Category: Uncategorized

Today was warm and sunny. It seemed like a good day to dewinterize my van. So we drove it out to Rogers, Minnesota, where there are free dump and fill facilities at:

We turned in behind Cabela’s at the sign for truck/RV/bus parking:

and saw this:

And were reminded that holiday parking for trucks around here is at a premium.

On we went to the faucet first just to be sure:

No water yet. Too early in the season apparently.

So we didn’t get that task taken care of today.

Since our daughter has been driving OTR I have become more aware of truck parking. So on our way through Roger’s I checked around.

At TA, the official truck stop, they were parked every which way:

At Denny’s there were several trucks when we stopped for lunch on our way to Cabela’s and they were all still there when we left:

Across the street at the Holiday station there were a few more:

I sure am glad we only had to park the van in Rogers today.

TTYL,

Linda

 

 

 

 

Last year at this time I was sitting in Texas waiting for the weather to warm enough in Minnesota to let me come home.

It is tradition in Minnesota that the parks turn on their water on April 15th. Tax Day. The day when the cold nights are over so we can stop worrying about freezing our pipes.

Didn’t work out that way last year.

This year?

Today’s view from our living room:

Forecasting about six inches in our neighborhood.

Global warming, anyone?

TTYL,

Linda

I bought what beprepared.com calls a gourmet 14-day food supply. It came packed into two boxes for a total of 22 pounds and looks like this:

Dig down a bit and you find this:

The packets are Mountain House brand freeze-dried entrees. Mountain House is my favorite brand of backpacking food.

The cans are freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and drink mixes to supplement the entrees.

And it comes with a menu plan to show how you can make meals out of them:

The entree packets say they contain 2 to 2.5 servings per packet but the menu assumes one person will eat the entire packet. I know from experience I can do that.

When Dave and I first started fulltiming we mostly lived on Mountain House foods but we would make one entree and one desert to share for each meal. My favorite of their meals is Beef Stroganoff with Noodles. Dave hates stroganoff. So I always got to eat that whole packet myself. Although, I would sometimes refrigerate some of it to save for another meal. So, I doubt I will be supplementing those packets with fruits and vegetables. I’ll probably eat the fruits for snacks but the vegetables may stay around for their entire 10-year shelf life.

I consider these to be camping food more than emergency food, though, because they require you add boiling water. Which means you have to have access to lots of water and a way to bring it to a boil. When the power is out not many of us living in houses or apartments can cook. Even gas stoves often have an electronic pilot light nowadays. And our apartment is all electric. But when my van is here and ready for camping I have no problem because my solar panels provide the electricity I need to heat the water from my 40 gallon fresh water tank. (It is still winterized right now, though, since we are still having some nights where temps go below freezing so that fresh water tank has only RV antifreeze in it right now.)

I bought these foods to put in my van to have when I’m out in the boonies and don’t want to drive in to a store. Or in case I get sick again and have a hard time keeping myself fed.

But if Dave takes my van to Texas without me, I may just stay home and eat these. They are easy and tasty, after all.

And those three packets of Beef Stroganoff are already calling my name.

TTYL,

Linda

ps. I don’t drink milk so next time you see me you can ask if I’ve given it away yet. If not, you can have it.

As I said in my last post, tornado season is coming and I am preparing for that. One of the things I needed to think about was where I would go if I needed to bug out.

Having lived most of my life in Minnesota I know how to watch weather reports and analyze my risk. I have never yet been in the direct path of a tornado so I have always been able to stay at home or take shelter locally–such as in the bathroom building of a local campground since staying in a vehicle is NOT recommended. So, most likely I will simply be able to stay in our apartment. If the apartment appears to be in a direct path, I will simply take my bugout bag and move to a lower level, interior part of the building.

All of that should be fine for the time until a tornado actually hits. But, what then?

If our power is out and our building is not safe then it is likely the trees around us are also down making it impossible for me to drive away.

In that case I could put my pack on my back and start walking. Probably south. About 1/2 mile south of us is a Crown Plaza hotel. It probably has generators to provide emergency power. And rooms with beds to rent. I’m not sure their restaurant would be serving food but I have three days worth of food with me, right?

If that doesn’t work, about 1/2 mile south of the hotel is a small hospital with an emergency room. I’m sure it has generators but if I can walk that far I am not likely to qualify for a bed there. Still, it would be a place to shelter until I can arrange something more.

Once the trees are cleared from the roads, assuming our car survived the damage, I have lots of options. I can go the the extended stay motel about 5 miles north of here where we have lived  before thus have cooking capabilities once again. Or I can go stay with friends or family about an hour northeast of here. Except most tornadoes in this area travel northeast so they might not be available to take me in. I know the friends have a generator but I don’t know if family does.

But, whatever happens, I will deal with it.

And the odds are I will not have to go any of those places since I have never had to do so before.

But, as a child I was a scout. Be prepared.

TTYL,

Linda

Tornado season is approaching. Bug out bags are being checked and updated.

For many years I have not worried too much about my ability to bug out because I have had Dave around to help me do it. Then I went south for the winter without him, returning north during tornado season. But I had my van and that increased my bug out capabilities enormously.

But this year? I may be in trouble.

You see my van is going south during tornado season and I may not be going with it. Dave may be going to drive it to Texas to get my shower fixed while I stay in Minnesota. So I need to be able to bug out on my own in just our car.

So I’m thinking about what I would do if the worst case scenario arrived–meaning our apartment building took a direct hit. Power would be out. I might not have safe shelter. I might not be able to cook. I might have to live in my car for a few days but with trees down I might not be able to drive it anywhere. What would that look like?

So, among other things, I’ve been thinking about my requirements for food. Easy to eat. Doesn’t require cooking nor refrigeration. Preferably stuff I would be willing to eat in a non-emergency situation. Here’s what I’m thinking.

Meat: Jack Link’s Original Beef Steak Tender Bites.

I do not ordinarily like jerky-type meats but these are bite-sized pieces of real steak and I like them. Since I am usually eating these for a snack I only eat five pieces at a time but I’m sure in an emergency situation I could eat a meal’s worth of these. Each package contains about 270 calories. And with 15-18 chewy pieces per package I think I would feel like I actually ate something. You can get these at big box stores like Target and Walmart but the teriyaki flavor is more commonly available. If you want the original flavor your best bet may be Amazon.

Fruits/Vegetables: Puffed mixtures from the baby food section of the grocery store.

These are sort of the size and texture of Cheerios but are fruit and vegetable mixes. You get lots of pieces so, again, you feel like you actually ate something. For instance the Plum Organics brand shown is a spinach/apple mix in a  1 1/2 oz container that contains 150 calories if you eat the entire container at one sitting. There are several brands and flavors of these available and I have bought them at both Target and Walmart.

So now we have 420 calories of easy to eat food for any meal that doesn’t require any preparation or cleanup. If you only ate one container each of these two items for three meals you would have 1260 calories per day. That is enough to keep any of us going until we figure out what else we need to do to survive.

But, for me at least, there is one more category of food I need.

Stress foods: We all need foods that comfort us in times of stress and I can think of few things more stressful that the need to bug out. For me that means salty, crunchy food. Like Pringles.

Pringles are far from being a healthful food. They are more that 50% fat. But we need fat to keep our bodies healthy and this is the tastiest, portable form of fat I know. Eating fat helps my body use the nutrients I get from taking a daily vitamin (which is already in my bug out bag with three days worth of my daily medicines and copies of my prescriptions). And that, in turn, helps reduce stress.

Plus, we are only talking three days, right? By then I will know what my next plan is.

Now to pack some toilet paper.

TTYL,

Linda