Oasis Update - Moving forward

Made a fair amount of headway on the Oasis this week. Reframed the wall under the bar window and finished almost all the electric, only thing left is pendant lights over the bar after painting - wiring is in - just need to hang lights and wire them. Found a refridgerator on the local for sale site and need to pick that up in a few days before the people move. Also found a friend with a Kegerator for sale cheap, need to get that picked up as well. TV Mount is on the way and a new 32 inch Smart TV with WiFi...Dish is going to change out my account from the RV account to a regular dish with Hopper and a Joey for the RV. WiFi should be installed next week after painting is done. Have all the paint and supplies and lumber for the cook counter and bar hatch and bar top...will build after paint.

It will be nice having some counter space to cook from time to time - put the crock pot out there and I have a two burner hot plate, hot dog roller on the way...

Finally got the sink drain plumbing to line up and drain properly!

The man cave is almost complete and nice to see the end in sight - then to paint the outside and get the patio cleaned up and some patio furniture and bar stools - Grill moved over and some nice big potted plants. This spring may put up a Pergola over part of the patio!

Stay tuned paint this week!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and National Parks!

The Oasis Under Construction

Have spent several days cleaning up my new site and de-constructing the shed as it gets coverted to "Cap's Oasis"....got water and electric into the shed and tore out all the old shelves and mess that was in there.

Today, I removed some inside paneling so I can run electric and make the large bar window in the patio side. Hopefully tomorrow will pick up some 2 X 4's and get the door installed and the bar window framed out and a few small electrical items squared away.

Took it easy most of the week, wrenched my back really bad tearing out some last weekend. Seems a little better today and the work and exercise did me good, we will see in the morning.

The Plan

The site cleaned up and gravel spread...sewer for the RV is fixed and ready to install with hard pipe rather than flex..

The sink is here and ready to install - waiting on one drain part.

Drain pipe is connected and ready to cut off and set up under sink the sink is going in the back corner.

Fresh water is stubbed in

The current window was for a swamp cooler and is too small for the "Bar"...the wall is stripped down and ready to reframe for the new size which will be 4 feet wide and 42" from the outside patio for 3 bar stools and a fold up hatch.

The Mess

Have the carpet for the floor and paint for the ceiling and walls - bar lights are here and luckily a buddy from Fans Sports Bar has a kegerator he wants to sell cheap - brand new - never used - HUGE SCORE!. Need a full sized fridge for the back wall, beside the sink will be a 4 foot counter for the hot dog roller, toaster oven, hot plate - for coney dogs and room for my crock pot and deep fryer for other cooking projects for pot lucks or special "Oasis Nights"!

Hopefully make some good headway tomorrow and get the trailer moved on Monday or Tuesday!

The solar lights are in and look great..Hummingbirds have found my new feeder!

Stay tuned for more progress over the next few weeks!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Finally - New spot now open...time to get busy!

Well it has been a couple months now and finally got the old junk trailer jacked up and put the tires and wheels on and arranged to have it towed out of here...my new spot needs some serious clean-up before I move.

The dead tree on the left side will get cut down and moved out of there on Monday, then I need to level out the site and remove some old plastic ground cover and junk...then bring in a load of gravel for under my trailer.

Then I will get my trailer moved in and start fixing up the patio and shed.

Finally Leaving!

The mess left behind!

Time to start soon on Cap's Oasis!

Need to do some serious measuring and make a plan!

By the way, the roses are starting to bloom...

Stay tuned - lots going on as I wait for my winter friends...

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Busy Summer and getting ready for Winter Crowd

The park is pretty slow right now - of course all the snowbirds are gone and even most of the year round people have headed off to cooler temperatures. We get three or four nightly's almost everyday, the base is busy so we have quite a few contractors and Marines and families, almost all the cottages are rented so that keeps us busy.

Had a group of local kids try and sneak into the pool about 12 of them, raising a ruckus, so we had to throw them out, the pool and facilities are for residents and guests only. They had a ball and were jumping around in the deep end and sadly did some damage to the drain covers. The day before we had just had the County inspector for the pool and all the food and drink coolers checked and we got a perfect rating, they tested the water and cooler temps, hot tub temp and did a water check, so we were pretty happy.

The same day we sent the kids packin, another pool inspector came by about half an hour after we got rid of the kids and lo and behold the inspector discovered the broken pool drain covers and red flagged the pool. We called our pool service and he came out and tried to fix the covers but they were cracked and the bolts were broken off in the pool bottom, so he needed to drill out the broken screws and tap the holes for the new covers. For some unknown reason he refused to use an electric drill in the pool???

So that evening we drained the pool - huge expense and a ton of water.

Pool Draining at night.

The next morning first thing we replaced all three drain covers and really cleaned the pool bottom...

We called the inspectors and they came right out and allowed us to open the pool as soon as we had water back in it, which took most of 2 days...

So things have been busy at the park...now on to my plan, spent some time down at my new site and took some pictures and started planning for some modifications...can't wait to have some shade and wind protection and a nice comfortable patio.

This is the site - the old trailer on the right is prepped to move out!

Storage shed - Man Cave...what you see!

Cap's Oasis - what I see...

Hope to get that old trailer out of here this month - then start to clean up the area and get my trailer moved then get started on fixing up the patio and shed - should be a fun transition. Get the electric squared away and a small A/C unit installed, floor, wall paneling, new door, bar window, kill the weeds, patio furniture, potted plants, get the Camp Chef Grill in place...who knows maybe a big screen TV, recliner inside and a kegerator!

Cap's Oasis will be born and grow during the winter!

Stay tuned - once the trailer is moved will sell the truck and find a nice smaller SUV to be mobile again, but for this year the adventure is building my Oasis!

Forgot we are still having some amazing sunsets!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

The New Plan

Sometimes things just happen to make you change your lifestyle!

This has been an interesting year, for sure...most of you know that my truck is dying a slow miserable death and it has created a situation that required me to re-think my future and what I wanted to do...quite frankly I have been getting tired of hauling my house around behind me and the stress of towing the trailer all over the mountain west. Additionally the cost at 8 MPG is getting to be a burden.

So now, needing a new truck capable of towing the trailer is almost out of the realm of possibility. So it is time to rethink my life's plan and move forward.

I am very fortunate to be in the RV Park I am in and have great owners who are very happy with the work I have done for them for the last 4 winters. So with that in mind and realizing I am at least stuck here for this summer, while I either find another truck or devise a new plan. The more I thought about it, the decision to create a new plan was the way to go...

The Park owners have been very accommodating here and happy to have me stay and anxious to add some additional duties for the summer to allow me to stay here at virtually no cost to me, and even make a few extra bucks, which is nice. We met and have come to terms for my future. I will continue with my winter duties and we have added some additional projects which will keep me busy and help them year round, or nearly year round, I have told them 10 months. They have honored my request to move the trailer to another site which is between two permanent units which will give me some needed shade and it also has a nice storage shed which I can fix up. The trailer will be parked permanent so no need for a big ass truck to haul it around. I am going to look for a smaller SUV or Jeep to do my running around and traveling, better gas mileage and more comfortable than the big truck.

There is currently a park model trailer in the site which has been stripped and will be hauled away within a few weeks, once that is done, I will clean up the site and move mine over there, then work on getting rid of the truck and find a smaller vehicle. The smaller less expensive to drive vehicle will allow me to travel locally to some spots I want to visit, may head down to AZ and see Sherry Hathaway Lewis and maybe even Greg Lantz...plus Salton Sea, Borego Springs and several other areas within a day or twos drive...Hope to find something with real 4 wheel drive so I can visit some out of the way places and just camp and take pictures.

I can still go North and South - have a bedroom or two in Salt Lake and one in Kalispell for some shorter stays.

Just may make a long trip for two months back to Ohio and our Class Reunion...hitting some nice scenic spots along the way...Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore!

I really like the Jeep Liberty...

A Wrangler may be nice...

In the meantime, I will continue to chase the Milky Way!

Stay tuned for more details as I move and refurbish my new site, have some great plans to make it more comfortable for near year round living...then the new vehicle search! If anyone has a nice smaller 4 wheel drive SUV they want to get rid of let me know.

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Time for lemonade...

This past month or so has been a royal pain in my ass...not that I don't like 29 Palms, I do, but the plan for the past 5 years has been winters only and adventure and travel during the summer - love Montana and Utah.

However, after a solid 6 years on the road dragging my house behind me, the current circumstances have made me think about change, more on that later...the truck still runs but no power to tow the trailer any distance for sure, so need to adjust.

Most of you know I packed everything up a month ago and have been reluctant to unpack and settle in again, hoping I won the lottery and all my problems would be solved...well today the grill came back out and time for more stuffed peppers, good burgers, brats and an occasional ribeye.

May as well it is the 4th of July, National grilling day.

Love using the griddle on the Camp Chef, time for some great breakfasts.

Love Fireworks...

A composite over the Mountains...

The Future???

After 6 years on the road, dragging my house behind me, it may be time for a change. This winter after moving in to the new trailer which is more comfortable and almost home like by comparison, I have thoughts of slowing down on the travel and get even more comfortable.

I am fortunate to have found this RV Park and the wonderful people here, I enjoy my work here and the town is not bad although I hate California...there may be an opportunity to have the best of both my worlds, stationary and travel and photography.

The owners of the park will be here this weekend and would like to talk to me about year round or should I say near year round...still may be able to leave for a month or so from time to time on some adventures, and then return to my more stationary home. I am not going to get into details right now, but there may be an opportunity for me to move to another site which had a park model in it with a storage shed, nice patio and some shade. Now that the swamp cooler is installed and keeping the trailer very comfortable even in this extreme heat, the climate is much more tolerable.

To properly tow this trailer I need a 3/4 ton truck with preferably a diesel engine and they ain't cheap and I really cannot afford a new car payment. However, I could find a nice small SUV and maybe a small tow behind for some shorter adventures and be more comfortable when just tooling around town and saving some money on gas and travel expenses..if I had a smaller vehicle there are a ton of short drive adventures within an easy days drive from right here... 

We shall see what the future holds - stay tuned!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Hot and now cool! Happy Camper!

So, with the truck problems looks like I will be spending most if not all of the summer here at the RV Park in 29 Palms, which means a hot summer...

The last three days over 115 each day and my A/C in the trailer was barely keeping up - usually 96 to 98 late afternoon inside...needed a desert mainstay a Swamp Cooler...made for this environment.

They are kinda big and bulky and a little ugly, so was not high on my list until the heat arrived. Found the majority of one in the dumpster...motor and case, but missing the water pump, spray spider, water tubing, cooling pads and a few other misc. parts and pieces...trip to the hardware solved most of that, dug out 20 pounds of sand and dirt from the bottom of the unit and cleaned it good, painted any rust spots inside. Evening before last, put it mostly together and made the final plan for the install.The big advantage is on the electric bill - much cheaper to operate over A/C.

Removed the back window in the trailer and last night we hung the cooler and finished the install, blowing quiet and nice and cool...this morning at 6:30 it was 103 outside and 66 inside, chilly.

Window Out

Cooler hung and remaining window opening covered and soon to be sealed!

Inside, kind of obtrusive, needs a good scrubbing today!

THE NICE PART!

This afternoon - need to caulk a few spots and tighten up some small water leaks...will paint the board white!

This should help me survive and figure out what my next move is...spend the rest of the summer finding a good deal on a truck or buy a small good gas mileage car and make this my home?? So much to think about...

This is not a bad place to be stuck for the summer...

Stay tuned - not giving up traveling yet,

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!