Well I get to check one item off the to do list. This one cropped up after we received our 12 volt box fan from Amazon in Florida, we had been boondocking in the Three Lakes area of Florida with fellow full timers Ron and Jullie & Andy and Bonnie and they had these great 12 volt fans that they set in the windows to keep the air circulation in their coach. And even in December we were having some uncomfortable warm evenings from the heat so we decided to order a fan once we had a shipping address in Florida.

As we were on full hookups at Oak Grove Park in Florida (glamping), I ordered it just before our departure back to the great northern tundra. It was at this point the realization that we did not have any 12 volt outlets other than at the dash area and of course the cord on the fan was only 60″ so it was very limited on where it would be effective and on our adventure north as we were lot surfing there were a few warm evenings.

I had ordered these little kits (they came with a face plate and a converter from 12 to 5 volts) some time ago with the intention of installing them either side of the bed to charge our electronic devises as we have apple phones that have the worst batteries ever developed, they are always in need of a charge. But rather that just trying to piggy back on a circuit already designated with a load, I wanted to add another fuse panel to run numerous 12 volt circuits with the end goal of eliminating having to plug in a 120 converter to charge a 5 volt device. Even to an old fart like me understands inverting from 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC then converting back to 5 volts DC did not make a lot of sense, not even taking in to account all the losses just on efficiency, 12 volts DC to 5 volts DC eliminating the inverter seemed like the right approach.

So I ran two new circuits from the new fuse box one to each side of the bed, (I did run 14 gauge wire not the 18 gauge that came with the kit – like seriously) allowing for either the fan or just charging of devices and the task was not monumental but still eat up a couple of hours by the time you run the wires, drill the holes, mount the plates, test the circuit, and of course get Laurie to clean up after me…

The task complete we now have a couple of 12 volt outlets, now if it warms up enough we can use the fan for cooling in the mean time we can recharge the growing number of items that can charge from the USB ports, it seams that as we move away from items that take disposable batteries and get more rechargeable item more and more the use the USB ports I have a couple more solutions for recharging devices with out needing to use the inverter…stay tuned.

Well I did it, whether it was a good move or not will remain to be seen, but it sure has increased the views. Which is not why I started this whole blog as I stated in the Facebook post it was to give the non Facebook peps a way to keep up with the Buchanan’s, but because we are settled in here till mid October there will not be a lot of travel posts. I mean it is beautiful here and the shore and the sunsets, are legendary and the birds, and wildlife have been entertaining we are right in the middle of our longest stay in one spot since becoming full timers.

Now that the weather has turned and most days are in the mid 20 or 70 degrees, it is time to complete some upgrades to the coach, the list is long and include, more 12 volt outlets to eliminate the inverter, upgrading the inverter, design and fabricate a suitable storage and work space to replace our dinette which was very uncomfortable and we never used, upgrading the front tv in the coach and building proper shelving to hold the satellite receiver, blue ray player, PlayStation, and android box, and we are also looking at removing the jackknife love seat and replacing it with a pair of wall hugging recliners, as well as create a suitable battery box for the lithium batteries we hope to pick up this fall…dam I’m tired just typing the list, a nap could be in order while I contemplate a plan of attack or there is always option two, have a cocktail all my best ideas seem to happen when I have a cocktail in hand…hey it’s my blog…and my story…just saying.

So it’s Monday morning and our day off so at a quarter to eight a knock at the coach door, there is a power outage in one area of the park, most people have left for the week so unusually to have an electrical problem over a cool night, so I go and check it out and find a 200 amp breaker on a main panel tripped, this is one that concerns me as it may be an indication of a weak breaker that we need to change before the next hot day. Problem is that the whole park will have to shut down to replace it…glad it’s my day off.

Second thing I have done is book a tee time for this afternoon, have not been out to play since Florida so onto my favourite booking app and 2:44 a tee time for two and a hot deal from a local golf course less that $30, 18 holes with cart for two players, and that’s in Canadian dollars that’s like less than $25 American, will let you know how the course is later but for that price…my expectations are not high…but we will see.

I know exactly what your thinking, he just went through the whole list of thing that need to be done on the coach and one of the first things he does is book a tee time to play golf! Well here is my reasoning, one of the first tasks is to install 12 volt outlets in the bedroom to run the new 12 volt fan that we purchased, and because I want them properly fused I will have to run new circuits from the fuse box in the basement, I have to clear some things from the basement and one of the thing are the golf clubs so it just seemed like a good idea to go golfing this afternoon since the clubs are out anyway.

The golfing was very good, I almost feel bad only paying the price we did, it is definitely a do over, greens were in good shape and were receptive, fair ways good, roughs were dry but green. The score was acceptable for not playing for three months and being a little rusty, time of play just over three and a half hours. The course was not busy but had a number of players we played with a young fellow from the area that had worked at the course years earlier, which proved to be an advantage and the fact he was hitting 250 plus was a pleasure to watch.

After golf we ventured into Goderich for dinner and breaking from tradition we tried the Park House Public House and had a great meal, Laurie half rack of ribs, I liver and onions and a new addition to the cocktail list East Street Cider from here in Goderich…great end to our Monday off.