Solar installation - nothing is ever easy!

The 160 watt RV solar kit we purchased from Alter Systems, Inc. arrived last week. The kit includes 2 80 watt Sharp brand solar panels, an upgraded Bluesky 2000e charge controller, wire, wire connectors and solar panel mounting brackets. This past Saturday Leon and my brother in law Rick began the install. Mounting the solar panels went smoothly. The layout they selected for the panels on the roof of our trailer insured they are not very noticeable from ground level which makes me very happy! Their next step in the installation was to pull the wires needed to connect the panels together and to the charge controller. As they began this task they discovered that the solar vendor had shipped us an incorrect / incomplete part. The wires that were sent do not have the male and female connectors needed to attach them (to the MC branch connectors that link the panels together and to the charge controller). I attempted to contact Alter Systems technical support department but since it was a Saturday their office was closed. I sent an email to them letting them know we were missing a critical component and they responded on Sunday saying they would ship us the correct part when their office opened on Monday. I hope they have good follow through!

Leon and Rick decided to keep working to get as much of the installation done as they could without having the necessary wire connectors so they moved to installing the solar charge controller. We made the decision to mount the controller on the wall between the trailer's lounge and the galley's refrigerator so that it be easy to monitor. Leon and Rick disconnected the microwave and refrigerator and removed them from their compartments. Next they cut a hole in the wall and installed the charge controller above the TV. I think it looks pretty good there! They completed the day by attaching wires to the controller and pulling wires through the belly pan of the trailer to the battery compartments. So, I'd venture to guess that we are about 70% with the solar installation. Our goal was to be done in one day but it was not to be. Lucky for us Rick and my sister Patty are going to be spending their July 4th holiday weekend with us working on our trailer as we still hope to leave on our western adventure early next week. We'll see if we can stay on schedule!

Feeling sad

I received my official reduction in workforce notification letter on Thursday, June 25th. Even though this was not a surprise and I had weeks of being "on the bench" which allowed me to move through a grieving period of sorts I'm still feeling pretty sad right now.

Thank you Sun Microsystems, Inc. for 13 1/2 years of employment, it was a fantastic ride.

We're taking our lemons and making lemonade

It's happening; The thing I've feared since the dot.com bust back in 2001. I'm being laid off from my job of 13 1/2 years at Sun Microsystems, Inc. Just as this shock began to subside Leon came home with the news that the company where he has worked for the last 12 years will be closing due to the owner's failing health. With these life changing events unfolding for us Leon and I have had many conversations about what our next steps should be and we've come to a decision: We're going on a Airstream road trip! We realize that we have been given a gift of time away from the work-a-day world so we are taking advantage of it.

Here's our travel plan. We will head out west to visit National and State Parks in South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona. We'll then turn towards home with visits to sites in Colorado, Kansas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Our plan is flexible, so we may add or subtract places as we go, depending on what interests us.

First things first: Follow along as we prepare our trailer for this adventure. We'll be adding solar panels and a solar controller over the next couple of weeks along with other upgrades and repairs. We'll also be working on the routes we'll travel and places to stop along the way. We'll post them here, please provide your feedback / suggestions!