Gadgets for “Q” and Filly’s

Everyone is a friend, until they prove otherwise. 

I remember a couple of years ago when we had our first winter visit to Quartzsite.  It was amazing all the neat little gadgets you could pick up from one or twelve of the hundreds of vendors there.  We actually discovered some of these little gadgets were a necessity.  Well, knowing that we were soon going to be heading in that direction I picked up a few more little gadgets from the sale bin at Harbor Freight.  Check out the $2 bargain headlamps.  You might think this is funny but it’s not.  When there before all of us bought the little led lights that attached on your cap to make the nightly path to and from the campfire a little easier to see.

I also found another little $2 LED light that could easily be hung on Duchess’ leash for night time outings.  I wasn’t through with my finds though.  Check out this magnesium fire starter for $1. Now I know it probably isn’t as good as one of those butane BBQ fire lighters but heck for the price, why not give it a try?  Besides that was a well spent $1 ‘cuz we were helping out the local economy.  Will we find these things at “Q” cheaper?  Well, maybe but with bargains like this, I didn’t want to chance it.

I wasn’t through with gadgets from the dollar-ish table.   A few times we found that we needed to siphon water from one place to another.  Perhaps, we’d need to do that again. Or, maybe we’ll want to siphon gas from the Jeep and fill a gas tank for the quad or a generator.  There’s nothing like being prepared.

Terry also found some little treasures of his own but his treasures meant he had to do some work on the trailer.  At least with my little finds there was no work required and only a place to stash them until we get down to our next destination.

 

In addition to that the real reason we went to Harbor Freight was to pick up a ramp to load our Vinson ATV on the trailer.  Now that we had all the work done on the trailer so we could side load one of the ATVs, we still needed to get a ramp to actually get it on the trailer.  This is the great ATV ramp we found down there at a great price. We did discover that the width needed a little tweaking.  However, that's the easy part.  The hard part was finding the ramp at the price we wanted to pay.

After our bargains, we just had to take another ride.  We just had to.  I think I enjoy the rides even more than Terry does.    It’s peaceful and there isn’t a lot of traffic or red lights on the trails.  The desert really is beautiful.  However, we did see one thing that we didn’t like.  Someone dumped a load of old tires out there.  Ugh!

We were back to Filly’s Roadhouse on Thursday night for our favorite duo in the area – Brant and Kerry.  Those guys really are fantastic.  We love listening to them and we love going to the places they perform.  Of course, the singing was fantastic but the company was even better. We met Jim and Sandie there.

  

Friday we're off for a long ATV ride up to the Superstition Mountains with a group.  Later in the evening we have reservations at the Arizona Opry.  We’ve always wanted to go there so we finally we will get a chance to.  The problem with coming to this area later in the season and wanting to go is that all the seats are usually booked.  That’s not the case this time of year.

Saturday?  It’s a weekend and we’re taking a little trip to Quartzsite .... maybe.  Well, not to stay but just for a visit.  We rarely get bored and I bet you've already figured that one out.

‘Tis life on the road.

Back to the Shop

Don't tell me worry doesn't help. Whenever I really worry about something it never happens.

One of the outback shots from my little ATV video camera.  Gorgeous scenery is to be enjoyed.

How many times do you read the directions that come with your new toys?  Sometimes I do and other times I don’t.  Sometimes that works out and other times not so much.  The latter was more the case with the new little trail GPS which had unfamiliar waypoints.  I didn’t read the directions.  After all, how many years have we had a GPS??  They are a snap .... or so I thought.   After we had the new trail GPS mounted on the quad, we hit the desert to try it out.  I have discovered a trail GPS is totally (and I mean totally) different than the kind of GPS units you use in your vehicles.

Terry and I rode about ten miles Monday.  By the time we got so far out, all the land markers disappeared.   Thank goodness I have a good sense of direction and knew which way the RV park was or we might have ended up in Flagstaff.  I certainly couldn’t figure out how to read or even route the GPS.    Obviously before we depend on it again, I’ll resort to reading those directions and figuring it out.

 
Terry couldn't decide which flag he wanted so now he has both -- US Navy and the pirate flag ---- >>

I was so thrilled that my sewing machine would be ready for pickup on Monday.  After all, I have projects that need finishing.  The receipt indicated it had been given a “complete sewing machine overhaul”.   I was anxious to try it out. The stitching worked fine and the new bobbin plate was perfect.  However, the embroidery stitching was out of sync.  It was totally misaligned.  So …. back to the repair shop it had to go.  Now how disgusting is that?  At least we kept it long enough so that I could tweak the little flags for Terry’s quad before the shop got it back.

There's never a dull moment with us.  We still had other things that needed to be done.  So on Monday we also dropped off our trailer to have it enlarged.  Remember we bought the trailer then the second quad and not the other way around.  The two quads we have now didn’t fit the trailer.  Thus, we needed to have a little creative welding done.  We had taken pictures, measured and drew up what we wanted.  Tuesday we got to see the finished product.   R & G Welding did a fantastic job of enlarging the front with removable sides and adding a back plate for a storage container.  Just in case you ever need it and are in the area, they also install tow packages and brake systems for RVs and toads at great prices.

The weather is gorgeous in Arizona right now so we have options on outside things to do.  We can either take a long quad ride checking out more Arizona scenery, visit North Ranch or we can do laundry and entertain Duchess. We might even fill up our propane tanks.  I think we're down to the fumes. It's early in the day so decisions haven't been made yet .... well, other than that we're meeting the Dixons this evening to scope out more entertainment in the area. 

‘Tis life on the road!

Thank a Veteran

 

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. -- General George Patton Jr

 

Yesterday we celebrated the 236th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps.  Today we are thanking the veterans for their service.  Being raised and living in the United States we have a lot to be thankful for.  Much of our thanks go to those who served and are serving today in the military.  It’s because of them that we can enjoy the freedom in this country that many others throughout the world have never experienced. 

There are two blogs I read this morning that I would like to link here.  They both reflect back on their fathers who were POWs during WWII.  Both are definitely worth reading.  The first one is here and the second one is here.

My father was from Kerrville, Texas.  Uncle Sam claimed him and moved him from there to Fort Worden in Washington State.  Instead of moving back to Texas after the war he settled in Washington, married my mother and spent most of his life fishing in the waters around Port Angeles.

Terry was in the US Navy and spent time along with many of our generation in Vietnam.  He didn’t spend his time in the waters off shore as many sailors did but spent his time on land in Vietnam.   For the first time TV brought that war home to most Americans.  Those of us who had loved ones over there were glued to it.  Not only did the battles of the day cover the news, it was probably the first time coverage of protestors was on every channel.  Remember when?   He can also tell you about the spraying of what they now call “Agent Orange”  almost every single day for the time he was there.  Amazing what they’ve learned about it after the fact.

As most of you know, we also have a grandson, Justin  who has followed into the footsteps of his grandfather with military service.  He is now serving in the US Navy going through schooling in Pensacola, FL. We are proud of his choice and want Uncle Sam to keep him safe.

We were invited by our neighbors, Sue and Marcus,  to attend a birthday party with them on Thursday.  Actually, we went to two birthday parties on Thursday.  The first one was a big bash thrown by a Marine veteran.  It was the 236th birthday of the Marine Corps.  It was a fantastic party.  The party was put on and totally paid for by the Marine veteran, Jim.  Even souvenir Marine Corp glasses were given to everyone in attendance.  It was an amazing event.

Our second party  was a birthday party at Filly’s – another local restaurant and lounge where Kerry and Brant were scheduled to entertain for the evening.  Actually, this wasn’t a planned birthday party but since we were invited to share part of the birthday cake, we did.  This is another local dive that was amazing.  Again, entertainment was spectacular and so was the company we were with, Jim and Sandie.

Now with all that activity on Thursday, it didn’t mean we had time to spare.  We didn’t.  We had to get in a little ride.  We did just that.  We jumped on our quads and took a spin in the desert.   I also brought back a souvenir from our little outing.  I do that more often than I want.  Notice the little cactus on the tire.

How did we ever have time to work?  And, Marti thinks she just might get bored.  HA!

Where Are the Dixons?

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

Interesting cactus tree

We had visitors stop by on Monday.  Actually they didn’t come uninvited but certainly would have been welcome had they.    It had been raining earlier in the day so we were hoping we’d get a little relief in the rain drops and we did.

Highlights on the cactus after the rain

A little moisture does wonders to the desert.  It brightens the area and softens the very dry ground.

Terry testing the equipment.

That’s a good thing because it just makes riding so much more fun.

Sandie getting a little instruction here.

Where are the Dixons?  They were at our RV park taking a spin through the beautiful desert on the quads. 

Jim and Sandie posing.

I had trouble getting Jim to pose for this picture.  He wanted to finish getting ready to leave us in his dust.  We wouldn’t let him until we had the official picture of him and Sandie on the quads.

Arizona desert.

The tracks you see are ours.  Jim’s a little competitive.  Well, I can’t say he started it.  Terry found a straight path and came back with a top speed of 30 mph.  At that time my top speed was only 23 but I couldn’t let Terry beat me now could I?  Thus, I took another spin and beat him at 32.  Then, comes along Jim.  He waited until I cleared the path using me as his protector on the path just so he could beat us all at 40 mph!!  Of course, he didn’t tell us the speed until AFTER we were through riding.  According to one website the Suzuki has a top speed of about 54 mph and the Arctic Cat well over 65 mph. We're certainly not going to see if this article is correct!  However, next time I see Jim I'm sure I'll have beat his speed.  Beat by a woman!!  Yep ... not a competitive bone in our body!

Oh …. and what was Sandie’s top speed?  I guess she’s just not as competitive as the rest of us.  She proudly announced she had the Arctic Cat up to 10 mph!!!  She gave some excuse like it was too cold or something like that.  Whatever, Sandie!  I'm sure you'll be up to 12 mph next time!

Anyway, if you were looking for the Dixons on Monday, that’s where they were.


**  A little note about the Dixons -- 

      

One thing that is so wonderful about RV clubs such as Escapees or following blogs written by RVers is that you actually get to know folks months or even years before you actually meet them.  After communicating via the Escapees forum and blogging, we finally met the Dixons in 2009.   We've been good friends ever since.  Every winter we have a little group that gets together.   We've met in "Q" and also in Yuma.  This year ... well, who knows but probably some place different yet.  It actually depends on who is in the area as to how many we have!  If you're out there ... come join us in early 2012.

RV Park Update – Memory Bank Overflow

Memory is a net: one that finds it full of fish when he takes it from the brook, but a dozen miles of water have run through it without sticking.

 

I’m not sure where to start.  My mind is stuffed with lots of new knowledge and the memory bank is even overflowing. 

It’s amazing what you learn from people doing laundry.  We had lots of loads of laundry and normally that hasn’t been an issue in the past.  We either stuck it in the kids’ machines or inserted quarters.  However, this place has these little cards you have to buy.  The machine only takes $5 bills and you can only do one transaction at a time.  First you have to buy it, then you have to fill it with $$$.  Figuring out how to buy the thing, then adding money to it was a chore in itself.  However, the hardest thing was getting the machines to turn on using this card.  Now I’m a techie person but this was way beyond me without help or some little info sheet to read.  Thank goodness, my new friend, Mary, came to the rescue.

It’s also amazing how many people you meet walking their dogs. The normal thing is to greet and exchange names and site numbers.  Once they walk past I’d already forgotten their names because someone new was approaching.  I wonder if a “hey you” works around here.

 

Next we decided to do the potluck thing that was scheduled Halloween night.  I had lots of things I wanted to find out about quad rides.  I figured that would be the place to track some of the riders down.  Everyone likes to eat.  Remember we still had one to buy since we sold the Ozark in Washington.  Another fella I met in the laundry (pretty popular place, you know) told me not to buy a little one.   I forgot to ask what he meant by “little one” but just knew I didn’t want a BIG one.  So, it was off to the potluck to get some answers to questions. 

One thing we did discover is that the trail riding is usually finalized  when the MEN have coffee at 6:30 AM to 7:00 AM each morning!  You think that’s early?  Have you ever noticed how many people are out walking in these parks even way before that time?  Now you all know I’m out of bed before then but the tricky part is getting ready to get outside.  What is the chance Terry will ever make one of these coffee get togethers to find out where the event of the day is?  That’s an easy answer -- almost zero.  However, we did discover he’s not the only one in that group who doesn’t make them. Why don’t they organize these better and post them?  I bet it’s because they don’t like the commitment thing any better than we do.

We met SO MANY people who had so many different names.  I’ll never remember their names.  Except I remembered Mary and Beverly.  I’m good with association.  Mary rhymes with Jeri so that one was easy.  Beverly?  Well, I called her the dog lady.  She does a lot of pet sitting for people in the park.  I had already heard about her and wanted to chat a bit.  We knew we still needed to figure out if we were driving to Washington over Christmas or flying?  Duchess doesn’t fly.  However, Beverly just might be the answer to leaving her here while we fly.  That would certainly be the easy way.  We like easy ways.

We still had a lot to learn on this quad thing.  Before heading south we tried out the Trail Boss, I really liked it and thought that might be what I wanted.  However, we put the skids on when we got here.  What I really thought I wanted was different from what I learned I should want.  So, now the search is on for a 4x4 and a utility.  I’m not so sure I’m real thrilled with this.  The utility ones are bulkier and heavier. I know I’ll stress when it comes time to pulling the heavy ones north but maybe I can just cross that bridge in a few months.

Another problem I have is that some of these are so ugly.  They look like hunters should own them … ugh!   And, I just can’t buy one that isn’t “pretty”.  Unless I can find another red quad, I’m going to have to buy a different helmet.  Remember my helmet is red.  I certainly can’t wear it on a green or blue quad!

Other than that I also discovered a big calendar on the wall in the North Hall.  The activities are planned out for ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE.  There were even sign up sheets for these activities.  I knew I was in real trouble when I saw that --- commitments beyond 24 hours.  Oh boy … I’m not sure the chalk and eraser work here as well as they do on my own calendar.

Like I said … my memory bank is overflowing with all the recent stuff I’ve had to add to it.  This is a whole new thing to me being on the road  -- staying in an RV park for more than a couple weeks or so. You can tell the trouble I’m in when I've added all these different thought patterns in one little blog.  Yep ….I think I’m definitely in trouble here. 

Touching Arizona Soil

No matter where I go, there I am.

I’m happy to report that our previous pattern of leaving a little earlier each morning didn’t continue on into Friday.  Friday we left about the same time we pulled out on Wednesday.  That was the good news.  Well, not the only good news.  The other good news was that we did step on Arizona soil even though we haven’t really left California yet.

This was our neighbor in Barstow.  He had 4 ATVs he carried on this trailer.  We have seen a ton of ATVs being hauled south.  I wonder where they all go.

As we traveled on from Barstow towards Needles, I knew exactly what to expect.  Now it wasn’t that we had been this route before.  We hadn’t been past Barstow on I40.  However, I had read the Western Mountain book so I knew it was a snap.  HA!  That’s what I thought.  It was a good road and the countryside was definitely high desert terrain.  Remember the song, Everything is beautiful in it’s own way?  Well, this was actually beautiful in it’s own way too.  It was definitely different than where we had spent the summer though … definitely. 

Comparison between Washington and this part of California.

However, the mountain book forgot to mention that this road is almost a constant climb.  It may be gradual at times but it felt like we were always climbing.  Then, there were times when we weren’t climbing that we were going down for miles and miles.  Add a little wind to all those ups and downs, I can vouch for the fact that even though the distance was short, it still seemed like a long day of travel.  We have talked to many who much prefer this route over the I5 and the Grapevine.  The Grapevine has a lot more traffic but when it’s over, it’s over.  I guess it’s to each their own.  Next time we travel between Washington and Arizonia via California, we will probably return to our old standard and travel over the Grapevine.

Beautiful Casino at Laughlin.

We arrived at the Needles Elks a little after noon.  Only two of their RV sites were full.  We weren’t worried that they might be full because we also knew they had a large lot that would accommodate us if they were.  After setting up, we unhitched the trailer and headed two miles north to the Arizona border!  Whoopee.  We made Arizona even though we didn’t spend the night there.  However, since we still had quite a few daylight hours left, we were able to check out another RV park that caters to quads and also look around a little in Laughlin, Nevada, 20 miles north.  Had we not decided to make Friday a short travel day we would have had to stay another night in order to accomplish this.  We also filled up the car with gas in Arizona.  It’s certainly less expensive there than in California.

Because we were still in a high elevation, the morning had been quite cool.  The afternoon in Needles definitely wasn’t cool.  We even had our air conditioner on.  

Another view of Laughlin on the Colorado River.  Many RVs were parked in the casino lots.

What is Saturday going to bring?  Well, your guess is as good as mine at this point.  Where do you think we will be?  We could stop over in Quartzsite.  We're thinking that might be an option.   Or, we could bite the bullet and go an additional 270 miles finishing up at our final destination in Gold Canyon ..... our destination at least for a while.

I don't have a clue what Saturday will bring.

Arrival in Phoenix - An ATV RV Park

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

Isn’t it amazing that when we go to bed knowing we have to get up early that we wake up often and many times very early?   I had a flight to catch Wednesday morning.  It was an early flight.  I used to like early flights but now even though I get out of bed early, I don’t like getting ready before it’s even light outside.   Just to be sure I wouldn’t oversleep my iPhone alarm was set for 3:00 AM, 3:15 AM and 3:20 AM.  That should do it.  Right?

My intended flight departed from the Portland airport at 6:00 ... about 40 miles away.  I still had to park and go through security and that obviously takes time.  At least that’s what I planned.  I’m sure you know about my planning and sticking with the plan.

First of all, by 2:30 AM, I was wide awake.  It wasn’t too much after that that I was on the way to the airport.  By the time I arrived at the Portland airport I had decided I didn’t want to fly to Phoenix via Dallas.  My task was to find a flight that would go non-stop and move my arrival time up by several hours.  Not a problem.  I found one flight after another.  Just as soon as I put my name on one airline’s list, I’d find another I liked better.   By 10:30 AM I had arrived in Phoenix on Alaska Airlines.

I took a picture of the picture on the wall of a prior ATV event.  This was a photo of everyone getting ready to take off from the back of the resort.

Sometimes it pays to be flexible.  It took four separate airlines and four separate listings to secure myself a seat but I was flexible and obviously it paid off.  What a morning that was but I was several hours earlier than planned and everything worked out.

As mentioned a few days back, we had originally planned this trip to check out a couple winter destination RV parks.  This is what we wanted to do.  There were several reasons for changing our mind about wintering in Arizona over Texas.  One of those reasons was that Terry would be close to his mom.  You know what they say about the best-laid plans.  Well, our original planning for the trip was changed and Terry was already in Phoenix when I arrived due to a medical situation with his father.

Yes .... the temperature was a chilly 103 !

The temperature was HOT.  It was certainly a bit warmer than we had been experiencing in Washington State. 

Gold Canyon is just a tad east of Apache Junction.  Now Apache Junction is a tad east of Mesa and even a bigger tad east of the Phoenix area.  That’s actually not a bad thing.  This time it is exactly what we wanted.  We wanted to be outside of all the traffic.  Gold Canyon is definitely outside of all the metropolitan traffic.  That’s where we went.

A little putting green at the park ..... the green will be greener once the temperatures go down.

There are a few other RV parks in the Gold Canyon area and lots of them in the Apache Junction area.  If one were to choose Apache Junction over Gold Canyon, there would be so many choices from super fancy to super drab.  And, as you might guess, the monthly cost varies according to the park.

We had a few necessities and a few wants.   As you know by now, we were actually looking for a park where ATVs were welcome and there were lots of areas to ride without loading and unloading them all the time. On top of that I really wanted a pool and a hot tub plus a paved road for riding my bike.  That’s a few of the things we were looking for.  Well, the park also had to welcome Duchess.  Perhaps, that was our #1 priority.

Yippee!  A pool and a spa is available.

We were also hoping our first stop would be our last stop.  And, it was.  We visited the Arizonian.  Actually, everything listed above was at this park.  Perhaps, that’s why it was first on our list.  With temperatures over 100 degrees, you could guess that it was certainly empty at this time.    Not much was there.  Well, there were a few folks who had already moved in but most were smart and were still up north where it was cooler.  However, winter is just around the corner and this place will be full in a few months.  In addition to rows set aside for RVs, the park also had a dedicated row just for ATV trailers.  We thought that was pretty darn cool because we hadn’t thought of that but definitely needed it.

There was a new recreation building under construction.  Not that there wasn’t already a nice one because there was but  the new building will be huge when completed.  At the rate they are going, I’m sure it will be done way before we get there.  

Will we have to take up tennis since there is a tennis court ??? 

We were happy.  We were pleased.  It was time to pick out a spot in the pet area.  Now that took a little doing.  It’s not often we really have this much of choice.  It took a while but we finally selected one on a corner across from the ATV trailers and close to the pet walk.  Actually, Terry picked it out.  You always have to have someone to blame and he wanted the trailer close.  The only thing left to do was plunk down the bucks.  We did that too.  Whee!  I’m glad that’s behind us!  Mission accomplished.

Inside the de la Cruz Restaurant

We also found a little “hole in the wall” Mexican restaurant just a short distance away.  It was de la Cruz.  We loved it.  The food was great and cheap!  Obviously, in a few months we’ll drag Jim and Sandie there and maybe even talk Doug and Toni into joining us.  Who knows?

 

Speaking of Toni … guess what I found for her?    I believe these are close to her favorite little refreshers.  Well, we’ll throw a couple at her as they pass by us on their way south … maybe.  Since I never check luggage on an airplane, do not ask how I got them to Washington for her from Phoenix.  What we do for people!!

Later that evening it was more food.  Terry’s mom had her heart set on Olive Garden so that’s where we went.  If we’d known that, we probably wouldn’t have had lunch.  Well, maybe we would have.   On Thursday I HAD to make a stop at IN-N-Out.   I couldn’t imagine leaving the Phoenix area without a stop at IN-N-Out.  That would have been horrible.  

Leaving Terry behind, it was to the airport to catch a flight back to Portland.  This was definitely a whirlwind two days for me.    Come to think of it, it wasn’t even two days.  The trip was uneventful.  I love trips that are uneventful.  In another six days we have another trip on our schedule.  This time it will be to Chicago to watch Justin "graduate" from bootcamp.  

Terry and his mom