Robert for the excellent wood/cable working getting them installed in an almost impossibly too small space.  You're a very good problem solver and make doer!)
Figured out what the phantom draw was that kept drawing down my batteries (thanks, Robert for that happy accidental discovery)
A Zero Gravity Lounge Chair (thanks, Leonard)
Solar Powered Lights for the Awning (thanks, Leonard)
A week of rest, relaxation, good food and several campfires as Robert and I tried to figure out my phantom battery draw (thanks, Karen VH, Julie, Leonard, Robert and other assorted friends of Karen's)
A second week of rest and relaxation camped beside Leonard's workshop
A 1500 watt inverter (thanks, Leonard) and I gave my 800 watt inverter to Robert
A 10' piece of rain gutter cut in two pieces to be used to support the sewer hose (thanks, Robert)
A genuine appreciation for Bo Jangles Chicken (thanks, Robert)

Thanks to Mountain Air Automotive in Hayesville, NC I now have:

New Brakes, Rotars, Calipers, Hoses, and some other brake stuff
New Axles and Bearings in the van's rear end.  It now is a quiet ride (Thanks again, Robert for pointing out how noisy it was)

I told Dennis at Mountain Air that I was coming back there to teach the end of July and did not intend to spend my whole pay check on car repairs.  Dang, now I've put it out in the universe and now....


I've been able to fill up with gas and drive several hundred miles and can accurately calculate my MPG pulling the trailer.  Before it was always a combo of pulling it and not pulling it and I couldn't get a good reading.  I'll get the figures together and post them tomorrow.  They're a lot lower than I hoped, and I'm welcoming all suggestions on ways to improve said mpg.  I drove each tank full differently and will describe the processes in case it helps y'all make suggestions for improvement.

I need to go back and re-read my posts to see what I've written about so I don't repeat my self.


More to follow...