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October 6, 2010, a Wednesday
Lehi (Cabela's), Utah, USA
— Worked on the RV
We got up around our normal time and there was light intermittent rain. J made us a big breakfast of omelets, potatoes, and OJ, and of course I had my regular LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast coffee and J had her usual Lucile's tea. The rain stopped as we were eating. I left in the Jeep around 8:25 and ...

Went to the Home Depot in American Fork to pick up some things to work on the RV electrical system. Yes, the RV electrical system is still giving us trouble. The inverter keeps complaining about the voltage from the house batteries dropping down to 10.5 VDC. (They should be around 12 VDC.)

I returned to the RV around 8:55 and started working on the RV electrical system. One of the first things I did was install a proper grounding clamp for the lightening surge protector for our external cell antenna, then installed some corrugated plastic tubing around the 12 VDC line I had run under the RV to the office. I figured that it would be a good idea to protect the wire from stones and such and to prevent any shorts to the chassis. Then I installed more corrugated plastic tubing around the wires I had installed under the RV for the solar charging system and the whole-house inverter. All of the wires looked OK, but I felt much happier having them protected from abrasion. J came out around 11:30 and went into Cabela's.

I had lunch around 11:45. J returned with my early Christmas present: a Tall, Medium, Cabela's 650 Goose Down Jacket in Pine Green. :) Now we can look like twins!

I went back outside around 12:25 to test the house batteries. I unhooked each of the batteries and removed them from the battery tray. I didn't have a good load to test them individually, but each of them showed approximately 12 VDC on the volt meter. I didn't quite have enough of the large-diameter corrugated plastic tubing to finish the job, and using the smaller-diameter tubing wouldn't be easy, so I left around 1:20 in the Jeep and ...

Went to the Home Depot in American Fork to pick up more large diameter corrugated plastic tubing and some more tie-wraps.

I returned to the RV around 1:50. After installing the large-diameter corrugated plastic tubing on the last section of wiring for the solar charging system and the whole-house inverter, I reinstalled the batteries and J helped hold things as I did that. I secured all of the wires and got everything buttoned up around 2:55 just as it started to rain — whew!

I checked my email and got notified that two of my images were selected for the NANPA Showcase (Tier II): Prairie Wild Onion (left) and Southwestern Myotis Over Water (below left). J also had an image selected for the NANPA Showcase (Tier II): Leap Of Faith (below right). The Tier II images represent the top 100 of the annual NANPA (North American Nature Photography Association) Showcase competition, and will be featured at the Nature Photography Summit and on the NANPA website. They will also appear in Expressions, the NANPA print journal. I tried on the Tall, Medium, Cabela's 650 Goose Down Jacket in Pine Green, and it fit perfectly. :) I did some computer work, then we turned on the generator to charge the house batteries while we were gone. We left in the Jeep around 5:00.

J's <i>Leap Of Faith</i>
J's Leap Of Faith
Mt. Evans, Colorado, USA, June 2010
Canon EOS 1D Mk III, 100-400 (at 210mm),
1/1250 sec, f8, ISO 320

We went to the Olive Garden in American Fork for dinner around 5:20 to celebrate our NANPA success. We both ordered the bottomless pasta with Chianti Three Meat sauce, but I had Penne pasta and J had Angel Hair pasta. I also had the bottomless salad and J had the bottomless soup (minestrone). The soup and salad were good, but neither of us were very impressed by the pasta. I thought the Chianti flavor of the sauce was overpowering. However, it didn't stop me from getting a second serving.

After dinner, we went to WalMart to pick up a few things.

We returned to the RV around 7:35 and turned off the generator. I downloaded and downselected the images I took yesterday, then I processed two images for the blog. The house battery voltage held around 12.0 VDC and the inverter was happy. :)