1,000 & COUNTING

It was on March 23rd, 2009, that I created this blog, and posted for the very first time.  The original idea was to create an online travel journal, which would allow our family and close friends to keep track of where we are, and what we're doing.  That original intent is still relevant, particularly when we are in the motor home, traveling around the countryside.  This almost daily narrative of what's happening in our little world, has kind of taken on a life of its own.  With a daily audience of somewhere around 150, and almost 70,000 views since the beginning, those numbers would have been a little scary back in 2009. In today's world, with facebook & twitter blazing away , a blog, or personal website might already be outdated. 

I'm not sure how long I will continue to write about our almost daily activities, but I do know that I've created a window for our children to better understand what we've done, and how we lived part of our life.  With an annual conversion of the blog into a book for our kids, at least they have something that goes a little beyond the family picture album.  Today marks post number 1,000, and still counting.

A LEVEL PAD

The north side of the house is the spot where the motor home lives when not being used.  A 50 amp electrical, and water connection are at the corner of the house, and the windshield faces away from the afternoon sun.  Eventually, this is probably where I'll build a shade cover.  One of the first things that had to be done before any other improvements, was to level the ground which slopes away from the house.  I started that project under the threat of rain, and just as I was finishing, the water came down in one of our brief desert deluges.

While the motor home is at Lazy Days RV for a few fixes, I decided it was a good time to tackle this dirt moving project.  I had to dig down about a foot near the house, and spread that dirt to the north.  The area is now much more level, and I won't have to park the left wheels of the RV on wood blocks.

This morning, the second garage door opener for the bigger door is scheduled to be installed.  When that's completed, most of the electrical improvements will be done in the garage.  The next big job inside the building, will be the construction of a storage room at the southeast corner.  When I did the electrical, I ran the wiring to that corner, so it's just waiting for some lumber and the sound of a hammer.

A NEW GADGET

Each year at the RV gathering in Quartzsite, there always seems to be one, or perhaps several new items for sale, that are the latest and greatest.  In years past, some of the things that come to mind are the fold up chairs with small tables on the side, the head visor with fake hair in the middle, propane campfires in a can, lights that attach to tops of flagpoles, and the list goes on, and on.

This year, we saw these hand mixers all over the place.  It's not that the idea hasn't been around for a long time, it's just that this latest model was being demo'd  at several places, both in the big tent, and elsewhere.  Since I like to make pancakes, scrambled eggs, and other stuff that requires some sort of mixing, this gadget almost jumped right into my shopping bag.   But wait, if you buy 4 of them, you get this super fantastic deal!  I didn't need 4, but with stuff like this, there's usually a need to keep one in the house, and one in the motor home.  I guess Nancy was thinking along the same lines, because she said "I could use a couple of these".  The saliva was almost visibly starting to drip from the mouth of the salesperson, as he had set the hook, and was about to pull his newest fishes into the net.

Yep, we bought 4 of them, and Patty insisted that she get a picture of me using this new/old mixing contraption, as I started to scramble some eggs yesterday morning.  It actually works quite well, but in retrospect, for the price we paid, a fork would have continued to do the job quite nicely.

WORKIN ON THE RANCH

Since returning from 3 weeks in the motor home, I've spent most of the last two days working in my garage/shop.  Nothing too exciting, just trying to get the insulation, sheet rock project finished, so I can move on to other things.  The only walls that aren't done are 10 feet of the south wall, and 10 feet of the east wall, both in the southeast corner of the building.  I'll be doing that area a little bit differently, because I plan on building a 10x10, secure storage room in that corner. 

While we were gone, the Tucson area was hit with some unusually cold temperatures, getting down into the low 20's for a few days.  I was a little worried, not knowing how the house would handle below freezing weather.  Before the predicted low temperatures arrived, Marc came out and turned on a couple of the inside faucets at a slow drip, and did the reverse when it warmed up.  With the furnace set at 65 degrees, the house came through fine, and we didn't have to deal with any broken water pipes.

This week is going to be a bit on the busy side, as I have an appointment to take the motor home in to Lazy Days for a right side camera replacement, our second garage door opener is due to be installed, and several other things are on the calender. 

QUARTZSITE WRAP

It was mid morning when we said adios to Nancy, as we pulled out of our desert campsite, both of us headed for home.  Instead of staying on Interstate 10 all the way back to Tucson, I veered south on State Route 85 at Buckeye, staying on 85 through Gila Bend all the way to Ajo.  Not too far past Ajo, you can stay on 85 southbound into Mexico, or turn east on SR 86 through the Tohono Indian Reservation.  This alternative route is a little longer, but it was a nice break from the same ole, same ole sights on the freeway. 

Since I wasn't able to post any pictures of our stay in Quartzsite, here's a few of the highlights.  Warning!!!  --  The last few photos show a part of the human anatomy, and if you might be offended, don't look any further.

 I'm not particularly fond of burnt marshmellows, but Patty and Nancy enjoyed the ritual on several nights.

 This was one of several spectacular sunrises.

 No, we didn't eat the whole thing, but the leftovers were gone within 24 hours.

 This propane campfire was one of my bargain purchases.

 Nancy's new rock shield installed between her motor home and Jeep.

 You might find just about any kind of bumper sticker in Quartzsite.

The Readers Oasis Bookstore in Quartzsite has gained some notoriety from it's quirky owner, who is known as the naked bookstore guy.  Since this was Nancy's first rodeo in Quartzsite, this local attraction was on the list of things to do.

People were lined up for this guys autograph, so I guess if you take off some of your clothes, you can become a celebrity.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, the guy does have something covering the jewels, but it's not much!

Quartzsite hasn't lost it's appeal to us, even after about 20 years of annual visits to this winter oasis for RV's in the desert.  It's often said that you either love, or hate Quartzsite.  Some, perhaps a lot of RV owners don't like to dry camp, but we still do, and that's part of the attraction to Quartzsite in late January.  It's been a fun 3 weeks away, but it's always good to be back home. 

 

THE LAST "Q" DAY

After breakfast, we ventured into town for the last time, checking out a few of the vendor areas that we hadn't hit yet.  With 4 days of "flea Marketing" under our belts, a lot of the stuff for sale all starts to look the same.  The last stop before lunch was a bookstore, and the proprietor has sort of become a celebrity, at least for those who know about him.  We had to show Nancy this fixture of the desert, but as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words".  Tomorrow, when I have a better Internet connection, I'll post photos of this bookstore owner, that lets just say, are slightly unconventional.

For lunch, we stopped at Silly Al's, where the previous nights crowd was gone.  They were still busy, but we got a table right away, and the pizza was pretty darned good.  From there, we drove out to where the Escapee's have their encampment, hoping to catch up with Tom & Barb Westerfield.  Boomerville is their name for this temporary community of RV's, but unfortunately, Tom & Barb were not there, even though we did find their motor home. 

By then, it was mid afternoon, and not having any other stops to make, we headed back to the motor homes.  I BBQ'd some chicken, and Patty used it to make another one of her super tasty caserole dishes, with pasta, cheese, mushrooms, and lots of other good stuff.  An early campfire, roasted marshmellows, and our last day here at Quartzsite was history.  This morning, we say adios to Nancy, who's headed back to CA, and we'll be on our way home.  It's been a busy 3 weeks, with the FMCA rally in Indio, a week in Yuma, and the last 5 days here in Quartzsite.  As much fun as we've had, it will be good to return to our new home, and pick up where we left off.

A BUNCH OF FLEAS

Still no photos, but after waiting almost half an hour, at least I have access to Google, and can post a narrative.  We've been parking at this location in the desert, about 5 miles south of Quartzsite for several years,  and despite all of the people here, I'm sure our semi remote parking spot has something to do with the super slow Internet signal.  There are lots of choices regarding a place to park, and perhaps next year, we'll pick an area closer to town.

Yesterday, for about 4 hours, we perused all of the stuff for sale at two different flea markets, finding a few things.  Nancy won the shopping war, picking up a couple of cow hides, an old cowboy rope, and a new Levi Jacket.  By about 2 pm, it was time to head back to the motor homes, and let the dogs out.  The girls decided that they hadn't quite filled their quota of shopping time, so they returned to town.  A little later, I made a quick trip back to the big tent, where I discovered that when Nancy purchased her Roadmaster Defender, they had given her the wrong brackets.  When I put the thing together, I had a feeling that something wasn't quite right, and that was confirmed when I stopped at the Roadmaster booth.  To their credit, I was quickly given the right brackets, along with a couple of new clips, and when I returned to the motor homes, I disassembled, and reassembled the rock guard with the right brackets.  About the time I finished, the girls returned, and shortly thereafter, we headed into town for pizza at Silly Al's.

Unfortunately, I think everybody for miles around had the same idea.  Finding a parking place was the first challenge, and when we walked up to the door, we discovered that the place was packed, and we were looking at a long wait just to order food.  We tried a couple of other restaurants with the same results.  So, we gave up on the eating out idea, and returned to the desert, where we had plenty of food.  After a short sit by the campfire, we called it a day.

A LAZY DAY

It was about 11am when Bob & Diana Rush arrived at our desert campsite, having driven down from their winter home in Lake Havasu City.  We sat outside for an hour or so in the almost perfect weather, catching up on everything that's been happening, from our move to Tucson, to Diana's recent knee replacement surgery.  We first met Bob & Diana when we were in the Harley-Davidson business, selling each of them a motorcycle.  As was the case with many of our customers, we became good friends over the years, finding common ground with our passion for the two wheeled lifestyle.  When Bob & Diana moved to Oregon about 10 years ago, we visited them several times, and when their winter weather got a little old, they would trailer their bikes to our place, where we enjoyed many days of winter motorcycle rides. 

A little after noon, Len & Ellie Meachum drove down in their car from Parker, where they have their motor home parked for a month.  We hadn't seen them since last year, when we were camped here in the desert, at almost the same spot.  This is the first year in a long time, that we haven't circled our wagon next to theirs, at this gathering of RV's in Western Arizona.  Our friendship with Len & Ellie goes back to our first year on the NHRA Drag Race circuit in 2002.  They are truly the definition of work camper adventurer's, having traveled from one end of the country to the other, working on both the drag race circuit, and recently, the NASCAR race circuit.  They were talking like their next gig might be a little more laid back, parking their motor home somewhere in Texas, working gate security for one of the oil drilling rigs.

We spent most of the afternoon visiting with our friends, soaking up the desert sunshine, on a mid 70 degree day.  It was good to see our buddies, and hopefully, it won't be a full year before we see them again. 

MORE SHOPPING

This mornings attempt to publish a blog post is an experience of patience.  I slept in to the ungodly time of 5:30am, made my coffee, and have been attempting to put this narrative together for the last half hour.  Unfortunately, thousands of other folks are also out of bed, doing their thing with smart phones, and computers.  The cell network is overwhelmed in this small desert community, and it's difficult to do much in the cyber world.  As a result, too late for any pictures, and hopefully when I click on publish, this post will make it's way to Google, and  be the latest chronicle of our adventures.

After a big breakfast yesterday morning, we drove into town, stopping at the big tent.  Nancy purchased a roadmaster defender, the latest gadget from the towbar folks, that gives a good layer of protection for her towed vehicle.  I installed the device when we returned to our motor home camp later in the day.  I picked up the "Little Red Campfire", a propane fueled campfire in a can, that will be a nice alternative to those places where a real fire is prohibited.  At $75, it was a reconditioned unit from the factory, it works perfectly,  and that price was about one half of the suggested normal retail. 

We walked over to the huge Tyson Wells flea market, and made a few small purchases.  By the time we were finished there, it was time to head back to the motor homes.  Nancy had an appointment with an Oregon cabinet shop, that had built her some custom cabinets.  When they arrived, her loveseat was removed, the new cabinets were installed, and she now needs to find a recliner, or some sort of lounge chair to go in the new space.  By the time that work was done, it was getting dark.  We finished the day with some BBQ'd New York steaks, sat around the campfire for an hour or so before retiring to our little houses on wheels.  Today, we have some friends dropping by for a visit,  We haven't seen Len & Ellie for about a year, and Bob & Diana are driving down from their winter home in Lake Havasu. 

YUMA TO QUARTZSITE

We pulled out of the Suni Sands RV park around 10am, and stopped at Love's for fuel (diesel $3.77), before taking Hwy 95 northbound toward Quartzsite.  The transition from nothing but agricultural fields in the Yuma area, to wide open desert, takes place just before arriving at the southern boundary of the Army's Yuma Proving Grounds.  The contrast is quite striking, and the change takes place within just a few miles.

The only stop on the approx. 80 mile trip, was at the U.S. Border Patrol check station.  Most motorcycles like the one in front of us, and most RV's, get the quick wave through, without any conversation with the person(s) standing at the checkpoint. 

For some reason, only known in the cat world, our snowshoe kitty decided that her new resting place while moving down the road, was on the top of the chair behind Patty.  Trying to think like a cat doesn't usually work, but my theory is that she decided a better viewing position was necessary, and that's the spot she picked. 

When we arrived at our usual parking area (mile marker 99), approx. 4 miles south of Quartzsite on Hwy 95, we stopped at the entrance, and checked in with the B.L.M. camp host.  There's no charge for parking in this particular part of the desert, but there is a requirement for registering, with a maximum limit of 14 days.  I'm not quite sure how that's enforced, but it doesn't matter for us, as we'll be leaving in a few days.

This year, it's just Nancy and us, as the other folks who normally meet us are not coming.  We drove into town, making the first inspection of the vendors in the big tent.  No big purchases, but I think I found something that needs a new home, and Nancy also found something that she needs.  The buying war is about to kick off once again, as we head back to the tent today.
 

We finished the day with a campfire, as the girls roasted marsh mellows, and I was content to sit and watch.  Even though I was able to load these pictures, that may not be the case in the days ahead.  Our Sprint connection is not very good, and with thousands of other folks in the area, probably the only reason I got these photos posted, is because I was up early this morning.  

 

A NEW PORCH LIGHT

One of the items that we purchased while at the FMCA RV Rally in Indio, was a motion detecting porch light.  This was the new updated version of the original that I had installed on our motor home a few years ago.  Swapping out our old for the new, was relatively easy.  Changing Nancy's original light for the new one was a little more involved, and while the girls were at Wal Mart, I installed the new light on her motor home.  One of the things I noticed right away, was how well her manufacturer - Tiffin, protected the original light from any water intrusion.  The wiring hole, the screw holes, and the perimeter of the light fixture, was well sealed with silicone.  Conversely, when I changed the original light on our Monaco, the opposite was true.  When I replaced our old light with the new light, I made sure that no moisture would get in, using an abundance of silicone to seal everything up.
   

For the second day, we had lunch at Cracker Barrel, and being a Saturday, we had to wait for about 15 minutes before being seated.  For us, Cracker Barrel has always been one of our favorite places to eat.  The food is good, the prices are reasonable, and except for an occasional wait due to it's popularity, Cracker Barrel is a restaurant we return to time and again.

This morning is the end of our week here in Yuma.  We'll be making the short drive up Hwy 95 to Quartzsite, where we'll join the masses of other RV'ers who are parked in the desert.  We often use the comparison of  Sturgis is to bikers, what Quartzsite is to RV'ers.  Kind of like a center of the universe for each, and a place that the respective enthusiasts return to each year.  From Quartzsite, we'll be heading back to the "Last Chance Ranch", where we'll mostly stay, until migrating north in late April toward the last frontier - Alaska. 

GETTING FIXED

Nancy's appointment at La Mesa RV was at 8am yesterday morning.  Before leaving the RV park, she transferred her parrot, Jonathon into our motor home, put the two dogs in her Jeep, and I drove it to La Mesa.  After going over her list of things to be fixed, we drove back to Suni Sands RV park.  While the girls baby sat the critters, I made a run to Home Depot for a few things, then later, Patty & Nancy did some shopping while I stayed at the motor home.

Except for a tasty lunch at Cracker Barrel, there wasn't much else that we got accomplished yesterday.  When we drove back to La Mesa to pick up her motor home, most everything had been fixed, except for a couple of things that may need a longer appointment. 

Today is our last day here in Yuma, and not sure what we're doing.  Tomorrow, we'll make the 80 mile drive up to Quartzsite, where we'll join the thousands of other RV'ers parked in the desert. 

NEW CHAIRS, A BURGER, & STEPS

The Yuma outdoor market place is a flea market of sorts, but it's a bit more on the upscale side.  The vendor booths are more like small stores, most are wrapped in tarps, and all are under large metal shade covers.  Everything from clothes to furniture, to jewelry is sold at this very popular location, and during it's days of operation (Thur - Sun), there are large crowds.  Yesterday morning, that was our first destination.

One of the things on both of our shopping lists, was new outside chairs that have the fold up side table.  The very first store we came to had exactly what we wanted, and even though the price for 2 chairs was $50, we got both for $45, and quickly returned them to the Jeep.  It took us a couple of hours to make our way through all of the aisles, and there were a few other small purchases, before we headed to Five Guys for Lunch.

In Yuma, Five Guys is right across the street from IN N OUT, and the debate about who has the best burgers will probably be a never ending discussion.  There's no doubt, that most burger aficionados like myself, will rate both fast food joints right up near the top of the burger wars.  Having said that, the last two times we've visited the guys (Indio & Yuma), my bacon burger didn't have any bacon!  How can you have a bacon cheese burger without any bacon?   My other gripe against the guys, is that they are pretty proud of their burgers & fries, and their prices reflect that self described pride.  My bacon burger, Patty's cheeseburger, fries & small drink was just under $20.  That same menu at IN N OUT would have been about $10.

 Here's a picture of my bacon cheeseburger, without the bacon.

From Five Guys, we made a stop at Pet Smart, finding some doggie steps for our 15 year old Beagle.  Getting up on the sofa, both in the motor home, and at the house, has been more & more difficult.  Now, she can get to her sleeping spot without us having to pick her up several times during the day.

This morning, Nancy has an appointment at La Mesa RV, the dealer where she purchased her Phaeton motor home.  A few things need to be fixed before her warranty expires, so I'll follow her to the dealership, and we'll return to our motor home while hers is being worked on.  Three dogs, one cat, and one parrot in our motor home - this should be rather interesting!

YUMA HISTORY

The last time Patty and I toured the old Yuma Territorial Prison, it was back in 2010, and according to the volunteers back then, it was due to close because of the state budget crisis.   Nancy had never seen what's left of the prison, so we drove over there to find it's still open, mostly because the folks in Yuma came up with the funds to keep it going. 

The prison sits on a hill, overlooking the railroad and highway bridges that both span the Colorado River. The two bridges were built in the 1920's, and the vehicle bridge was the last link in the "ocean to ocean" highway.  The Southern Pacific railroad relocated their bridge to this higher ground, after having to rebuild their lower, pivot bridge several times, due to the annual spring floods.  Before Dam building began on the Colorado River, much of this entire valley was under water each spring.  At one point not to far from these two bridges, when the river flooded, it was up to 17 kilometers in width.
 

At noon, we tagged along on Gary's guided tour of the prison, and I learned quite a bit that I had either forgotten, or simply didn't know.  It's been a lot of years since I first came to Yuma on my Harley, for what was, and is still called the "Yuma Prison Run".  Back in the early 1980's, this was an event that attracted several thousand bikers to this town on the Colorado River.
 

The Yuma Prison was open for business for a little over 30 years, closing it's doors to the bad guys in 1909.  The living conditions with 6 men to a cell, with no plumbing, no heat, and no electricity, must have been pretty awful.  If some of today's hard core criminals faced these kind of prison conditions, just maybe they would think twice about being repeat offenders.

From the prison, we drove a short distance to the Quartermaster Depot State Historic Park, which I had never visited.  This was an Army supply depot in the late 1800's, that was stocked by riverboats coming up the Colorado River from the Gulf of California.  From Yuma, the supplies were distributed by wagon to several Army posts located throughout the southwest.  

This traveling Alcatraz exhibit was located in one of the large depot buildings.

 

If there's a train anywhere close, I can find it.  This passenger car was built by the Southern Pacific RR in Sacramento, ending up on display here in the Quartermaster Depot Park.

 

No info on this old, steel wheel tractor, but judging by it's little engine, it must date back at least 80 years.  My Kubota would look huge next to this thing!

We had a late lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ, and it was OK, but my beef brisket was a little on the dry side.  I fixed that real quick with a bunch of BBQ sauce, and then the world was right, and my tummy was full when we left.  Today, the outdoor market place opens up, and I think that's where we're headed.

RUB A DUB

For some folks, keeping their RV's clean and shiny is a priority.  For others, it doesn't much matter.  I fit into the former category, and usually keep our motor home free of streaks and dirt, with a fresh coat of wax.   But, due mostly to lots of other things to do in the past few months, like moving to Tucson, building a garage, unpacking boxes, the motor home has been neglected.  When we were parked at the FMCA Rally in Indio, I was tempted to hire the mobile RV wash company, but decided to wait until we got to Yuma. 

Yesterday morning, Roberts RV mobile wash/wax showed up with 3 guys, and they started by washing our Camelot, and Nancy's Phaeton.  When they started washing our roof with brushes, unfortunately our snowshoe kitty kind of freaked out, finding the best place to hide from the not so normal noises coming from up above.  When both motor homes were washed, the crew took a short break before coming back to start the wax jobs.  With 3 guys, the wax was coming off almost as fast as it was going on, with lots of paint becoming very shiny.  The part I liked, was the fact that they used the same Meguiars wax that I do.  When they were about half way done with waxing both motor homes, one of the guys asked it we wanted the two Jeeps washed.  He explained that they do the toad vehicle for free, when they do an RV wash and wax job.  Alrighty then, now all of the paint will be shiny, at least for a day or two.

I finished by Rain X'ing both of our windshields, then, while the girls went shopping, I celebrated the re-emergence of a clean, polished motor home, by doing some shopping of my own at Harbor Freight.  Even though almost all of the stuff at Harbor Freight is cheap, and from you know where, there's always something that I just can't live without.  I guess it's just a guy, tool thing.

The best news of the day was the price for washing (roof included) both the motor home and the Jeep, plus a complete hand wax of the motor home, only $125.  To do all of the above myself, it would have taken about 2 full days of climbing up and down the ladder, and lots of elbow grease.  Today, we're playing tourist, with several destinations in mind.......

MEXICAN FISH TACOS

This week's agenda included at least one trip across the border into Algodones, Mexico, which is only about an 8 mile drive west on I8 from Yuma.  Patty wanted another pair of glasses, I needed to see my Mexican Dentist, and a visit to one of the many pharmacies is always a must do in this small border town that caters to thousands of senior citizens.   Oh, I almost forgot, one of the for sure, must do things for us in Algodones, is a stop at the fish taco stand.  We discovered these edible delights many years ago, and the deep fried fish or shrimp is always a hi light when we cross the border.

I ate 3 of the shrimp tacos,the last one pictured above.   Patty & Nancy had 2 fish tacos each, and the total for all 7 was $10.50.

We've been getting our glasses at Algodones Optical, where the entire process from exam to new glasses only takes about 2-4 hours, depending on how busy they are.  Patty picked up her frame from Wal Mart when we arrived in Yuma, for $24.  The total bill yesterday for her eye exam, and progressive (no line) bifocals was $59.  For $83, she has a new pair of glasses that would have been several hundred dollars here in the U.S.  Even with insurance, glasses in Mexico are much less expensive for us.

I wonder if this typical electrical mess would be up to code on our side of the border?

 

 I thought this sign was kind of interesting, in that these dentists market their services to the RV crowd.

While we passed a little time, waiting for Patty's glasses to be built, we found an outdoor restaurant/bar, that had live entertainment.  It was a one man singer/band, who played 50's, 60's, and 70's music, and he was good enough to get a few people up, and dancing.  Sitting in the sun on this colder than normal day was a plus, as we warmed our bones.

The dentist that I've had good luck with, Carmen Ovando, was not open, so I missed the opportunity to sit in the chair, and have someone drilling into my teeth.  I guess that's not an entirely bad thing, since nothing has to be done right away.  The dentistry prices in Algodones are about 75% less than in the states, and it is often cheaper for me, even with insurance, to have dental work done in Mexico.  I've had good luck with my dentist, but I've also heard of just the opposite. 

This morning, I have one of the many mobile RV wash/wax companies coming to wash and hand wax our 2 motor homes.  The price for both is $250.  Pictures tomorrow.