They’re so desperate for acorns, it doesn’t even matter if I’m in the open garage using noisy power tools:
Mmmm… Acorns
Category: Home
Fire and Smoke and Evacuations
Leaving heavy smoke in Tahoe on Wednesday 8/19
We headed back home on Wednesday, leaving the heavy smoke in Tahoe from the Loyalton Fire, through the smoke filling the Central Valley to reach the heavy smoke in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the CZU Lightning Complex fires.
Looking south and west from the house (Wednesday evening, 8/19)
Ash and charred leaves deposited around the house (8/19)
As we came through Vacaville and Fairfield on I-80, we slipped through just before the LNU Lightning Complex fire jumped I-80 and even saw flames from the interstate:
LNU Lightning Complex Fire about to cross I-80 near Fairfield on 8/19
On Wednesday and Thursday we prepped for evacuation, loading up the cars with necessities and some irreplaceables, prepping the house as per wildfire pre-evacuation recommendations (moving furniture away from windows, etc). Sure enough, the mandatory evacuation zones were expanded Thursday evening to include everything west of highway 17 (including downtown Scotts Valley). We’re a little south of Scotts Valley and just east of highway 17, but we decided to go ahead and evacuate Thursday night – heading back to Tahoe.
The evacuation areas are expected to remain in effect for a few weeks. Darlene will be renting a place near Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto as she’ll be returning to work next week.
So far, it looks like they’ve been able to mostly hold the fire west of highway 9 and north of Santa Cruz and Davenport. Unfortunately, we’ve got the potential for more fire starts due to more dry thunderstorms expected around the Bay Area from Sunday (8/22) through Tuesday morning (8/24).
Here’s a combined, interactive map showing both the perimeter of the ZCU Lightning Complex fire and the evacuation area. 63,000 acres burned, 77,000 people evacuated – snapshot as of Saturday, 8/22:
Here’s a really nice mapping tool (CalTopo) that can overlay various satellite data (like VIIRS) on a map source of your choice and plot additional weather data like wind patterns. You can even zoom in to see individual temperature sample numbers showing where the fire is hotter and cooler or no longer present:
For more info on the Santa Cruz Mountains fires, here’s some resources:
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Update (Thursday, 8/27): 81,000 acres affected as of this morning but they’re continuing to get good control of the fires across the Santa Cruz Mountains. As the mandatory evac area was never extended to where we are (just east of highway 17), Darlene headed back on Monday evening since she had to go into work at the hospital on Tuesday and I headed back with the cats on Wednesday evening as things seemed to be continuing to go well. As of 3 pm Thursday, they’ve lifted the evacuation order on Scotts Valley and surrounding areas.
Update (late September): As the number and size of the wildfires continue to grow across the western states, we get a taste of our potential future norm, including days that look like night and seemingly right out of “Blade Runner 2049”:
And when we ventured up through Oregon to pick up the Transit campervan in mid-September, we encountered some of the worst air yet: PM2.5 counts of well over 500 outside the rental car.
We brought along our not-so-portable home air filter to use in the car, which was quite helpful on the long drive up and overnight car camping in this nasty environment. I’ve since bought a more compact unit for the campervan given the very likely future event of being caught out in future multiple-states-wide wildfire smoke.
Big Bear Visit
We had a big bear visit the Tahoe house a few days ago – for size comparison, that bear box holds two full size trash cans and then some:
Update: And another couple of visitors in September:
Gaming through the Pandemic
The board gaming continues through the pandemic – albeit just me and Darlene (and Pan, of course) in person and strictly via online platforms with other friends.
Here’s some pictures from March through July – click through for the full gallery:
Transit Van Conversion In Progress
Conversion of this Ford Transit van into a super-cool 4×4 campervan (aka, the Traveling Cat Adventure Van II) is now finally really making progress after several delays, most notably the shutdowns for Covid-19.
It was a year ago, last July, that I ordered the van and set things in motion. I wasn’t able to find a Transit van anywhere that wasn’t either completely bare bones or loaded with every option – including glass in the rear doors and dark paint that I didn’t want, both which would make the van less comfortable in hot and sunny climates. So I had to order from the factory. I was able to finally pick it up last December and pass it off to QuadVan for the 4×4 conversion part, including upgraded suspension, locking differential, raised shock mounts and all terrain tires. (More details here.)
Van Haus is doing the actual campervan conversion and we worked out a mostly final design layout in January. I was originally excited about doing a build like this one where there was enough storage for the bikes inside the van under the bed but still room for a wonderful dinette seating area situated mid-cabin. The platform for a queen-size sleeping area would extend out over the dinette area. However, given all the gear we like to carry on our adventures (mountain bikes plus gear, two-person inflatable kayak plus gear, telescope and camera gear, folding chairs, portable grill, etc.) plus room for the cats’ litter box and feeding area… well, it seemed pretty clear we needed to dedicate more room to the “garage” by doing a common fixed platform bed. Plus the queen-sized bed needs to be oriented lengthwise since I can’t fit width-wise between the walls of a van, even with those side extrusions some people put in. So here’s the final design. Plus, now there’s room for a full cat apartment under the bed platform.
Due to scheduling and miscommunication mishaps, the van didn’t actually get over to Van Haus until late-February and then didn’t really get started before everyone went into shelter-at-home mode in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.\
At the end of May, Van Haus was able to start work again, albeit at a much slower pace with social distancing safety measures in place. I already sold the original Traveling Cat Adventure Vehicle in late May and now Darlene and I eagerly await completion of the van conversion, hopefully in August sometime.
As of late June, they’ve installed the front side windows and the little bunk windows over the sleeping area, the powered Fiamma awning w/LED light kit, the 500W of solar panels on the roof, the MaxxAir fan at the rear of the roof, the Amp Research powered steps on both driver and passenger sides, the various external ports (120V, 12V, aux solar, shore power, etc), my two little cellular booster antennas and the swivel seats in the cabin area.
As of early July, they’ve now installed the floor, all the wiring runs, the infrastructure for the upper cabinets, ceiling insulation and initial wall insulation, and the bug screen. They’re now in the process of making the wall panels and when those are done the full wall insulation will go in.
Mid-July now, and the wall insulation is finished and the wall panels are in. They’re starting work on the cabinet parts using a CNC machine:
It’s late July now and the cabinets are coming together and they’re building the aluminum bed frame. They also tried squeezing my spare oversize tire underneath the rear of the van but then convinced me to go with getting a tire carrier for the rear door (from Aluminess).
Early August and now some of the overhead cabinets are installed, plus the bench seat (which hides the toilet) and the Rixen heat/hot water system. The electrical components (inverter, fuse box, battery system) and other plumbing will be going in soon. They’re estimating another two weeks of work.
Click through for the full gallery:
Well, early September now and the van build is complete… except we’re waiting on the spare tire carrier for the rear door from Aluminess. With luck it will actually arrive at Van Haus by Sept. 14th or so and we’ll be able to drive up there and take delivery of the van later that same week. Fingers crossed – it’s been 14 months since I started this whole process!
Mission accomplished in mid-September: Transit Van Conversion Complete
Bear Inspection
We came across a bear near the Tahoe house today – inspecting a neighbor’s “bear box”:
Model Y vs Model 3
I decided to go ahead and replace my Tesla Model 3 with a Model Y – both are Performance versions but both have the standard wheels and suspension for added clearance.
I’ll miss the Model 3 – the Model Y doesn’t feel quite the same. The Model 3 is definitely more fun to drive just because of how it sits lower and feels more planted, like driving on rails. However, the Model Y is easier to get in and out of, you have much more space for loading stuff and it’s much easier to load our two mountain bikes inside than it was with the Model 3. Also, I like the integrated factory hitch option that’s at bumper level, as opposed to the aftermarket hitches for the 3 which had to mount underneath.
The Model Y’s suspension feels a bit “jouncy” (it could really use an air suspension option) and, somewhat strangely, under full launch acceleration the Performance Y doesn’t feel as stable as the Performance 3, presumably because of the taller stance. It’s still nice to drive though – and it’s still a Tesla, with all the delight that implies. I’m very happy with it but I would’ve been fine with keeping my Model 3 if only it had a full hatchback design for easy loading of bikes and gear, or if the Model Y had never come out.
Besides the obvious additional rear cargo space, the rear under floor and side pocket space and the frunk are all also larger. There’s extra room in the rear seats and easier entry/exit all around due to the higher seating arrangement. The Model 3 is of course more aerodynamic but the Model Y now has a heat pump and an inventive valve system to direct heat to/from the motor, battery or cabin as needed. This gives the Model Y very similar range as compared to the Model 3 despite being larger, at least until this heat pump/valve system is carried over to the Model 3.
Update: Yup, as of late 2020 and along with some other changes and additions, the late-2020 Model 3 has gained added range from the new heat pump system.
If you’re interested in buying a Tesla, using someone’s referral link will give you a discount (the amount varies over the years) and grants redeemable credits to the person who referred you. Here’s my Tesla referral link.
Click through for more comparison pictures:
Update (June 2021): I decided to get some sportier-looking wheels as well as upgrade the tires. The stock Continentals don’t do that great on snow. Here’s my Model Y now with Replika R241 alloy wheels (19×8.5) and the highly-rated Vredstein Quatrac Pro XL (255 R45-19) all season tires:
Painted Tzolk’in Gears
After painting my Middle Earth Quest miniatures, I turned to my Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar gears. People have done all sorts of very cool, detailed painting with these, but I was just intending to give them a simple wash to make them look a bit like weathered, stone Mayan calendar dials (like these).
Unfortunately, two coats of the wash spoiled the effect so I just added a little bronzing over the stain and called it a day. (I got the 3d-printed center discs to replace the original stickers from here.) I was most worried about replicating the tiny food day icons/symbols with a painting brush but those turned out great!
