Let It Begin

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.

Let what begin?  Well, it’s the time of year that snowbird reunions are set up all over the south as more and more retirees return to the desert to get reunited with friends they’ve met in the past and to meet new ones.  It was no different for us.

As mentioned before, it took a while but Sandie and I finally picked out what we thought was the perfect spot to set up.  And, that we did.  Along came Denise and joined us.   Next we knew Barbara and Katy from Me and My Dog stopped by for a nice chat.   In the meantime we’ve also discovered one of our friends broke her wrist so we don’t know if we’ll be able to see her but certainly hoping we do.  Another friend has decided to go back to work and yet another, decided to hang around Phoenix a little longer.  Changes sure do happen as we also have another friend of a friend joining us.  Whee!  That’s a lot of changes.  Thank goodness none of their travels are written in ink as there would be real problems.

Jim and Terry decided to undertake a great task.  The task was putting together a wind shelter.  This is definitely a work in progress thing.  The local K & B Tools in Quartzsite put together the pieces for us including the perfect size of everything.  Well, it wasn’t the perfect size of everything.  Jim had to get out his trusty little Dewalt Reciprocating Saw and make some adjustments.  Hmmmmm… we saw one just like that at our son’s Lee’s house.  I wonder how long it will be now before Terry decides he has to have one since others have one.  I bet not long.  (Update:  Even before I posted this Terry has already commented that he was going to get himself one!!)

Then, to top it off we also discovered that the 10’ tarps that were sold to us weren’t really 10’.  Yes, that did make a huge difference because it meant they were too short to fit the sides.  Once that was discovered …. they figured it was enough work for one day.   They would finish it another day.  And, so the day went.  Before we knew it nap time rolled around, dinner time and bedtime. 

When the sun goes down around here it gets downright chilly but during the daytime, it’s also downright gorgeous.  Isn’t that what this is all about?

Happy New Year to everyone. 

‘Tis life on the road.

Quartzsite - An RV’ers Winter Haven

 The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

Now why would Quartzsite be a haven to anyone for anything?  After all, it’s a very small town smack dab in the middle of the desert.  There isn’t a lot there.  Well, there isn’t a lot there until winter time and especially during the month of January.  This little town certainly comes alive.  It becomes a mecca for Rv’ers and vendors.  This dead little town really starts popping.  RVs show up from all over the globe and just behind them come hundreds of vendors with their wares.

Photo borrowed from Jim and Sandie

We have arrived and even better than that some of our friends are starting to arrive too. Temperatures are in the 70’s and only good weather predicted for the next ten days or so.  Again, we hope the weatherman is right on. 

Jim and Sandie showed up on Thursday after numerous problems with their RV getting out of Apache Junction.  They were supposed to arrive on Tuesday but the propane switch broke.  They were supposed to arrive on Wednesday but the 5th wheel came crashing down on the truck bed and on their generator at departure.  They did arrive on Thursday after finding a new generator.  And,  they  made it safely.

We  drove around the BLM looking for the perfect spot to hide.  We found it.  We hope we found it, I mean .  Jim backed their 5th wheel into place and Denise (another RV’er) parked on the other side of the rocks already built for a campfire.  Actually, we were trying to mark our territory.  After all, over the next month, we’ll have about 17 or 18 other rigs pull in and out of our little circle.  Thus, we need to mark our territory so others will have space when they arrive.

Borrowed from Good Sam

Another group we're going to gather with will have another 15 or so rigs so it's definitely going to be a big time in the little town.

We’re here.  If you’re around, let us know so we can get acquainted.  It’s a big desert out there and it’s so much more fun to meet others who are also close to where we are.  Let the socializing begin!!  Actually, it already has and I'm so tuckered out tonight that I can't think of a thing more to add to this even though I have a few pictures from today but that's got to be next time.

‘Tis life on the road.

Homesick at Christmas

Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home

The packages have been shopped for.  They have been wrapped and carefully placed under the tree. Now we wait for the magic day to arrive and then we get back to life as we know it.



It has been a very full two weeks for us.  I want to repeat that.  It has been a very full two weeks for us.

First of all we made the 1246 mile trip to spend the holidays with our kids and their families.  Next, we foolishly agreed to spend two nights at one house and two nights at the next for a total of 12 nights.  In other words we were packing up and moving every two days.  If we ever do this again, we’ll think twice before we decide to move this often. 

At Lee’s house we just carry our bags out the door and load the car.  At Tammi’s house it’s not quite that easy.  There are 44 steps, three flights, just to get to her front door.  We weren’t done once we reached that door.  We had another flight of 16 steps to the upstairs bedroom.  Ask me if we got a workout.  Ask Duchess her opinion about all those steps.

We did an awful lot in those two weeks.  We have had an absolutely amazing time with family and enjoyed every minute of it.  Well, except for the packing, moving and climbing steps, we had an amazing time.  We visited my 93 year-old aunt and dropped a package off at my brother’s.  Terry is still on check-ups every three months and had that appointment slid in during our time in the Portland area.   We were thrilled to hear that he is still cancer free!!

Peeking through the ICE  !!  

Over all the weather wasn’t bad.  We had a little rain and a lot of fog.  Matter of fact, one morning we even had to scrape ice off the windows.  That we weren’t prepared for as we do not carry ice scrapers with us.

Christmas Eve Eve Jordie and I hit the mall.  She had a few more gifts to buy and I needed a haircut.  We were surprised that the mall wasn’t packed but it was early and we weren’t there long.

The next day was back to Tammi’s and 44 more steps up and then the additional 16 steps or so up to the loft.  It’s amazing how much easier the steps get the more you crawl up them.

Christmas Eve starts party number one.  Church services are on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Usually there are so many people attending Christmas services that a few extra time slots were added.  The first was at 3:00.  That was the time we chose to go.  It’s a family affair.  From there it was back to Tammi’s house …. our last move of this trip until we head south.   

As departure time gets closer we also watch the predictions change from sunny to cloudy to rainy to snowy.  Are we prepared?  Well, again there is a window .  The window is on Monday and according to the trusty weatherman, the passes are clear with no rain, no snow and no wind but just on Monday.  So, Monday it is. After the packages are opened, we’ll start our travels back to “Q”.  Our little Honda 2000 generator is packed and ready for it’s workout at “Q”. Are we prepared for travel?  We are even though we really don’t know what to be prepared for.

For Christmas Eve …. we even tried to catch a glimpse of the man in the red suit streaking through the skies in a sleigh being transported from house to house by his team of reindeer.

In the morning …. we hit the road but for today it is family day. We have presents to open and we’re happy that we’ll be around those we love the most.  Well, except for Justin.  The Navy gets him this year. 

‘Tis life on the road … a wonderful life.

Panhandling At Christmas

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.

 

Why is it at Christmas time -- and mainly at Christmas --  people always think of helping others?  However, some people need help all year.   Why is it at Christmas time the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other organizations visit rest homes to sing and visit but not other times of the year.  That last question was one a worker asked me many years ago as I went with my Brownie and Cub Scout troops on a Christmas Caroling outing to a rest home.. 

Other changes occur this time of year.  You see it on the street corners. Even some of the panhandlers change their signs to capture the sympathy of drivers.  We have seen a few asking for money for Christmas gifts for their children.  Did we donate?  We did. Should we have? Probably not.

The other day as we took the ramp off the freeway there was another couple asking for more help.  The woman was in a wheelchair and very definitely handicapped.  The man standing by her was the individual collecting the funds.  Did we donate?  We did. Should we have?  Probably not.

 

Everyone knows that some of the panhandlers are probably very needy.  In the same breathe everyone knows that some of the panhandlers aren’t.  Panhandling is their job.  It is what they choose to do.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell the difference?  I recently read a blog with instructions on how to panhandle.  On the blog was a clip from a segment on TV about Freeloading.  According to this most panhandlers are freeloaders.  Contributing to panhandling encourages it.  Most panhandlers aren’t needy.  Most have just chosen this as their lifestyle.  The article is interesting and the video clip is too.

I also read about one lady who made a sign indicating she had four children and needed Christmas money because their house burned down.  That sign brought her close to $100 an hour panhandling. We saw a couple kids along with their mother on a corner today.  They were holding a sign indicating they were a family of 7 and were homeless.   Fact or Fiction?

If you drive by the Love’s Station in Quartzsite you will see a van parked at the corner.  The sign on the van says gas money is needed.   We are guessing his gas money sign catches many passer-bys because he’s at the edge of the freeway …. but he’s there every day.  How much gas money is he trying to collect?   Is he trying to get someplace for the holidays?

It’s not just Christmas.  What about the ads on TV asking for contributions to help abused animals or injured warriors?  Don't most of the funds collected go to keep the folks doing the advertising working and only smidgens go where you intend it to go?  Isn’t it better to contribute to local organizations including your local human society and food banks? 

Some signs ask for work, food or money but offer a job and you will probably be refused. Offer food and it may be thrown back at you.  It’s nice to help others when you can.  However, maybe the dollars we give do more good when given to organizations helping the hungry and homeless instead of handing it directly to the people on the street. 

It doesn’t stop there.  At Christmas time many families are put on a list by well-meaning organizations for others to adopt for Christmas. The idea is they give you the name of a needy family.  You shop for that family and drop the gifts back to the organization to deliver.  You really aren’t supposed to deliver them to the family yourself.  

Several years ago the department I was working in adopted one of these families.  It was a rather large family and our group went way overboard  to provide a spectacular Christmas for each member of that family plus items for a special Christmas dinner. After our shopping we chose to deliver the gifts to the family instead dropping them off at the referral organization.  The organization that referred us allowed us to do that because they were very busy and it was so close to Christmas.  The family lived in a housing development in the center of Dallas.  What we expected is not what we found. We wondered just how many lists they were on.  Their toys, clothing, furniture, stereos, TVs and computers even out-paced some of us.  This family had just about everything even before we arrived.  It was the last year we adopted a family.  Our intentions were good but we felt we had been duped. 

We know there are children who get so little in the way of Christmas gifts .  We know people are going hungry.    What is the answer or is there one?   Sabrina spent her last day off working in a community outreach program aka soup kitchen. Several hundred people were served food and gifts were given to children.  She said many of these people come back each year and the lines just get longer.   The difference is these folks are being provided warm food.

Sabrina is a pastor’s assistant at her church.  She said it is amazing how many calls she gets on a daily basis from people asking for help.  Her church provides meals for some, gifts for others and help for even more but donations to them aren’t given without checking out the situation first.  There are some who contact the church wanting only cash.  They don’t want work.  They don’t want food. 

Christmas is definitely the time of year people reach out to help others more than at other times.  Wouldn’t it be nice to know that the ones you help really are the ones who are actually in need?  Some towns have gotten involved in trying to move panhandlers off the street by providing special meters for donations.  Panhandlers come out in droves at Christmas time because people tend to be more in the giving spirit.  However, my guess is the panhandlers on the street aren’t being helped in the way you think you are helping them.

Merry Christmas …..   

Countdown to Departure

You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.

This is winter.  Traveling in the winter can be less than exciting.  Well, it could bring some excitement to your travels.  That kind of excitement nobody wants.  I don’t care if you’re traveling by car or by plane, weather delays can play a major part in your departure or arrival time.  We also know the accuracy of weather forecasts.  In other words …. an unexpected storm could certainly ground you along the way.

I don’t like traveling in bad weather.  I especially don’t like traveling in the winter time.  However, about the only way to get from one point to another is to travel.  We have spent more than our fair share of time on the tarmac at airports waiting for runways to be opened up after a storm or waiting our turn to be de-iced.  We’ve also spent our fair share of time inside the airport after our flight has been cancelled.  What we did learn is if you have a choice and can figure it out, pick the flight on the schedule where that plane will be heading to a very popular destination after it drops you off.  That’s the plane that the airlines will put ahead of other flights before cancelling.  As an example, if you’re heading to Miami or Chicago, get on a plane that they need in Miami or New York for an international flight after you land.  More bucks are made on those flights than the one that will just head to another in-state airport.  Been there, done that, lots.

However, it’s not so easy if you’re driving.  If you’re driving, you’re in charge. You need to check the weather reports and road conditions.  That’s just what we’ve been doing.  Driving a vehicle with a dog is a lot different than driving with an RV.  With an RV you have your motel accommodations with you.  In a vehicle, you don’t.  In your RV you can have a dog.  Finding a motel that will accept your dog in the exact place you want to stop for the night could be a different story and takes a little more research.  Then, you’re also not sleeping in your own bed with your own bedding. We’re not fond of the idea of boondocking in our Jeep at a Wal-mart on our up coming trip.  No, we’re not fond of that idea at all.

Our original departure date was going to be on Thursday.  We have a couple stops we want to make in California along the way.  One is in Cabazon (do you know what’s there?) and the other might be in Stockton.  If we left on Thursday, we figure we’d arrive in Portland on Saturday.  However, Terry is getting more and more antsy to get on the road.  The problem is if we pull out on Tuesday, there’s a good chance we’ll run into some snow over the Siskiyous and possibly on into southern Oregon.  When we’re ready to go, we’ll go but we don’t even have chains.  We didn’t want chains.  We had no plans of traveling through snow in the winter.  Absolutely no plans of doing that at all.

I had been so busy focusing on the weather through the mountains in northern California and Southern Oregon that I never bothered to check southern California until now.  Guess where and when the storm is due.  Southern California is the target with snow expected through the Grapevine just about the time we were thinking might be a good earlier departure.  Geez … you just can’t win, can you?  Tehachapi is looking at 2 – 4 inches of snow on Tuesday.

There is a window.  There always seems to be a window even if it's not the one we want.  With snow expected on the southern part of our route on Tuesday and snow expected on the northern part of our route beginning Wednesday evening, we found a window.  We don’t necessarily like that window and aren’t even sure if we’re going to use it.  Knowing the accuracy of the weather forecasts, trying to use that window could be worse than just winging it.  Storms seem to rarely travel at the speed they are forecast.  Many arrive earlier and many arrive later.  Thus, we have a dilemma. 

‘Tis life on the road …. we just hope it’s a dry road.  My guess is that we'll be on that road before this is posted.

BLM Trails and Arizona Sunriders

How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners and instant cameras teach patience to its young?

Saturday was another perfect day in the weather department.  It was pretty good in other areas too.  Saturday is the day that breakfast is served in the clubhouse.  What a breakfast it was!!  For $3.00 we were served a very large and delicious breakfast.  It started with two cooked-to-order eggs, hash browns, a huge piece of ham, biscuits (gravy if wanted), orange juice and coffee.  Now that was one heck of a deal!

 

Check out this  ATV loaded on top of the truck.  I had to ask how he did that.  He winched it up.  They do have ramps but winching is safer going up.  Sometimes he drives it down.  Ugh!   That looks like an accident just waiting to happen but I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.  At least I hope he does.

This was also the day that the park was having a yard sale.  Those folks who had items to sell put up a table with their goods.  So, after breakfast we walked through the park and checked out everything for sale.  Nothing really jumped out at us so all we took back to our RV was the breakfast we’d eaten in the clubhouse.  Well, we did walk some of it off.

It was such a nice day that after the yard sale we decided to take a ride.  We were going to check out some more trails around the Kofa National Wildlife Area south of “Q”.   Even Duchess went with us.

We stopped about 30 miles down the road for a little snack --- corn dog and fried mushrooms.  Corn dog was good but we had to toss the mushrooms out.

Later in the day we made another trip to see if any new vendors had shown up on the main drag.  There were a few.  We also saw a few interesting sights.  The thing in “Q” is that you never know what to expect or what you might see.  Check out the donkey and the bull in the picture below.  Evidently, it’s a show (Cutler’s Donkey and Bull Show). The show can be seen in Blythe.  The donkey and bull are driven around in a van as advertising.  It worked because everyone gawked.  Look what’s hanging out each window …. a miniature bull on one side and a miniature donkey on the other – Rowdy and Barney.

Then, we saw this.

The sign next to the tub indicates they are proctologists and are offering their service to the RV crowd.  Do you know what that is?  Well, according to Wikipedia proctologists ….” deal with disorders of rectum, anus and colon.”  I know … this is absolutely everything you didn’t need to know.  However, the proctologists around “Q” (and there are several) deal with cleaning and flushing out the black water tanks in RVs.  I’m not sure why they used the guy in the tub as their symbol unless it was just to get attention.  Attention gets business but not sure about what qualifications are required to use that title.  Is a degree offered in RV proctology? 

In the evening we walked back to the clubhouse to listen to the Skyhawks.  They had been at the music jam we attended on Monday but not as a group.  We really enjoyed them on Monday.  Thus, we thought we’d go listen again. This is a very small clubhouse.  Without really thinking we sat right in front of the drums. It was my fault.  They have a fantastic drummer but in a room this size where all the music flows into one sound system, it wasn’t a good place to sit.  All we could really hear were the drums.  After a few songs, we moved across the room.  We still had trouble hearing the vocals over the drum as did the others.  The mike was adjusted a little but not enough to make it really happen.  Oh well, we used their break to really make a break.   That’s about the time we noticed that they were collecting a fee ---- $6 each.  We didn’t know that and didn't have any money with us.  Oops … I wonder if it was a donation.  Nothing was listed on the calendar about a fee.

Since we were only there for half of it, should our fee be half or $3?  Then, since we only heard half of them, should our fee be half of the half or $1.50?  Either way, I guess we owe something.  Maybe we’ll square up at the office today … maybe we’ll ask.

Fantastic musicians but poor acoustics.  We would definitely listen again if they were located in another setting or if only the vocals had mikes. 

There really is a lot going on at this park.  What a difference it is compared to the Arizonian we stayed at for a month in Gold Canyon.   Monday another meeting was scheduled in the club house that we wanted to attend.  This one was by the Arizona SunRiders ATV Club.  Since we were here and the meeting was here, why not attend?

The meeting was really interesting.  The "discussion" with the head of the Western Arizona BLM region really got hammered with questions and concerns.  We have not been involved with what has happened in the past. We weren’t even aware of it.   From the meeting it seems that some of the BLM has been closed to motorcycle riders, ATV riders, geocachers and boondockers with more areas on the chopping block in the future.  Thousands of people in numerous clubs have come together to try to  convince the BLM to keep the areas open for public use.   The decision to open or close BLM areas is not just for the Arizona area but for BLMs all over the country.  You can imagine that at times the meeting got a little heated.

See our new yellow and green ATV hats.  It's not that we wear ball caps but we liked them.  They matched our green and yellow ATVs.

'Tis life on the road.

Entertaining Ourselves

When you realize you've made a mistake, make amends immediately. 

It's easier to eat crow while it's still warm

Once we got the chill of the morning on Friday past us, it was a beautiful day.  The sun was out and there was ever so slight a breeze.  It was close to a perfect winter day in the desert.

I had mentioned in my last blog that there were two things going on at this park that I wanted to go to but they were both on the calendar for the same time and in the same place.   As it turned out, we didn't really do either.   First of all, I wanted to check out the beading that was scheduled for 10:00.  Then, we both wanted to play cribbage with the group.  We used to play cribbage but it had been a long time ago so we thought we would go and re-learn how to play. As it turned out there were only two ladies beading and no one was playing cribbage.  Oh, the cribbage board was there and we were told to play.  Huh?  We don't remember how.  Even the person in charge wasn’t there ….. so back to the motorhome to entertain ourselves.

We rarely have a problem entertaining ourselves though.  We’re pretty good at that.  Instead of playing cribbage or watching them bead, we loaded our ATVs on the trailer and headed to the BLM to ride. 

 

The BLM is only a short 4 or 5 miles from where we are currently parked.  Once unloaded and after my video camera was connected, we headed due east through the area.  The pictures on this blog are just screen shots from the video. There are so many trails and so many places to explore out there.  The BLM actually has a map of trails in the area.   This was just a scouting trip but next time we go we'll pick up a map since we'll probably do a bit of riding between now and February.

We did stop and say “hello” to our friends, Dave and Millie.  However, our timing wasn’t really too good.  They had been napping and we came a knocking.  Oops …. sorry, Dave.  Hope you were able to continue your zzzzzs after we left.

We also weren't the only one out riding.  We passed a couple others on the trails and more yet closer to the campsites.  Needless to say, we were a tad dusty when we returned.  It's also amazing how tired you can be from just taking a ride but we were.

Quartzsite has it's own yacht club.  We hadn't eaten there yet so decided to give it a try.  It only seemed fitting that if we were eating at a yacht club we should have fish.  That, we did.  Their fish and chips were only $6.99 and pretty darn good.

Terry’s getting a little antsy to get on the road north.  I’m  holding him back with a tether.  Not so sure when we’ll depart but we’re still watching weather.  There is definitely snow in that forecast.

‘Tis just life on the road.

Snow for the Road Trip ?

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth...AMEN..!!

Thursday turned into an absolutely gorgeous day.  We really like gorgeous days.  It means you can do anything you want outside and still feel comfortable.  That’s just what this day was like.  The beautiful sunshine even put Terry in the mood to start working on cleaning out the car.  Boy, did it need that.  He also started loading things in it we planned on taking to Portland for Christmas.  I know, I know … our departure was a week away but there is no reason not to start putting stuff together so you don’t forget anything.  

We are down to the point now that we can start watching the weather for those 10-day forecasts.  So far, so good as it looks as though no snow storms are expected through the mountains on the day we’ll be driving through.  We’ll continue to hold our breathe as time gets closer.  We certainly don’t want to be driving in the snow.

Just a little farther north and snow showers are expected in the Roseburg, Oregon area on the 17th.  I also pulled the Portland forecast and they are going to get a little snow on our estimated day of arrival.   Wouldn’t you know it except with the temperatures going into the 40's, we also know it'll melt even if it does snow.  When you consider the accuracy of the weather forecasters, it could go either way so we’re not worried yet.  We certainly aren’t counting on this forecast to be accurate at all as we could get into an all out snowstorm or it could be a sunny day.  There’s a 100% chance we’ll have weather of one kind or another.

Terry continued to work on the car while I went to check out the little quilting get together they had at the park.  Sometimes you can learn a lot from these little groups.  Other times you can get great ideas on how things are done or nothing at all.  The group at the Arizona Sun in Gold Canyon had everyone bringing their own projects and working on them together.  People even carry their own sewing machines to these classes.   Actually, it was a fun little group and I soaked up a few ideas.  The group here was much smaller.  I didn’t stay long and only a little after one of the ladies wanted me to grab a needle and start working on tying one of her quilts.  NOT!  Well, maybe I would have tied one of hers if she would have tied one of mine. That is if I had brought one for her to tie.  

Friday is starting out to be a busy one.  I wanted to check out the beading class. I thought I might learn a thing or two.  If not, I don't have to stay.  However, we have a little problem as the beading class is scheduled at the same time cribbage is.  We wanted to re-learn how to play cribbage.  We used to play cribbage but have forgotten the rules.  Hmmm.   Maybe Terry will do one and I'll do the other.  

We were also going to load the ATVs and head out to the BLM where our friend, Sailbad, is parked for a ride or two checking out all the other RVs in the area.  Now we know he's parked close to the BOF Nudists but thought we'd wait until the Dixons got close and let Jim take his ride through their park .... giving him some memories of what he's missing since he scheduled surgery during our reunion event.  However, these people aren't young chicks so maybe memories isn't what he wants.  I know right where they are.  A couple years ago while staying on the BLM I went on a hike with friends, Carol and Mary Jane...... we ended up right in the middle of it.  Honest ... it was an accident.  Honest.  Do you believe me?

We went to Karaoke later that evening in the club house.  There were a few people and a couple really great singers there.  We didn’t stay too long as I had to see the results of X Factor from the night before.  However, no one is as good as part of our own little group, Ed and Linda.  I think the Yacht Club in “Q” has karaoke a few evenings a week.  We may try that later.  The problem is when you’re out on the BLM and head to the popping town of “Q” for an evening, it’s mighty dark out there when you return … mighty dark.

<< Remember these pajamas … your feet would certainly keep warm … and you can find them at Wal-mart!

With the return of my sewing machine, I had been working on finishing a project I had started a couple months ago.  Quartzsite has about everything anyone could ever need or want except a fabric shop.  If you’re in Quartzsite and you run out of supplies, you’re out of luck unless you want to drive to Parker about 30 miles away.  At least I was told Parker had a fabric shop.  Besides if they didn’t, I was sure Wal-mart would have what I needed.  NOT!!  I was batting zero.  There is no fabric shop and this wasn’t one of the Wal-marts that carried everything.

One advantage of being in a park with electricity is that you can use your crockpot. You don’t have to worry about draining the batteries. The night before I soaked some pinto beans and put them in the crockpot with bacon since I didn’t have a ham hock or two.  I love Pinto beans and cornbread.   It’s one of my favorite dinners. That was the plan for dinner and that’s what we had.

Update – back to our new blue flame heater blog of the other day.  When I got up this morning it was 49 degrees inside the motorhome.  The first two things I did was turn on the coffee pot and turn on the heater.  It is now a toasty 75 degrees in here and climbing.  It’s just like my own little fireplace.  Last night I had the temperature in here in the low 80’s before I had to turn it down or run Terry out.  Why didn’t I know about this last year or the year before?  Why can’t I take this with me over Christmas to keep warm?

'Tis just life on the road.

A Blue Flame Heater -- Yippee !!

Free speech carries with it some freedom to listen.

I know this is winter.  I really know that because I can feel it.  Since it is winter we are using a fair share of propane.  Remember that expensive propane we ordered and had delivered in Gold Canyon.  Yikes!  We paid $67 for 13.3 gallons of the stuff or something like that.  We’re hoping we don’t have to fill up our propane tanks again until we move to our next location.  Thus, our electric heater has been running to subsidize our furnace.  It’s not that efficient.

A few things we’ve learned.  One is that the furnace not only uses lots more propane than a propane heater would use but it also requires electricity or battery power to run.  In other words, when boondocking the furnace not only drains the propane tank but also drains the batteries.  I’m not sure how much but I’m certain it’s more than we want it to.

As chilly as it has been, we’ve been using the furnace more than we want to.  Since we’re going to be boondocking in January and much of February, this is not a good thing to get used to doing.  We started looking at RV friendly propane heaters.  We also queried some of  our friends.

This is what we discovered.  There are many different kinds of  heaters that are probably much better than the furnace.  We looked at those that heated bricks.  The bricks then heated the area putting off a dry heat.  The problem with most of the heaters for us is that the outside can get mighty hot.  We also looked at the blue flame heaters.  These heaters have a glass that protects the outside from getting hot.  We definitely like the idea of anything being cool to touch.  Actually, that was one of the biggest issues for us since we have a dog.

After glowing references from a couple friends, we bought a blue flame heater from Bruce at Grandma’s Heaters in Quartzsite.  We went right next door to the propane guy at the Pit Stop to have him assemble the connectors and add a quick connect.  Now I can’t recommend Bruce enough because he was fantastic.  However, we certainly wouldn’t have the connectors done at the Pit Stop again.  The flow connector was put on the wrong end of the connector or something like that.  Ugh … and he’s the professional?

The first heater that came out of the box wouldn’t ignite. So, we took it back.  Bruce gladly exchanged for another one.   We couldn't get that one to work either so took it back but that’s when we figured it might be the connector and actually looked at it then and noticed the reverse flow connector.  Regardless, Bruce gave us a third new one to try.  If that one didn’t work, he was going to make a FREE service call to install himself.  How did it work?  Well, once the connector was changed it worked PERFECT!!! It puts out an amazing amount of heat on low settings.  It's almost like having a fireplace.   We love it now that we’re as snug as a bug in a rug!

 

Ask me if we would recommend Bruce at Grandma’s Heater's in Quartzsite.  Just ask me. We would highly recommend him! 

This morning we did breakfast on the little strip close to Rice Ranch.  The breakfast was huge.  Matter of fact, the piece of ham I had was so big it took a whole plate all by itself. I had to have a second plate to fit the rest of the breakfast on.  Then, of course, I asked for another plate.  This one was a to-go plate.  Here we go again …. ask me if I would recommend Bad Boys Café.

One more thing we did.  We stopped at one of the stores in town that sells metal detectors and mining supplies.  We would love to really learn how to do this just for fun.  We already have the metal detector but don't know much about it or the gold panning.  Now I know the chance of us finding enough gold to even pay for the bucket to carry the water for panning is very slim.  However, it would be fun to try and actually know what we're supposed to do.  So, we stopped by and asked about a tour showing where to go and what to do.  Learning tours are offered and we may just do this.  Maybe we can even talk a few folks into doing it with us.  Sound like fun?  Well, it's got to be for fun because it certainly wouldn't be for riches. 


We made a couple stops today.  One stop was at the local bakery.  They have the best rhubarb pie!  We grabbed a pie and then were on our way to say "hello" to a fellow blogger, Me and My Dog.   Only Katie was at home though.  She voiced a pretty loud opinion when we got close.  Maybe another day we'll try again but right now we had a rhubarb pie in the back of the Jeep.  Even though we weren't going to be able to share it, we still wanted a piece ourselves.  So, back to the RV we went for our own piece of pie.

The weather was finally nice again.  The sun came out and it actually felt pretty warm without the wind.  It was so nice in fact that we even took a little ride on the ATVs.  That was about it for the day other than throwing some ribs on the barbecue and eating at our own little restaurant. 

‘Tis just life on the road.

New Discoveries

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.

It’s still a little cool for us to be outside running around.  It looks as though this storm that California has been sending our way is going to last through about Thursday.  It’s not that it’s a bad storm in this location.  It's chilly at night and the winds are a bit breezy.  We’ll be glad when it’s over.  However, by that time we’ll actually be thinking more of watching the weather over the Siskiyous than caring what it is like in Arizona.  After all, we don't want snow or ice to get in our way when we head north for the holidays.

We did discover a few new things around Quartzsite we hadn’t discovered on our previous three trips.  First, we finally found the Mountain Quail Café.  It’s not on the main drag and kind of tucked down a side road.  You might guess that since we found it, we also had to try it.  We had nothing to complain about and enjoyed the lunch.  While in the area we also discovered quite a few different RV parks that we didn’t know existed either.  Some of them were quite nice and quite cheap.  Some of them not so much.

Not far from the Café we saw a couple State Trust Land signs.  The sign said, “No Trespassing”.  It wasn’t BLM property.  It belonged to the State and not the Government.  However, regardless that the sign indicated no trespassing  there were about a dozen RVs parked there.  We had to stop and talk to the folks staying there.  After all, they were boondocking almost in the center of town.  We wanted to know the details.  According to the person we talked to all that is needed is a pass for parking on Trust Land.  We already have one!  We bought it before we arrived in Arizona.  However, we bought it for our ATVs and didn't know it was good for boondocking on State Land too.  The fee?  I think we paid $20 for the annual pass.

I’m sure if more people knew about the pass, this is where they would be parked instead of miles down the road in the 14-day parking area.  Since I'm posting the information here I certainly hope the RVers know what they were talking about or I'd get the blame.

Ever see one of these Outback Loft trailers? I guess this turns a one bedroom unit into an extra bedroom for kids or guests.

On Monday it was still chilly so instead of exploring on our ATVs we took another drive around the area.  Guess what?  We found another new restaurant.  They just seem to be popping up all over the place.  Well, some have closed down from last year including the Texas BBQ, Janet’s Kitchen and Best Mexican.  The new one is next to the Pilot Station.  It’s name is Three Times.  Obviously there must be some significance to that name but we couldn’t figure out what it was.  Our only thought was that maybe this was the third time the owners had owned a restaurant. Let's hope this one makes it.

Can you believe a home like this being built right inside the city limits of Quartzsite?  The home looks like it had just been finished.  No one was living in it. Well, they aren’t living in it yet.

Many music jams are held around “Q” during this time of year.  When we checked into our RV park we were given a list of them.  Monday night we went to our first since this one was held in the club house here at the park.  We were surprised to see so many guitars and strummers.  It was fantastic.  Saturday night another one is being held in the club house.  We plan on making it to that one too.  I guess I’m going to have to get out my Reba shirt and wear it to fit in though.

‘Tis life on the road.