Tucson tortoise: Edit for photos

[badschnauzer]

Have a Merry Christmas, Tim!

[KCStudly]

Best wishes for the new year, too!

[noseoil]

Took a little drive to shake things up a bit & see about movement on the inside. Did OK this time, just a short trip to Saguaro National Monument (west) this morning for fun. Here's another "forest" picture for Tony, a bit dry this winter as usual....

[lrrowe]

If I am going to keep up with all the winter campout/test/etc postings, I had better get inside mine and get some more work done. "Y'all" are making me jealous. But one caveat is in order....it is too wet right now in my area of the East to venture out. I wonder what the sun looks like?

[dales133]

Come here then irrowe you can have both.
43c one day then rain and 22c the next!
Looking food tim

[lrrowe]

Dales133,
109F on one day and 72F on the other with some rain is not too bad for me. I much prefer it hot. And I will bet you have seen the sun once or twice in the last week or so.

[S. Heisley]

I hope you're planning to come further "west" this spring or summer so we Californians can get a good look at your joyous camper!

[KCStudly]

Looks great, Tim. I am really happy for you that your hard work is paying off and you are at the point that you can start to enjoy the fruits of your long hard earned labor.

It is a big reward for me, too, knowing that if I just keep pushing on I will get there too, some day. Thank you for continuing to post the whole story of your build.

[dales133]

Ill drink to that

[noseoil]

Not a lot of progress to report, but we got in another trip in the mountains close to home this weekend. First night was cloudy & had some rain, but it cleared up on Saturday morning. These are just cell phone pictures, so not the usual quality but are "good enough" to see where we went. Here's Alice, Keith & Jaden at breakfast the first morning, finally with sun! It was a bit chilly the first night.


Here's a neighbor in camp, for folks who don't live in the desert. Things are different here in the plant department.


This is our camp the next day. We moved to another location, because we found a "herd of mini's" with their trailers at the next camp ground up the mountain. There was room for us to move & the ranger was very cooperative when we asked about moving to another location. This is a lower area in the Santa Catalina mountains, just north of Tucson. There's still some snow on the north side of the hills at 5000' in this area, lots more at the summit (at 9000').


Here's the gathering we stumbled on when we took a drive out of camp on Saturday morning for a hike. So nice to find a chance gathering & be able to join in the fun.



First time out for the stove & it was a pleasure to have a good cooking area, which was ready to go without any set-up time. Just turn a vale & the cooking starts. Made coffee, chorizo & eggs, heated water for cleaning & burgers for dinner. Simple pleasures are still the best....

[Sheddie]

Nice trip Tim and nothing wrong with the phone photos

[lrrowe]

Great graphics with the fake bullet holes (hope they are fake). I just ordered turkey feet, deer feet and bear claws decals for my CT. Just for the fun of it...something different. Maybe I should get a few bullet holes to chase my critter feet.

[noseoil]

Yep, bullet holes are good. Keith's camper was named this weekend as "Party in a can" which to me is perfect. He's the soul of hospitality & his kitchen is the best I've seen as a party palace. He's added a bunch more lights since this shot in 2014 and more speakers, but you get the idea.

[dms2871]

1/2" black pipe is run, roughed in & passed the pressure test yesterday. Actually had more pressure after 20 minutes than when I started. The sun came out and warmed things up. I used 1/2" split pipe hangers. They have a 3/8" bolt thread at the top flange, which is just all-thread cut & welded to the frame. It weighs more than the 3/8" soft copper this way, but no worries about rocks & gravel (an extra 15#). Three hangers total, two down from the frame & one in front for horizontal movement. It's very solid, but allows for some movement & flex on the road. I used pipe wrap tape to isolate the pipe from the hanger. The rest of the roll will go on the frame when I mount the deck and bolt it in place. This should keep the frame from chafing and the deck from squeaking when installed. Added a "T" fitting at the rear under the galley, for a quick disconnect fitting in case I want a grill or hot water heater in the future. Glad I'm just poking along in the heat, still a bit warm for a full day of work, but have better ideas by not rushing into things, then having to back up and re-do things. Too many good ideas out there by so many nice folks on the forum!



Detail shot of the quick disconnect fitting. I need to protect this point in the line from road debris with an angle under the frame, the only "weak point" in the line. Another trip to the welder will take care of it. Also thinking about a couple of 2" angles welded at the back corners for a drag piece, in case I scrape something going over a bump or hump, or on an incline which is too steep. Beats chewing the back off on a hard surface.




View looking down through the new collar & into the bracket. Still need to locate the regulator, but I'll fasten it through the tongue box, somewhere behind the bottle. That's the last thing I have to do up front to finish things on the gas line.



Added one small detail on the bracket at the bottom yesterday. I found a hunk of mud flap in my friend's front driveway and was going to toss it out. It was 2" wide & 3/8" thick, so I put it in the back of the truck. Installed a rubber "shim" under the propane tank with a bolt, so the bottle now sits on a rubber cushion. With the top hoop lined with rubber and the bottom on a soft surface, there shouldn't be any issues with chafing on the tank's finish.

That's how you do it very commercial like......posting.php?mode=quote&f=50&p=1092110#
like it very long lasting

[dales133]

Nice work