August 2025: Solar Lessons, Monsoon Rains, and the Hitching Post Grind
Solar Tests and Petersen's Lookout
August 1 - Running Power in Boondocking Mode:
Turned off the power so that we could run the trailer on solar and the batteries. It did good, plus it ran the AC units; however, it did eat into the batteries, showing that we could use the ACs for an hour or two, but we would need to double the solar panels to over 2,000 watts to be truly able to run the ACs without hammering the battery bank.
August 2 - Wrap-Up Solar Hookup:
While Cindy was at the gym, I finished up the j-box under the floor, plus strapping the wire. After that was done, I started sorting, cleanup, and loading of all the stuff in the storage compartment, and that which is going to be taken down to put in storage. Got the pickup loaded and ready for tomorrow, as well as trash thrown out, so that for the first time in quite a few weeks, the concrete under the trailer is actually clear of stuff.
August 3 - Side-by-Side Ride for the Day:
Today, all of us worker bees at the Hitching Post went for a side-by-side ride with Ed as our fearless guide, up to Petersen's Lookout. It was a rather warm day for a ride, but the views were spectacular. We had lunch while enjoying the view at Petersen's point, as well as getting a lot of good pictures. We arrived back at the RV park around 4 o'clock, cleaned up all of the rigs and parked them, and then everybody went home to rest up. The ride proved to be a good distraction for Bryan and Elizabeth, as this was the first anniversary of Bryce's passing.
Down to Camp Verde and Back
August 4 - Journey to Camp Verde:
So we headed out from Henries Hitching Post RV park at around 10 AM local time and headed south to see the kids, as well as drop off some stuff in the Connex. The drive was rather uneventful; however, the smoke in the Page, Arizona area was rather heavy from the fire at the Grand Canyon. We arrived at the kids' house at around 3:30 in the afternoon, local time, and visited with Ben and Missy prior to heading over to Joe and Mel's place.
Everyone seems to be doing well, although busy with school and work. Missy was getting prepared for her hysterectomy surgery tomorrow. We went down to Joe and Mel's house for dinner, and after dinner we visited and stayed the night at their place. Little Maylyn is not so little anymore. She has grown quite a bit since we saw them in March, and is starting to look like the 13-year-old girl that she is about to become. In talking with Joe and Mel, we found out that Austin has been having a bit of a challenge in the army, due to hanging out with some undesirable fellow soldiers that are leading him astray in his actions. Hopefully, he will get it figured out and start towing the line so that he gets through his enlistment without any major issues.
August 5 - Traveling Home from the Verde:
After waking up early this morning and hanging out with Joe while he worked in his garden, which is quite cool, Cindy and I went over to the Basha's shopping center and got ourselves some breakfast burritos for breakfast. After dining on our breakfast burritos, we went over to Circle K and fueled up the truck, which yielded that we had gotten just shy of 16 mpg on our trip down to the Verde.
We stopped in at Ben and Missy's place and unloaded the items from the pickup that we brought down for the Connex. We left some pellets for Ben to be able to use in his new smoker that I had inside of the Connex. Ben and Missy were gone, as Missy was getting her hysterectomy taken care of today.
So we headed back up to Henries Hitching Post in Panguitch, Utah. The drive up was rather uneventful, but we did have to deal with some rather nutty drivers on the road. As we came through Page, Arizona, we stopped at Walmart and picked up prescriptions for Bryan, plus did a small amount of grocery shopping for ourselves. We arrived back at the trailer around 4:30 local time and got the truck unloaded, then proceeded to relax and rest up a bit from the day, in preparation for tomorrow's workday.
Workdays at the Hitching Post
August 6 - Workday Number One:
Today being our first day of work for the week, we both got a decently early start, around 8 AM. Having just gotten back from the trip down to see the kids in the Verde, both of us actually had a pretty decent amount of energy for the start of the day. I started the day off as all days get started, with watering the front part of the park with the hose, followed up with watering the lower part of the park with the tractor and the water wagon. Things are actually quite slow around here right now, so every day of work is a day of finding a little something to do, because most of the day is gonna be boredom. Don't have a lot of people coming in on any given day - typically one to three rigs - and no major projects being done, making for rather dull and boring days.
Today, however, was a bit of an exception, as the window on the van on the passenger door would not close. Ed and I proceeded to tear it down and replace the window module that controls said window. So, at least that gave a little bit of something to be done today. The wind kicked up mid-morning and just got worse as the day went along, making it so that it was miserable to be outdoors. With no one coming in, we went back to the house and monitored the arrivals that were expected via the doorbell at the office.
At the conclusion of the day, we had some snacks to get us through the evening while watching the boob tube. Other than that, it proved to be a rather uneventful day.
August 7 - Workday Number Two:
So for day number two of our work week: did the watering this morning, as well as taking care of getting the sprayer working with Ed. And while Ed was spraying, I filled the golf carts with fuel, as well as the tractor. With having fueled the golf carts and the tractor, I emptied out the fuel cans that we have, so I put them in the back of Ed's truck so that he could go and refill them. Unfortunately, today there was not a whole lot going on as well, so I used the cart and went around the park and visited with folks, just trying to burn some time. Bryan had more of his solar stuff come in today, so he was able to continue work on his project. At the end of our workday, Cindy and I went over and drank some beer with them, visited, and had some supper. Bryan was good enough to barbecue some hamburgers, and they had some beans to go along with it, making for a pretty decent dinner.
Due to having dinner with Elizabeth and Bryan, we got back to the house around 8:45 PM, and because of that, the strangest thing happened: Cindy didn't even turn on the TV tonight. I am sure that our TV will feel like it has been cast aside because of that. However, she does make up for not watching TV by never shutting up on the telephone or when we visit someone. There is no way to get in any words of conversation when she is hanging about. But, I guess it goes back to the old adage that a person should listen 90% of the time and only talk 10% of the time, as to not prove the ignorance they have about life.
August 8 - First Day of Our Weekend:
Cindy continues her fetish with the gym, getting up between 5:30 and heading off to the gym with Lori. I'm not for sure if she's into the gym, or if she's into Lori, or if she's into both of them. For all I know, she is becoming one of the girls, just like Lori and Cheryl are. I got myself out and walking, also taking some pictures this morning around 6:30-ish. Got some decent sunrise pictures with clouds that give out pretty decent colors due to the smoke that is in the air from the current fires that are burning. After completing my walk, I came back and made a cup of coffee and caught up my journal here. Cindy was over doing laundry when I got back, so I wandered over to talk with her, but as usual, her gums were flapping with somebody else on the telephone.
Ron and Gina came by for a visit on their way back home from seeing their kids in the Denver area. They are both doing well, it appears, and they have both dropped a fair amount of weight since we last saw them. Guess they are doing one of the weight-loss products, and it's working good for them.
I took the pickup out this afternoon to see about getting some valve extensions put on the rear tires; however, Mr. Orton was not open this afternoon, so I was unable to accomplish that task. I also wanted to wash the truck while I was out, but the car wash here only has pressure washers, with no soap, so that was a bust as well. We made jalapeno poppers for a snack this evening and had Bryan and Elizabeth over to enjoy them after their day of work, as well as to visit, and everyone enjoyed a few adult beverages. We found out that Danielle and Rick are supposed to be in sometime tomorrow afternoon, so it will be good to see them, as we have not seen them since March.
August 9 - Danielle's 50th:
Elizabeth and Bryan were on today, but with Rick and Danielle arriving today, we went over and helped Bryan decorate Rick's site for Danielle's 50th birthday. Also watched Maylyn's softball games on the app today; they ended up winning one and losing two games. We barbecued steak for Danielle's birthday and visited here at our site till about 10 PM, and then everyone headed off to bed.
August 10 - Screen Door Surgery:
There was not a whole lot going on today, so we vegged out most of the morning and just relaxed for that portion of the day. This afternoon, I replaced the screen door on the office with the one that Brinkley had sent us. Unfortunately, they sent a right-hand swing door, and we needed a left-hand swing door, so I got to have the joys of rebuilding the door before I could install it. Elizabeth and Bryan came over after they finished work on the solar that Bryan was doing, and we drank a few beers and visited before all calling it a day and heading inside to relax in the easy chairs. We watched a few videos on YouTube and one movie, and then called it a night.
Solar Wraps, Shorts, and Rally Week
August 11 - Hunting Rick's Short:
Cindy and Lori started off the day with their usual run over to the gym in the early morning hours. I had a chance to have some peace and quiet to listen to a few podcasts, as well as watch a few YouTube videos. At that point, I got myself a shower and dressed for the day. Headed over and helped Bryan with his solar by finishing tying in all of the panels on the rooftop to his drop to the basement. Came back home and watched a few of the weekly shows of Person of Interest that Cindy likes to watch. At around 4:45 PM, I went over and helped Rick with his trailer, trying to find out where the short circuit was. It took us a couple of hours to finally determine that the short was in the wiring going to the kitchen outlet in the slide. It appears that when their dealer had it in and was working on the siding on that side of their trailer, they must have put a screw or staple through the wire, causing this issue. However, we were able to get it fixed up for them. Came back to the house, caught up my journal, and called it a day.
August 12 - Bryan's Solar Wrapped, Dip Switch Lesson:
So I helped Bryan get his solar wrapped today. We just had to tie in his 50-amp into the inverters. Once we had completed the hookup, we proceeded to test everything. The inverters, being hooked up like they are, were actually getting a bit warmer than I felt comfortable with, so I had Bryan grab me the instruction manuals that came with the inverters to research settings we might've missed. Upon digging into the manuals, we found out that we had to move one dip switch so that we were set up for 50-amp instead of 30-amp. This did seem to help, but we will need to keep an eye on it as we go forward.
August 13 - Workday One, Rally Week:
Well, today was our first work day of the week. Got the watering done around the park and had lunch. With tomorrow being the start of the UTV/ATV rally here in town, we had 11 rigs come in today. Fortunately, they all came in in a huge rush, and we were basically done having to park everyone by around 3 PM. The last one came in around seven, and Ed took care of them once they arrived. Overall, it was a pretty casual day of work.
August 14 - Workday Two, Tractor Teardown:
Today is our second day of work for the week. With no one coming in today, I took my time getting the watering done and was still, unfortunately, done by 10:30 AM. We really had nothing to do for the rest of the day, as the rally hadn't begun. Fortunately, when I completed the watering, one of the guests had come over and was chatting with Cindy on the front porch of the office, so with that conversation we were able to carry forth until about 11:30 AM. Came back to the house and started up briquettes so I could make hamburgers for lunch. After lunch, Ed had gotten back from Cedar, so we were able to tear the engine off the old tractor and get things ready to mount the new engine on the tractor. Bryan will get to have the joy of continuing on with that project tomorrow. After work, we came back to the house, had supper, and watched some tube before heading off to bed.
August 15 - Fire Nobody Came To:
Having the day off, I had a chance to talk with Rick regarding where and how to mount the cameras on the front of the trailer. Cindy did the laundry today, plus cleaned the trailer for her weekly cleaning routine. Watched some TV, topped off the fresh water tank, and we had a fire this evening that none of the park's guests showed up for, which is typical.
August 16 - Quiet Cloudy Day:
It was a quiet, cloudy day today. Didn't get much in the way of rain, but we still hung around inside the trailer and watched some TV. We caught a UFC fight this evening before heading to bed. Rick and Linda came by for a visit, and Bryan and Elizabeth and Rick and Danielle came over for happy hour.
Good News, Fire Country, and the Monsoon
August 17 - Linda's New Kidney:
We received notice today that Linda was up in Salt Lake City and was getting her kidney replaced. This was really good news, as it means that she is on the road to recovery and no longer needs to do dialysis.
August 18 - Kings Creek After the Fire:
Cindy and I took time this morning to run up to Kings Creek campground to check out what it looks like now that the fire is out. Pretty amazing how well they did protecting the campground, as there were no buildings or trees within the campground that burnt, as well as most of the trees around the campground being unburnt as well. However, Tropic Reservoir was amazingly low - it was almost just a puddle. After we finished checking that out, we ran down to Ruby's Inn and did a little bit of shopping, and then stopped at the Pines restaurant and had lunch prior to coming back to the trailer.
August 19 - Side Cameras and a Pork Roast:
We started the morning off by going out to breakfast at the Goat with Bryan and Elizabeth. We stopped at the grocery store on our way home and grabbed a few items for supper tonight. After we got back to the trailer, I got the side cameras mounted on the trailer, and Cindy got them linked up to the screen. Followed that up with cooking the pork roast that we had for dinner on the Weber kettle, before also cooking some jalapeno poppers. Bryan, Elizabeth, and Rick and Danielle joined us for dinner. We all had a good time visiting before everyone headed off to bed.
August 20 - Workday One, Push Mower Revival:
Workday number one for today. Slow day, with only two rigs coming in. Seems like maybe it wants to rain, as the humidity is quite high today. Ed and I got the push mower up and running today, putting the new carb and control cable on it.
August 21 - Beth's Bagels:
Beth made homemade bagels today, which were totally delicious. It was another quiet day of work, with only a couple of rigs coming in.
August 22 - Putting Things Away:
We worked around the rig today, organizing things and putting them away. Had brats cooked on the grill for lunch, but other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day.
August 23 - Car Show at Bryce Canyon Airport:
Woke up to a cloudy morning this morning. Cindy had gone to the gym, so I had quiet this morning, which I took advantage of and watched a few YouTube videos, and had my office shades up so that I could watch the sunrise. We had cloud cover, so the sunrise had a lot of color to it. After Cindy got back from the gym, we had egg muffins for breakfast. We went up to the car show at Bryce Canyon Airport and joined Danielle and Rick up there. Got some good shots of some of the cars up there, but did miss seeing Rick and Linda. Linda is not allowed to have any visitors for the next long while, due to the kidney transplant that she had. The family here at the park got together in the clubhouse this evening and played games, plus chatted this evening, and just basically had a good time visiting. Had a good rainstorm this afternoon after getting back from the car show, which the country definitely needed.
August 24 - Camera Gas:
So today started off by watching YouTube videos while Cindy was at the gym, which I managed to spend a lot of the day doing. Still giving some consideration to whether or not I want to get the new Insta360 camera that they have come out with, as well as the new gimbal that they came out with. We just had a casual day with a lot of relaxation, I guess you could say. Watched stuff on TV and basically just hung around the house.
August 25 - Monsoonal Flow:
Another day spent inside most of the day, due to the weather. Seems we have finally reached into a monsoonal flow and are receiving rain, which the area truly needs. Cindy and I are continuing to watch the show Person of Interest, being in season 5 of the show. Interesting show about AI in our lives, and how the misuse of it could truly harm all of us. Rick is working on getting his solar system mounted on his trailer, so that he can get rid of boxes of stuff that he has to load and unload and basically fight around every time he sets up and tears down. I am continuing to look into video equipment and more solar for the trailer, but they both require spending large amounts of money. Perhaps I will be able to truly decide if we need the additional generation capacity, or are we okay with what we have, and just using the generator to top off batteries when necessary.
August 26 - Rain, a Propane Leak, and Wrapping Person of Interest:
Today dawned with more rain, clouds, and wind, keeping us cooped up in the house. Cindy got out to the gym for a short workout, based on what she said and how short of a time she was gone. I am still attempting to put together a list of what it would require to add another 800 watts of solar to the roof of our rig. Still don't truly know that it is required. Guess we need to run off-grid for a couple of days and see if we can truly do just fine without adding any more generation power. I do need to get things set up to use the ground display that we have. Also need to get my office area finished, and put in protection for the plumbing under the kitchen and bathroom sinks. So, there is still other things to do in order to have the trailer ready for travel.
I was requested by Cheryl to come over and help out with a propane leak that she had, with Lori being gone to Minnesota currently. We were able to find the leak and get it stopped, so we will see if it holds for them. I truly hope that it will. Larry called this evening with another electrical question, regarding some additional wiring that he is currently doing in his shop. Cindy and I finally wrapped up the series Person of Interest today. Overall, it was a decent series, and it did make me reflect on how AI can truly mess up our lives and world when it is applied in a bad way. I personally feel that society as a whole would be better served without the use of it. I also brought up the instruction manual for the Insta360 gimbal, so that I can work on getting capable of using it to its full capabilities. It is a highly capable unit; I just need to truly learn how to make use of it.
Birthdays and Month's End
August 27 - Work Week Starts, Pete Heads Out:
First day of our work week, plus Pete headed out today. Hope that all goes well for him.
August 28 - Bryan Turns 49:
Tracy left today, plus it was Bryan's birthday and our second day of work. After work was completed, we all met at the clubhouse, which Danielle had decorated for the birthday celebration, and we had snacks as well as a cake to celebrate Bryan turning 49.
August 29 - Rainy Day Off:
First day off that started off with lots of rain in the morning. Due to the rain, I spent the morning here in the office watching YouTube videos for entertainment, staying out of Cindy's way as she was spending the morning cleaning things.
August 30 - ACE Hardware Day:
Gorgeous day, plus ACE Hardware customer appreciation day and the weekly fire at the park. I was able to pick up a set of ratchet wrenches in both metric and English, so that I have more capabilities when I do need to do mechanical-type work.
August 31 - Lunch in Richfield:
Went to Richfield and had lunch with Elizabeth, Bryan, Rick, and Danielle. This was an extension of celebrating Bryan's birthday, after having truly celebrated it on Thursday evening. It was good for all of us to get out of Panguitch for a day, as well as away from the RV park. It's a cute little bar that we went to up in Richfield, Utah.