Jim & Alice

After sitting out the last two Summers due to medical reasons (covid avoidance as well as 'other'), we will be leaving Wellton, AZ for our favorite workamping site, Hart Ranch, in Rapid city, SD.   After the Summer... Michigan for a few months to stay with kids & grandkids, then Texas for family there, then back to Wellton!   Life is good!

Just as a matter of followup, My wife and I got our 2nd Covid booster shots (Moderna) this week.   Our shot reactions were as before, wife experienced no side effects other than a slightly stiff arm, and I had the stiffness, along with slight fever and headache for a couple days.   Doing fine now!

Jim 

On 4/14/2022 at 5:47 AM, Kirk W said:

We planned for 2 weeks between the latest booster and our trip but I just learned that with the latest booster, 1 week is long enough for it to kick in. Let us know what you choose to do.

Hi, Kirk.   We will get the (2nd) booster in early May, about two weeks before travel to our workamping location.   Come Fall, we will see what the situation calls for before visiting family in Michigan.

Thanks for a good thread!

On 4/14/2022 at 5:47 AM, Kirk W said:

 Let us know what you choose to do.

Sure will, Kirk.   Thanks for what you do here.

16 hours ago, Kirk W said:

By all means talk to your primary care physician about this decision? We did and our doctor recommended we get ours now because we are going to be traveling. She believes that if needed there will be another vaccine in the fall. If you take the risk now you could get covid and not be here to get the vaccine in the fall!

Thanks Kirk, for your experience.   That's what we are going to do.   We have a few weeks before leaving for our workamping location, so we will be having that conversation....

On 4/12/2022 at 3:47 PM, Barbaraok said:

Given the low vaccination rate in the Midwest, I would think your travel plans would prompt you to get the second booster.   

Probably will, Barbara, and you make good sense.   But we have a couple weeks and on important things I like to check with knowledgeable people.  

6 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Given the low vaccination rate in the Midwest, I would think your travel plans would prompt you to get the second booster.   

We're inclined that way, Barbera, but I am cautious due to what that would do to our 'positioning' for a Fall booster in response to a Fall covid variant wave.

Just to weigh in with an opinion... We are fully vaccinated (Moderna) with one booster shot six months ago.   Our plans for the Summer are to workamp in South Dakota (Hart Ranch), so we are pondering... 2nd booster shot in May (worried about public exposure all summer), or wait until Fall?   I have put that question to our local PCP here in Wellton, AZ.   We'll see what the response is.

Thanks for sharing, Derek.

Ditto on cash-on-hand.

21 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Independence Rock was still there last year.  😁  Tours given and you can even climb it.

Thanks, 2gypsies.   In our past vacation trips, our kids, nieces, nephews have scrambled all over that rock... But spending the night there in our Dolphin motorhome, during inclement weather... hinted at what those early travelers must have experienced.   Lots of names, ghosts, and stories remain there.

5 hours ago, Kirk W said:

 As a former resident of WY and long time follower of the historic Oregon Trail, I'd sure be disappointed to hear that it was abandoned. 

5 hours ago, agesilaus said:

We walked all the way around the perimeter of the building. It was all fenced except the side open for the parking lot. No trail.

Thanks, guys.   I guess at this instance, we don't know for sure... Independence Rock/Oregon Trail is so historic in our country's story I'd hate to see it not be maintained.   Besides, its a great boondock location!   Wonder if anyone else has been then there recently?

11 hours ago, agesilaus said:

When was that? And is that the visitor center parking lot?

We were last there in 2016.   The shown parking lot is to the west side of the main parking lot, and the Trail is just beyond the fence.   Sounds like you are saying the walking trail to the base of the rock is no longer there?

Independence Rock, Wyoming.   We were able to boondock just a few feet from the Oregon Trail... In the quiet of the late night we could hear the ghost's of the wagons... creaking on down the trail... Love it!

Wellton, AZ... Sunny skies, temp about 50 degrees, winds in the mid 20 mph.   Dust is beginning to pick up... Gonna be a dusty day!

January 13, 2013, made the trip from Michigan to Congress, Arizona.   Never driven a motorhome before.   Went South as fast as we could, going thru Indianapolis, Sikeston, Texarkana, then state highways thru south Texas to El Paso, then on to Phoenix and beyond.   My advice would be to get to the I-30-20-10 part of the country as early as possible.   Good luck!   

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

... Webb has now passed the moon!

Thanks for the link, Kirk   Upvote! 🙂

Wish I could 'up-vote' all these comments... all are spot on.

I am following too, Kirk.   Fascinating.

3 hours ago, RV_ said:

Jim I will fill you in on what I am using in my Faraday cage later.

Thanks, I appreciate it, Derek.   And I appreciate your commentary on my USB drives vulnerability... I figured as much but did not want to accept it because they are so darn easy to use!     I was hoping you would see something I didn't.   Funny, but my Air Force 'recent out' son just happened to bring up a Faraday Cage right after our posts... We may end up there yet.

And, Merry Christmas and good night, Derek.   Hope all is well for you.   Our grandkids are in bed waiting for Santa to arrive... Grandmother (Mamaw) is tired out, and Mom & Dad even more tired out.   Me?   I just stay out of the way, else I might end up getting gift-wrapped and placed under the tree. 🙂 Take care, Derek!

Added afterwards:   Derek, I checked out your recommended book, "One Second After"... looks to be a good read, as well as written by a very credible Author.   I happen to 'know' I am getting some Barnes & Noble gift cards for Christmas... Think I know where to start using them.

Derek, thanks for your well thought and documented response!   It will take a while for me to absorb it... Quick question - I organize all my essential data into one high-level folder.... and keep up-to-date copies of that large folder in several places.   One of those 'places' are portable USB drives (plural).   Derek, how vulnerable, do you think, are USB drives, unshielded & unprotected, to EMP strikes?   

Thanks, and Merry Christmas!   Hope you are feeling well.

Good article, Derek.   Confirms some good practices... Here's what I do:

1. Cloud backup -  I perform such nightly, in addition to local Acronis backups to external storage (two types: USB drive and external SSD drive.
2. Passwords - I use a password manager (Roboform), for my desktop and for my laptop.   All things are encrypted, synced, passwords generated...
3. 2FA - still hit or miss on this... but for all Financial sites and 'other' sites of importance, I use multi-factor authentication.
4. Tweaking... - I have pretty much given up on this... just too much trouble for questionable gain.
5. Updates - Serious & Religious attention to updates, for all significant software.
6. Antivirus - Not ready to part with my Norton yet... I also use Malware Free in addition to Norton.   Big reason for keeping Norton is their VPN... works well for me.

Thanks for he good article, Derek.   Lots of bad stuff going on nowadays... Good Practices can make a huge difference.

Thanks, Derek, for the info on end-of-life for Win10 support.   Very useful.

3 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Yuma, Arizona may be better for you.... cheaper and a lot of RV parks.

My wife and I spent the Summer of 2020 in Yuma (Wellton)... with good advice & help from this Escapee's Group... It is tolerable.   We purchased a lot, installed an RV Port (Roof cover), and made sure we had a backup plan if our A/C failed.   Our highest Electric bill was $207/mo.   Good luck.

1 hour ago, docj said:

FWIW I updated my old Dell Inspiron 7559 with a 6th  Generation Intel Quad Core i7 to Windows 11

Thanks, Docj, for your FWIW.   I am running a Dell INSP-5577, I7, and pondering a Windows 11 update.   Not going to rush to it, but will keep such an upgrade on my 'want-to-do' list.   This kind of information helps greatly.