After missing my mail pickup on Friday, I could finally pick up what had been accumulating for me yesterday. Apparently, Christmas comes on January 2 for me. Lister got a new harness, much like the old one, but not faded. Thanks to Birgit for finding an equivalent one after Amazon stopped selling the original design! I had to keep the “lumberjack” look because that’s how everyone recognizes him at this point. And branding, I guess.
My splurge for myself was a pair of LED headlight bulbs for the bike from Cyclops ADV. They weren’t cheap, which is why I hadn’t gotten them already, but birthday and Christmas money pushed me over the edge to get them. I previously had a single bulb from them that lasted the entire seven years I owned my Honda PC800, plus three years in my KLR, with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Cyclops has had 10 years to further improve the design, so I think of this as an investment. These bulbs have a pure white color instead of the yellowish halogen bulbs the bike came with. I also ordered the “Ultra” version, which leaves the low beams on at a reduced wattage when the high beams turn on, so the whole area gets flooded with light. Since I don’t ride at night much, this is as much for being seen during the day as it is for riding at night.
At Yellow Wolf’s suggestion, I got a book about Chinese diesel heaters. Mine is working well, but they can be temperamental little beasts. Learning how to maintain and fix them myself is a good idea both for my own heater as well as for others who may be having problems that I’ll learn how to solve.
I’ve mentioned before that Vancity Vanlife was a big influence on me to get on the road. Smokey II didn’t have any of his stickers, which have been out of stock for a while. They’re back on his website, so I picked up a few for fun, including these.
My Kijaro camp chair, which has the perfect angle to support my back comfortably (I get to complain about back pain now that I’m 50), was starting to pop rivets out and fall apart. I got another one. I’m rather impressed that it wasn’t the fabric that gave out this time, like the numerous cheap Walmart camp chairs I’ve had over the years. I’d already replaced one rivet with a bolt, but several more popped out at the same time, so this frame was done after two years of heavy use. While I regularly carry it folded up on the back of my motorcycle, Amazon shipped it in a box about as big as the motorcycle itself! This meant I had to leave it and come back with the van to take it back to camp.
But this was okay since my new mattress arrived a day earlier than expected, so I had to take the van to pick that up anyway. I’ve been sleeping on four inches of foam, plus a 1.5-inch thick memory foam mattress topper. It was okay, but after sleeping on real beds at the hotel and at Carolyn’s, I realized what I’d been missing, and decided to spoil myself. This one is ten inches thick. It’s not as comfortable to sit on since it’s a bit higher than what I used to have, but if I’m going to sit I tend to use the van’s passenger seat, while the bed is for lounging and sleeping, so that’s okay. I slept well on it last night.
Now that everything I’ve ordered has arrived, I’m free to travel again. Quartzsite is getting very busy, so I’ll be heading to Imperial Dam soon. It’s also cooled off a bit, and temperatures are about 5Āŗ warmer down there, in the low 60s instead of the high 50s here. I would be leaving today, but rain is passing through the area, and US 95 between here and Yuma does experience flash flooding, so I don’t want to take any chances traveling today. One or more of my friends from our Quartzsite camp may join me there, but Dalane is sick, and Kris needs to get her brakes checked out, so I may be traveling alone for the trip there. That’s fine. If I end up traveling alone, maybe I can dive into some other projects I have in mind with fewer distractions around.
Smokey Da Van 