Power Inverter for "Powerless" Treatments

This past 4th of July weekend the family and I took off up north to escape the 100+ degree heat here in beautiful Phoenix. We camped about 10 miles north of Strawberry, AZ at 7800 feet complete with tents, shelter for eating, propane, camp fires (kind of), s'mores, no bathrooms and no electricity. No electricity generally makes it tough to live the CF life as power is generally required for most of our treatment regiment. I use a inCourage Vest system and a Mobilare 50psi compressor for all 3 or 4 of my treatment sets, so for me, electricity is a must. I haven't been camping for years and years without a cabin full of 120v outlets, so I've never needed to come up with a solution for electricity before. That is, until we decided to "rough it" this past weekend.

Here was my solution:

Pictured above is the Wagan 1500W Power Inverter. I purchased it from Fry's Electronics and if you're interested in ordering one for yourself, you can see more info by clicking here. 

A brief rundown of the nitty gritty...
Price: 179.99
Continuous Use: 1500W
Peak Surge Power: 3600W
AC Voltage Output: 110V
Optimum Efficiency: 90.00%
No Load Current Draw: less than 0.95A
Input Voltage Range: 10V to 15V
Low Battery Alarm: DC 10.5 +/- 0.5V
Auto Low Battery Shutdown: DC 9.5 +/- 0.5V
Cooling Fan: Yes
AC Receptacles: Triple

Now, I bought the 1500W which was way more wattage than required to run my Vest and neb compressor. My Vest requires 500W and I'm assuming that my compressor requires much less than that. A step down to the 1000W inverter only provides two AC receptacles and I wanted the third in case I had to charge my phone or make a cup of coffee while I did my treatments :) Plus, having 1500W gave me the option to use the power inverter for a variety of other things...

Options are good

I had the inverter installed at a local shop called Direct Audio and the job was done in less than 3 hours and cost me 85 bucks out the door. They installed it under the driver's side seat with the AC outlets facing the backseat. I usually had my Vest and compressor plugged in and sitting on the ground near me while I sat in a chair. When it was raining, I simply sat in the front seat and left the equipment in the backseat. (I've also already done a full treatment set on the way to the airport while I was driving. Talk about a time saver!!)

Surrounded by pines!

Grounded.

Nice view during treatment time

When I did my treatments I always had the car running as to not run the chance of draining my battery (you also must turn the power to the inverter off when not in use). That was recommended to me by the guy who installed the inverter and it certainly made sense to me. So, as long as I had fuel in the tank, I was in the clear to do my treatments whenever I felt like it. Having the freedom to go camping and not have the worry about keeping my health as the number one priority was definitely worth the price tag of 264.99+tax.

Mckenna loves treatment time with Daddy

A couple other answers to questions I have been asked:

I didn't worry about sterilizing my neb cups in between treatment sets. I figured it would do no more harm than the 10+ years I washed them in the dishwasher about once a month. If I was worried about it however, I could have boiled water or plugged in my baby bottle sterilizer.

You can keep your Pulmozyme cold in the same place you keep your food cold. Ours was in a cooler full of ice.

I wasn't worried about disturbing other campers. We were very secluded. Even so, it wouldn't have bothered me and would have given me the opportunity for a little CF awareness ;)

I went to the bathroom in a hole that I dug by a tree. It was glorious.

I didn't feel a major difference in the power supplied to my Vest or compressor. I could possibly be convinced that my Vest was a bit weaker, but it wasn't super apparent. 

Final Thoughts:

The inverter did it's job and I would give it two big thumbs up. It will certainly provide more freedom and options down the road and I am very pleased with my decision to pull the trigger and pay the money. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Mckenna even got in on the picture taking action!

Please leave me any questions you may have about the power inverter and I will do my best to answer them.

First Night Apart

This weekend was a big weekend from Mckenna, Mommy and Dada. Mckenna spent her first night away from home without us!!

Ronnie and I got tickets to the UA basketball game on Saturday from one of my co-workers (THANKS MELANIE!) so we asked my parents to watch Mckenna for the day. They took us up on the request and offered one better...to take her OVERNIGHT, so we didn't have to hurry home from the game. We, of course, took them up on it.

Saturday morning after Mckenna's first nap, Nana and Papi came and picked her up. As soon as they left, Ronnie and I hit the road for Tucson. It felt strange. It was weird to be in the car together, without Mckenna. It was strange leaving for the day and not worrying about nap time, toddler-friendly activities, or getting home for bath and bedtime. It was weird, but really nice. Mckenna LOVES her Nana and Papi and is more than comfortable with them and being at their house. So I didn't worry about her one bit, which helped make the day even more enjoyable.

Mckenna, Nana and Papi went on an adventure to a stone store (AKA an errand that Nana and Papi needed to run, but they dressed it up as a fun activity), stopped for lunch at McDonalds for Mckenna to have her first happy meal, and went home just in time for her nap. After her nap, they snuggled up and watched a movie, had dinner, and then it was bath and bedtime. Mckenna slept like a champ and when she woke up they watched toy story (and by they I mean Nana and Papi...Mckenna had the attention span of a gnat, so she played, but Nana and Papi realized they LOVE Pixar Movies. HA!) Then it was they had breakfast, went to church, took a nap, had lunch, and then I went and picked her up. I knew she was totally fine when I got there and I was chopped liver because she was too excited about helping Nana with a chore she was doing! Success!

Meanwhile, Ronnie and I hopped in the car, drove to Tucson, grabbed a slice of pizza (which was awesome), enjoyed the game, grabbed Chinese food, and headed home. Unfortunately, the Chinese food MAYBE wasn't the freshest because I spent some of the night on the bathroom floor. Strangely enough I never actually puked, just had a gnarly upset stomach. So I didn't quite get the refreshing night sleep I was anticipating. But thankfully, this morning I woke up feeling awesome, so Ronnie and I organized our third car garage, and then I headed up to get Mckenna while Ronnie finished up the organizing. Success!!

Thankfully the whole experience was incredibly positive for all parties involved!

Here are some pictures (and a video) so you can get a taste of the weekend:

Mckenna trying her "overnight bag" on for size. She's pretty excited about it!

Us on our way to Tucson, we look pretty excited!

Mckenna sizing up her Happy Meal

Washing down the grease with Nana's help.

 Heading into Nana and Papi's carrying her very full overnight bag! She looks SO old!!

Ronnie EXCITED about seeing his Cats play!

We look a little tired...we're not used to all this fun!

The garage in progress. We put together those shelves...so before we started, ALL those boxes and bins were all over the floor. If you think it looks bad here, you would have puked if you saw it before!

                          

...And just to prove we've still got it...and by "it" I mean no shame!

Mckenna's Birthday Pics!!

Although Mckenna's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, we waited to have the party until Eric and Nancy were in town to celebrate. The party was flawlessly put together and executed by my wife-extraordinaire. She is seriously amazing and somehow is just good at everything. We took a bunch of pics so I thought I'd throw a couple on RSBR so you guys can see how it went down. Enjoy!

Gift table

Picture wall 

Sugar Cookie Decorating Station  

Sharing a sugar cookie with mama

Sidewalk chalk

Posing for the camera

Signing "Happy Birthday"

Looking forward to some cake!!

All done!

Present time

The gift bag doubles as a purse!!

Morning Ride to Starbucks

Mandi and I take a family bike ride every morning around 6:45am. It's a great way to get the blood pumping and the muscles warmed up for the day ahead. It's also a nice way to "beat the heat" and enjoy some gorgeous summer mornings. (As a bonus, it makes for some good mucus clearance)

This morning, we decided to take a family ride to Starbucks.

Obviously pretty pumped for the bike ride this morning :)

Look both ways.

Hey, I know you!!

Dazed and Confused.

She insisted on waving at anyone who entered or exited the building.

Not sure what she's pointing at here, but I assure you that it's cool.

I'm no photog, but I like this shot...minus the parking lot.

...and she likes straws.

When's another bike ride?

After a kissy,

more straw chewing,

and a little paper playing!

 Now we're ready. Let's go!!

Travels Abroad

Surprise! We were totally holding out on you all!! As some of you have maybe have seen in Facebook photos posted the last day or so, we were in Asia...SURPRISE! We were holding out before posting because we didn't exactly want to let on to the fact that our house would be vacant and we'd be out of the country! So let me back up and give you the whole scoop, now they we're home, settled and we have pictures uploaded to share!

First things, first...why the heck did we go? My parents are living in Singapore now (they were in Shanghai as you may have seen previously). They've been there since February, so we decided it would be a great opportunity to get back to Asian and bring Mckenna for a world adventure.

We set off for Singapore with Mckenna in tow. We were really nervous about the 24+ hours of travel time (one way) and the possible jet lag with Mckenna, but decided to just go for it. Turns out, this kid can travel!! She was phenomenal both ways and jet lag wasn't a problem at all going. It has been a bit of an issue being back, but that's ok! She'll get there.

We had a total blast! We spent time in both Singapore and Thailand. We saw the sites, spend quality family time, and relaxed. We will post pictures and stories over the next few weeks, but I figured I'd put up a few photos and let you know the gist! Here are some pictures from the trip:

We'll post more of our 1,897,609,325 pictures later I'm sure!

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