Monday, August 8, 2011

Datil, New Mexico

Yesterday was an uneventful drive up into the mountains of Arizona close to the New Mexico border. At 7000' near Datil I found a national park with a campground and decided to spend a night 'roughing it'.  That meant No electricity--but I have a 12 V system; and no water--but my water tank is full.  I was so smug in my comfy little nest and fell quickly asleep listening to the wind rustling the pine trees overhead.

Two alarms and a flashing blue light woke me with a start at 2AM.  What in the world......?  I knew the CO2 alarm made no sense because all the windows were open.  I was hardly going to die from carbon monoxide fumes. Why were the alarms going off?  I tried the lights--nothing!  And boy was it dark!

I finally found the flashlight and quickly turned off the 12V system to stop the noise.  When I read the gauge I discovered the batteries were dead!  That meant a warming refrigerator and spoiling food. And no light until morning when I could drive enough to charge the batteries.

Lesson learned--This simple life has some complications to it.

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