Off the Beaten Path

If you have a few minutes and want to find out where we are hiding, you can type in the following coordinates into your favorite mapping or satellite image program. The place we are renting is close to 38.06N , 120.24W. The house is slightly west and north of these coordinates, but only by something less than one-hundredth of a degree.

The location is approximately 20 acres with a southeasterly exposure which mans the sun shines into the loft at about 7 a.m. Well, that tells you something about the place as well. It is about 1200 sq ft with a loft above the main floor which acts as the master bedroom. The kitchen is well equipped with a roomy fridge and a gas (propane) stove. A dishwasher and an oven also sit in the kitchen which is quite nicely sized for two. The latter is only run when the 12kW generator (also propane) is on charging the battery system. Normally, at least during the day, the batteries are charged by a solar panel which kicks out about 90V at 9.5 amps during peak sunshine. There is ample hot water provided by a solar hot water system which heats the glycol in the system to about 170 degF during the mid-day and heats a rather large (~100 gal) hot water tank. We are not sure about all this 'off-the-grid' living yet. Not really roughing it - but also not the convenience of thought-free existence ...

PS (Mom here) we have met oodles of fine folks and seen interesting countryside which we'll detail later.