Escaped Houston, TX, now stuck in Breaux Bridge, LA

Never never returning to Houston.  They have the worst road signage I have seen in the whole country and people there drive like they are in the Indy 500.  Yikes.

Now, yesterday there was this huge clap of thunder very close to me, right over my head.  I was in the van catching up on Facebook when it happened.  It felt like my heart tried to jump right out of my chest.  I continued what I was doing while waiting out the storm.  It was raining very hard so no point even thinking about driving, and I was a wreck from the trauma of escaping Houston.

I didn't think much of the thunder but later I noticed when my house batteries showed a low charge level, and I started the car to boost it... nothing happened.  No charge was coming through from the solenoid to the house batteries.  Whoops, with no sun in sight for a few days so I could get a charge off the solar panels, this is not good.

Called for help on Facebook and soon, friend Phoenix Hagar responded and talked me through the trouble-shooting phase of the problem.  It was getting dark.  I had checked for loose connections and anything else that could be wrong.  While chatting with Phoenix about this, with the engine off now, I hear this clicking on and of and on and off under the hood.   The engine is off and so the solenoid should have switched off and should not be making any noise???  Jumped out to look, and on the side of the current solenoid is a little black box... and it had a green light on it going on and of and on and off... kinda crazy like.  I was pretty sure by then that the close lightening had damaged the switch... and thinking that can't be good, I disconnected the positive cable going from starter battery to the solenoid.

Then Phoenix suggested putting my jumper cable on between the starter and house batteries to charge them back up a bit.  I did that for 20 min.  Got it up some, but it did not hold all night, with both a 12v freezer and 12v fridge on the system (and me watching some dvds to unwind)... and this morning was only 12.02.  It's 13.29 on the jumper cable with van running right now.  Auto parts store is 15 minutes away.

I'm off to an auto parts store to by a new continuous duty solenoid and install it.  That will be my third one.  Do others have them go out that often... six years?  I am also putting a heavy duty inline fuse in.  One was installed on the first one (installed by Sportsmobile of Austin, TX in 2009), and then it went bad, and Steve Spence suggested one which I ordered and he was kind enough to walk me through that install.  Ended up not using the inline fuse for that one, and I forgot why.  So with the new one, I am installing this near the house batteries, on positive coming off the new solenoid.  (Clear as mud right?)

And then maybe it will stop raining and I can see if the solar is still working???

There goes my gas money!!   (now to unpack the storage area under my bed and find my volt meter and electrical stuff and tools)

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Ran out of gas money.... got to Houston.

Will have to stay put until my check comes 5/20, unless a few good people can buy me some gas?? There is a donation button to the right. I will send a gift of a polished store that I personal sawed, cut, and polished for a min. donation of $25. Here are some samples, though it might not be one of these... it will be a surprise.

 

SOLD

 

 

White one SOLD

 

SOLD

If you have a preference, you can request it and if I still have that one, you will get it.

Thank you.

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See my current status.    Help me a little if you can.  I promise to pay it forward.

Index of States Kayaked by Charlene Swankie

I DID IT!  Finished the 50th State, Hawaii, on my 70th Birthday, almost a year ago now.
This is a work in progress… I will also add elevations.  I am also updating the state pages with more details.  (updated 5/7/2015)

State	Order	Date	Location	Elevation
Alabama	46	10/23/12	Justins Bay, AL (solo)
Alaska	49	8/20/2013	Holgate Glacier, Holgate Arm near Seward, AK
Arizona	2	06/2009	Watson Lake / Vickie Walker; Cibola NWR (N.P.)
Arkansas	43	10/7/12	Beaver Lake (solo)
California California2	1	3/2008 ? ? ? 08/30/2009 08/03/2009	1) Monterey Bay(many times) 2) Morro Bay (fb) 3) Spooners Cove @ Montano de Oro State Park (fb) 4) Elkhorn Slough 5) Gold Lake (fb) 6) West Shore of Lake Tahoe(*maiden voyage) / Elle Beals (fb)
Colorado	39	10/11/11 and Summer 2012	Jackson Lake State Park nr Orchard (solo) (*Pelicans) Meadow Creek Lake nr Rifle (solo)
Connecticut	20	10/25/10	Put in @ Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from CT-RI down to Little Narragansett Bay. (solo) (*Swans)
Delaware	23	11/02/10	Cape Henlopen @ Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge-put in @ Boat Ramp Access Rd. (solo)
Florida	29	11/26/10 12/19/10 12/30/10 10/?/12	1) Santa Fe River @ Columbia State Park, High Springs / Judy Luke family 2) Cedar Kay /Gary Lepak 3) Ichetucknee Springs State Park/Gary Lepak 4)   (solo)
Georgia	28	11/16/10	Tybee Island (solo)
Hawaii	50	5/16/2014	Off Maui	/sons
Idaho	6	10/18/09	Upper and Lower Priest Lakes (solo), Priest River, ID	Moose Family Video
Illinois	36	09/23/11	Lake Shelbyville (solo)
Indiana	35	08/19/11	Lake Monroe @very large boat launching area off Hwy 446 (solo)
Iowa	37	09/28/11	Clear Lake @ McIntosh Woods State Park (43.12237,-93.45856) (solo)
Kansas	41	10/02/12	Wilson Lake @ Wilson State Park – Otoe Launch (solo)
Kentucky	34	08/18/11	Fredericks Landing, Wilder, KY Boat Launch (solo)
Louisiana	47	10/25/12	Small unnamed pond/marsh nr Hwy 190 and Hwy 90(Chef Menteur Hwy) east of Slidell (solo)
Maine	17	10/12/10	Long Pond on Mount Desert Island, Arcadia National Park (solo)
Maryland/DC	24	11/02/10	Put in @ Ocean City Municipal Airport on Sinepuxent Bay… near Mystic Harbor & paddled across to Assateague State Park/Island (solo)
Massachusetts	19	10/21/10	Secret Lake in Athol / Kay Gleason
Michigan	14	08/31/10 09/05/10	1) Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary @ Alpena (solo) 2) Launched @ Gross Isle (solo)
Minnesota	12	08/03/10 08/07/10	1) St. Louis River @ Floodwood (solo) 2) Ely – Boundary Waters Canoe Area (solo) (write up BWCA)
Mississippi	45	10/12/12 10/24/12	1) Sardis Lake @ Engineer Point Public Use Area 2) Pearlton
Missouri	44	10/09/12	Coombs Ferry Public Use Area, Blue Eye, MO (solo)
Montana	7	10/19/09	Flathead Lake (solo), Lakeside, MT
Nebraska	38	10/10/11	Lake McConaughy, Ogallala (solo)
Nevada	3	08/25/09 12/03/09	1) Cave Rock, NV (solo) 2) Callville Bay Marina @ Lake Mead (solo) fb
New Hampshire	16	10/19/10	Harriman Reservoir in S.W. corner of state. Rt. 9, Molly Stark Trail.
New Jersey	22	10/27/10	Sandy Hook nr Fort Hancock @ Gateway National Recreation Area (solo)
New Mexico	40	10/15/11	Lake Caballo nr Truth or Consequences  on Rio Grande River (solo)
New York	15	09/25/10	Grand Island @ Beaver Point / Matt Beals
North Carolina	26	11/10/10	Jordan Lake / Judith Sookne
North Dakota	11	07/28/10	Langlier’s Bay on Lake Oahe (solo)
Ohio	33	07/28-29/11	1) Mad River / Cheryl and David Simmons (6.5 miles) (fb) 2) Buck Creek State Park lake (solo)
Oklahoma	42	10/06/12	Robert S. Kerr Reservoir @ Sallisaw Creek Park (Cherokee Nation) (solo)
Oregon	4	08/31/09	Siltcoos Lake, OR (solo)
Pennsylvania	32	07/24/11	Loyalhanna Lake. Camped @ Bush Recreation Area (solo)
Rhode Island	21	10/25/10	Put in @ Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from CT-RI down to Little Narragansett Bay. (solo)
South Carolina	27 or 28?	11/13/10	Folly Beach (solo)
South Dakota	10	07/28/10	Missouri River on Lake Oahe @ Mobridge (solo)
Tennessee	30	07/18/11	French Broad River to Nolichucky River nr Newport / Leadvale @ Rankin Bottoms. (solo)
Texas	48	10/30/12	Mountain Lake nr Grand Prairie (fb)
Utah	8	11/02/09	Quail Creek Reservoir nr St. George (solo)
Vermont	18	10/19/10	Harriman Reservoir, nr Medburyville (solo)
Virginia	25	11/05/10	Kayaked here. First Landing State Park @ Broad Bay N.W of Virginia Beach .(solo)
Washington	5	09/9-15/09 09/9-15/09 09/12/09 07/01/10	1) Elliott Bay @ Alki Point  (solo) 2) Wenatchee – Turtle Island @ Lincoln Rock State Park (solo) 4) Port Angeles / Gary Lepak 5) Port Townsend /Gary Lepak (fb) 5) Port Angeles / Gary Lepak
West Virginia	31	07/23/11	Sutton Lake (solo)
Wisconsin	13	08/14/10	Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, north of Bayfield, WI (solo)
Wyoming	9	07/23 or 25?/10	Big Horn Canyon Recreation Area @ Horseshoe Bend Lake(solo)

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Art Work (updated 5/7/2015)

I am no longer doing individual sketches but instead I am working on a set of sketches of the southwest, to make into greeting cards or note cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the price list I have used in the past.  If a photograph is high enough resolution, I might consider doing a few more. 

 

Price Estimates (people, pets, or vehicles)

	1 subject	2 subjects	3 subjects	4 subjects
8 x 10”	$55.00	$70.00	$80.00	$95.00
11x14	$75.00	$90.00	$100.00	$115.00
Shipping	add $7.00	add $7.00	add $7.00	add $7.00

Photos of too low resolution will not be accepted.  Send your photo to charlene.swankie@gmail.com for exact price quote.

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