part of Lincoln National Forest closed due to the the fires near Ruidoso.

I saw that on the news. Now the burn scars are causing runoff flooding. :-(

The closure notice described the designated area for closure in such a way it was very hard to understand and visualize

The NF districts really could do a better job of it. At least have an English major read the GIS wonk’s writeup before publishing.

We moved from Fort Stanton/Snowy River Cave NCA

That site is a gem; I try to hit it in spring/fall when I pass through. Too bad the cave is closed because of white nose.

BTW, water fills are free at the nearby paid campsite if one asks the host. Used to be a day use fee for it but they removed that spigot a couple years ago.

Sorry to hear it didn’t work.

If employee vehicles are in danger perhaps the employer (or property owner) could hire a security detail? Might present this as a benefit to them to keep customers from getting scared off by crime?

I worked at a place in a ratty part of time once. Literal crackheads and prostitutes wandering through our lot. After a couple break-ins the company put up a fence.

people are starting to catch onto my patterns and hover around my vehicle like vultures. Please tell me the best security system you know of.

A free first step would be to have no observable pattern. And/or leaving that general area if possible.

I would think about the actual threat model and what I could do about it. If someone steals your doodad with an airtag on it are you going to find it and take it back from them?

I picked up a solar garden light from walmart. I pop the hood and trap the light in the lid so the light is under the hood and the minipanel outside it. I haven’t had a problem since then, but it it could be coincidence, or my being more careful scouting for mouseholes before pitching camp.

I put it under a secondary cover and used it for my outside DC outlet, and replaced my external solar panel outlet with a CNLINKO LP-28 2-Pin IP67 Waterproof Connector rated up to 50A.

That connector looks interesting. It addresses one of my unstated concerns, the panel wires pulling down on the connector. This one looks like it has enough “neck” to relieve the strain. If I were doing the van again I’d mount all the inlets in one place under a secondary cover as you describe.

I have Visible (Verizon MVNO) for $25/month. I put the SIM in an LTE router I got off amazon (open box) for $42.

Could my 10 year old SDF account still exist?

Mine does. I finally remembered to log back in and there she is…

Caveat: the hostname had changed; I signed up at lonestar.sdf.org IIRC (no longer extant) and now it is on freeshell.org

I found my notes from ten years ago so I know what my username was

Another caveat: I think usernames were truncated to 8 chars in that time period. Don’t know if that’s the case now or not, or if extra chars are thrown away anyhow.