October 18, 2015 at 10:58AM by advodna_dave

We're only getting about three hours of good sun on our roof panels because of the low sun angle and some trees lining the campground, so the portable panel has been essential to keep up with our furnace (and Apple TV, we just discovered "Veep") use. The panel came with a 15 ft or so cable, but I bought 50 ft of 10awg PV cable (split into a 25 ft pair) and a couple 2 prong flat plugs to make an extension that's really come in handy for seeking out the sun. #hereswhereelectricalgeekstellmeexactlyhowmanyampsimlosing #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #solar #airstreamsolar

October 18, 2015 at 08:07AM by advodna_dave

Frost on the grass this morning plus a big kid's consignment event at the convention center in Madison made this morning seem like a good time to go through all the kid's clothes, trying on some new winter hand-me-downs from the @backroadbennetts and storing away the summer stuff. During our pre-launch #airganization, we divided the deep cabinet over the kids' bed into two levels with four bins along the front row of each. Right to left it's pajamas and undies (swim stuff behind), short sleeved shirts (summer behind), long sleeved shirts (snow suits behind) - then a slot for tutus - followed by bottoms (extra shoes and boots behind). The bins make it easy to grab one for tops and one for bottoms and let them pick what they want. #airstreamwithkids #travelwithkids #familytravel #fulltimefamilies #justbetweenfriendssale #justbetweenfriendsmadison

October 17, 2015 at 10:17AM by advodna_dave

A few people had told us not to miss the farmers market in the Capitol square of Madison. Of course, no one mentioned that it was homecoming weekend and everyone would be out in the bright red University of Wisconsin Badger colors. Luckily, I had my kinda orange poof on, but Ann was wearing her trademark bright green, and we weren't sure what the opposing team's colors were. Everyone was very nice tho, and we figured she wouldn't get roughed up unless they happened to be playing the Louisiana Limes. To try to fit in, we enjoyed a traditional Wisconsin breakfast of apple cider donuts, spicy cheese bread and cheese curds which the kids didn't mind one bit. #chestfeelingtight #paininleftarm #wisconsequences #madison #madisonfarmersmarket

October 16, 2015 at 01:25PM by advodna_dave

We pulled into the Lake Farm Park Campground in the afternoon on a Thursday and asked the camp host about availability through the weekend. She kinda shrugged helplessly and explained that they were fully booked through the weekend since it was homecoming and there was a football game on Saturday. I'd checked the website and thought I saw that several sites were first-come first-served, but when I mentioned that, she just looked confused. I started walking back to tell Ann the news, when I thought again. I went back and asked her if there might not possibly be any overflow sites or maybe extra dry spots anywhere? She said, oh yeah, there were lots of dry sites, any of the 15 or so grassy ones along the outside of the loop. [Sigh] Still, we'd come in a bit low on power, so it seemed like a little help by tilting the panels and getting out the portable might be in order. #suckitlowanglesun #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #solar #rvsolar #offgrid

October 16, 2015 at 09:29AM by advodna_dave

One of the things I've been missing most about being on the road is motorcycles. I "purged" my big adventure bike before we hit the road but still have a couple old Hondas in a shed at home that I miss tinkering with and rattling along at 35 mph on down a country road. I've spent a few nights lately staring at bike porn, so when I had a free morning, I Googled "Madison vintage motorcycle" and came up with Suter's Speed Shop. Wow, I would have a lot of rusty "projects" in my garage if I lived anywhere near this salvage yard, not to mention access to the friendly and knowledgeable guys behind the counter. They even had a nice "cafe'd out" specimen of my latest obsession, an old Honda CL 350 Scrambler, that definitely would have followed me home. #vintagemotorcycles #vintagebikelust #hondacl350 #hondascrambler #madison #needatoyhauler

October 15, 2015 at 05:30PM by advodna_dave

I'm betting that making Origami foxes is not the only thing Meg and Jonathan from @hairventures learned while living in China, driving the Mongol Rally and overlanding in Africa, but it sure came in handy tonight. While we're blasting east, they're blasting west before heading south down the Pan American Highway. So glad they reached out for a quick #instameet tonight in Madison, and we're hoping we might just get to see them one more time in CA before they cross the border. #intagramfriends #overland #panamericanhighway #panam