Solar system

Guess who has power regardless of where we are parked?  We do!  Husband and Brother extended their home school lessons on electricity and magnetism to include how to hook up this simple, 200W, system last week.

We bought two flexible 100W panels from China for a cost of $200.  They are very lightweight, probably around 5 lbs each.  We are not going to mount them to the Hideout so that we can position them for maximum sun.

They lean against the Hideout well, but can lay on the ground or we can set them on the roof. There are grommets in the corners of the panels and we plan on purchasing a bike lock that we can use to secure them.

The panels are wired into a charge controller located in our underneath storage which regulates the charging of the battery and give us real-time data about the output of the panels and the charge of the battery.  Everything plugs together easily and can be unplugged and stored away quickly.  The Dongle (bright blue) allows us to Bluetooth our tablet or phone to the charge controller with an app that displays the information about the system.

The Hideout really shines when it comes to the alternate systems.  The exhaust fans, the motor for the awning, the water pump, and the furnace blower all run on solar.  Our fridge can run on propane or electricity, so when we are not connected to the shore (traditional electricity) the fridge switches to propane.  The two items we cannot use when on solar are the air conditioning and the microwave.  We can use our television and we can plug in devices to charge through our D/C plug & inverter (meaning we can keep our phones, tablets, and computers charged).  On a full sun day in AZ, we were using all of these things and our panels were producing 140 watts to keep the battery charged.

Currently we have one 12 volt battery, however before we leave for the summer we will have two 6 volt golf cart batteries (to increase the amp hours we have available).  The cords just hang out of the underneath storage when the system is hooked up for the time being.  This is the essence of a very simple, cheap, no fuss system.  We didn't want to drill holes into the RV or permanently alter any of the systems.  We want to play with this and see how it goes before we make longer-term decisions.  

It was so exciting to see this system working for the first time! We're almost ready to hit the road! Only three weeks left of the semester!

Empanadas?!?

How did I live 41 years on this planet, over half of those in the Southwest, and NOT know about empanadas?!?  We wanted to try a new restaurant near our new location and we found Republica Empanada which is amazing and serves these delicious little pocket pastries filled with delicious fresh ingredients including two vegan options!  You know it is a good restaurant when you are leaving with a full belly and planing your return trip!  These little pot pie-like pockets are a wonderful comfort food - a flaky crust filled with many options -  I had two varieties one filled with garbanzo beans, carrots, onions, mushrooms and a sort of savory gravy and another with an achiote potato, both were amazing with their fresh green salsa.  Brother had a Greek one with spinach, feta, olives and sun dried tomato.  He enjoyed it so much we had to order a second.  Sister had a black bean and cheese variety, and Husband had a jalapeno popper variety as well as one with chicken.  We also tried a couple of the dessert empanadas - the family loved them, but they all contained dairy in one form or another.  If you are visiting Mesa, you have to try it out.  I suggest just ordering the empanadas a la cart instead of as part of a plate - just so you can try a variety!

I haven't written for a bit because, well, we have been living a full life!  In addition to meeting up with friends and going to parks, we bought a basketball and have been shooting hoops each evening.  This has turned out to be really fun for the family.  There is a ball court in our new neighborhood and like most parks in AZ it seems to be underutilized. 

Time seems to be passing differently than when we were living our life in suburbia.  Friday we had been in our new community for one week, yet it seemed like SO much had happened in that week, I had a hard time accepting we had only moved a week before!  When things are new and changing, you have to be present - you can't sail through your life on autopilot. 

Because I don't have any other pictures to share, I will share a pen & ink drawing by Sister.  She says this is a spaceship. It was a labor of love over two days.

Seyenna Vistas

So we moved to Seyenna Vistas today.  It was our best move yet in terms of how efficient we were at packing it all up and leaving.  It took us about 1.5 hours to hit the road this AM.  It's a gated mobile home community and it has separate facilities for the RV'ers and manufactured home residents which is interesting.  We have access to a pool, club house, fitness center with showers, and a very nice laundry room (I'll post pictures after I use it for the first time).  Our spot is huge and we back up to a green belt.  We have to park far back in the lot for the water, electric, and sewer connections.

There is a small playground that is not up AZ's usual standards but looks like the playgrounds I grew up with in MI.  Still in operation are a swing set and some slides.  There is a place for a tire swing with no tire...despite the elderly quality of the place there were other kids and Brother and Sister had a good time.  The playground is also located at the end of the dirt path pictured above, so we don't have to walk on the road to get there.  A playground is pretty rare amenity for RV parks in AZ, so I feel pretty fortunate to have found this one at a reasonable price.

Speaking of price we paid $3050 to lease the spot for a year, that works out to about $250/month year-round or $300 for the 9 months we will be using it.  I was uncomfortable at M & M in March and was glad to leave early.  Our official lease here begins in April and they gave us the rest of March free.  Also, the front desk staff are so friendly and helpful, which is a very nice change from our previous parks.  Thankfully I had called the electric company well ahead of time and had our power turned on.  That worked out well because we had to run the A/C during the middle of the day.  In the evening it cooled off and I realized we have shade on our outdoor space so I grilled out and we had a picnic.  Finally the kids have lots of room to run around without having to worry about traffic.  They had a blast kicking a ball and chasing each other while I set up our outdoor space.

In the evening we went for a nice walk to check out the neighborhood and figure out where the closest dumpster is.  There are some very nice RVs here, there are also some older ones.  We saw many kids. I saw a cool tiny house too.  On the downside we are in the path of the airport and the jets fly over regularly.  On the other hand, the sunsets are beautiful with the jet streams.

Tomorrow we will explore the club house and laundry a bit more and maybe even use the fitness center!  Because we know this is where we will be for a while we can also get our mail here, which will be convenient as we have been using a PO Box.  Finally, we are thinking of getting high-speed internet which would be absolutely wonderful - the hotspot internet is working, but slowly and not always reliably (though we do manage to keep up with our Netflix shows).  All in all it is a good feeling to know where we will be parked and where we will return to after our adventure.   

Taxes: Landlord edition

Well, it's not every year that you sell your primary residence, a rental residence, and a second rental residence on a land contract! ...Our taxes were a little complicated this year.

All told I think we spent about 10 hours over two days working on it.  I have a 1.5 foot stack of paperwork that I pulled out of storage containing closing docs, previous years' taxes....stuff we might need...thankfully we didn't have to dig too deep into the pile!  We have used TurboTax since 2015. Prior to that, back to the first year we rented out a home, we went to a CPA but we were being charged between $500 and $600/year.  We decided to do it ourselves with software and it has worked out well for about $250/year.  The division of labor is this - I manage the forms online and do the data entry while Husband finds the numbers in our GnuCash system.  We work together to try to ensure we don't forget anything.  I keep track of all paper documents & he keeps track of the electronic. 

Here is what I have learned.  If you have a house that you want to sell, but you can't get your money out of it - RENT IT for a couple of years and then sell it as a rental!  If you do, even if that means you have to rent for a couple of years, you can write off your loss!  If you sell your primary residence and you lose money nobody cares and you don't get to write off your loss - the laws are written by landlords, not homeowners; capitalists, not workers.  I didn't fully appreciate the value of writing off a loss until I did it.

Get this: Let's say I paid $100,000 for a rental.  From the first year in service I depreciate the house - which means that a small percentage of the value is subtracted each year from the rent I earned.  I also get to deduct repairs, property management fees, legal fees, advertising...every year and that further reduces the income I must pay taxes on each year.  A couple of years later let's say I have to replace a roof for $5,000 and flooring for $5,000.  From the moment those improvements are completed I get to start depreciating them as well.  But let's say in year 5, I want to sell the house and I can only sell it for $75,000.  I would determine the "basis" of the house as $110,000 (the cost of the house plus all improvements) minus the depreciation I have already taken over the years (let's say that totals $2,000) to determine the value of the home as $108,000.  Then I would take the sales price ($75,000) and subtract the cost of selling the home (realtor fees/title co...let's say totaling $5000) to determine the net sale price of $70,000.  The difference between $108,000 and $70,000 is the amount I get to write off (-$38,000) and that comes off of my taxable income which reduces my tax burden significantly.  There may be a limit to the losses you can claim in one year, but if so, I bet you can claim the losses over multiple years.  We didn't run into that, but I am not a CPA...I'm just trying to give a simple example to illustrate what a sweet deal landlords get.  That is the boat we sailed in this year - needless to say we are getting a nice refund.

Despite the fact that I benefit from these tax laws, I think they are unfair.  They are designed to make the rich richer & to reward those who have money.  Policies like these are dangerous for society because they perpetuate the two tiered society of haves and have-nots.  Working people can't get ahead and they are kept poor and struggling because of these types of policies.

I want to really stress this point, with a primary residence you don't get to depreciate improvements nor do you get to write off losses.  Homeowners can sink endless amounts of money into their homes, all while paying mortgage interest to a bank and lose significant sums of cash if they have to sell for a loss.  The flip side of this is that homeowners don't pay capital gains on profits while landlords do...but I would rather be faced with the prospect of paying capital gains then not being able to write off a loss. 

We still own one rental home which we have been renting since around 2010.  We have replaced a roof, installed tile throughout, replaced windows and a number of smaller improvements.  We held for a number of reasons...but I don't think I could have mentally dealt with selling a fourth house, three was enough stress!  Also, we have great tenants - as long as they want to live there we will probably rent to them.  Though I have felt a great relief in having less property management responsibilities since September (when the two rentals closed), I see more clearly now how landlords are protected in a more significant way than homeowners/ It makes me question whether we should invest more heavily in the rental business in the future.  Certainly our money invested in our remaining rental yields a greater return than the money we have in CDs.  The bottom line for us is that our taxes in 2018 are going to be a breeze!

Stolen shoes and fancy cars

Saturday morning I discovered my tennis shoes were stolen.  What a crappy thing for someone to do.  I was leaving them outside because the tred was picking up the gravel that lines our spot and I was sick of picking up little rocks in the Hideout.  They were on the lower shelf of the table that holds our grill.  The table, grill, another larger folding table, and our cooler are bike locked together, but the shoes were not secured.  I have noticed young men disrespectfully walking through our lot and I can only assume it was them.  So despite my zen perspective of this working-class neighborhood....whatever.  Did I mention we are moving next weekend?  I looked silly (according to Brother) wearing Sketchers with shorts when we went out on Saturday, but again...whatever.



Saturday was the Mesa Festival of the Arts and they featured many art cars that were amazing to look at and enjoy.  There was so much to see, like this Brass Van:


Funny thing is that I actually saw this one on Thursday when I got off of the train after my commute home. As I waited at the crosswalk this gem was waiting at the light!  I paused to take a picture and the driver leaned out the window and told me about the Art Festival and the art cars that would be featured there. 

I had read about the festival as well, but seeing this van sold me and I am so glad we went!  The driver told me the brass van was build by a relative of his and that it weighs 10,000 lbs - twice the manufactured weight.

Another favorite was this spiritually enlightened peace-mobile featuring moss, coins and religious iconography from around the world. 








Loud Queen music was blaring from this masterpiece with Freddy Mercury on top and the band in the rear.  The whole things was covered in rhinestones, old time pieces, and other bling.  It was so fun to examine all the way around.

Sister was a fan of the Owl Car: 

One of my favorites was the Camera Van....what a blast from the past! On a side not pictured there were screens playing videos of art cars.  Too cool (Yes, it is completely covered in obsolete photographic technology and we were all taking pictures of it with our smart phones...what a trip!).

Practical considerations when living in a tiny space...

Historically, I have lived a very materialistic life.  I have collected things and taken pleasure in antiquing, ebay, garage sales, and resale stores.  We've never had a problem buying stuff - but we are deficient in using the stuff we have.  For example, we have owned our land for nearly 20 years and we have always had a plan for building a self-sufficient home.  We bought necessary components for the water system 10+ years ago and we have moved them around so many times it's silly - they are still not hooked up, but we own them.

Because our storage space is so limited and because we face realities about how much we can and should weigh we have to be very deliberate in our purchases.  My frying pan was worn out and shedding Teflon so I replaced it - in the past I would have just added to a collection.  Brother's water bottle handle broke after a couple years of service so I need to retire it and get him a new one.  It's convenient and efficient to have fewer items to care for, wash, fix, put away...I am glad my cupboard's size sets the limit for what I can keep in terms of kitchen items.  In the McMansion I had cupboards I never looked in - dusty spaces with an old vase or wine glass that I loathed to clean.  

I know a lot of adults who love their toys, gadgets, and gizmos.  I want to have less.  I have two laptops computers, one from work (can't do much about that) and the other I have had for over five years.  I also have a phone - I would LOVE to only have one device.  Both my phone and laptop seem to have some life left in them, but they have hardware issues (my screen shorts out in certain positions on the laptop, the CD ROM doesn't shut properly) and software issues (lack of storage space).  I hate to spend money, but I want to see if I can mange with one device (tablet with bluetooth accessories) to replace both...one less thing to charge when we are boondocking...?  "The things you own end up owning you," as they say in Fight Club.  Getting rid of stuff, swaping out things for other things that have utility (I bought a collapsible wagon which has proven to have many uses including as an aid in carrying laundry to/from the facilities), and organizing our ever shrinking hoard is satisfying.  Also I have less stuff to take care of so I can focus on the people I want to care for. 

The other day, while cleaning my kitchenette I felt like I was playing house like when I was a girl.  I felt happy and content with my tiny kitchen and the small collection of utensils that each are used regularly, as opposed to the drawers of shit in my former kitchen where I would lose things continually.  I bought a new flipper the other day and I spent an inordinate amount of time picking it out since it was replacing one that had served me well until it broke.  

The feeling of shopping and using up all the groceries is a good one.  I used to waste so much food!  I also used to forget about things in my freezer and pantry.  These days we eat what we buy and we clear out the old to make room for the new - it seems much more healthy for my body and mind, as well as the planet.  

A friend recently asked me if I missed being able to just get away - I think she meant like have my own personal space when the stress of family gets overwhelming.  But I honestly can say that living in tighter quarters has made us a more close-knit group.  We have conversations about how we fit together as a group of individuals.  These conversations are especially relevant if one of the kids are acting out.  We talk about reciprocity and cooperation.  The kids are affectionate with us (though they get on each other's nerves sometimes) and we have our fun things to do together: read books, play games, play or listen to music, watch shows, go outside for walks/bike rides, and go to parks and other fun places.  Also, I do have my own space. Husband and I have a bedroom with a door that closes, but I have never gone in there for the purpose she implied.  I have taken a nap, or slept in on a rare occasion.  I have also sat in my room many times to work while the rest of the family are home.  The door limits interruptions, but because the door and walls are thin I can still hear when I am needed.  

I feel that I am living in the moment, not rushing off to the next thing, obsessively planning, or stressing out about whatever.  Life is good, I have so much to be thankful for and I spend time each day counting my blessings.

Another move coming soon...

So....going back to when this whole crazy adventure began, I thought we would be able to park this rig for a song and a dance (I was actually thinking $200/month - HA!) and save good money....Instead we ended up paying RV park rates in the winter in AZ with premiums for the "extra" people (kids) at $538/month to live next to a dumpster (at Apache Palms in Tempe).  So, I've been disappointed with the lot rental costs to say the least.

In February we started researching alternatives to try and get those monthly costs lower. While there are many options, some are less desirable than others.  When we initially contacted the park we are currently in, M & M Mobile Villas in Mesa, we were told the monthly rate was $300.  I responded by saying we wanted to reserve a spot for March.  I then gave notice to Apache Palms in Tempe and they promptly rented out our spot for March.  Then a few days later M & M contacted me "as a courtesy" to let us know that the rent would actually be $400/month for new RVs moving in in March.  That is a crappy business practice!  I was very frustrated by them not standing by their initial quote and I returned to the office at Apache Palms to inquire if we could stay, but they were full.  As I could not find any other options we moved to M & M Mobile Villas, but in the search I found another Mobile Home Park, Seyenna Vistas nearby which rents their spaces ONLY on a yearly basis for $3000 ($250/month) and you have to pay for the year up front.  They also run criminal background checks and have more amenities - including a fitness center and clubhouse.  The problem was that they were full so we added our name to the wait list....

Today we got a call that a spot opened.  We will only need the spot for 9 months of the year, but we leave mid-May and return mid-August (two partial months).  In many monthly rental situations they charge for the full month even when you only use part of the month, so in this case we are paying approx $333/month for the nine months we are in the Phoenix area despite the partial months. Another benefit of a yearly spot is that we could have a small shed, which we may take advantage of.  Having a yearly spot seems like less stress - we don't have to worry about where we will be from one month to the next or where we will be when we return from our cross-country trip.  Finally, the kids may be able to make some friends and participate in community activities and there is a small playground.

I also want to mention that living in M & M has been eye-opening in a number of ways.  It is a working class neighborhood.  I have met people who are living in their RVs out of necessity, not by choice, due to their economic realities.  I grew up in site-built sticks and bricks houses owned by my parents.  I continue to count my blessings and appreciate the difficult situations so many Americans find themselves in.  We are living outside of our bubble & meeting people from all walks of life. I was living in a hyper-reality in my McMansion in the master-planned community.  Now, between riding the light rail to work and living in a working class neighborhood, I am seeing the city and the community from different angles.  It's not something I want to keep from my kids.  I think they need to understand the diversity of experiences that surround us and learn how to adapt and thrive in any environment.

Let's remember that half of all households in the US make less than $56,000 per year.  "Median" means middle, so half of all households make over and half make less...here is a graphic from the Census Bureau showing the median household income by state...

[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]

RVegan Breakfast Burritos

There is a cooperative farmer's market in Tempe that has excellent pre-made vegan breakfast burritos.  I would eat one every day if they were next door...  My other go-to breakfast burrito is nuking an Amy's Tofu Scramble mix and wrapping that up with some guacamole and salsa - easy and delicious.

However, I have been experimenting with these Field Roast sausages in other recipes and when I saw the Mexican Chipotle variety, I thought they must be meant for a breakfast burrito!

These were really good.  Today, because I made such a huge pan, Husband and I ate them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  The kids only ate them for breakfast and lunch...Sister said they were too spicy, though she did manage to eat two of them completely.

Here's what I did, I cooked up some frozen hash browns in olive oil with garlic powder, pepper and a pinch of salt.  In another pan I added two sausages, a half a block of extra firm tofu, 8 oz of mushrooms, and half of a yellow onion finely chopped.

As this mixture cooked I kept cutting the sausage with my spatula into ever finer chunks until it looked like ground beef.  I also kept cutting up the mushrooms (mainly because Brother doesn't like to eat mushrooms so I try to make sure they blend in with the rest of the food).  The tofu is naturally crumbly so basically it becomes a mash and the whole thing was flavored by the sausages.  The water from the mushrooms and the tofu was enough to cook these items without any added oil.  When both the hash browns and mash were done, I mixed them together in one pan. 

There are only two types of tortillas we buy.  Most of the ones offered in stores are garbage.  Our first choice are the whole wheat tortillas from Mama Lola's.  We drive right into Phoenix to the factory to buy them!  Our second less preferable option are the uncooked tortillas from TortillaLand, which are sold at most grocery stores.  

These are the ones we had today.  Fresh tortillas don't split down the side, are not very thick, and are warm.  We added avocado & fresh salsa - store-bought but the refrigerated type instead of from a jar  (everyone else in the family added cheese - though I always leave that off) and voila!  a perfect vegan (or vegetarian) breakfast burrito / lunch burrito / dinner burrito! 

Spring Break recap and looking ahead

What a fun week!  We visited and reconnected with friends (and had a sleepover), went ice skating, attended a community festival, went to the park, went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix, played lots of Minecraft, cooked new recipes, and enjoyed each other's company.  Of course I had some work sprinkled in during the week, but I was able to do that from home and didn't have to go into the office.

Tomorrow school is back in session and there are only seven weeks left of the semester.  Also, we are two months away from hitting the road!  I am so excited, but I know it will come at us very fast and we have much to do before we leave.  Today I started listing all of the things we need to take care of....not least of which is doing our taxes, making some various doctor appointments for eyes and check-ups, shuffling personal property, and going to our land.  Husband will complete his first semester back to college and will have a few more credits on his transcript towards that computer science degree.  Brother will finish his first half semester as a fully home-schooled kiddo.  Sister is inching ever closer to being a 4-year-old!

Sequoia National Park

We've been talking about the National Parks more and more.  I found my collection of National Geographic maps and we posted many of the places we will visit this summer on our limited wall space.  The posted maps include the Southwest four corners states, California, the Pacific Northwest (which includes Wyoming and Yellowstone), the Northcentral states including South Dakota (where we will spend about a week with my parents and my sister's family seeing sights), and Michigan (our home state where we will spend about a month).  Our travel philosophy is that it is better to move less frequently and see fewer places in greater depth than to move frequently and get a glimpse of more places.  We will see how that plays out.  We are planning on spending about a week in each of the larger National Parks so we can really absorb these places with the kids.

Joshua Tree National Park

Looking back over this past week I can see a glimpse of our future - the four of us exploring this beautiful country together.  Learning, playing, talking, cooking, eating... being together.  It's been a long time in the coming, but here we are.  We are more and more settled into this RV life each day.  Getting on the road is the final piece of this adventure.  We have realized one dream - to have time and money to do things together as a family.  We are soon to realize a second dream - taking a twelve-week cross-country summer trip and visiting some of our National Parks.  There are tradeoffs for every choice we make in life, but I have to say that the it really seems that the 'cons' of this life are few and far between.  I have so much gratitude for this life and feel so fortunate to be sharing this adventure with my soul mate and the two best kids I could have ever imagined.  Life is so good.

Butterfly Mariposa Lily in Yosemite National Park

RVegan Smoky Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Herbed Chickpea Dumplings

I am super excited that I made a new recipe today which was enjoyed by the whole family!  It has a long name as listed above, but I'm gonna call it Cauliflower Dumpling Soup...It is from Pinterest of course and it's been pinned to my soup board for a while.  It's not difficult to make, but it does have a few steps.  The best part about it is that it used basan flour (chickpea flour) - something I happen to have an almost full bag remaining from my McMansion pantry that needs to be used up.  I love cauliflower so that alone sold me, but the dumplings were interesting and I have never made a dumpling soup before.  Also, for those that are interested, it is gluten-free and grain-free as well as being vegan.

I needed three pots/pans to make it; the soup pot, the oven dish (for roasting cauliflower), and a mixing bowl (for dumpling batter).  That is the limit for my counter space.  I could just manage it with the kitchen table behind me holding the ingredients and my computer with the recipe.

The best part of this soup is that the dumplings really make it a comfort food!  I'm always looking for hearty vegan soups and stews that are a good substitute for meat and potatoes.  This is one of those recipes.  Also, I love this idea of chickpea dumplings and I am already thinking that these dumplings need to be added to other thin soups that need more comfort and substance.  Seriously you have to make this....It has a rich smoky flavor from the smoked paprika.  The spices are not overwhelming, but I thought it called for a lot of salt so I cut that back a bit.  Salt can always be added back in later.  I had all of the spices except hot paprika for which I substituted a Cajun blend.  Another change I made is that I used dried parsley.  When I make it again I will use the entire can (6 oz) of tomato paste (instead of the 4.5 oz the recipe called for).  I used huge yellow onions and was glad - I love onions in soup.  I also added 3-4 more garlic cloves because I have never had a recipe with too much garlic.  I used one huge head of cauliflower, I did weight it at the store and it was over 2lbs with the stem.  I think the recipe is calling for one large head despite the notation about the weight.  

Here's how it looked while the dumplings were simmering.

I am going to share an edible mosaic's picture here prior to the one I took just to point out how terrible I am at taking food pictures even though I do it all the time.

Uh, yea that's beautifully staged and photographed!  Though, to be fair, it makes a good sized pot and I didn't heap all of the dumplings in one bowl, I shared them between four and left some for tomorrow... Also, I realize, for a pic, I should fill the bowl to the brim to ensure no slop on the sides, but then I risk slop on the floor or table (I have to dip the bowls at the stove and then place them on the table in a tiny space with two kids bumping into me continually)...lighting...nice camera instead of phone...beautiful table/dishes...I might work on it (if I don't have to buy anything)...but I get too impatient after cooking & I want to eat!

Despite my photography, it tasted delicious.  The dumplings were really awesome and I can't wait to eat leftovers tomorrow!