Friday June 4th 2021

I know conservation is a very broad topic, but its one that needs to be addressed every year. We did not get to boondock in the Arizona over the last winter, and that is always our water conservation tune up each fall.

Reality is that most of us are terrible water conservationists, don’t believe me? Lets just see, if you live in a trailer or coach and are hooked up, just close your grey tank valve and see how many days you can go before filling your grey tank.

With our coach we can usually get 12 to 14 days between having to dump our tanks, and its normally the grey tank that fills first. When you are not connected to a water source, and are working from your freshwater tank you learn a number of serious conservation tricks.

• Catch the cold shower water while waiting for the shower to warm up, this water will be used for flushing the toilet later.
• Adding aerators to all sinks, as this reduces water flow
• Be sure to have a low water volume shower head, there are a number of good shower heads used by boondockers “Oxygenics” shower head is a commonly recommended
• Navy (military) shower – water to get wet, water off while soaping up and scrubbing, then water on to rinse off soap and shampoo.
• Shut off the water while brushing your teeth, water on only to rinse after.
• Dish washing, use paper towel to wipe greasy pans and dishes (these are great fire starters later), use a dish pan to wash (do not fill the sink), rinse and dry.
• Hard core conservers save soapy dish water for use in flushing as well

We are not hardcore enough to use dishwater for flushing and would certainly not recommend using paper plates to safe water as that starts into a whole different kind of waste. We try to avoid using throwaway products such as, disposable glasses, plates, silverware, and the like not the answer, unless you are purchasing compostable which are expensive and hard to find. Disposable products have their place but its not in everyday camping use.

Also be aware of where the drain water from your sink goes! What do I mean? Some trailers and coaches have bathroom sinks that drain into the black tank. Why would that be? Well the number one reason is that many people do not add enough water to their black tank in an effort to conserve water and black tank space. The reality is that there needs to be a good ratio between water and solids in your black tank to get total and complete emptying when dumping the black tank.

This summer is forecast to be a long hot summer and we know here in Ontario the rain level in May alone was less that half of normal, so water restrictions as well as fire bans in many areas should be expected so today is a great day to start your water conservation.

Be well, Stay strong, Get your vaccination, and Enjoy your summer!

Tuesday May 25th 2021

I know this is a little different direction for me but a couple of things that need to be said about things that didn’t bug me this long weekend.

First and foremost, while holiday weekends can get a little out of control with celebrations, this weekend was very respectful, with most people enjoying the first long weekend of the season while the province was under a “stay at home” order. Of course you have to have a couple of “special people” but with all things being taken into account the majority of our residents enjoyed the outdoors, while obeying the guidelines.

The second thing that didn’t bug me, was our May 24th long weekend was the great weather, I have experienced a lot of May 24th weekends in Ontario and I have seen more cold wet weekends than I have warm sunny weekends. This one had a little very needed rain on Saturday morning and it did cool off Sunday night but all and all it was one of the best I can remember.

The third thing that didn’t bug me was bugs! Very simply we get lots of biting insects here in Ontario. Mosquitoes, Black flies, Ticks, to just list the most annoying of a long list, and from many years in Ontario’s Muskoka area spring black flies drive most people indoors and mosquitoes can nearly eat you alive all camping season, and of course the invasion of ticks to a lot of southern Ontario, which can cause Lyme desease which can be debilitating , we seem very blessed here to be void off almost all of those insects.

I can remember when Richard told us three years ago that there were no mosquitoes here at LHR (Lake Huron Resort) and I just laughed, having lived my life in Ontario and battled mosquitoes with chemicals, and scents, and burning devices. In fact when in the Niagara region it was just a given that if trying to have an outdoor event a major part of the planning was to plan some type of mosquito protection for visitors to our home. So to be able to sit outside around a campfire without covering ourselves in a repellent is amazing, let alone to say more enjoyable.

When we so south in the winter one of the things that we take into account are insects, most people from Eastern Canada go south to Florida where we battle mosquitoes along with a never ending supple of annoying insects. While a winter in Arizona is almost insect free, oh Arizona has lots of scary insects like trencillas and such but they are all hibernating when we are there. Now of course most plant life is more than willing to attack you if you get too close, but they don’t attack while sitting around a campfire. Now the scarcity of firewood makes campfires expensive, hence or propane fire pit to sit around, and the bonus to propane, no smokey smelling clothes, when retiring for the evening.

Remember stay safe, be well, and get you vaccine!