SpeakEasy
Jul 07, 2016Explorer
Funny Story
Maybe you have one of these too.
First thing you have to understand is that I am NOT a generator guy. I have been known to approach fellow campers who are running a LOUD generator after hours to ask them to turn it off. I absolutely hate the noise. And no one has ever been able to convince me that the "quiet" ones (ie Honda 2000, 3000 etc) are actually quiet. No way. No how. No generator for me.
Fast forward to early this week.
We have a camping outing planned for next week. We'll be at a venue that has no hookups. This will be our first time doing this (no hookups) in our new-to-us travel trailer. I am used to boondocking, but not in this trailer. My experience has been in a 15-year-old popup without all the modern electronics. No "phantom" power draw issues. So I really don't know how long to expect our battery to hold up.
So in the midst of planning and thinking about these things, I decided to use the WeatherBug app to see what they're saying about the forecast for the time we'll be at the campground. I was distressed to see daily high temperatures forecast for the upper 90's, with overnight lows in the mid 70's. Now I've camped in those conditions before, and it hasn't been pretty. It seemed such a shame to think about doing that again, in a trailer that has a lovely air conditioner ... that I can't use.
Believe it or not, I started thinking about ways I could get a generator - just for the event. Rent one for five days? Possibly. Buy a used on on craigslist then sell it? Workable idea. Buy a new one, use it and return it? No. Not ethical. I even thought for a brief moment about buying one and keeping it.
I kept this up for about a day. I even made a rental reservation for a five-day rental. Then I went back and checked the weather forecast again. The event I'll be going to is in New York State. Imagine my surprise when I found that my WeatherBug app took me to a town with the same name - in Alabama!!! Well, no wonder! Upper 90's and mid 70's makes perfect sense in Alabama in July. When I got to the RIGHT town, in NYS, I found predictions of low to mid 80's for highs and mid 60's for lows. That I can live with!
Cancel the generator rental.
Time for a little self-reflection reality check.
I guess next time I hear a genny in a campground I'll have to be a little less judgmental.
:)
So what's YOUR story?
-Speak
First thing you have to understand is that I am NOT a generator guy. I have been known to approach fellow campers who are running a LOUD generator after hours to ask them to turn it off. I absolutely hate the noise. And no one has ever been able to convince me that the "quiet" ones (ie Honda 2000, 3000 etc) are actually quiet. No way. No how. No generator for me.
Fast forward to early this week.
We have a camping outing planned for next week. We'll be at a venue that has no hookups. This will be our first time doing this (no hookups) in our new-to-us travel trailer. I am used to boondocking, but not in this trailer. My experience has been in a 15-year-old popup without all the modern electronics. No "phantom" power draw issues. So I really don't know how long to expect our battery to hold up.
So in the midst of planning and thinking about these things, I decided to use the WeatherBug app to see what they're saying about the forecast for the time we'll be at the campground. I was distressed to see daily high temperatures forecast for the upper 90's, with overnight lows in the mid 70's. Now I've camped in those conditions before, and it hasn't been pretty. It seemed such a shame to think about doing that again, in a trailer that has a lovely air conditioner ... that I can't use.
Believe it or not, I started thinking about ways I could get a generator - just for the event. Rent one for five days? Possibly. Buy a used on on craigslist then sell it? Workable idea. Buy a new one, use it and return it? No. Not ethical. I even thought for a brief moment about buying one and keeping it.
I kept this up for about a day. I even made a rental reservation for a five-day rental. Then I went back and checked the weather forecast again. The event I'll be going to is in New York State. Imagine my surprise when I found that my WeatherBug app took me to a town with the same name - in Alabama!!! Well, no wonder! Upper 90's and mid 70's makes perfect sense in Alabama in July. When I got to the RIGHT town, in NYS, I found predictions of low to mid 80's for highs and mid 60's for lows. That I can live with!
Cancel the generator rental.
Time for a little self-reflection reality check.
I guess next time I hear a genny in a campground I'll have to be a little less judgmental.
:)
So what's YOUR story?
-Speak