Camping with Friends

We are camping with friends and you are invited! Join Suanne & Phyllis on BLM land in Pahrump from Sunday April 16 through Saturday April 22. (Although Suanne & Phyllis are Homes On Wheels Alliance (HOWA) staff, this is not a HOWA camp ... we're simply friends camping together on public land.)

This is truly casual camping, nothing will be organized. But, typically these get togethers end up with campfires, hiking, pot lucks, games, arts & crafts, a free pile, and lots of great camaraderie.

We will be "dispersed camping," aka "boondocking." Please arrive fully prepared and able to take care of your own needs. Nothing will be provided for bathroom facilities, water, trash disposal, food, etc. The town is an easy drive from camp with grocery stores, water kiosks, and a free land fill. Watch the weather forecast to know what to pack for clothing and bedding.

The camping area selected is spread out for about a half mile along Higley Rd, with center camp near the middle. We will be camping on the land east of Higley because it is public BLM land; the land to the west of Higley is private land.  

Unlike some desert areas, Pahrump's BLM land has an abundance of brush and washes. On the attached map, I put arrows at the locations with access to flat rocky areas (desert concrete) for our personal camps. Very large or long rigs may not be able to maneuver within the available camping areas.

Please be kind to the land and avoid driving through washes and over plant life. In fact, "to be kind" is what we ask everyone to be who chooses to camp with us ... focusing on what we have in common vs. what divides us.

Driving Directions: From NV Hwy 372 & NV Hwy 160 in Pahrump, NV, go north on Hwy 160 for 3 miles. Turn right (east) on E Mesquite Ave., go 2.5 miles to Higley Rd (aka Justin Rd) at this link https://goo.gl/maps/FRVwGAEKg6hZxAC7A. Turn left (north) on Higley. Between 1000 ft and .5 mile on Higley, will be multiple places to camp to the right/east on the rocky ground (see photo with arrows).

Camping area, north of Mesquite on Higley.  

The arrows show places to turn right to camp off of Higley.

Four areas to camp, near to Center Camp

Driving north on Higley at Mesquite. 3/2/23

Looking east at first camping area going north 

on Higley.  3/2/23

Looking east at second camping area going north

on Higley.  3/2/23

Looking east at third camping area, location of

center camping, going north on Higley.  3/2/23

Looking north from center camp.  3/2/23

Looking east from center camp.  3/2/23

Looking east at forth camping area going north

on Higley.  3/2/23

Looking east at fifth camping area going north

on Higley.  3/2/23

Looking east at sixth camping area going north 

on Higley.  3/2/23

For the latest updates, go to my public Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Suanne.Carlson.

Thanks.  See you there!

Cooking in the Van

Update on Construction

Before I share with you about cooking in the van.  I want to let you know that my van configuration remains the same, with no more progress on the floor.  I have lots going on with HOWA right now; so, I've chosen to wait on the van construction.

Cooking

I love to cook.  I love the challenge of making something yummy with what I have on hand.  I love researching what flavors and textures pair well.  Most of the time these creations are just okay.  Nothing I would repeat for company.  But, I really enjoyed tonight's experiment.

Keep in mind that I have one 2 Liter pot and no refrigeration.  I do, however, have lots of canned goods right now ... thanks to all of the pandemic preparation I did a few months back.  I have so many canned goods, in fact, I really need to get rid of some.  They are taking up too much room.

Because I have no refrigeration, I make sure that I eat my fresh foods before they spoil.  Right now, the only fresh food I have are 2 eggs.  Tomorrow I go shopping.  So, for tonight's dish I used a combination of canned goods, powdered ingredients, dried items, herbs and spices.

Please note, except for the canned goods, I've estimated how much I used of each of the ingredients in the recipe below.  If you prepare this dish yourself, please season to your own tastes.  And feel free to substitute, eliminate, or add ingredients however you desire.

Crystalized Lemon from Amazon at https://amzn.to/2O0ts8B

Rich Salmon Bisque for Dinner and Breakfast

1 - 26 oz can of condensed tomato soup
1 - 14.75 oz can of salmon and liquid (you can take out the skin and bones if you want to, I don't)
2 oz maple bacon jerky, chopped fine
1 T dried chopped onion
1 T dried parsley flakes
1 t black pepper
1 t crystalized lemon (https://amzn.to/2O0ts8B)
1 t garlic powder
1 small packet of red pepper flakes from pizza joint (about 1/2 t)
2 T butter powder (https://amzn.to/2YYXZd4)
10 T heavy cream powder (https://amzn.to/2ZEpN5H)

From Amazon at https://amzn.to/2YYXZd4

Combine tomato soup, canned salmon with its liquid, dried onion, dried parsley, black pepper, crystalized lemon, garlic powder and red pepper flakes in a 2 liter pot.  Break up the larger pieces of salmon while heating on the stove.  Just before simmer, turn off the heat and add butter powder.

From Amazon at https://amzn.to/2ZEpN5H

Mix in the heavy cream powder.  OR  If you are going up heat up leftovers (like me for breakfast) Serve about 1 cup of the bisque into your bowl then mix 2 T of heavy cream powder into the bisque that is in your bowl.  Store the remaining bisque in a cool spot (low 40's at night here) and have for breakfast the next morning.  This way, the cream in the leftover bisque won't burn on the bottom of the pan upon reheating.

The bisque before adding the heavy cream powder.

Bisque with heavy cream powder for brunch the next morning.

In Summary

I've really missed having the time to set up my outside camp kitchen in order to cook meals.   During these last several weeks, however, I've had my stove out most every day, making something inside my van.  It's mostly about the simple things, like enjoying a mug of steaming hot tea during the chilly morning hours.  I've even tried making my friend Silvianne's oatmeal recipe ... with no success as of yet.  But, I'm getting there, having just picked up some Cardamom.

Thank you for reading this rather mundane post about cooking.  Still, it's something that is giving me joy right now and I wanted to share it with you.

Two Weeks In

Copied over from a Facebook Post from June 18, 2020 (plus some additional pictures) --

Almost 2 weeks in the van. First, I made a 2-day drive from Pahrump, NV to Klamath Falls, OR. Got 16 MPG on first day, and 20 MPG on second day. Now, I'm camping with HOWA staff in the National Forest... always a treat. Spent the next week working. Then into Medford before coming back to camp and taking everything out of the van to finish the floor. Weather said sprinkles for a couple of hours over the two days planned to finish the job. So, tarped everything.

Everything out of the van and tarped for the rain.

Good thing because it rained for most of the 2 days ... and a couple of times it poured.

Damp and drizzle helped to take the bow out of the plywood.

I ended up doing what I could inside of the empty van. Thankfully, no more bow to the plywood in this damp weather.

Ended up using the inside of the van for shelter to work during the rain.

So, I got the underlayment mostly completed before I needed to load everything back into the van and get back to HOWA work. Now, next chance I get (in about 10 days), I'll install the sheet vinyl. It's slow going, but this pace and its many pauses is affording me opportunities to test out various configuations in my no-build build.

Kitchen Counter placed over wheelwell on passenger's side.

First, as you can see by my earlier post, my bed was across the side doors along the driver's side. I didn't especially like that my bed was front and center. Then I moved it to the back, still along the driver's side of the van. Better, but next I moved it along the passenger side of the van in the back. I like this configuration the best so far. See pic taken from the cab.

Latest configuration.

What I am enjoying most about the van so far -- the connection to and view of nature out of its many windows and open doors; making hot drinks and cooking inside; free power via solar generator/panel; and sitting up high when driving.

Love the windows.

What I miss about the Prius -- no hesitency to drive due to cost of gas; instant electricity by turning the car on; able to warm the smaller space quickly with auto-start while still in warm bed; everything was within arm's reach.

That's it so far. Stay tuned.