Monthly Archives: November 2020

Alaska, Off-grid living, Stories

Moose lights = Work lights

The RV is back up to 55° again, all thanks to my dear son and my friend’s slave-driver of a daughter. Our outdoor temps have warmed up to -7° and it’s snowing. The forecast calls for it to come up as high as 30°. If you’re keeping score, that’s a 60° swing in just a couple of days. Crazy! But it’s all cold.

Cold nicely summarizes the last few days. And let me be clear, it isn’t just people who don’t like cold. Generators don’t like cold. Propane doesn’t flow in extreme cold. Vehicles don’t like cold. But everything hinges on the generator. I can plug in the block heater on the truck if the generator is running. We can wrap the propane tubing and valves in heat tape to keep it working if the generator is running. We plan to install a small Toyo heater in the trailer, but again it needs the generator for power. The generator needs a box to keep warm. It’s been on the list for weeks now, but Chris doesn’t have enough experience to wrap his head around making one. That’s where Nena comes in.

I’m happy to brag on Nena any time. She’s 17 going on 37 and takes no nonsense from anyone. She has plenty of experience keeping her family warm when things break down at -40° and knows what needs to be done. So when she tells me “here’s what you need to do” I’m going to listen. Luckily Chris is also willing to listen and learn.

So far we have had a couple of generator parties where Nena walked us through the process of troubleshooting. She has taken apart and put back together more generators than I have seen in my life since they have been living this lifestyle for almost 6 years now. I figure she has a clue.

So anyway… back to the first picture. It’s a bit messy but I feel like it sums up everything. It got dark by 5pm but things still need doing. They needed more light than headlamps can provide. So Chris used the moose light mounted on the Scone. Yeah, that’s our storage area under the front of the trailer. We have bins that came up from Oregon, spare propane tanks, generator gas, diesel for the truck, and other stuff. It’s not pretty but it does what we need for now.

I guess the generator hut is done enough. We shall see how well it works. We are a few more parts away from being able to install the Toyo heater. That will happen this weekend. I might even get the porch and steps I want so I don’t break something by slipping on the RV folding stairs.

My generator is running again. My truck is running again. My heat is working again. It might still be cold but life isn’t bad and I always live in hope of better things.

Alaska, Stories

It a little bit cold outside.

We are getting a good sample of Alaska cold this week. Last night was -31°F and the night before was -23°. Our heat is not working. I keep reminding myself that I signed up for adventure and that’s what I’m getting.

Since the sawmill kept breaking we were unable to get lumber cut and cabin built before the snow. So we are going to spend the winter in the RV across the creek on my friends property. RVs are not set up for temperatures like this. The propane tanks are located in a cubby on the outside, which allows the hoses to freeze up. So we got enough gas flow to run the pilot light on the stove, but not the burner for the heater. Then the generator went on strike because it was cold.

Last night Chris and I slept with no heat except for shared body heat under the blankets. The dog tucked himself in at our feet. The top blanket had a layer of frost on it by morning. It worked, but it was really hard to get out of bed.

I’m giving Chris the assignment of finding a way to get things thawed out by this evening. We’ll see how it goes.

Alaska, Stories

Things I learned last night…

Mama Moose stands guard while her little one grazes.

I learned how far my headlights reach does not account for the random movements of wildlife.

I learned that a moose can run 25 mph when necessary.

I learned that an adult moose butt is taller than the hood of my truck, even with the 6″ lift.

I learned that it isn’t easy to make an emergency stop, even at a mere 25mph.

I learned that moose are dumb enough to run in the direction you are traveling instead of just getting off the road.

I learned that baby moose aren’t as fast as Mama, but will try to keep up.

I did not have to learn how resilient my truck is against hitting a moose, but it sure came close.

Alaska

Winter is here

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Moon set as the sun rises.

There has been snow on the ground for a couple of weeks now, but I’m going to say winter is truly here today. On my drive to work the temperature as measured by my truck ranged from -4° to -14°F. I’ll have to start plugging in my truck overnight to keep it from freezing up.

It might be cold, but it’s absolutely beautiful everywhere I look. The light constantly changes and between that and the massive amount of texture there is a never-ending color palette where you would think the world should be monochrome. Even overnight the world takes on different moods, and I haven’t even seen a real display of the aurora yet. There are too many clouds and trees where I’m located to get a clear view of the sky.

We seem to be committed to spending the winter in an RV. It isn’t ideal, but we’ve added some skirting to help keep in some of our heat. We are figuring out the best way to keep the power on and the heat running. The generator really doesn’t like to be cold, so it gets it’s own “doghouse” and we might bring it in once in a while to warm up if we hear it struggling. We are fortunate to have experienced helpers for keeping it running. Anyplace that services generators seems to be 2-4 weeks behind and that’s too long to go without.

I have plenty more to share, but I’ll spread it out over the month. It’s an interesting adventure, but I won’t complain since adventure is why I’m here.

What do you want to hear more about? Weather? Driving conditions? Dry cabin living? Let me know and I’ll share. November is a month for writing. It won’t be an actual novel, but I’d like to see if I can make a post every day here instead of the other usual places.