Joining the Satellite age

I could certainly have enjoyed staying near Burro Creek a bit longer, but with no cell coverage and no wi-fi,

I was out of touch when trying

to arrange meetings, etc.

 

So I pulled out and headed further south on 93, went past Nothing, AZ,

then turned off up toward Bagdad, then over to Kirkland, on my way to Prescott.  There was a pretty inviting looking boondocking area where the highway crossed the Santa Maria river, but it was too early in the day and too far from Prescott, where I wanted to be the following day.  I continued on through Skull Valley and was hoping to find a nice spot in the Prescott National Forest near Iron Springs, but the sign on the road said that camping in that area was permitted only in campgrounds!  So, I backtracked a bit into the ‘free zone’ and parked in a non-descript place along Contreras road.  It was cool and breezy, at around 6000’, but did the trick.

It was still cool in the morning, but there was none of the predicted rain or snow, so I moved on into Prescott and Prescott Valley, where I hoped to meet up with UPS!  I had been tracking my package online all the way from Ontario, and I knew it was close.  When I spotted a UPS truck near the Safeway I was at, I accosted the driver who said he had just dropped off my package with Big Sky Chef a block away.

Sure enough, my long-awaited satellite internet system had arrived!     Soon, it was in the back of the truck, and we were on our way to lower, and warmer (?) elevations.  Thanks to Big Sky Chef for loaning me an address for the delivery! Shortly thereafter, UPS e-mailed me as requested, to report the delivery!  Well done UPS, right on time.

It was windy as I headed north toward Ash Fork and the I-40 interstate, but it was a welcome tailwind, so the wind-warnings in the area could be disregarded.  Once out on the Interstate, however, we were headed into a strong gusty cross-wind that made driving increasingly more interesting.  Finally called a truce at the Seligman jct, and pulled off, and parked directly into the wind to wait for calmer conditions.  There was nothing then to do – except to start reading the start-up and assembly instructions on the dish set up.  But getting any of the parts from the box in the back of the truck into the camper was a severe challenge in the wind.  Take out one piece, hold on for dear life, weight the box down with a heavy chunk of wood – and repeat as necessary.   

They really send you everything you could possibly need, right down to the ground anchors, bungee cords, velcro straps, – everything!

It was a bit close setting it up in the bedroom(!), but there was no wind or dust, so I spent the down time getting familiar with how things all fit together.

Once I had it figured out, the wind had moderated somewhat, so it was back to the road to look for lower elevations.  A section of the old Hwy 93 had good desert access, so we plunked ourselves in the desert to set up the dish for real.  I had also chosen an area that had good cell phone coverage in case customer support was required.  Turns out I was not given some important codes, so I had to wait till morning for the inaugural test.  

But morning has arrived, and we are officially on the air – direct, via satellite!