Batteries Lose Their Blush

It has been exciting, having such a major component be new in the van.  The past couple of years I was always keeping a worried eye on the battery levels.  But now, curious as to how they would perform, I was checking battery and charge levels dozens of times a day.  For a while it was expressions of amazement.  It seemed like I was always at a hundred percent.

But at a certain point, a degree of “this is too good to be true” started to set in.  For one thing I started wondering if my meters weren’t really being accurate.  Very simplified, the meter figures out how much is left in a battery by very accurately measuring its voltage.  

This worked perfectly in my old batteries because there is a direct and a linear correlation between voltage and remaining power.  These new ones though, put out close to full voltage almost until the very end.

The other thing I was noticing at the same time, my solar charge controller never really left the bulk charge mode.  How these chargers usually work, it bulk charges for a while.  During this time it is dumping all the energy it can, as fast as it can, into the battery.  Then when the battery is about 80% full the charge slows down.  This is called the adsorbtion phase.  Then when it gets almost full, it changes to a trickle phase as it slowly brings it up and holds it at 100%.   Odds are high you are holding something in your hand that works the exact same way.  My van should charge just like your phone.

As I say, should.  But instead I never saw it switch off bulk charge.  For a while I kind of rationalized it.  —Because I was also testing the batteries.  Hiding out in the shade and keeping a constant eye on all the numbers.  Did I tell you I can look at all the cool graphs on my phone?  But then I spent a couple of days out in pretty much full sun.  The solar panels were putting out some massive numbers because I had done a car wash and they weren’t all covered in Quartzsite dust and road grime.   It was constant bulk charge.  

Something wasn’t right.  I took to hiding out in the shade again and did some more research.  I discovered I was using terminology interchangeably when it wasn’t so.  What I bought were cells., not batteries.   Strap a number of cells together and add something called a BMS (Battery Management System) and then you have a battery.   This was a distinction I had not understood.   When I was reading the product descriptions on the solar charge controller it was using some of the same battery management type terms so I thought it handled it and I was set.

I was not set.  

It was right about this point in time something bad happened.  I  spent a day parked in what turned out to be a super shady spot, but I had been really busy at work.  I didn’t want to take the time to pull the dish in, find a sunnier spot and get logged in again.  And my meters said 93%!  Next day was not a workday but it was raining.  I moved to what would have been a good sunny spot and I did get a tiny amount of solar but not much due to the hard rain.  Honestly, I was bored AF.  Even with my poncho, hard rain kinda sucks, and I think I was having a foot problem.  I didn’t want to walk in the rain.  I put the dish out and watched TikTok videos almost all day.  I didn’t quit until I looked up and noticed my battery level meter said 59%.

Rebuilding the van electrical system,
parking lot edition.

I felt like I had looked at it not that long before and it was in the low 80s.  I called it a TikTok night, pulled the dish in and moved into my night time parking spot.  The dish does draw a lot of power and so unplugging it the batteries bounced back.  Levels went back into the 60s.  But it was only about six in the evening.  Too early to go to bed.  It was warm enough the furnace wasn’t running so I just ran the lights.   I pulled out my Italian version of Harry Potter, The Prisoner of Azkaban, and tried to learn some new words.  A few hours later and the battery bounce looked short lived.   At this point my two battery level meters diverged.  My old one was reading 51% but the new fangled one I had just installed was reading 35%.  

What I *should* have done at that point was gotten dressed, got my rain poncho on, gone outside around to the back of the van and pulled the main service disconnect.  Disconnecting the batteries completely.  What I did instead is, attempt to rationalize *not* getting wet by saying with the lights off, I consume very little electricity.  This was a very unfortunate mistake.  By morning the batteries were totally flat.  0%.  I moved into the early morning sun but instead of seeing charge numbers I was seeing error messages.

Of course my luck wouldn’t stop there.  It was a cold front pushing in and bringing the clear skies.  The forecast was for high forties by nightfall and lower the next day.  The van was dark.  I still had to work, I drove to a coffee shop and logged in from there.  But spent a lot of time fretting and stewing over exactly what my plan was going to be if I didn’t get this working.  Over lunch break, I have no idea what I did over several iterations of disconnecting and rebooting but all of the sudden it started to charge.   Happy ending for the day, but it was a bad deal.  Drawing a battery all the way down to zero always causes some battery damage.  I don’t know how much.  

After that the weather was pretty cooperative.   Things were back to 100% by noon the next day.  Then after that I tried to do some pretty close management of my levels and how much I was in the sun.  In the meantime I posted on a couple of forums. 

—Let me take a quick side trip here to tell you about something cool.  My solar charge controller has bluetooth and I can connect to it with my phone.  One of the tabs on the app I have to run to do this is a community support forum.  People who own the same equipment helping each other!  Every once in a while technology gets something right.

Anyway, I posted describing my situation and was immediately taught the different between cells and batteries and told I absolutely needed to have a BMS installed.  I asked for recommendations and was told to buy an Overkill Solar brand BMS and wire it into my system.  I was able to order one on Amazon and have it delivered to an dropbox in New Orleans close to where I sometimes park.  A pretty cool story too but I will close this out and save that one for next time.

The NOLA Roundup

This is more for me and also for some friends who will be in NOLA in the next few months more than y’all at large.  For me this is something I can look back on next year because I won’t remember a thing.  I present a final roundup of all the highs and lows of the 2023-24 trip.

I am going to put the important stuff right up top.  The best margarita, for a couple of reasons was at Markey’s Bar on Royal and Louisa in the Bywater.  Light, fresh, ample salt.  It was perfect.  The best part, it was $6.25 during happy hour.  Not as classy of joint as the number two spot, which I feel is Cure on Freret and Upperline.  Most of this research, which I point out, I do for the greater good, is just a matter of splitting hairs.  Often, as is the case here Cure’s is also a great margarita.  Maybe even a better taste.  Right proper amount of salt, they roll the whole glass in it!  But Cure is one of those huge-ice-cube bars.  I don’t want a block of ice in my glass.  Hitting me in the nose every time I tip the glass up.  And chewing the lime flavored ice when the drink is gone is half the point!  So Cure gets a few markdowns not the least of which was its $14 price.  About in that same price range you can get the Caddilac margarita at any of the Juan’s Flying Burrito locations.  Those are pretty tasty too.

Lime juice and iceberg spotted at Cure

There are so many better hat shops than Chapel Hats on Jackson Square.  I have gone there several times but only one time have I gotten friendly service.  There is a grumpy old woman who works in there and I have finally had it.  I was shopping for a bowler.  They had three on a lower shelf but the size medium was tight on me.  They had another dozen on an upper shelf.  I asked to have them brought down so I could see if I could find a fit.  She refused.  Anyone who knows anything about hats knows they all fit a little different.  I will not go back.  Instead, there is The Hat Loft on Royal.  Not as big of selection but a much better experience.  Traveling west on Royal there are a couple more in the Quarter worthy of checking.  I think they are called Italy Direct.  …Even though “Scala Milan” hats is an American company and always has been.  I heard on my last day Meyer The Hatter is where I really want to be.  It is about the second or third stop on the St Charles streetcar.  I will check it out next year.

A Central Grocery muffuletta sitting in 
Jackson Square park is a wonderful thing!

My second best muffuletta was at St Roch Market on Saint Claude Ave in the Marigny.  It was a warm muffuletta, made fresh with no wait.  It was ham-ier than others.  Maybe not as good flavor as the fresh one made at the French Market, but I had to wait an hour to get that one.  At St Roch I had it in the amount of time it took me to order a lunchtime margarita from the wonderful bartender back in the corner.  Neither of these can match the original from Central Grocery. Currently only available at Sidney’s Liquor store next-door to the former Central Grocery location.  Central is being rebuilt (maybe) but it has been four year since a hurricane ripped the roof off and it hasn’t progressed too much.  They always seemed more like a bodega than a real grocery store.  Maybe somebody did the math and discovered they can earn more money just making sandwiches.  A good muffuletta needs a little resting time anyway.  Wrapped up in paper and plastic, it is still the best muffuletta in town.

The absolute, hands down, nothing comes even close, best burger in all of New Orleans, I award to the kitchen located in the back of Marie’s Bar on Burgundy just into the Marigny.  I don’t even know the name of the place.  It is a different business from the bar up front and you have to pay separate.  My favorite of the three burgers they make is The OG.  It comes with a ton of diced onions so I usually order it lite.  It has a sauce very much like a Big Mac and I love it.  It is in my top ten lifetime bests.

Muffuletta at St Roch Market

Pasta on The Fly is a good place for a quick meal on Maple street in Carollton.  It doesn’t look like much.  If the weather is bad there is no where to eat.  They only have two tables, both outside. I had a good pasta olio aglio (oil and garlic) served with some pepper flakes on the side.  Noodles were perfect.

The best local art indoors is Zele NOLA at 5th and Magazine Street.  Not the variety of artists and large pieces that are at the outdoor art markets at Jackson Square and Frenchmen St.  But indoor art is nice on a rainy day.  Prices, surprisingly are very comparable to buying direct from the artist.

One of the coolest things you can do in New Orleans is walk around Audubon Park after dark.  The park is about a two mile circumference and technically it closes at sundown.  But I think if you aren’t loitering around waiting to mug someone you won’t get hassled.  There are always joggers. It is incredible seeing the huge oak trees in the dark.  They become almost surreal, being lit from underneath by the trail lights.  But the most amazing part of your walk happens in the northwest corner of the park.  There are Black-bellied Whistling Ducks who are primarily nocturnal and quite chatty.  It takes something like this to make your brain suddenly wake up and say, wait a second, I don’t usually hear birds at night!  There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of them all making noise. As crazy as this sounds, these after dark walks were the high points of my trip.

Things I wish I would have gotten to; 

There is a barbecue place on the upper end of the Bywater at the edge of where the neighborhood looks pretty sketch.  It is called The Joint, Royal and Mazant St.  It sure looks like a Texas OG style place.

It was closed when I was there, but there is a bowtie shop with a huge selection in the mall just outside the door of Brooks Brothers on Canal street.

The avoid list;

Pizza Delicious in the Bywater.  I was served a dry, burned, slice.  I have had some bad pizza, this was the worst.  So bad they have turned off google reviews so it is impossible to warn others.

No matter how much I look there are no good coffee shops on Magazine street in the Garden District.  I need to stop being disappointed.  

The Drive North

My time in New Orleans was up.  I have gotten some clarification and according to my accountant I can only stay in a state other than Minnesota, home of my employer, or my new state of residency South Dakota, for a maximum of thirty days.  I spent a few days in Baton Rouge but on day 28 (in case something went wrong) I pointed the van north.  I had a good time telling people I was fleeing Louisiana for tax reasons.  

Baton Rouge was disappointing.  The reason I went there was because I was sitting in The Apple Crate Bar on Frenchman street listing to some lame-ass blues band.  I pulled out my phone thinking in a city the size of New Orleans there has to be better.  I did a search for blues clubs and the closest hit I got was Teddy’s Juke Joint outside of Zachary, a northern suburb of Baton Rouge, two hours away.  Ok, well, I guess that answers that.  From my bar stool I resolved to go there on my way home.

Baton Rouge Planetarium

When I first arrived in town all the downtown hotels and bars were filled with people in tuxedos.  I had trouble even finding a place to eat that wasn’t filled with penguins and blue hairs.  Baton Rouge is the capital city and it felt like I was seeing political gatherings.  At one point, in a quick glance, I was pretty sure I saw Lauren Boebert I did not go for a second look because I didn’t want to know.  I lived through a time where women in my town were dressing and cutting their hair to look like Sarah Palin so it could have been that sort of thing too.  I can’t speak to if they were having brain removals as part of their hero worship as well.

By far the most interesting thing I experienced was visiting the poor black cemetery east of the downtown.  Named Sweet Olive, it was an eye opening experience for me.  The grave sites were literally shoulder to shoulder.  Just enough room to walk, heel to toe, between them.  The sadness of that place was palatable.  All the graves were in such rough condition.  Many of the stones were not even stones.  They were cast slabs of cement dates inscribed by writing with a nail.  Like other places in the delta the majority of graves were above ground level, but unlike wealthier spots, these above ground vaults were placed without any foundations at all.  All of them had sunk and shifted to the point many were at a 45 degree angle.

Grave robbers had been at work as well.  What they were robbing from the bodies of people who must have died with so very little, I can’t imagine.  Some of the vaults had been broken open and inside the casket had also been pried open and was sitting half submerged and rusting.  Only the elements and passage of time prevented me from seeing a corpse.

Of course I had to make this stand out in my mind even more by leaving and driving just a few blocks north, across a neighborhood changing major roadway, to a wealthy white cemetery.  The grass was plentiful and mowed.  There were beautiful trees and pastural open spaces.

Look at all this space, mown grass 
and big beautiful trees.

But then there was something I noticed in contrasting the two.  Though the dates on the stones were from a similar period of time, early to mid 1900s, the wealthier cemetery had some silk flowers placed along some of the graves within the first ten yards of the road.  Those flowers all matched and smacked of perpetual care.  I only saw one grave looking like a caring human was involved in its decoration.  But in the poor cemetery there were a significant number of graves that were being sort of maintained.  Even if the flowers placed there were wilted or even browned, I felt they were expressions coming from someone’s heart.  These people are still loved fifty or seventy five years later.  

The one grave proving people still cared.

I was really expecting to find the city to be a scaled down New Orleans.  I was surprised when it wasn’t even close.  None of the incredible architecture, none of the cute little neighborhoods.   Instead there was downtown and around the capital building all being paid parking.  Then there was south of the downtown, a very, very sketch area indeed where I was positive I would have trouble if I parked overnight.  Then there were suburbs and big box retail where all the parking is on private property.  I stayed two nights and then I rolled on.

My next disappointment came when I arrived at Teddy’s, the music venue I had come to the area to visit.  When I pulled into the parking lot there were two cars.  Hmmm, not good.  I got inside and found Teddy, the owner sitting with one of those really angry faced black men.  What is the male equivalent to RBF again?  Anyway, he had a bad case of it.  I had a beer and some good conversation with Teddy.  Even got RBF to smile once.  It was a fun night, just not what I was hoping for.

I got out of Louisiana and I stopped off in Vicksburg Mississippi to let some weather up north blow over.  In the basement of a place called The Biscuit they had live music.  A fun band I didn’t catch the name of.  The highpoint was when they sang _What’s Up_ by 4 Non-blondes and it turned into an entire bar sing along.  I love moments like that.  There was a great coffeeshop named “61” for the highway it was on.  It was there I heard people talk about the last two “snowstorms” people could remember.  Those happened in 2017 and 1980.  I also had a really good lunch at Key City Brewery where as part of my meal I had and excellent example of one of my favorite southern delicacies, the deep fried pickle.  Vicksburg was a win!

My favorite southern fried food.  The fried Pickle.

That night winter even reached out to touch me.  About half an inch of snow fell and the town literally shutdown.  The main street where I was parked was open but at every intersection the side streets were closed with traffic cones.  There were a few cars driving around.  They were traveling about ten miles an hour and they all had their hazard flashers turned on.  It was funny.  No salt, no sand, no plows.  Everyone was waiting for the sun to thaw the roads.

The view from the beautiful rooftop bar
in Vicksburg

By noon the sun was out, still most of the streets were blocked off by I managed to find a route to the highway and escaped towards Jackson.  Those roads weren’t too bad.  North of Jackson up to the Tennessee state line the roads were pretty bad.  The worse driving on the least amount of snow I had ever experienced.  But I made it.  I spent the night parked close to the service door of a Ford dealership and got on the road again.  It was just a slog from that point on.  The roads were clear and dry though there were hundreds of vehicles in the ditch on a stretch around Cedar Rapids.

Now the burden is on my northern friends who all have to listen to me bitch about the cold. 

Fake Security

A little ditty to get me out of the writers slump I am in.  Walking around the past few big cities I noticed there are more and more "crime-cams" in use.  High crime areas of cities are using a camera mounted up out of reach, catching everything. What I think is brilliant though is they are not hidden.  Instead, they are advertised!  They have unmissable bright red and blue or sometimes just blue flashing lights. You really can’t miss them.

Now aside from the obvious Orwellian aspects, I have to respect this idea and realize it is those lights that do more to stop crime than cops or even the cameras themselves.  That got me thinking. 

When I first built the van I had this idea to use cameras a lot. But then I discovered I didn’t have sufficient power reserves to run a computer or camera capturing video.  It takes a surprising amount of electrical energy and I had to prioritize things like lights and heat.  

But then during Covid while everyone was eating chips and bitching about the bars being closed I taught myself microcontroller circuit design.  These microcontrollers use almost no power and LEDs use only a fraction of that.  

While kicking around New Orleans that idea kept going around and around in my head.  It’s the LEDs stopping the crime and they take nothing to run.  I spent a few minutes one night building just such a set of lights. 

As for the cost, I built it just out of parts I had laying around. Starting from scratch you could buy a kit like this from Temu, $13 (https://share.temu.com/lgLdzKvo44A)

Then a Microcontroller from Amazon, $16:  HiLetgo 5pcs Mini ESP8266 ESP-12F Mini NodeMCU Lua 4M Bytes WiFi Module with Pin Headers (https://a.co/d/4yq9rPO)

For a total investment of less than $30 you will be preventing crime plus you would have 828 parts leftover to build other projects with.  

Here is the entirety of the computer code:

void setup() { 
  pinMode(D6, OUTPUT);  //Define two data pins as output
  pinMode(D5, OUTPUT); 
}
void loop() { 
  digitalWrite(D6, HIGH); //turn on the Red LED on pin D6
  delay(1000); //wait for 1000 milliseconds
  digitalWrite(D6, LOW); //turn off the Red LED on pin D6
  digitalWrite(D5, HIGH); //turn on the Blue LED on pin D5
  delay(1000); //wait for 1000 milliseconds

  digitalWrite(D5, LOW); //turn off the Blue LED on pin D5
}

The short explanation is, tell the microcontroller two of its pins will be used for output.  Then alternate sending a small voltage down those pins, turning the attached LEDs on and off with a one second time delay  in between.  

Wiring it up, one side of the LED is attached to the pin, the other side goes to a 100 ohm resistor and from there to ground.  Technically I could have gotten away with using only one resistor since only one LED will be lit at a time. Just as technically I should have used the two different values of resistors because red and blue LEDs draw slightly different amounts of electricity.  To the former, I had 828 parts left over from the last project too, and to the latter, just laziness.  There is a 50/50 chance one of the resistors will burn out faster because of this error.  I don’t care.  If it happens you do, look on the packaging that comes with the parts kit.  It will tell you some numbers about your LEDs.  Google “calculate LED ground resistor value” and you will soon find a web site you can plug those numbers into and it will tell you the exact resistor or combination of resistors you need.  

For the “camera” itself I used a small box covered in black gaffers tape, a little circle I cut out of aluminum tape and some super glue to attach the LEDs in their holes.  After I attached the circle of aluminum tape I pressed into it hard with a pointy knuckle to give the shiny aluminum a little convex shape.   All to look more lens-y. 

Full disclose, this is written about Fake Camera version one.  I am both forgetful and lazy.  A few days after I put it in service I modified it.  Version two added an analog light sensor so when it gets dark the LEDs start flashing.  No more needing to remember to plug it in.  If you want to do the same you need this part from Amazon: DIYables Digital Light Sensor for Arduino, ESP32, ESP8266, Raspberry Pi, 4 Pieces (https://a.co/d/2t8rjeg) 

Some other things you could do: Wire a second box with two more LEDs but have the single microcontroller control both sets.  Just because I am over the top with building the perfect fake, I would put a random delay in every so often so the pairs of lights will go out of sync.  Realism is everything you know!   Another thing is you could add would be motion sensors.  So the lights don’t flash all the time, only if someone gets close.

I will leave it as an assignment to you, the reader, to figure all that fun out.  

One final thing I haven’t worked out in my head just yet, is this is a really good idea?  Will it scare criminals off like the real thing?  Or, will it make them think it might be worthwhile to run home and grab a ski mask?  I have to consider those questions for a while.

Even Easier

I am hanging out in the van tonight in the Bywater area of New Orleans.  East of the French Quarter and right along the river.  I have never been in this part of the city and I really like it.  Lots of very pretty, brightly painted, shotgun houses and lots of Pride flags.  I feel very safe here.

This is my second night parked in this particular spot and it has been amusing.  I have off and on been living this van life for six years.  In that time maybe three or four times people walking have bumped into the van while I have been inside.  It’s always a little startling and creepy, since I can’t actually see outside to see what is going on.  Last night five people stumbled into the van, tonight so far there have been six.  I looked at the sidewalk to see if there is some hump or hole but by NOLA standards the walk is smooth.  There is a stairway coming down next to the building, so I get why people are veering a little toward the street, but what pushes them to fall into my van?  I don’t understand it.

Level by NOLA standards.

Other than the nighttime bumps I like this particular spot. There is a great coffee shop on the corner just outside.  The Petite Clouet Cafe.  I have been enjoying coffee not from Keurig with the added plus of lots of gay drama to overhear.   For lunch, just a couple of blocks away the Satsuma Cafe makes a delicious sandwich.

Van-wise, the new batteries continue to function very well.  I was in a really nice parking spot in Carollton for the last two nights.  It was tucked away and unobserved enough I felt comfortable to stay there two days, not moving the van at all.  Not something I typically do.  But it was also a good test for the batteries.  It got good morning sun but about eleven the sun was behind a building for the rest of the day.

Today, being overcast all morning and then kind of breaking up about three didn’t make for the best solar collection day.  My batteries are currently at 82%, tomorrow is forecast to be cloudy and rain the next day.  It will be really interesting to see where I am at.

The one thing I really appreciate about New Orleans, and kind of the south in general, is how warm and genuinely friendly people are here.  It isn’t just talk.  It isn’t “Minnesota Nice” which as far as I can tell is a bullshit slogan people tell themselves up there.  It isn’t just the platitudes of being called honey and sugar.  I was even called boo by a large black woman in a convenience store.  But I feel like people really care and it shows.  

After work today I walked along the river in a t-shirt and light hoodie.  It was really nice walking.  There was a large navy ship parked along the peer.  Of course no clear views of it for a picture.  As I walked east the view on the city side grew scarier looking.  Large abandoned warehouses with their windows all broken out.  They are just lying in wait for the right billionaire to eye them for gentrification.  They have a great view of the river but their time has not yet come.

I came down with a case of the muffuletta hungries so over my lunch break walked to Central Grocery’s location next to the French Market.  The liquor store next door sells them pre-made but still the best muffuletta in the city.  It was about an hour and a half round trip walk but on a beautiful sunny day it was a great to be alive moment.  Last night I found a German bar down a bit of a side ally off Piety called “Bratz Y’all”.  I didn’t stay to eat but they had a nice stage and looking at their schedule it gets used often.  They have music there most every night.  I enjoyed a couple of beers with some great music and ended up eating pizza at a place next door.  ...That turned out to be a mistake.  I totally should have had a brat ...y'all.

What is it they say about one
man's junk is another man's ????

Another Bywater find, there is a junk shop to beat all junk shops at the corner of Louisa and Dauphine.  A place only a New Orleans fire marshal would pass.  A truly outstanding collection of detritus. 

I took my laptop into Markey’s Bar and enjoyed a really reasonably priced margarita.  It was a beautiful evening and they had the doors all open.  People were coming and going and it was a lively fun crowd.

I mentioned a couple of posts back that it is good to keep notes.  It is funny, I have been traveling full time for two winters.  I haven’t been in *all* that many places. But these memories imprint in my mind and I get them wrong.  Just a couple of days ago I was thinking I needed supplies.  I should head over to that nice grocery store connected to the closed shopping mall.  Big parking lot, lots of open space, plenty of solar.  I could work there for the day and grab groceries over lunch.  Oh wait, that’s in Austin Texas.  …Or maybe it is alzheimers.   

The Big Easy

After the battery swap I stuck around to get an oil change and have the BV’s overall health checked.  Unfortunately it did not get the clean bill I had hoped for.  Instead I was told I needed new “lower ball joints” —whatever that is.  I don’t do that greasy finger stuff and I was told it was critical.   An extra five hundred dollars thats all I know.  

My legal obligation to the state of Minnesota fulfilled by my feet being in the five state area for 48 hours, I am on the road again.  

Mid Illinois I stopped off for a brief stay with my friends, The Texans, who I see every summer at the campground.  He had just had knee surgery so was somewhat chair bound.  She was at his beck and call for ice packs, meals, and sweet tea.  Something he was taking full advantage of.  He knew he was healing quickly and would be fetching his own needs before many more days.  He had to bask in it while he could.  Me, with a captive audience, I was able to regale them with tales of my travels. All the stories not fit for print.  He has been excited to see the BV in person. I was glad he was able to shuffle out on a walker for an abbreviated tour.

Driving in the south you get to play the
occupied or abandoned game.

The next night I stayed in the employee parking lot of a meat packing plant south of Jackson Mississippi.  By no means something I wanted to do but I was tired and needed gas.  I pulled off because there was a sign for a service station.  Then, when I pulled up to it, discovered it was closed.  I think it was rolling up on midnight and I didn’t want to deal with it that night.  So I landed into the packinghouse lot.  I figured it would be a quiet spot once third shift was punched it.  It must have instead been some sort of sliding shifts.  People were coming and going all night.  I had never stayed at a place like this before.   I was a little nervous and sleeping light. I got woken up a lot.  

Getting south of Jackson meant I was within striking distance of my destination, New Orleans.  I was awake anyway, I got an early start.  Drove for a couple of hours and then pulled into a truck stop for my work day.  This was my first real full sun work day.  It was really fun watching the voltage/amperage numbers coming off the solar panels knowing those electrons were flowing into the new batteries.  After work I only had a little over an hour drive and I was there.

Prior to the van life I had visited New Orleans twice.  After I returned home I often found myself engaged in conversations with NOLA snobs.  “I bet you never got out of the French Quarter” they accused.  I had little to hide behind.  Outside of a Hop-On tour to a couple hours in the Garden District, they were right.  I hadn’t.  Now in the van, overnight parking in the French Quarter, with its tight streets and high crime, would be out of the question.  This was the best change I have ever been forced into.

My first two nights were spent just a few feet off Magazine Street in the Upper Garden District.  Then to Uptown.  In my notes I had a good parking location noted from last year next to a construction site.  I don’t usually park close to places like this.  Sure, I blend in great, but those people start work way too early for me.  Firing up some forklift at six am!  No way!  I avoid them, but it was Saturday so I figured I would be fine.  In a years time a construction site changes a lot. In this case it had changed into a beautiful outdoor patio gazebo for the bar next door.  

The implications did not occur to me until I returned to the van about midnight, a couple of margaritas and a pleasant, beyond the legal driving limit buzz onboard.  It was a lovely warm night and the patio was filled with a boisterous crowd.  Wow did it ever get hopping about 2am when a lot of the other places closed.  I came very close to just giving up and joining the fun.  The bar seemed to close right at four.  I heard a lot of people shouting drunken good nights.  At long last I was going to get some sleep.  …Then the employees came out and spent an hour drinking and BSing about the night and the customers.  Ah, well.  New Orleans.  This is what I am here for.  I caught up the next night.  They were closed Mondays.  

I know this is near sacrilege but I have never been a big fan of cajun food, or any of that classical New Orleans flavor.  I really tried.  The first two times I visited I ate nothing but the food New Orleans is known for.  I never really liked it.  I even pushed myself to acquire a taste for it because so many people talk of how they love it.  No joy. I never did.  What I did notice is when I got home I had gained ten pounds in two weeks.  I actually tested the scale using bags of flour because I thought it had gone wonky.  I never gain weight.  I’m fifteen pounds heavier than when I graduated high school.  It was the single weight gain of my entire life.  

I became much happier when I arrived here in the van for my first long stay last year.  I proclaimed to myself, “I am giving up.  A city this size has to have other ethnic food” and I was quite right.

To that end I found a very good Indian place called Aroma Indian Cuisine, 401 South Claiborne Ave.  I ordered it medium, next time I go I will order it spicy.  I had a chicken tikka masala,  a little too tomato pastey, but not bad.  Their saag panneer was smooth, creamy and delicious.  The real star of the show was their mutter aloo, peas and potatoes and surprisingly cauliflower.  Had I seen cauliflower on the menu I would have never ordered it.  It was fantastic!  The best I have ever had.  

As good as the food was, the neighborhood was seriously dodgy.  When I rolled up I noticed their parking lot was kind of tight so I elected to park in the street.  It is never easy to get the BV maneuvered around in any parking lot, the smaller ones are really difficult. But then when I pulled into a spot I noticed several of the sketch-lookin’ dudes hanging around to immediately perk up and start paying attention.  I stayed in the van a few extra minutes pretending to use my phone while watching them attempt to act like they were paying no attention to me.  I realized parking in the street while I dined was a near guaranteed break-in, I gave up and pulled it into their lot.  Getting in was easy.  Later, getting out when the lot was full was a forty point turn, but the meal made it worth it!

I think the most amazing thing in New Orleans is the oak trees.  Kind of short by Minnesota/Wisconsin standards but their canopy is vastly wide.  At least twice, or maybe even three times their height.  Many of them have vines and moss growing into the bark. I did a little research and found out some of these oaks are between 750-900 years old.  I had no idea!

The van has been performing well.  It is seldom I see the charge percentage below 95%  I have only had one rainy day so far.  It will be interesting to see what it is like in the frozen north.