Another one of those remarkably nice days that come so often in the spring. Up early to go for a nice walk in the park. Spent some of the day working on pictures and am still dealing with computer issues. That will be an ongoing process I'm afraid, turns out my trick with reloading iTunes wasn't 100% successful. It gave me a good starting point though, so it should be easier to deal with some of the issues I'm working on.

   Went to  the theatre this evening. Found a play at the college, UNC, here in Asheville while reading one of the local papers. Sounded like a nice way to spend the evening and as it turns out it was just a delight. The play was 'Tartuffe', or the 'Imposter', one I had never heard of before. Turns out it was written by the French playwright Moliere for King Louis XIV way back in 1664. A bit of a farce about a scoundrel taking advantage of a generous, though naive person, in this case a person impersonating a pious man, it was a wonderful production. Every student actor played their part so well that the audience was nearly rolling in the aisles at times. A fun time and all for the grand sum of $10.

   Below are a few of the pictures I worked on today. Tomorrow I'm going to take it easy and head over to Jonesbourough for a contra dance in the afternoon. Seems odd to me that it is less than 50 miles away. Still haven't gotten my sense of direction yet in this country. It's not like Colorado where you have 'Towards the Mountains' and 'Away from the Mountains' as a starting point. Here you have mountains every which direction. Sure makes for some pretty scenery though.

   One of the things I've heard from a few of my friends is what does the trailer I've been living in for the past 2 1/2 years look like. So with that in mind, here are a few pictures of the inside and outside of the trailer as well as the truck pulling it.

The complete rig on this trip; the truck is a 2004, F-150, 4-door 1/2 ton with a towing setup, the trailer is a 26', 2008 Salem by Forest River and the canoe is a 15'-8" single 'Rock Star' by Bell Canoes.

This view of the left side shows the slide out for the couch on the inside. At the rear is a bike rack to hold the bike as well as a couple of outdoor lounge chairs. Up front just behind the hitch is an electric jack to move the hitch up and down. Behind that is 2-30 lb propane tanks. This is usually enough for nearly a year if I'm not out in really cold weather. Directly behind the tanks, and still on the front 'A-frame' are two deep cell marine batteries. They run all the 12v DC lights, radio and water pump that are needed when I'm not plugged into shore power. With the new LED lights I've installed, and if I'm careful, I can go 5-6 days with out running out of power or using the generator. You can see the blue water hose connected up to the dockside port that uses regular water pressure to run the system. On the end is a pressure regulating valve to keep excessive pressure from blowing out the whole system. There is also a port to fill the 50 gal. fresh water tank inside under the bed. I only use that when camping off the grid and I keep it empty the rest of the time as 50 gal's of water weighs about 450 lb's. The drain ports for the grey and black water tanks are on this side also. This trailer has two, one in front of the wheels for the bathroom sink/shower, combined with the outlet from the toilet, the second near the rear bumper is for the kitchen sink. Finally, the shore power cable comes out of it's little port just in front of the front wheel. This trailer plugs into a 30 amp outlet usually, but most times I can plug into a standard 110 v outlet as I only use a small amount of elec energy.

The right side has two doors, the main one shown enters into the kitchen area and is the one I use most of the time, the other enters into the bedroom and is useful in case of a fire, but I don't use it much when I'm on my own.

The rear of the trailer has a lot going on, besides the bike rack there is also platform my brother-in-law, Mark, made for me which holds a Honda 3000 gas generator. I don't use it very often, and only when off the grid, but it will run all the electrical needs for the trailer and more importantly, will keep the batteries charged up. Also notice the scissors jack at each of the frame corners, a total of 4 on the trailer. The one in the picture is the one I recently had to replace after tearing the previous one off while going over a RR grade crossing.

The inside of the trailer; at the very rear end is the kitchen area. Starting on the left you have a fridge-freezer that runs on 110v AC power when plugged in or propane when you aren't. It's more than big enough for my needs and keeps me in ice cubes when I need them. To the right, starting at the bottom is the propane furnace, it works okay, but if I'm plugged in I have two small elec. heaters I plug in and use instead. Above that is a 3-burner propane stove with a real oven. It works very well and I can even make brownies if I feel a need for chocolate. Above that is a small micro-wave oven over a vent fan/light for the stove. I use the micro-wave a lot while plugged in as it uses 110v AC also. To the right is a small AM/FM/CD player with 4 speakers, not real high quality, but I have my iPod if I want anything else. A twin bowl sink with hot/cold water from a 6 gal propane hot water heater. Note the electric kettle on the far right, I use it for heating up water for tea or if I need only a small amount of hot water. Then there is kitchen storage in the cabinets above and below the sink as well as the two drawers on the side. The fan on the floor, one of two, is used when it gets warm and to keep the air moving since I managed to tear the air conditioning unit off the roof the first year I owned the trailer. (Sneaky damn tree!) 

The couch, the place where I spend a lot of time reading and watching movies on the computer. It's long enough for me to nap on, and I do all the time, but it will also fold down into a fairly good sized bed. Okay for one, cozy for two. I use the back of the couch for storing those things I don't use very often, my printer, guitar, sleeping bags etc. The two pillow looking things are insulated covers that fit up into the roof vents when it gets cold out.

The dining area has the two bench seats, good for 4, sort of, it also makes into a bed for really short people though I've never actually done that. As you can see I also use it for my desk, so I read, use the computer, work on models and plan for where I'm going next. Most of my non perishable food is stored in the cabinets above the table and under the two bench seats.

In the very front of the trailer is a queen size bed.... so they say. It's actually as wide as a real queen, but something like 4 inches shorter. Not a big deal for someone my height, but I'm sure a few people would find it annoying. I love my bed though, I put a separate down pad on over the mattress and it sleeps really well now. There are hanging closets on either side for shirts and such, as well as a total of 7 drawers for socks and underwear, swim suits and shorts. Lots of storage under the bed even with the 50 gal water tank that is located there. I use the space to store spare heaters/fans, modeling supplies and my dirty clothes basket.

Looking back towards the living room from the bedroom you can see the privacy curtain dividing the space from the bathroom area. There bathroom sink is located outside of the actual toilet/shower so it's handy if there is more than one person. There is a large double hanging closet in the hallway as well as 4 drawers I use for tools, repair kits, stationary etc. I have a plug in vacuum hanging on the bedroom wall and the shelf for the TV works well for holding every thing that comes out of my pants pockets. The item on the right is a 2'x5.5' model train layout that I have been working on this trip. The idea was to get the track laid and working and then leave it home and work on the model buildings and such on the next several trips. The problem is that it's to much fun running it now even without any buildings on it.

The actual bathroom is rather 'cozy'. The toilet works by using a lever to put water into the bowl, then there is a 2nd lever to use that flushes it. It works, it's better than going outdoors in the rain, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

The shower!!!! I don't think there was ever any intention to use this as a real bathtub, instead I think they just needed to have higher sides to keep the water in a little better. The shower works, the water is usually warm enough, but if there was one thing I'd change it would be  to have a bigger, better shower. Next time!

   So that's the old homestead, be it ever so humble. I have actually grown quite fond of the place and having lived out of tents and canoes for so many years, this sometimes seems like a real luxury. It also keeps me from buying or acquiring to much stuff, cuz there just isn't any place to store it all. I find myself going through the place every month or so and getting rid of books and other items that somehow miraculously show up. There are two things I do really crave after living like this for 2-3 years, the first of course is a bigger shower. Oh how I love long, hot showers in a facility that is big enough to turn around in. The second thing would be a nice big comfy arm chair. When I first considered doing this I knew I'd need someplace other than the dining table to read and relax in, hence the separate couch, but it's not the same as a nice, kick up your feet, lean back arm chair. Maybe in my next trailer, if there is one. I've already seen several models that meet both those needs and they are only about 1'-2' longer. Maybe in this case bigger is better?