post weekender recovery, reprovisioning

the weekenders have gone

It is absolutely silent again after the weekenders left.

No more blocked trails, UTVs with blasting music and dust trails, or loose dogs.

Also no more mice so hopefully the weekenders took the meeses home with them. :-)

13-day reprovisioning

If the weather cooperates I’ll be moving down to lower elevation (outside SFE) in the next 10-20 days. Having another grocery run in the mix will help ensure that stretch is comfortable.

I chose to go this morning because:

• it was forecast to be relatively cool (easier on dog in van). It will be even cooler next week but I’d start scrounging for things to make from ingredients.
• it was forecast to be cloudier than surrounding days, so alternator could get some use
• I was hoping for some post-holiday meat clearances (there were, but most were for $$$ cuts of meat I couldn’t afford even on clearance)

water

I’ve only used ~16gal of my 46gal total capacity. One of my personal rules is “always take the opportunity to take on water” but I seriously considered skipping water this run.

Then I remembered the spigot at the Smith’s gas station in SFE was suddenly padlocked and was concerned it could happen here too. So I decanted into the aquatainers and refilled the main tank.

trash

I had one plastic grocery bag of trash, chiefly cans with other trash crammed inside of them. Tossed it in the dumpster while the water filled.

groceries at Smiths

You know the locals are well-paid when you see a Ferarri at the grocery store.

• The total for this 13d reprovisioning was $59.29, well within my $200 monthly grocery/supplies budget.
• The most expensive item was a can of Folgers coffee, $0.23/oz. When I buy name-brand coffee it’s usually Maxwell House, but this Folger’s deal was unusually good. And I am short-ish on coffee.
• Tied for most expensive was $5.99 for Dot’s Pretzels. They are $$$ but this was a good sale and they make a fantastic treat. The other treat was nibbles from the olive bar ($2.00).

Normally I’d buy 5lb of potatoes but they were $3.50 for the cheapest ones and I balked.

Deals of note:

• 0.5lb kroger cheeses for $1.49 (I got block colby, shredded mozz, and sliced cheddar)
• 1lb butter for $1.49. I would have grabbed two but I still had a half-pound in the fridge.
• horseshoe of Echrich andouille sausage for $2.99
• clearance pork country ribs for $2.21/lb
• lay’s kettle chips for $1.99
• saltines for $1.25.

I also bought 2x Banquet turkey pot pies to bake in the crock, my traditional grocery-run day lunch. The heart wants the comfort foods it wants.

power

The bank was 50% SoC when I left this morning, and the alternator was putting net 37A into the bank (0.25C)

I loaded the pot pies into the crock and started them going (90w, 270Wh). With solar bringing the voltage up alternator contribution dropped to net 23A (0.15C, I=V/R). By the time I got back to camp at ~0830 SoC was 63%. The run to/from town is maybe 20mins so there’s not much time to catch alternator power.

The sun is out from behind the trees so I’m seeing 515w (net 299w after van loads and crockpot) at 1050.

Update: 100% SoC at 1210.

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