Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

November 2, 2015--The adage goes, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." It means that when someone is kind enough to give a gift, the recipient should be grateful.

We are semi-dry-camping at Webster's, with the RV parked in the back yard near an out-building that has electricity. When we pulled in, Becky (Webster's daughter) said we could plug into a 20 amp circuit if we wanted to. We declined, saying we didn't need to; we had a generator. If we plugged into the electrical circuit, we would not be able to use all of our appliance or electric heat, because we need at least a 30 amp (and preferably a 50 amp) circuit.

So, we opted to run our generator so that we could have all the conveniences of home, on our own terms. However...

After only two days of running the generator (we had driven about 200 miles on the tank of diesel), the generator quit. The generator quits when fuel gets down to a quarter tank. It's a safeguard so that you can still drive to get fuel.

Once the generator quit, the gift of 20 amp electricity looked pretty darn good. We decided to take up the offer.  If we care careful, we can watch TV, make coffee, and run the space heater all at the same time, but we can't turn on the microwave. For that we can only watch TV and use the microwave. Figuring out which appliance we can use at one time is like doing a mathematical puzzle: Add up the amps and make sure they don't go over 20.

We had no hesitation in accepting Webster's offer to use his shower. Our water tank was only partially filled when we got here, and the grey water tank was also partially filled. Instead of taking "navy showers" we often use public showers when we dry-camp, so accepting Webster's hospitality was right in keeping with our boondocking. His water pressure is weak, and the water is very hard, but hey! We've learned not to look at gift horse in the mouth.

Until later,

Your Reluctant RoVer,

Linda