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By Katrina Kane, on July 31st, 2011
Sounds like a great movie doesn’t it? OK OK. I have been riding my brother’s Ezip 1000 scooter a lot recently and like everyone else who sees it, have been drooling all over it. Now 1 scooter divided by 2 people and 8-10 hrs. to charge just doesn’t work. Aside from the enormous pleasure of riding and being able to explore trails previously denied me due to physical limitations, it has come in extremely handy for trips to the store, fetching gas for the car (don’t ask), picking up mail, etc. When my brother has errands to run in the city, we fold down his scooter and pop it in the back of the car then drive him up to the bus station. He had to get the local transportation authority to approve it as a handicapped mobility device but now he can hop any bus or local train with it to get around the city all day then I pick him up at the station at the end of the day. I just had to have one of these.
The first scooter I tried was an Ezip 900. It has the same speed and range as brother’s scooter but no rear suspension so it is lower and more comfortable for us shorter folk. I can sit on it and put my feet on the ground unlike his. It is also 20 pounds lighter which makes it much easier for me to lift up into my SUV by myself. I do wish it were the same 12 inches wide as his for my feet. The 900 is 9 inches wide which is adequate but not quite as comfortable. We bought the 900 at a local Pep Boys on a really great sale. Assembling it was very easy since it only involved the front wheel and seat. Inflating the tires was problematic. The rear tire filler tube is angled but the front tire is straight so I could not get my air compressor on it easily. Tubes with angled fillers are available but it really ought to come with those on both to begin with. Unfortunately, we quickly found that the batteries were no good. When we hooked up the charger to it, the light on it never went to red. It stayed on green as if it were fully charged when it was not. The scooter never moved. Somewhere on the scooter we found that though we had bought it new, it had been manufactured 3 years prior and been sitting in a warehouse. The batteries had sat too long without being charged. After much back and forth and attempts to find another one at Pep Boys that worked (all failed due to batteries), we returned that scooter and got my money back.
At the same time, I had spotted a Schwinn S500 scooter in a thrift store. The Schwinn S500 won’t do steep hills like the 900 or 1000 nor does it have the extra suspension, but it does do the same speed and distance and is made by the same company as the Ezip. Such a sighting of scooters at any thrift store is rare but that day they had 4 scooters of various sizes, mostly kid scooters. For only $20, we pounced on it even though it was not working and bought it. I will say we should have inspected it more thoroughly though even if we had seen the broken throttle or bent wheel, I still think we might have bought it. Parts can be found easily over the Internet and wheels can be banged out to some degree. I did calculate in the $90 cost of batteries that pretty much any used scooter will need now or soon. Besides, fixing up things and restoring life is fun. These little scooters are very simple in design and easy to fix. We ordered in the new throttle from TheSuperKids. I found a 2amp charger for it very cheap on Amazon . The 12V 10Ah batteries we picked up locally at Batteries Plus. Of course, we also changed the stock seat on it to the Schwinn No Pressure Seat or as I call it, noseless fat butt seat, from Wal-Mart. I hear the Vitesse Deluxe Cruiser Seat there may also be pretty good or possibly better but we like ours for scooters.
After a very noisy test run and adjustment of the drive chain, I am now the proud and wind-blown owner of my very own scooter! Today we took both scooters out for a ride. We discovered that my chain-driven scooter is actually faster than brother’s direct drive scooter. Woohoo! I think I will have to change my name to Earnhardt or Andretti now. And best of all, both scooters will fit in the same space as 1 wheel chair scooter or we can put 1 in the SUV and one in the trailer next to my bed or even both next to the bed one behind the other.
By Katrina Kane, on July 28th, 2011
Alas, the RV life is not all fun and games and sometimes it rains. There we were cooking dinner and watching TV while getting ready to start working in our air-conditioned box on wheels when suddenly all the power went out. At first, it seemed like it might be out in the whole park but a walk-around provided evidence otherwise as air-conditioners whirred on other RVs around us as their inhabitants slept. We checked and flipped breakers to no avail. Upon checking the electric meters, I could see our neighbor’s meter was spinning but ours was stopped dead. A quick check of the 20amp circuit with a circuit tester showed there was power at the post. We knew we could not make it through the night on batteries since they had gone bad and were about to be replaced in a few days. Last time we lost power, we were able to back up my car to connect it to the trailer tow plug and use the car battery to run things. Unfortunately, that plug is now dead we found out. A wire may be disconnected as we have been preparing for the new batteries or perhaps a fuse has blown. With darkness all around and mosquitos swarming everywhere, this was not going to be an easy fix. We finally found the cause of the issue was a burned main electric umbilical cord and connector, the main electric cord we plugin from the RV to the post. It looked like it had been wearing over time but we also had a major lightening strike very close that day. We tried to fix it by cutting the now bad connector off then cutting further and further back to find some good wire. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any. My brother managed to rig up some electric for me to get into work that night over the Internet eventually by using an alternate 20 amp circuit and plugin he had added and using his battery charger on the batteries all night for some DC juice for the refrigerator. Don’t forget, even on propane, your fridge uses DC for lights and controls. Kids, don’t try this at home.
The next day, we decided to replace the entire cord. Since the nearest RV parts store is quite a distance away, we decided to use the 25 ft. 30 amp extension cord onboard for the replacement. We cutoff the female end, pulled out the old cord, then installed the extension cord as the main cord now, not something you want to do in the dark. It is working fine and all the appliances seem to be happier. Of course, now we have to go buy another extension cord for that odd RV park and the in-laws driveway. 
Update: Since this incident, we have replaced the bad 12V 85ah batteries with two 6V 235ah golf cart batteries in preparation for going solar and boondocking next year. While we were at it, we scraped the rust off the front tow fork, repainted it, and rewrapped the wiring with new wire loom for protection.
By Katrina Kane, on July 26th, 2011
Forgot to mention in my last post that we moved on up to Provo, UT. Found a reasonably priced (not cheap) park named Lakeside RV Park down near the lake and state park. Their small pool seems to be their biggest draw and of course being near the lake and river. The park has a nice river walk behind it and a wonderful and very long bike trail behind it just across the river with easy access nearby. Lots of mosquitos but bearable. Full hookups and a monthly rate.
We busted my inflatable 10 ft. 2 seat kayak out of storage here for some fun and took it over to Utah Lake down the street. Amazingly, my battery powered air pump still worked even though it has been stored for over a year. Hopped in and we headed out to explore the unknown. The lake is really high right now and the state park is partially flooded so we thought that would be interesting to explore. Here’s a pic of me and the kayak on a lake in Tennessee.
Getting started was not easy since I have never kayaked with 2 people in my boat before and we have never kayaked together. It took some seat adjustments and getting used to. You have to find the sweet spot for the placement of the movable center seat for both single and double which is different for each. Once we found that and happily discovered there is room for both sets of legs as well, we had to figure out our roles (front paddles while rear steers) and remember to use shallow strokes. It took us awhile and a whole lot of going around in circles but we got it figured out. Then we hit our stride and had no problem going where we wanted to go.
We went out around the breakwater onto the lake and headed for the river which runs from there, behind our campground, and on down. Getting to the street bridge, I thought sure we were stopped by the high water but as we neared it, we ducked way down and slid right under it to the surprise of a canoeist on the other side. We paddled on down the river until we were directly behind the campground. We had to do a lot of steering around tree limbs sticking up and through hanging leaves. We thought about getting out there but then the mosquitos and bugs showed up and we decided we weren’t done yet anyway so we turned around and went back up river to the lake. OK, so we really just wanted to slide under the bridge again. It was fun! Before hitting the lake, we noticed the flooded picnic area to the right and thought why not paddle on through or portage if we had to thus saving some time and distance. As we headed in, the rocks underneath told us in no uncertain terms we were going to be portaging. LOL We climbed out and pulled the kayak through ankle to knee deep water. We checked out the sandbagged bathroom that was now surrounded by water and cutoff from the mainland. It got flooded pretty bad. Seeing the tables nearby, we decided a water picnic was necessary before finishing. With water up to our ankles, we sat down to feast on squashed pop tart pieces and bottles of fresh water. It was very nice and certainly my most unusual picnic. Once we had had our fill of food and sun, we towed the kayak over to the submerged boat ramp and launched again. Getting back to shore was almost too fast we thought. Sigh.
By Katrina Kane, on July 11th, 2011
Went for a 2 hour ride on brother’s new (used) eZip scooter. Finally got to see several miles of the trail behind us and then rode the trail between the lake and the airport. Beautiful ride and made it all the way to the control tower. Dang scooter can go 15-20 miles on one charge. Definitely need to change the seat. Butt hurt after awhile. LOL Going to change it to the big fat butt seat other "senior citizens" are using on bicycles. Will have to look for my own scooter or electric bike now. Very useful for taking the bus or train into the city with it and then scooting about on it. Buses frown on it, though, unless you have a handicapped tag. Great alternative to the full chair ones but some campgrounds (not many) won’t allow them and you can’t use them at amusement parks unlike the chair ones. However, they are light and easy to carry since they fold down and are small. I predict these could become the new “wheelchair” for the baby boomer generation and with gas getting so expensive, these really are very economical for the younger generation to get to work, run errands, get to and around at college, etc.
Made excellent fajitas for dinner. I like to stir fry peppers and onion then add canned or leftover chicken and half a fajita mix. Served on tortillas with sour cream.
Looking at setting up my DIY solar cooker made of auto sunshades and learning to cook with it. Want to learn to cook with a Dutch oven too. Going to play a little with canning and sometime I want to make a batch of soap entirely from scratch ( I use soap base I buy atm). Sooo much to learn.
We learned this week why everyone else here burns tiki torches in the evening. They are using citronella and lemongrass oil to keep the mosquitos away and there are a ton of them here. We found a great one at Wal-Mart. Their 4-in-1 comes with 4 screw together steel tubes for the shaft to raise it to different heights or set it on the table, a metal clamp for rails and picnic tables, and the torch. Seems to work to keep the bugs away from our door. Gotta get another.
Fixed the cutting board that is always sliding out from under and the fridge light switch that got Worcestershire sauce dumped on it during a move. Added rubber feet to the cutting board to make it catch on the sink divider and cleaned the light switch.
Found a great environmentally friendly enzyme toilet toddy to stop the smells dead even in 100 degree weather. Yay! The dealer was a campground I stayed at and they even gave me 3 free to try. Nature Zyme I highly recommend them.
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