JdFinley.com

Fulltime RV Living Adventures

Colorado River

For the last couple of weeks, I have been in the Grand Junction, CO area. The terrain and sights in this area are fantastic!  The Colorado River has done some amazing work and revealed some truly spectacular sights. I spent a week dry camping at the McInnis Canyon National Recreational Area. I really loved this… [Read More]

What a Drive

This past weekend I relocated “home” from the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area (very near Manila, UT) to the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (Rabbit Valley) a few miles northwest of Grand Junction, Colorado – right on the Utah state line. The Flaming Gorge area is spectacular – I loved every sight. Another amazing little tidbit… [Read More]

Noise??

I’m the one constantly harping on people about making noise!!  I love nature and the peace and quiet that it offers.  I really don’t like generators, loud conversations, loud music, loud televisions, dogs barking – anything that makes noise that isn’t natural.  Waves lapping the shoreline, a breeze blowing thru the trees, birds chirping –… [Read More]

Is solar power for you?

The topic of solar power on an RV comes up very regularly. Instead of repeating the same thing over and over, I thought perhaps documenting it might be helpful and consume less of my time. I am most certainly not the sole source of this information – this same information is all over the Internet… [Read More]

Clark Canyon Reservoir – Part 3

I’ve been back at the Clark Canyon Reservoir south of Dillon, MT for the last week and a half. This is the same area that I visited back in June (here and here). Once again, it has proven to be a really great spot. This time, I setup at the Cameahwait campground. There are two… [Read More]

Solar Panel Mounts

Several people have asked for more details, especially photos, of my solar panel mounts. These mounts were originally referenced here during the system installation on my Newmar Dutch Star. I have had zero issues with these panel mounts. The two panels have been mounted with the solar panel mounts as shown below for six months… [Read More]

Solar Power and Clouds

A commonly held belief is that solar panels do not produce electricity when there are clouds nor in anything but direct sunlight. Meaning; the nay-sayers like to tell people that solar doesn’t work unless it is bright sunshine. Perhaps this was true with the early photovoltaic panels but it isn’t true anymore. Maybe a bit… [Read More]

Windshield Wiper – Broken Tapered Knurl

I previously mentioned my windshield wiper problem here. The symptom was that the passenger side wiper arm would go way too far to the outside and the arm itself would slap on the glass.  Then it would not return as far to the center as it should. The problem turned out to be a broken… [Read More]

Reflectix Windshield Sun Shade Insulation

I’ve mentioned this to a few folks and they’ve asked for details so here we go… Before building my constructing my own windshield sun covers, I was using a roll of Reflectix on the inside of the windshield to cut down on the heat. Reflectix is a reflective insulation commonly used in building construction. It… [Read More]

Visiting the Home Towns

This summer I have spent a considerable amount of time exploring some of the areas in which I lived as a child – my home towns.  We moved around a fair amount when I was young but I consider Livingston, Montana my childhood home and Helena, Montana my ‘teenage years’ home. This week, I am… [Read More]