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.

Quartzsite BLM

A woman is like a teabag...You don't know how strong she is until you put her in hot water.

It’s still a bit nippy in the Quartzsite area.  I certainly wish it would warm up.  The only thing the cold weather is good for is staying inside and working on projects that should have been finished weeks ago when my sewing machine was in the shop.  However, I've finally realized these projects aren't going to get done anytime soon.  It's just not going to happen.

<<   We looked for the trash bins at the park.  This is what we found behind the office building.  The trailer is the bin.  Behind the trailer is a clothesline.  Now that was surprising.  Having a clothesline at your own site is a big NO-NO.

Actually, California is responsible for all this cold weather.  They shouldn’t have let the Santa Ana winds come through and carry that cold air behind them.  The only good news about that is that it will soon pass and the temperatures will warm up.  At least we’re hoping it’s sooner than later.  The problem is with all this cool weather, I'm beginning to think I need a beach instead of a desert.  Maybe it has something to do with the movie I watched last night.  In the movie everyone was running around on the sand in their swimsuits.  This definitely is not swimsuit weather here.

Check this setting out.  They've even put up a garage for their ATVs!!

We’ve met some pretty nice people in this park.  We were even invited to take a 60 mile ATV trip  ... isn't that a long ways for an ATV over rocks and riverbeds?  However, we still prefer the Thousand Trails and other parks where folks come for a few weeks but not a season.  Maybe that's because those are the parks we've stayed at most.  Or, maybe we just haven't found a place in the south we like so much we're ready to make it a winter homebase.  Maybe we need to find that beach after all.

One tidbit of gossip we heard was that some of the BLM land is no longer open for RV parking.  I have no idea what BLM land but thought we were told it was north of town. 


After a few months of having your little town overrun by people especially slower older folks, it probably gets a little annoying.  However, can you imagine the economy of a town this size without the extra revenue?  The RV parks in the area right now have lots of empty spots.  Right after the holidays these spots will fill up.  Just like anywhere else.  There are some great parks here with great hosts and managers.  We also heard there are also some parks to be avoided.  We heard lots of stories at breakfast.  However, we also know ... stories can be just stories.  With all the free spaces to park and all the parks in the area, you would think there would be a big push on to have the biggest and best park in the area.  Some RVers actually spend all winter here and not just during the month of January when most of the activities take  place.

Prices are low at the parks but few amenities are offered.  The entertainment is Quartzsite itself with all the vendors, jams and events.

I love driving around and checking out the personal RV sites people have chosen on BLM land.  It’s great entertainment to see how they have personalized their areas.  

On Sunday morning a church service is held at the South Posa LTVA.  I didn’t know about it until I went with friends, Paul and Marsha, Where's Weaver, a couple years ago.  A table is put out front inviting people who have extra food or items they don’t want to drop them off.  The sign says, leave what you don’t need and take what you do need.  There are people who visit Quartzsite during the winter who don’t have much.  This is a great place to drop off a few items knowing others will certainly appreciate what you leave.

BLM church

We became more aware of the circumstance of some of the folks in the area last year through Johnny.  Many of you may remember our story about Johnny.  He spent a couple of weeks here last year in a tent.  Thus, we became a little familiar with some of the people pitching tents close to the little outhouse buildings.  The tents or small trailers that are not self-contained must be within so many feet of a bathroom.  Since the BLM land is patrolled and monitored by Arizona Park Rangers, this is pretty much enforced.

Some folks pitching a tent do so because they want to.  Other folks pitching the tents do so because that’s all they have and they have no choice.  While there several of the RVers invited Johnny to join them for meals.  Others brought hot food to him.  Some folks are nice and some folks are just nicer.  Maybe this year some of us can be just nicer yet.

‘Tis life on the road.

Old Town Scottsdale

 

A friend to all is a friend to none.

Moving day from Gold Canyon to Scottsdale was uneventful.  You know by now how much we like uneventful travel days.  It means everything went just as planned without any unexpected or unwanted problems.  Freeways were fairly light.  I pulled the ATV trailer and Terry drove the motorhome.  It was a short drive to the Scottsdale Elks.  We much prefer the Scottsdale Elks over the Tempe Elks even though the Tempe one has FHU at site.  The Elks in Scottsdale has a dump on the property but just not at the sites.  The sites themselves are huge and have water and electricity for $15 a night.  That’s a great deal.

We had hooked up the trailer with the quads on it the night before.  This was our first at pulling the trailer with more than just the one ATV on it.  This time we had two or an additional 700 pounds.  I hear guys say all the time that they pulled this or pulled that and couldn’t even tell the thingamajig was behind them.  I’m not sure if that’s bragging or what but I’ll tell you one thing.  I could certainly tell there was an extra 700 pounds on that trailer.  Now I’m beginning to think a little about pulling it more than the 41 miles that I did on Sunday.   Not so sure it’s going to be fun. Not so sure I’m going to like that at all.

Monday evening we met Jim and Sandie at Joe’s Real BBQ.  Joe’s has the best brisket in town.  Matter of fact, they have the best brisket in lots of towns.  This restaurant is rated number 7 in the nation for barbecue.  The three owners of this restaurant also own Joe’s Farm Grill which has been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  It was a great evening, a great meal and a wonderful time with great friends.

On Tuesday I picked up my sewing machine for the third time. This time I could tell they had actually tested the stitching since a sample of it was still in the machine.  That’s a good thing.  However, the embroidery still isn’t aligning like it should.  Not so sure what I’m going to do about it.

Since we were close to Old Town Scottsdale, Terry and I  decided to have lunch there on Tuesday. As is typical in areas like this, there were many souvenir shops selling the same souvenirs.  However, Scottsdale isn’t entirely typical.  It may have lots and lots of t-shirts and treasures to take home as souvenirs but some of the treasures found there come with a steep price tag.  Scottsdale has a reputation all it’s own.  You can guess what the reputation is by some of the car dealers within a few blocks of where our RV is parked.  We pass by real cars for sale --- Maserati, BMW, Bentley, Ferrari, Lotus.  Recognize those names?   They aren’t the names we’re used to seeing on the streets we’ve lived on.

 

We did have fun checking out some of the little shops but ended up walking away without anything other than the food we still had in our stomach from lunch. What we really did enjoy was that the ride to town was only a couple miles instead of the long drive we had to take going to town from the park we had stayed at on the other side of Gold Canyon.  What a nice difference!

This morning was an early one.  Thus, the reason we moved into Scottsdale instead of heading on out of the Phoenix area altogether.  Terry had an early morning flight to South Dakota.  Our vehicle licenses expire on the last day of November.  We kind of put it off and put it off and put it off.  We could have just renewed online but by the time we had put it off so long, the ten day period you can renew online had already passed.   However, this wasn’t so bad since Terry wanted special plates anyway.  He had been saying for a couple months he was just going to fly in and get it taken care of. That’s what he did.  I’ll pick him up at the airport tonight with mission accomplished.

Anyone looking for a new pair of boots?  Check these out.  The pair on the left is only $1100.00 a pair and the pair on the right skyrockets to $1200.00 a pair.  If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll tell you just what store you can find them in.

 

We had figured we would be pulling out Thursday morning for Quartzsite.  However, we’ve been told a mighty wind storm is heading that way.  I guess we’ll just sit it out for one more day.  We can leave just as easily on Friday as we could have on Thursday.  Quartzsite isn’t going anyplace.  It’ll still be there.

‘Tis life on the road.

Happy Birthday to Me

 

The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune.  - English Proverb

Saturday we took our last ride in the desert at the base of the Superstition Mountains. It had been fun riding in this area.  However, on this day the ride was a little different for us since it had rained the day before.  Some of the trails were a little muddy.  

Notice the difference in tires. 

Guess which one is mine and which one is Terry’s. 

Guess who cleans the ATVs when we return from a ride.

Riding in the mud was so much fun!

After our ride, we loaded the ATVs on our trailer for departure Sunday morning.  It always feels good to be on the road again.  We weren’t going far but we were moving again.  That nomad spirit sure doesn’t take a rest for very long.

Our drive wasn’t far.  After saying goodbye to our neighbors we pulled out of the park for our 41 mile move down the road.  Since departure day was Sunday, traffic was very light.  When we arrived at our new site, we were thrilled to discover that only three other RVs were there.  We loved that.  It’s so unlike parking lot RV parks.

Monday we’re finally celebrating my REAL birthday.  I’ve been celebrating the birthday for about a month now.  Remember my surprise birthday party last month?   That was when all the celebrating started.   It started with an ATV outing with the “kids”.  They used that as an excuse for a surprise birthday party.  It was fun and it was wonderful.  

Then, a couple weeks later I posted that Terry and I did a little birthday shopping too. 

This was another early birthday present.

We didn’t intend on being anywhere close to a shopping mall over the holiday weekend.  We HATE to fight the crowds and even hate standing in lines more.  However, we did have a couple things to return to Harbor Freight and we just happened to pass Joann’s Fabrics.  Thus, we had to stop.  I had a couple 50% off coupons.  After all, my birthday was just around the corner.  I had to buy me something.  Well, actually, Terry is the one who stood in that long line and bought them. You can guess by the purchase that I’m hoping to get my sewing machine back from the shop soon.

This is what WE bought ME as more birthday presents.

Our plans for the day?   Well, we’re meeting our friends, Jim and Sandie, on Monday for brisket and ribs.  Nummy. 

Happy Birthday to Me!  Happy Birthday to Me! 

(And, many more)

**  Also, Monday is “D” Day for the Dahls!  Congratulations on the closing!!

Back to the Shop … again?

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A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away.

Don’t ask  me if I’m a little annoyed.  Just figure that I am.  My sewing machine went in the shop  on Monday the 7th because of a chipped bobbin plate.  While there I figured it was time to just have the machine serviced  … MISTAKE!   I picked it back up a week later on the 14th.  It went back in the shop on the 15th because now it had misaligned embroidery. I picked it back up another week later on the 23rd.   Machine could hardly sew.  Red lights flashed everywhere when turned on.   Obviously, they readjusted it but didn’t test it.  It went back in the shop on the 24th.  Hopefully, the third time will be the charm.  All this wasted time and no projects finished. One more time and I’m buying a new machine.  Just don’t tell Terry ‘ cuz then I’d have to say he was right since he told me to do that three weeks ago.

Even though the park we are at is a mecca for ATV riders in that it borders miles and miles of state land, we have discovered that it’s actually not quite right for us.  We’ve been able to do a lot of riding. We’ve met some really nice people.  That part has been good.  What we have discovered is that anything other than riding we want to do, any part we need to pick up or any place we want to see is a long ways off.  We figure the extra gas we've had to buy for our vehicle just to get back and forth to town has made our stay here pretty darn expensive. The park is nice and would work great for folks who like to stay put.  Obviously, that just doesn’t work too well for us. So, very soon it’s going to be ………….. on the road again.

<<  Check out the sign on the back of this car.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner in a very unique setting.  It’s not that we didn’t have other places to go or hadn’t received invitations to share a meal with friends or at the park.  We just decided to do something different.  This is what we wanted to do.  We’re eating our turkey dinner under a cactus.  Yes …. we had the trimmings but since we didn’t have a table with us, we could only handle one food item at a time.  Now who else can say they’ve done this?

This is one of the camera mounts we moved to the back of our ATVs. We have two mounts and can just change the camera back and forth to take turns depending on who is starring in the next video.

We are learning a lot of things about ATV riding.  However, we have had our share of little "mishaps".    I took out a mesquite tree heading back on Thursday.  The trail we were on had three fast dips.  I was going a little too fast to maneuver them and stay on the road.  Needless to say, I crashed into it. Ouch!

Terry learned he can't drink and drive.   He rode over a small bush while trying to down a Pepsi.

‘Tis life on the road.

This is Quartzsite

A closed mouth gathers no foot.
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Even though a few hundred RVs have already moved into Quartzsite for the winter, it’s not going to be long until thousands more start showing up.   After all, this is definitely the place to be in January.  This is Retirement City USA.   Everyone else is there!   Well, almost everyone else.  We’re not there yet.

Saturday rolled around and that was the day we had written in ink that we were going to take a scouting trip to Quartzsite. The ink only dried, of course,  when we were actually in the Jeep and on our way there.  We figured it’d be about a 2 1/2 hour drive each way …. give or take another hour or two depending on the number of red lights we hit getting out of "Dodge" and traffic through Phoenix.
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The little town of Quartzsite comes alive and expands at the seams when all the snowbirds start heading south  in their little house on wheels.  During January there is no vacancy at the RV parks in town and the BLM land around it overflows with boondockers.  I'm certain by now you know what boondocking at the BLM is.  It's staying on public land without hookups.  Most RVers are pretty well set up for this before they decide to commit for any long term stay without hookups.  They have generators, batteries and an inverter.  Some RVers have even installed solar panels or wind generators to charge their batteries.  Folks have gone to great extremes to be able to stay for months at places just like this without having to move into a full hookup park.  If you drive around the BLM area, you will also notice that many places look like plots of land.  Rocks have been collected and positioned just like ranchers do with a fence.  PFC pipe and tarps are used to expand the size of the patio and provide protection from the wind.  It's definitely quite a place to be.
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We had driven through this desert oasis many times. Our first stop in an RV was January 2009, then in 2010 and again in 2011. There’s just something exciting about being where all this activity is. However, come February, we’re usually more than ready to pull out and go someplace else but it always feels good to spend a little time in Quartzsite where everything and everybody is at.
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The first year we visited Quartzsite we had never boondocked before but had made plans to meet a group of about 15 other RVs in the BLM. We weren’t really equipped for this.  We had two 12-volt batteries, a very noisy portable generator and no inverter.  Every time we wanted “electricity” we had to go outside and start the generator.  What did we do?  We booked a park in Quartzsite for the month of January with the idea that we could go back and forth.  Once we met the group, we discovered it was much more fun to be in the BLM with them than stay in the park by ourselves.  We learned a lot.  By the following year we had changed rigs, had an on-board generator plus a smaller Honda 2000, four 6-volt batteries and an inverter.   We’re still way behind lots of folks but this probably is the extent we need to be.  Oh, we do have a blue boy for the dump and now even a water bladder.  So, are we ready or what?
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After the holidays more and more vendors will start putting up temporary storefronts.  We also discovered that some merchants raise their prices during this time.  At one local grocery, we noticed two price stickers on canned goods.  You might imagine that your price is not the lower of the two.   It’s definitely the place to be but you might consider stocking up with groceries and other necessities before you head that way. The necessities are expensive but the toys are pretty cheap.

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The reason for this trip was not to stay but to actually look around and try to figure out what we want to do and where we want to go.  Well, we also wanted to say "hello" to Dave and Millie who had already arrived for the winter.
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The place isn’t overflowing yet with vendors. It will be very soon.  We did hear that more vendors have signed up this year than last.  That's good news. What we are trying to decide is whether we should stay in Gold Canyon or go ahead and move to Quartzsite.  Then, we have another decision if we do.  Should we go out to the BLM  or move into an RV park there.  Decisions, decisions and there are pros and cons with each one.  You might guess that one of the major considerations is about the ATVs. There is one park in town that has an active ATV club. If we move there, we might be able to eavesdrop on some of the conversations regarding great places to ride.  Even though we wouldn’t be there in January, we might just learn a thing or two.  However, there are also many, many ATVs in the BLM.  Well, at least we don’t have to make the decision on where to go today.  Thank goodness.
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There are several different places people can pull into on the BLM land around Quartzsite.  Some places parking is totally free as long as the boondockers move 25 miles down the road after a 14 day stay.  There are other areas where there is a fee. However, who can really complain about the fee?  You can stay 14 days for $40 or purchase a 6 month pass for $180.  This 6 month pass is good at many other BLM areas and not just around Quartzsite.  It can be used in the Yuma area, Lake Havasu and even at the ever so popular Hot Springs LTVA .... remember that one? It even has hot springs right on the BLM!

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Hot Springs LTVA  -  Our 2011 trip

 Boondocking at LaPosa South is especially popular because large trash bins, fresh water and an RV dump is available.  The line at these facilities can get mighty long in January if your timing isn’t right.  Last year we had a perfect spot.  It was close enough to the facilities that we could watch the line.  Being close to those facilities certainly has an advantage. 

Even though most vendors hadn’t set up yet, there were still quite a few ready to make some sales. We always enjoy checking out the local consignment shop. You just never know what might be in there. We weren't disappointed on Saturday either. The shop was already set up and it appeared that business was booming. We even contributed to the daily sales total by purchasing a 45 gallon water bladder. It was the same one we had already planned on purchasing from Camping World within the next few days. Evidently someone bought it, didn’t use it and wanted some cash for it. We snatched it up and saved about $35 on the purchase! Aren't bargains fun?
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This is the famous Millie!

Dave and Millie were just where they said they would be. Well, it actually wasn’t that easy. We had to hunt them down and then they had to find us. Do you get the picture? After a few hours eating a late lunch at the Palo Verde Restaurant together in town, we solved all the world’s problems. The meal was fantastic but not as great as the company we got to enjoy. It was certainly nice visiting again. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a bit more of that over the next few weeks or should I say couple of months? In January we expect a whole gang of people we know to start showing up. It'll definitely be a fun, fun month. Maybe, I shouldn't have used the word "gang" but again, maybe that's a good description after all.

Last year --- our dinner with Dave and IYQ (aka Lee) in Quartzsite

We arrived back at our own little home on wheels well after dark.  It was a long day but a fun day.  Now we have to think about those decisions we still need to make.  We're leaning both ways.

‘Tis life on the road.

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.

Wickenburg and SKP North Ranch

 

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in the fruit salad.

 

Wednesday we took yet another drive.  This time we were in the Jeep and headed north.  The problem with our location and every place we want to go is that we’re on the wrong side of the city of Phoenix.  Getting through it adds about 70 miles to any trip we think we might want to take.  Needless to say, it took us a while to get through the traffic and through the city.

Wickenburg is a little town (population about 6500) with a very colorful past.  The town itself looks like it’s right out of the Wild, Wild West.  Well, maybe that’s because it really is.  There were constant conflicts between the the settlers in the area and the hostile Indian bands.  Gold brought the settlers here and gold kept them coming for many years.  There are many mines in the area as well as ghost towns. . 

The streets of the town even remind you of that era.  You’d think you were in cowboy-ville and we’d certainly like to check the town out a little bit more.  However, this day we didn’t have time to do a lot of that.  It was just a trip to scope the area out.

We also made a stop at the SKP North Ranch RV Park.  We’ve visited quite a few of the SKP parks but this was our first time here.  We were a little amazed to discover that many of the “homes” at the back end of this Escapee park were on deeded property.  There were a few for sale signs and we checked out the price.  They weren’t cheap.  We were thinking that perhaps the folks didn’t realize  Arizona had just gone through a major slump in real estate prices.

Terry stopped by the office to pick up some information.  Normally the SKP parks and their volunteers are just about the friendliest ever.  Not so in this case.  She was professional and cool but friendly is not a word that Terry used.  We were told she was ”having a bad day.”

There were also RV lots and an area for short term stays.  We stopped and talked to several who were parked on the rental lots.  Parks like this are so unlike the parks where snowbirds return year after year after year. The neighborhood changes constantly. Every newcomer to a SKP park is looked at like a future potential friend.

Another thing about this park we liked is that it borders BLM land and has a gate at the back of the park for ATVs to enter and exit.  One fella even gave us a trail map of interesting things to see on the trails.  He encouraged us to spend a while at the park riding the ATVs and especially to the old ghost town of Stanton.  However, he did indicate that one would have to go up Suicide Hill on their ATV to get there.  Now do you think I was excited about doing that?  NOT!!  The name certainly didn’t make that trip sound inviting.  I’d like to do the ghost town but not if Suicide Hill is the only way to get there.  He said it wasn’t that bad but bad to him and bad to me probably are two different things!!  The park has Verizon and ATT service.  We always check that out because cell service is important to us.

We had originally planned on meeting Sandie and Jim at Superstition Skies for another evening  of entertainment with Brant and Kerry.  Jim was fishing at Canyon Lake and he didn’t quite make it back in time.  We’re letting Jim take the blame for none of us being able to go.  However, secretly we were happy (but don’t tell him that ‘cuz we want him to feel guilty).  After our drive of the day we were pretty zonked so we were a little relieved our outing had been delayed for one more night.

<<----- Sunning on a picnic table – hadn’t seen this before and would NEVER do it.

Another little outing in our future is – Quartzsite!  Okay, we’ve been there before and actually done quite a bit of boondocking in the area.  We’ve also stayed at one of the local parks.  In January this little hole-in-the-wall town bursts at the seams with thousands of RVs for the annual RV show.  People congregate in groups there from all over and it’s quite an exciting adventure.

We already planned on meeting a group in January at Quartzsite.  However, we’re in search of a secure place to park over the holidays.  We had originally thought we would just fly to Washington over the Christmas holiday but now we’re thinking we might just drive.  Flying would be cheaper, of course, but if we drive, we have our car and we can come and go as we please. By moving down the road a bit, we save a couple hundred miles each way by traveling from “Q” over traveling from “G”.  We’re thinking why not just park there in December. Who knows what we’ll do until we do it.  Anyway …. in a few days we might make this little trip to check it out. 

In the meantime on Thursday …. we’re going to relax and ride the quads – perhaps.

‘Tis life on the road.