A Lefty in the Right Lane - Our Camper Trip to Key West

On the road to the Florida Keys

50 years ago - Lulu and I eloped to Miami from Pennsylvania in 1971. We spent a month in Miami Beach and fell in love with this area. A few years later we visited Key West and our friend Doris Hollenbach Meneses who moved to Miami right after graduating with Lulu from Tamaqua High School in 1972. We vowed to one day live in Florida. 

Lulu teaches her FSU classes on Thursday nights - so we packed the camper and were ready to go Friday morning. We decided to drive our Roadtrek down the west coast of Florida and then circle back along the east coast. We set the cruise control at 60 mph and stay in the slow right lane. We eat - sleep - cook - bathe in the camper. Every now and then we would get some take out food. There was absolutely no place that was not a potential place to sleep. After spending hundreds of nights on the road - we have never been rousted. No one has ever pestered us. We now have spent 57 nights in this camper - and never felt in danger. 

Our first night was in Land O Lakes - the new home of Doris and Elias. We stayed in their driveway and had supper and breakfast together. I used my drone to take an overhead tour of her property. 

The second day we drove to Fort DeSoto Park near Saint Petersburg. It was cold and windy - so we chose to drive onto Naples for the night. Naples is a nice town with a really pretty downtown shopping district. We tried to keep our distance from the locals - we did people watching mostly from the camper. We slept at Cracker Barrel and ordered takeout for breakfast. 

The third day we drove all the way to Key West. Campers are usually concerned about finding a place to stay in Key West. Usually in January it is packed. This time due to the corona virus - I would guess the crowds were 10%. Key West strictly enforces the mask wearing. They realize they depend on tourists. Ernest Hemmingway used to eat at a pub called - Sloppy Joe's. We went there and ate isolated on a back porch. The food and drinks was great. The main drag is called Duval Street - named after the first Florida governor. We could easily walk the one mile long street that extends from the Atlantic to the Gulf. Many of the stately homes are made from mahogany that was salvaged from ship wrecks. 

Key West is 2 miles by 4 miles - it has been enlarged many times. In the winter it may swell to 50,000 people. With the virus - it was not crowded at all. There was enough crowd to keep the restaurants and tourist attractions open. Many people rent bikes - motor scooters - and golf carts to cruise the island. There are lots of fishing boats and plenty of beaches. It is truly tropical - the temperature does not drop below 41 degrees. 

We found a centrally located city parking lot. It said no camping but it offered 24 hours parking for $34. We did that for 4 nights. No one ever tested us about sleeping there. I am guessing that in normal times we might have been rousted. Two added bonuses were a super Cuban Coffee place there - and also really fast free wifi we found. We could watch anything we wanted on TV - and had great internet surfing. It was very clean - and quiet. 

We did have a visit with Dale and Judy - Lulu's cousins. They have a condo on the south shore. Dale used to be stationed here in the Navy. We had supper outside at Casa Marina - Henry Flagler's old hotel. It is a beautiful place right on the water. Flagler is famous for building a railroad all the way down the Florida coast and the 150 miles from Miami out the islands to Key West. One of the bridges is 7 miles long. What a local drive. When Lulu and I made our first drive to Key West in the 70's - the bridges were so narrow - they just paved over the rail bed. It was an arduous drive. Today some places it is 4 lanes wide - the only issue is heavy traffic jams. 

On Thursday - Lulu's teaching day -  it was raining hard. She found a hotel at Pompano Beach that was free for Marriott points. We decided to head north. 

At mile marker 25 is Summerland Key. This was the home of our friend Dr Ben Houser. He was a Tamaqua eye doctor. He loved to fish and had a home here on the Keys. The main reason he picked this key was that it had a private air strip. Ben used to fly down to fish from Tamaqua. We went to see his house and it had a for sale sign on it. We looked it up and it is for sale for $3 million. We used to stay there with Ben - it was a tropical paradise. Guest houses - pools - boat slips - decks - screen rooms - generator - and tropical plants all over. 

Our camper was doing fine. The gas refrigerator kept our food ice cold. Our batteries provided plenty of power for the TV - lights - hair dryer - microwave - vacuum cleaner - iPhones. We had a gas heat - gas hot water - and a gas stove for cooking. We filled our water tanks twice for showers and sink. We emptied the sewer tanks. 

At Pompano Beach - we got to see a sunrise over the waves from our hotel room. We paid nothing for the hotel room - but had to pay for valet parking for the camper. We also bought the super fast internet so Lulu could teach her two classes. We used Marriot points. 

Next we went to Cocoa Beach - halfway between Pompano Beach and Saint Augustine. We stayed a night on the beach at the condo of our friends John and Michelle. We had a morning coffee gab with them. This is the condo where Lulu and the cousins spend a week every year. 

Our last night on the road was spent with our friend Joan. She used to live in Tallahassee but now lives near Saint Augustine. We had a wonderful supper there. On the highway to Nocatee - we pulled over to watch the FSU versus North Carolina basketball game. We can received the game on our iPhone and transfer it to our camper TV with an HDMI cable. FSU won!

Our last leg home from Saint Augustine to Tallahassee was uneventful. Lulu and I shared driving - two hours each - when one drove the other one lounged in the back and watched the TV. It went fast. I napped. 

The total trip was 700 miles down - and 800 miles back up along the Atlantic. It was 9 days away from home. We had a little rain - a few cool nights. We saw lots of sun. It was easy staying socially distanced. We wore our masks whenever we left the camper. We both had our first vaccine shots. So did Joan. We call the camper our Covid Cocoon. 

This was Doris's our first night

This is the canal behind Doris's home

First lunch on the road

Lulu and Doris - class of 1972 - Tamaqua

The beach at Fort DeSoto was cool and breezy

Fort DeSoto - we were alone

Downtown Naples was decorated

Naples is a pretty and ritzy town

We stayed the second night at
Camp Cracker Barrel

We stopped for a picnic on the way to Key West

You can see the old rial bridge next to 
the new bridge

We stopped to see Dr Ben Houser's old home

We stayed 4 nights 
at the blue dot

Lulu got coffee here for 4 breakfasts

The Curry Hotel was near our camper

We had supper here - on back porch

Route 1 ends here

Shops were empty

Our view of the old train station from camper

We stayed here 4 nights

We went to the beach here - Smathers Beach

CVS now - was a Kress in old days

Monroe County Court House

This lizard paid a visit

Key West Public Library

Mini-moke was a British Jeep.
This is an electric replica. 

Camper lunch

Lulu at a faculty meeting

Ernest Hemingway lived here 1931-1939

House was a gift from his inlays

Hemingway's "laptop"

Hemmingways bedroom

Hemmingways's bathroom

Upstairs porch

Hemmingway's wife wanted a pool

His writing room over top the garage

Lots of tropical plants

Airstrip where Dr Ben landed

The old bridge thru the Keys.

Lulu would move anywhere there is water

Resident Inn - Pampano Beach

Pool was 87

Palm trees at hotel at night

Lulu's perfect pool

Sunrise over The Atlantic

Pompano Beach Airport

Pompano - home of the Goodyear Blimp

Watching FSU basketball in the camper

Joan and her garden plot

Joan's new home

A very organized garage

We Had A Bumper Crop of Lemons This Year

We have 4 fruit trees - tangerines - oranges - grapefruits - lemons. All 4 trees produced a nice crop - but the lemons were over the top. Not only are there a lot - but they are gigantic. They look like grapefruits. 

We Got The Covid Vaccine

This afternoon during lunch - my friend texted me and said they are offering the vaccine at the county office. They told me the location - we hopped in the car - and away we went. 

We got there at 1 PM - there was maybe 40 or 50 cars in the line. Since they were giving the shots right in the cars - there was no delay. We filled out one sheet of paper - did not produce ID - just signed the paper. They gave us the shot - we then had to wait 15 minutes in a parking lot. 

The EMT staff told us to blow our horn if anything was wrong. Then they put a stickers on us and sent us home. We will go back for a booster on Jan 26th. 

The shot we got was the Moderna Vaccine - it is 95% effective. It is the one that does not have to be stored at the super cold temperature. 

There were no notices in the newspaper or on the radio. At first I thought it was a hoax - it came about so fast. But it was the real deal. 

We are both good. Lulu is celebrating with an afternoon victory nap. 

 

CAMPER CARE - Freezing in Florida

At 5 AM this morning it was 27 degrees in Tallahassee. It is already up to 40 degrees at 10 AM and will climb to a high of 48 degrees. You would not know it by looking because we have bright sun and a dark blue sky. 

Since we seldom get freezing here - I did not have the camper tanks drained or the water lines bled. When I woke up at 9 - I put some clothes on and went out to check the camper. It was 30 degrees on the thermostat inside. I immediately turned on the furnace and the engine. The temperature got to a toasty 50 degrees in just 10 minutes. I turned the water pump on and tried the sink faucet - it was fine. I then tried the toilet and the shower nozzle - again fine. Lastly - I check the outside shower - it flowed smoothly. 

I turned on the water heater - it fired right up - as did the generator. Finally - I turned the camper into the sun to warm it up. 

Tonight - they are predicting 23 degrees here. I plan to leave the furnace on all night. The water heater will be left on too. 

Some people here experienced power failures from heavy rain and wind. We were ready with our  backup power systems - but there was no need. 

When we lived in Pennsylvania we owned an Argosy Motor Home. One time I drained the tanks and blew out the water lines only to have a water line break that was not drained fully. It was pain  replacing that water line. They sell a special pink anti-freeze for campers to put in water lines that carry drinking water. 

We are already for a camper trip from Tallahassee to Key West right after New Years Day. We do not have reservations and plan to vagabond all the way. 

A Camper With a Blocked Sewer Tank Is Just a Van - Unblocking My Roadtrek Toilet

People love traveling in campers. Right now during the plague - it is a great way to go carrying everything you need - safely away from the crowds. They are so many comfortable features in our Roadtrek - a bed - refrigerator - heater - stove - sink - and TV. But the feature I like more than anything is a flushing toilet. There is nothing than having a clean comfortable private bathroom.

The new toilet

I removed this pipe and elbow

About a month ago - I bought a new toilet for our camper. The old one was 16 years old and a showing its age. It was very easy to install the new one and after it was in place - we had to have a test trip. The physician's motto is - first do no harm. The camper toilet flushed beautifully. Normally our tank system holds - 30 gallons of fresh water - 15 gallons of gray sewer water from the shower and sink - and 15 gallons of black sewer water from the toilet. We also carry 7 gallons of propane and 35 gallons of gasoline. 

During the trip - the toilet was not draining normally. This usually can be fixed by going to a dump station and emptying the black water tank. I tried that and only a slow dribble of water came out. Usually it is like a 15 second torrent of effluent. 

When we went home - I tried again to drain the tanks into our dump station. The gray water drained fast - but the black water was just a few drips. First I tried putting a garden hose down the toilet to flush away any debris - nothing happened except the toilet quickly filled to overflowing - yuck. I tried using a piece of Pex water tubing to act as a rake to clear the debris - nothing. 

I went to Walmart to purchase a reverse flow attachment for $17 - that forced water up the sewer pipe outside - an enema if you will. This did cause more water to come out of the toilet - but nothing would flow down. 

This attachment forced water like an 
enema up the sewer pipe.

Next I decided I had to buy a pair of ramps from Harbor Freight for $33. They raised the camper 6 inches - enough for me to crawl under on my back. They were rated for 13,000 pounds - much higher than the gross weight of my Roadtrek - 8000 pounds. I felt safe under the camper - but a shop lift would have been so much better. 

I examined the bottom of the camper - and figured out the layout of the 5 tanks under there. The sewer tank is 8 feet long! It is also very narrow and certainly not deep. What confused me at first was that both the gray water and black water outlet pipes came out of the same tank. There are two valves so you can empty gray water and black water separately. I then figured out the tank had a divider inside - really two tanks in one. I also noticed that I could easily removed a 4 foot section of sewer pipe and elbow - all the way up to the two gate valves for the black and gray water. It was easily done with 3 small screws. With that removed all I had left was 4 feet of pipe and one 90 degree elbow to the tank. Surely the blockage was in that last 4 feet. 

Next - I bought an endoscope - a camera very similar to what a doctor uses to do an endoscopy on you. It was $35 on Amazon and wirelessly hooked up to my iPhone. I must admit it is pretty clever - you get color pictures - color video - and sound - as you explore the inner workings of your poop tank.

I used a piece of blue Pex tubing and inserted the camera and wire in the tube. It went down the hole easily and bend horizontally into the tank. The tank was half empty after sitting a night. It looked like I was in an airplane flying over clouds. When I swayed the camper a little - I could see the clouds moving. Since I tried several quarts of Mister Plumber and a gallon of detergent from the Dollar Store - the cloud must have been a toxic sludge of chemicals and toilet paper. 

The endoscope with LED light

Next - I pushed the endoscope camera up into the pipe at the gate valve. It went in a foot and turned. I could see what I hope to see - the blockage. I could see some faint green - I use green microfiber rags to clean - this must be it. In my excitement - I forgot to take the money shot. I quickly grabbed my drill attached to a roto-rooter - one of those rotating metal worms with a hook on the end. It whirled and whirled and finally like catching a fish - it snagged and bit in. Water started to run a bit - and I naturally pulled back - setting the hook! The green rag fell out flopping on the ground like a big mouth bass. 

Drawing of sewer system. I removed the
black water out pipe. Note the gate valve.

I was laying flat on my back - with just inches of room. All of a sudden a tsunami came gushing out of the pipe. I had nowhere to go. Water and sludge all over the place and me! It reminded me of those old movies where they are digging for oil and all of a sudden there is a gusher. The workers are dancing around with the oil mess all over them - but they are super happy. I felt that way - covered with bits of toilet paper and sludge. 

A green microfiber rag was 
fished out by the auger

I called Lulu to come out and see. She was relieved because she is missing a shower fluffy - and thought that may have been the culprit. She was happy it was caused by something stupid I did. When installing the toilet - I used a green rag to cover the sewer hole to prevent odors. I am guessing it fell in and I did not notice. I guess it is like a doctor leaving a sponge inside of a person during an operation. 

Just two tools are needed to 
remove the toilet.

I ran the garden hose into the toilet at full force - it flowed straight thru never backing up. Clear water in - clear water out. One last time - I inserted the endoscope to get a nice clean picture of the inside of the tank. You can easily see where the water exits through a three inch diameter hole. It is in great shape for being 16 years old. 

After the rag was out - clean water flowed
through the tank from hose in toilet

It is fun solving problems like this when you have the time to do it - no urgency. Some problems we have are caused by others - sometimes they are just acts of nature - but in this cause it was caused by me.  

On to the next adventure.  

I used those ramps to lift the truck.
Much of the mess was toilet paper 
dissolved behind the rag

The blue Pex tubing was used to 
wash out the tank.

Although I was covered with 
effluent - I was happy to solve the
problem. 

Pex tubing served two jobs. First - to guide
the endoscope. Second - to scrape the tank inside.

Videos of the tank inside and out. 

https://youtu.be/UUUMqBzqnrU

https://youtu.be/qdYbR52QIgQ

https://youtu.be/h8CZdTFxdMs

Powering Your Home With a Nissan Leaf Electric Car

This is my 2012 Nissan Leaf with inverter hooked up

I have a 2012 Nissan Leaf electric car. It has given excellent service for 8 years. When it was new it had a range of 70 miles on a charge. Now that the battery is getting tired - it only gets about 45 miles on a charge. It is a great in-town car - but I would never take it on a long trip. 

In Florida - we have lots of hurricanes that blow down trees and cause power outages. When Hurricane Michael came by recently - it knocked out our power for 8 days. I was able to power our house with a Honda 2000 natural gas generator. It did a great job running 8 days straight - it reminded me of the Jewish Menorah - 8 crazy nights. The Honda generator is very quiet - but it is not silent. 

I have often wanted to buy Tesla Powerwall battery. Very simply - it is a big $6000 battery that charges during normal times - and when the power fails - you can use the battery to charge your home. It is an expensive luxury - and when combined with solar panels you can power your home for free. I recently had a quote done on my home for solar panels and a Powerwall battery - it was $27,000! I passed. 

Then I thought to myself - my Nissan Leaf has a giant 650 pound battery in it. It can hold 24 KWH at 400 volts. Surely that could partially power my home in an emergency. It also has a 12 volt accessory battery. The big battery reduces the voltage and keeps the little battery charged when the car is turned on. 

I thought that I could use the 12 volt battery - connect an inverter to it - and produce about 1000 watts of 110 volt AC power. The big battery would keep the small battery charged a long time. 

I pulled the car up to the house - hooked the 1100 watt inverter to the small battery. I turned the system on and plugged a lamp into the inverter - and the light went on. I felt like Thomas Edison. Eureka! So far so good. But the light uses less than 10 watts of power. 

Next I ran a 12 gauge extension cord from the inverter into the house to our refrigerator. I put a gauge at the refrigerator to measure the volts - watts - amps. I turned the system on - and the refrigerator lit up. The motor went on. Everything seemed to work. I was powering our refrigerator freezer from the Nissan Leaf battery. The badge in the refrigerator says it can draw up to 11.6 amps - about 1200 watts.

When I started at noon - the mileage gauge on the Nissan Leaf read 36 miles of range. All afternoon I was watching the gauges - making sure no warning lights or beepers were going off. I felt the battery - inverter - cords - gauges - to make sure nothing was getting hot. The little cooling fan on the inverter did not even cycle on and off. This was too easy. 

The gauge would show the refrigerator drawing as little as 10 watts and as much as 200 watts. Of course when the compressor came on - there would be a surge. The inverter is rated at 1100 watts - but can produce 2200 watts for short surges. 

I love my old Nissan Leaf. It is a fast - nimble - quiet - and smooth car. But the range has dropped so much - it is just good for short errands of 45 miles or less. It cost $42,000 new - but now the books says it is worth just $5000. A new battery is $6000 - so I am not going to invest in that. I am 72 and have three other cars. Lulu loves driving the Leaf to campus - when we are in normal times. It is excellent for going a few miles and letting it sit all day - then driving home. I have a trailer hitch on it and pull my little trailer around our property doing yard work. It has gobs of torque.

At 10 pm - the mileage gauge had dropped from 36 miles down to 31 miles. It used 5 miles of range to run the inverter and refrigerator for 10 hours. If you extrapolate that out over 45 miles of range - it means it could run the refrigerator - a few lights - TV - computer - phones - for about 90 hours - almost 4 full days. 

Lulu requested that I shut it down for overnight - she said I proved my point. She worried it would fail at night and thaw her food. She was such a good sport up to then - I packed everything up - plugged the refrigerator back into the wall - and wrote this story. 

During the next power failure - in Florida we are always assured there will be a next one. Instead of striking up the Honda generator - I will start off using the Nissan Leaf to power my home. I also have a generator in my motor home that produces 2800 watts of power - but if I used that - I would not have thought to write this story. 

650 pound battery in floor of Nissan Leaf

Nissan Leaf battery costs new $6000

Inverter cables attached to 12 volt accessory battery

Inverter changes 12 volt DC to 110 volt AC power

The Krieger 1100 cost $80 on Amazon. 
It produces 1100 watts of AC power 
with 2200 watt surges

The little 12 volt battery kept putting out
13.1 volts of DC power

The frig drew .28 amps

In the house we were receiving 113 volts
of AC power

The 12 gauge extension cord went
straight to the refrigerator

The freezer remained at 2 degrees.
The refrigerator remained at 36 degrees
during the whole experiment. 

We Replaced The Toilet In Our Camper

This is the new Aqua Magic V installed

This is our 2004 Dodge Roadtrek.

Today I replaced the 16 year old toilet in our camper. It still worked fine - but rather than just replace moving parts - we chose to install a new unit. 16 years is a longtime for a lightweight plastic unit. 

The old toilet was a Thetford Aqua Magic IV. We searched on Amazon - and they offered a Thetford Aqua Magic V for $135. The main difference was that the newer model had a hand flush system - the old one had a foot pedal flush. Other than that they are pretty much same. 

First I took the old one out. It only had two nuts to remove with a ½ inch wrench. The water supply was simply twisted off by hand. When I lifted off the old toilet - it exposed the old rubber gasket. It installs just like a toilet in your home - but it is much lighted due to being made of plastic. You can lift the toilet with one hand. 

When I fit the new one into the space - I noticed that the water supply hose was about one or two inches short. I had to lengthen the water supply line. 

After that it was a simple plug in the old one - fasten the two brass nuts - and twist on the water supply. 

Before I tightened everything down - I turned on the water pump to see how it worked. There is not a lot of room in the toilet closet - so you had to take your time tightening everything. 

I am really happy with the results. The old foot pedal worked fine - but the handle control seems more precise. You can flush and add water while you are sitting. 

The new toilet on the left - the old one on the right. It came with gasket and bolts. 

Here is the water supply and sewer flange

The old toilet had pedals and was a little lower

Notice the new toilet has a higher water inlet

It is a nice clean installation

The new rubber gasket 

I added a small piece of hose to the water connection. 

CAUTION - ON THIS JOB I ACCIDENTALLY DROPPED A MICROFIBER CLOTH DOWN INTO THE TOILET TANK. IT WAS A REAL HARD JOB TO FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN IT BLOCKED THE TANK. I FINALLY GOT IT OUT - THAT IS ANOTHER STORY. WE ARE VERY CAUTIOUS NOW ABOUT WHAT WE PUT IN THE TOILET.