It was a soggy morning. I had awakened several times during the night worrying about the condition of the 1.6 miles of dirt road between where we were camped and the nearest paved road. I realized that there wasn't anything I could do about it and went back to sleep.
This morning I had to face the reality of the road. All of the information said that it was passable. I thought about at least four relatively deep washes between us and the pavement. We packed up and headed toward Quartzsite. The desert was still a bit squishy under my feet and therefore under the five tons of Nitsitapiisinni and Moe (our trailer and truck) but we pulled out without difficulty. The road was in remarkably good condition and the washes weren't too bad if you went really, really slow. One of them caught my right-rear stabilizers. Dang! I just replaced that a year or so ago.
The first order of business was dump, water and propane. When we arrived at the Pit Stop in Quartzsite we decided that we'd forego the propane. The line was out to the street. Dumping our black water (toilet) and grey water (wash) tanks is one of those jobs that just goes with being a nomad. The Pit Stop has a good system and it was soon our turn to dump. I have a clear plastic elbow that I use so I can see when the tanks are empty. Once you finish dumping you pull forward and load your fresh tank with filtered well water. Total cost. $14 for a trailer under 30 feet long.
Every time I dump I can't help but think of how most people don't give a second thought to liquid waste and sewage. They flush a toilet, using at least a couple of liters of water if they have one of the high efficiency toilets, and don't give it a second thought. We step on a lever, a hole in the bottom of the toilet opens up, the waste drops into the black water tank, and we let up on the lever so we don't use too much water. Like a house toilet, water does come down the side to wash off the bowl, but we only use a couple of cups of water and part of that seals the hole so it doesn't smell. The maximum waste our tanks will hold is 80 gallons. The freshwater tank and hot water heater can hold 60 gallons. That's 1,168 pounds, but, of course, as the freshwater tank get lighter the waste holding tanks get heavier. The point, however, is that we are very aware of water use.
According to government statistics the average water use is 80-100 gallons PER PERSON per day. Based on a full black and grey water tank, we use 6.85 gallons of water per day for both of us. In the typical American home, the average shower takes 5 gallons per minute. The average toilet flush is 4 gallons and a dishwasher uses 6 gallons per cycle.
Granted, it is probably unreasonable to expect the average household to be as frugal with its water as those of us who are nomads, but the fact that we use less water in two weeks than the average person does in a day and we have clean dishes, clean bodies and clean clothes, does indicate that the average American could do a great deal to reduce wasting water.
Two quick things would be to get high efficiency toilets and wash dishes by hand using any one of a number of methods a nomad can teach you. I can give both our trailer and our truck a good bath with a 24 ounce spray bottle without dumping toxic chemicals on the ground or into a sewer. It just takes a bit more elbow grease. A shower is a great way of reducing water waste. Evidently lots of people take 20 minute showers. That's 100 gallons right there. Try putting a couple of inches of water in a bathtub to wash. Another method is (1) turn water on to get wet, then turn the water off; (2) wash with a washcloth; (3) turn water on to rinse and then turn off. If you need to wash your hair, it will take another cycle of water, but in the end result you will have taken a good shower without running more than 2-5 gallons.
Water is a precious commodity. Those living in what, for lack of a better term, I call the Colorado River corridor are learning this. They are running out of water because large corporations are even more wasteful than the average home. Why don't we, as a nation, start using simple water saving practices when we have a chance to adjust and learn, instead of waiting until we are forced? You really do become so accustomed to these ways of living that you don't think of it. When we were in the midwest to spend some time with family, I still washed my body and our dishes in the same way as I do when I'm out boondocking.
After dumping and taking on water we had to stop at the county "transfer station". That's a place where you can dump your trash and do recycling. I spent an entire blog talking about this not that long ago, so I won't go there again. Suffice it to say, we have a long way to go to turn the tide on the destruction we are doing with our trash.
Well, we finally made it to a remote area in southern California about ten or twelve miles from Parker, Arizona. It is a lovely desert area where our nearest neighbor is at least a quarter of a mile away. We aimed the big back window of Nitsitapiisinni at the nearest mountains. I put out our portable solar panel. It's just nice to have that extra 80 watts - a total of 400 watts - to be sure that we have our batteries well charged. Maybe some day I'll do a blog about the benefits of not using big inverters.
Have a great evening. We're on Pacific Time, so it's only 7:30, but I'm going to bed and proof reading a couple of novella I'm getting ready for publication. When you decide to turn in, go to the window and tell Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) goodnight. Why don't you promise her you'll do your best to take care of the marvelous things she has given you. Good night.
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