checking the boxes and getting lucky on relo further north
The timing of this relo was weighing on my mind. I wanted to get as much done in the morning cool as possible because of a heat wave. Wouldn’t be too bad at altitude in Woodland Park but down in Colorado Springs it’s been well into the 90s.
The idea was to hit walmart and the amazon pickup at 6am then stage near the USPS to pick up my general delivery. Then head into town to bake at PF, Harbor Freight, etc. Then to the next boondocking spot.
I catch a break
As I was finishing up my “day before a move” chores rain clouds moved in and temps dropped noticeably. I checked my watch and called an audible.
USPS
I headed to the pot office first since that closed at 5pm. Picked up my GD there (ebay heated vest gear and VA meds).1 The latter was particularly important because delays meant I was out of hypertension meds (lisinopril)?
laundry
I’d been handwashing some stuff but it was time for a load of laundry. Luckily they had wifi which I was able to hit from the far side of the parking lot with the Opal router. I updated my phone to Android 15 (2.4GB), updated my other devices, and got about 1/2 of my media queue downloaded by the time the dryer was done.
I use rsymc for media downloads so interrupting it is no big deal. It will pick up mid-file right where it stopped.
wally world
I reprovisioned at Wally World, again hitting the wifi from the parking lot. By the time I got back to the camper all the downloading was completed.
I am slowly coming to terms with having the resources to buy the food I want to rather than the absolute basics. The important word here is want; I’m not talking about fancy. For example, I bought the following items I would not have been able to buy before on my very limited budget:
- walmart cranberry juice
- walmart beef jerky
- a slightly bigger pack of tortillas than I absolutely require.
- some turkey legs (manager’s discount). Too hot to bake them today but temps will be dropping later this week – see below.
amazon pickup
Snagged my amazon package
- flavacol for my stovetop popcorn sessions. Popcorn is my go-to snack: cheap to DIY, easy to store, requires nothing but a pot with lid.
- tire repair kit for the camper. I pick a lot of nails/screws and $20 a fix gets expensive.
- and a tiny and cleverly-designed tire repair kit for the scoot. I’ll find a small hand pump for it but haven’t decided yet.
planet fitness
I was in dire need of a shower and the PF was serviceable.
gas and water
I try to buy gas only at places that make water available. Found a Murphy with both. The water was verrah slow so I only got about 2/3rds a fill by the time the gas was pumped. More than I need for 14d but this eagle scout would prefer to Be Prepared, all other things being equal.
I went in and bought a Stupendously Huge gatorade at the fountain because I could tell I was seriously dehydrated. Drank all of it and still didn’t have to pee.
finding a campsite in the dark
I try really hard to arrive in daylight since it make things much easier. I got to the base of the mountain at about midnight and it took another hour to navigate the dirt road and find a spot.
I’ve been on longer climbs, steeper climbs, and more boulder-strewn climbs but this one had all three. The road surface was uneven enough that I averaged 5mph most of the way. Occasional jaunts to 10mph but not many. Traction control kicked in when the uneven road + light gravel coating meant spinning one drive tire a bit. I’m not coming down again until I have to.
I stopped periodically to shine one of those brutal 18650 LED flashlights2 around to check out potential sites.
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I found [a spot]9https://img.mousetrap.net/2025/UBox_IMG_2025082110452424_3_163.jpg) that looked workable. I positioned the van to try to catch morning sun and afternoon shade. By the time I got situated it was 3am.
the next morning
I woke up late (0930) and was worried about how hot it was already. Thought I might have to hide in denser shade and run the portables. A quick look at the forecast for the town below revealed today will be a record high, tomorrow slightly lower, then it drops off. Note: temps up here are 10-15F cooler than down there.
I’ll suck it up today and tomorrow and the next 12 days should be really pleasant. In the meantime I’m hydrating and taking it easy for now.
I don’t see any flies yet. The last camp was infested with small biters that I hated. I guess it’s been drier up here so fewer have hatched. The upcoming rain will likely cause a batch to spawn; I put up my mosquito netting just in case.
update on the hitch carrier
I was paranoid but the carrier did fine with no obvious changes. I looked it over with a flashlight every time I made a stop. I’ll still look for a good used replacement but it doesn’t seem to be an emergency.
preparing for rain
I set up rain catchment because it’s supposed to rain a lot the next week or so.
making cables for the Widder vest
I am keeping the single-dial Tourmaster for myself and wanted it to be intact. So I made an input cable (SAE to female barrel) and output cable (male barrel to Widder) for the output side. Only burned myself 4x with the soldering iron. :-(
Also made a test input (Anderson to female barrel) to allow me to test the heated setups inside the van. I suspect they’d be overpowered for actual use in the van even at the lowest of 5 settings. That said, there have been times when my 10w USB vest wasn’t enough to stay warm. I’ll eventually test the controller to see how its PWM function affects output.
future plans
The nights have started feeling a little different. Crisper somehow, like the season is on the cusp of changing. In late September 2021 I was in Taos at 9k feet and it was starting to freeze at night sometimes. I compared that experience to another city in the 9k range; Frisco, CO shows lows in the 30s and 40s in September.
If that pattern holds I will start moving south. My time here will be up in the first week of Sept, and the stay after that (Taos?) will end mid-Sept. I think by October I’ll have to start coming down from 9k.