Into every vacation a little rain must fall, or something like that – no matter how carefully you pick your vacation spots, some inclement weather will eventually show up and require you to be inventive and resourceful to entertain yourself. Even the campskunks who fulltime and can be anywhere they want to be, get caught in the rain sometimes – not often, but it happens. Unless you want to go sit in the desert in summer, fronts will blow through and bring cloudy weather from time to time. With our be-anywhere freedom, we still get a day or three a month where it's just not good outdoor weather.
Some of it is where you go – we wanted to tour the Gaspe peninsula, and there's just no foolproof time to go up there. It's a maritime climate. If you want to see this particular patch of countryside, you're going to get to see the clouds and rain too, free of charge. Since we were doing a driving tour, rather than a sit-and-camp visit, it wasn't so bad. We just drove along slowly all day, seeing the sights, and settled in as it got dark. For us, the weather was just part of the Gaspe experience, and gave us a real feel for what it must be like to live here.
Right now, we're on the Oregon coast in the best weather they have all year up here in the Pacific Northwest, and we get a day a week when it's going to drizzle for hours. The ocean is a giant weather-making machine, and they don't grow these giant trees and beautiful grass with heavy dew – it takes precipitation. It's called a temperate rainforest for a reason. The Oregonians have a saying though, when the weather is good it's good, and when it's bad it's wonderful. Sitting on the coast and watching the stormwaves is every bit as entertaining as running around in the sunshine. Thanks to our boondocking capability we get a front-row seat, and usually the whole beach to ourselves because everyone else has more sense than to come out in this weather.
As fulltimers, we have made modifications which allow us to stay comfortable and entertained while waiting out the rain. Satellite TV and internet dishes are a big help to while away the hours, and continue to work except underneath the most oppressive cloud cover. When the signal goes away, there's usually enough thunder and lightning to sustain our attention until reception is restored. Another big help is our rear awning, which allows us to keep the back doors open in bad weather. I sewed this up with extra curtain material, and it really helps eliminate the stuffiness you get with the Roadtrek all closed up. We can lie in bed, snug and dry, and watch all the weather goings-on right out the back door.
Our solar panels on a rack above our Fantastic Fan roof vent allows all-weather air circulation – the solar panels provide a nice umbrella for the fan, which can remain open and on even when it's pouring down buckets. The older fans don't have the automatic closing feature for when they get wet, and I have had my share of wet floors before we installed the solar panels, but now I'm better than stock. I wish I could say I planned it that way, but i didn't even realize it until after the solar panels went on. Constant airflow and the open back doors help offset the feeling of dampness you get when it's rainy outside. All the Roadtrek windows, with the exception of the side door windows, can be opened at least a bit in the rain, which is an excellent feature I appreciate very much on rainy, steamy days.
We usually maintain adequate battery charge levels even on cloudy days because of the generous size of my panels (555 watts) and my maximum power point tracker. The electronic wizardry inside this nifty little gadget means that even when it's too cloudy to see your own shadow, the panels will be putting out 150-200 watts, which will keep the TV and internet supplied. I'm not really charging the batteries, but I'm not running them down either. The newer Roadtreks accomplish the same thing with their daylight panels, plus some other electronic wizardry of a proprietary nature – without a MPPT, the output on sunlight panels like mine goes down to zero when the sun goes behind a cloud, but daylight panels make use of whatever ambient light is available.
All in all, it's not a great tragedy if we have a rainy day. I usually alter the menu to include a stew or some other entree appropriate for dreary weather, and we settle in and entertain ourselves with ease, waiting for the good weather to return. That's the nice thing about being retired – you have all the time in the world to wait. There's a rainbow out there somewhere, and if you sit around long enough you'll eventually see it.
27 Responses to “What Do You Do on a Rainy Day?”
Comments are closed.
January 09, 2014at8:09 pm, Roadtreking said:
Nap!
January 09, 2014at4:02 pm, Susan Andrews Bryant said:
Read, sew, watch a movie, take a nap, get out the AAA guide books and start planning anew:)
January 09, 2014at2:38 pm, Jo Russ-Keller said:
After so many years of it always raining when we go camping, we’ve come up with a non depressing solution. When it rains, we drive into town and order fried chicken! 🙂
January 09, 2014at1:06 pm, Diane Kilbarger said:
Love to read your adventures!
January 09, 2014at8:37 am, Patrick Maudsley said:
We could be there where ever it is located.
January 09, 2014at8:34 am, Don Paul said:
Read, watch TV, do computer.
January 09, 2014at8:26 am, Laura Loschky Robinson said:
Read a good book.
January 09, 2014at7:27 am, Cathy Randolph said:
Beautiful! Read, internet or movie.
January 09, 2014at7:25 am, Kevin Yeager said:
Stay in play cards and rest
January 06, 2014at5:56 am, Barbara Emma Mautz said:
Rainy Day? Fahr einfach weiter…das Wetter ändert sich!
January 05, 2014at6:46 pm, Tim Davies said:
What green flash. The pic is orange ?
January 05, 2014at1:42 am, Deborah Davis said:
Thats beautiful
January 04, 2014at11:36 pm, Cathy Rawlins said:
the green flash!
January 04, 2014at11:36 pm, Daljit Nagpal said:
Beautiful.
September 26, 2013at10:41 am, Connie & Jerry Havill said:
Hello – my husband & I are brand new to RoadTreking – just bought a ss agile – a little worried about our 2 shy cats adapting – not sure they can be fearless like Fiona 🙂
September 26, 2013at10:50 am, Maureen said:
Hi Connie and Jerry…lucky you….an SS Agile is my dream. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences. Happy trekking!!!
August 29, 2013at5:49 pm, Thom L. said:
Nice article campskunk : )
My wife and i are transplants from the Nevada desert to the Oregon Coast over 25 years ago. It took a few years to get used to the typical soggyness of the North Oregon Coast, but now, whenever we go adventuring in our rig and come back home we pinch ourselves. The Pacific (& its soggyness) is some of the most beautiful scenery and experience in the country. Our rig is set up with a sizable battery bank to allow for ~6 to 7 days between charges…so when we need laundry done, we find a campground with laundry and power, charge the bank, and we’re good to go again : )
August 24, 2013at8:30 pm, Yan said:
That’s why you need to move to oregon. it only rains once a year – starts in October and ends in Aprkl.
🙂
August 25, 2013at1:02 am, Campskunk said:
i’ll have to take your word for it, Yan – i’m a fair-weather Oregonian, long gone by October. it never really RAINS on me during the summer here – it’ll mist, drizzle, all that stuff, but never really rain hard. the fog is something else, though.
August 18, 2013at7:31 am, Tim Ernst said:
Rainy days are the very BEST days to get out and take nature photos – colors are much richer when things are wet. Sunny days are the worst since the harsh light tends to dull down delicate color. So I love rainy days, and spend most of mine outside working with a camera (and umbrella). My biggest issue while out with the RT is bringing all my wet stuff inside. We use a lot of garbage bags to store wet cloths and camera gear to keep from getting everything n the van wet. GREAT idea to wash the rig while raining – plus you get to take a shower at the same time!
August 18, 2013at12:30 am, Maureen said:
Thanks Campskunk….I’m feeling the rain and loving the fresh scent left by a little “liquid sunshine.” As the latest trendy saying goes “it’s all good!” A wonderful excuse to curl up and just read, read, read. I have recently been researching a secure screen for the side door and have made my choice…just another reason to have this installed. Oh…but wait…I still need a Roadtrek.
August 17, 2013at10:58 pm, Judi Darin said:
This Oregonian loves the rain. When it rains it feels restorative, and the air is fresh and clean. Watching storms on the coast is amazing!
August 17, 2013at10:42 pm, Nancy said:
If it is a nice warm rain, put on that bathing suit, get out there and wash down that RT. Let Mother Nature do the rinsing.
August 18, 2013at12:16 am, Campskunk said:
i forgot to put this in! i call it meterological detailing. no bathing suit, but i watch the radar, get my big soft long-handled brush out, and soap the RT up right before a shower comes over.
August 17, 2013at10:10 pm, Bill Sprague said:
Campskunk,
We spent one of our travel trailer vacations in the UP of Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. My wife recorded in her journal that we had 10 rainy days out of 13 on the road. I never played so many games of UNO Wild Tiles!
We still had fun. Who cares about rain, when you’re in a canoe in the Boundary Waters! Our sons still remember that trip as one of the best.
Thanks for the memories.
Bill
August 17, 2013at7:39 pm, Sandy said:
Love that awning!
August 17, 2013at5:29 pm, Dave said:
Well said Dr Campskunk! It takes lots of rain to keep our family inside and when it rains that hard the game box or the DVD player comes out of hiding. It can be interesting to ventilate some campers and it is important to keep the air flowing. Nice awning! Bigfoot Dave