Converting to Lithium

Battleborn Lithium Batteries

For a number of reasons, I decided to replace the 6V lead acid batteries in my trailer with a pair of 100 amp hour lithium batteries. Rather than stick the pages of text & many photos here, I'll provide a link to the page I started at LakeshoreImages.  I'll be updating the page ad the project progresses.

Changing from Lead Acid to Lithium Batteries.

Until Next Time -

Home From the Spring Fling

The Fruit Trees Are In Bloom

Day 8, Oswego, NY - 219.7 miles, 819.2 for the trip.

I didn't get out of the campground until around 9:30, hanging around in the trailer hoping the rain would stop. Light rain, but I had to dump the trailer tanks, so that meant standing out in it for a bit. No problems dumping, although the water was shut off at the dump station. I used my outside shower to rinse the dump hose.

I drove the same route as last year, through the Adirondacks, picking up NY 3 and following it through Watertown & to 104B, 104, and home. The rain cleared up as I traveled west.

The daffodils have passed their prime, the tulips have just about had it, but the cherry & crab apple trees are in full bloom.

Dinner was the microwave Healthy Choice Honey Balsamic Chicken steamer I was going to have the other night when the microwave fuse broke.

Until the Lithium project starts -

Spring Fling Trip, Day 7

Lincoln Pond

Day 7, Lincoln Pond DEC Campground, Adirondacks State Park, NY, Day 2

As previously mentioned, Lincoln pond is a "rustic" campground, with most of the sites un level & "interesting" to back into. The sites along the pond are the nicest, but even some of them have difficult entries for a 21' trailer. I took a few photos of the pond in between thunderstorms yesterday, more at today's LakeshoreImages page.

I was down 24 amp hours by noon with little sun in site (and lots of shade it there was some), so as an experiment, I dug out my 900/700 watt propane generator, hooked it up to my 1 gallon propane tank & fired it up. I had to shut off the 120V side of the water heater, and put the refrigerator on propane rather than automatic, but the little generator brought the batteries back around 6 amps per hour using the WFCO converter.

I built a fire during the afternoon to use some of the free firewood, but it was only fair - everything is wet. That was about it for the day. Heavy clouds, but no rain with temperatures in the low 70's during the afternoon.

Dinner was just a sandwich.

Until Tomorrow -

Spring Fling, Day 6

Site 17

Day 6, Lincoln Pond DEC Campground, Adirondacks State Park, NY

I probably should change the title of the posts to "Trip From New Hampshire to Oswego", but I won't. I left the campground around 9:30, along with many others. We made next year's reservations yesterday. The rules are you get to stay in your current site next year if you want. Jeff of the Trillium next to Don & Anne walked up to the registration building & set up trading sites with me so Don & Anne & I will be next door to each other. While the site I was in was nice, it made for a long walk carrying meals & stuff for making dinners, etc. So, next year Don & Anne will still be in site 48, & I will move to site 46.

Lots of twisty narrow roads for the trip to Lincoln Pond, but that's New Hampshire, Vermont & the Adirondacks in New York. I arrived at the campground around 2:45, and drove around to pick out a site. All the pond front sites were either too small or already taken, but I found a nice location overlooking the pond & fairly close to the bathrooms. I'm in site 17, a dry site on dirt that required a bit of maneuvering to get into & a bunch of leveling to set up. Another minor problem is it is under a bunch of pine trees that are dripping sap. $18.00 per night plus a service charge of $2.75 for tonight. No service charge for tomorrow because NY lets senior residents into the parks for free during the week. A total of $38.75 for two nights.

After getting back to the site after paying at the registration booth, a light rain started while I set the stabilizers. As soon as I went into the trailer, it stopped and the sun is back out. It started out at 52°F this morning at Chocorua, and has been at 80°F most of the afternoon. Some black flies, but I've had much worse in the park.

The plan for dinner was to microwave a frozen dinner, however the rough roads bounced the batteries around enough to break the 200 amp fuse again. I have a spare, but decided to use the oven to bake a Barber Cordon Bleu Chicken Breast. Part of the coming conversion to lithium batteries will be to move the fuse out of the battery box into its own holder, which will solve the problem.

Until Tomorrow -

Spring Fling, Day 5

Trailer & Travel Discussions

Day 5, Chocorua KOA, Chocorua, NH

A beautiful sunny day, although still a bit on the cool side. We went to a pancake breakfast, then opened the trailers for tours. During the afternoon I wandered around taking more photos, then relaxed & read for a bit. At 6:00 there was an ice cream social put on by the campground, and at 6:30 a discussion group about trailers & traveling. As usual for rallies, many more photos have been added at the Spring Fling Rally Page.

Dinner was scrimp Alfredo & Brussels sprouts put together by Don & Anne.

Until Tomorrow -

Spring Fling, Day 4

Cooking Chicken

Day 4, Chocorua KOA, Chocorua, NH

Quite a bit of light rain overnight and during the morning, but it cleared up around noon. I made a round of the campground trying to photograph the new arrivals. I'm sure I missed a few. I went to the campground cooking demo and enjoyed some Chinese quick dishes.

During the break between the cooking demo & the pot luck dinner I took a shower. The bathrooms are unheated, and it is in the 50's, so I decided it made sense to shower in the trailer. I turned up the heat to around 68°F, and did the usual Navy shower since I don't have a sewer drain connected. My gray tank still shows 1/3 full, so I could have showered longer, but didn't.

The pot luck was great, as usual.

After that it was back to the trailer to finish up the dishes. Sure glad there was a sink at the pavilion. Without it my gray tank would have turned blue. Lots more photos added today at the Spring Fling Page.

Dinner was, of course, the pot luck.

Until Tomorrow -

Spring Fling, Day 3

Don, Anne, Lea & Roy

Day 3, Chocorua KOA, Chocorua, NH

It started out as a cloudless blue sky, but light rain clouds came & went throughout the day. Mostly dry. We watched a number of trailers pull in & register at the rally host site.

Around 10:00 I started a couple of blueberry pies. I forgot to bring the brown sugar - don't tell anyone! Around 11:00 some former students, Roy & Lea stopped by and we spent much of the day sitting around chatting. After they left, I took a walk around the campground & took some photos. I'll put a few here, but most of them will be at the The 2019 3rd Annual Spring Fling page.

Dinner was spaghetti squash, sausage & meatballs. After dinner we headed to the pavilion for a cheese & crackers get together.

Until Tomorrow -

Spring Fling, Day 2

Site 40

Day 2, Chocorua KOA, Chocorua, NH

The owners of the Broken Wheel Campground had a family emergency, and were never at the campground, but we found a note on our trailer doors asking if we could leave either cash or a check on the porch. If not, no problem, don't worry about it and we will see you next year. I checked on line, and the price went up $.50, so it was $33.00 for the night. A very family oriented campground. I met a couple from Florida that is a 4th generation camper at the campground.

We headed out around 10:00, and followed Anne's directions with just a bit of assistance from Matilda, the GPS. I don't know if Anne renamed the GPS I gave her or not, but mine didn't complain too much when we ignored her suggested turns. As usual, I left the navigation up to Anne since it is far easier for her to check maps, etc while Don is driving.  We did have the longest construction stop I've ever had on US 2; about 45 minutes.

We made a stop at our usual Hannaford grocery store for supplies. As I was trying to fit the truck & trailer into a double parking spot a lady pulled in next to me wedging me in place with the back of the trailer still hanging into the handicapped spot. I did some quick shopping, then headed out to try to move the truck & trailer without ripping off her mirrors (although it was tempting). Having lived with my wife Carol for 4 years of needing handicapped parking, I hate to block any part of one of the spaces.

We arrived at the campground around 3:45, and set up in our "Deluxe Pond Sites". It is a nice site, with a wood deck, glass table with 4 comfortable chairs, a propane grill & a zero gravity chair, but I had to use some boards (provided by the campground) to level the trailer, and use my extra hose & 30 amp cord to do the hookups. While the site has a sewer connection, I can't reach it with my 20' hose. $50.00 per night for a site that usually sells for around $75.00 - we get a discount based on the number of fiberglass trailers attending the rally. A minor problem is I'm in site 40 while Don & Anne are in 48. A bit of a haul to bring dinner stuff between the sites. They give first preference to those individuals that had the site the previous year, and the sites on either side of Don & Anne's both came back this year. We will try for adjacent sites next year.





Site 40

Sit 48

Again, both sites are very nice, however we would prefer to be a bit closer.

Dinner was Bubba Burgers cooked on my new grill, a salad (that had a new meaning to iceberg lettuce (stored a bit too close to the freezer in Don & Anne's refrigerator) and fruit cocktail.

Until Tomorrow -

Spring Fling, Day 1

Site 25

I returned from a 265 day trip to Canada, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, and winter in the Arizona desert about 2 weeks ago. While I enjoyed staying in a full sized house, it is time to hit the road again. This is a much shorter trip (about a week) to the Chocorua KOA in Chocorua, NH. Around 30 or so fiberglass RVs will rally the 17th - 19th at the campground.

Since I prefer to limit my traveling to around 200 miles per day (actually, I prefer 150), I looked for an open campground half way to Chocorua. Most are still closed - here in the northeast Memorial day is the usual opening day. The Broken Wheel Campground opened a couple of days ago, so here I am. I'm is site 25 (I think - the signs are a bit confusing), level a water & electric site on grass for $32.50 per night. Very clean bathrooms a bit of a walk from the trailer. They also have a large rec room, complete with a book trading library. A big difference from last year- when we arrived in 2018, it was 72°F. This year is more like 2 years ago, rain & in the low 40's.

Don & Anne, my traveling companions are on the road on the way from Binghamton, and plan to arrive around 5:00.

I had an interesting event this morning. I made my usual 4 cups of coffee, poured about 2 1/2 cups into my mug, and settled down to look at the morning's email  & check a couple of forums. Because the coffee was very hot, just small sips for the first couple of hits. It cooled enough that I could actually drink a mouthful, and just before swallowing, noticed something besides coffee in my mouth. I dug it out & it was a 1" diameter spider!

Now there are a couple of things in nature that I don't really like, and spiders are one of them. I'm not quite an arachnophobe, in fact I enjoy photographing them & their webs, but still, it didn't make my morning. I've read that no matter where you are, there is one within 8' of you, but eating one is not at all acceptable. What is worse, there were only 5-6 legs left on it - I wonder where the other 2-3 went. The only good thing is it was dead. I suspect it was in my mug when I filled it, & the hot coffee cooked it.

Back to the trip. I left Oswego around 9:30AM, made at a near by CAT scale to weigh the trailer, and a stop for gas & coffee in Clifton Park, NY (no spiders this time), and arrived at the campground around 2:45. No one home at the office, so I pulled into my usual section of the campground.

For those interested, the truck & trailer together weigh in at 10,640 pounds, the trailer 4700 pounds, and the tongue weight at 500 pounds.

I purchased a stinger with an extended shank, hoping it would let me lower the truck tailgate with the trailer connected. While it worked great when I tried it the other day, when I tried to attach the safety chains, they were too short. Back to the shorter shank stinger, at least for this trip.

Don & Anne arrived right on time.

We haven't thought much about dinner. I have some asparagus, maybe if the rain stays to the gentle mist we are currently seeing, we will have it along with Bubba Burgers. Well, the rain picked up, so it is cold cut sandwiches, soup & asparagus.