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.

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!

Superstition Skies – Elvis’ Hangout

Gain a modest reputation for being unreliable and you'll never be asked to do a thing.

 

We actually did something a little different on Wednesday.  It was something I wasn’t too happy about either.  My sewing machine went in to the repair shop.  Ugh!  I had things to do and it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do.  Now you might think it was the operator but it really wasn’t.  The good thing is I discovered a huge shop in Mesa.  Oh my lands!  It was huge.  I told Terry I needed to dump him one afternoon and make another trip in there to check out all the crafts and fabric.  I doubt he’d want to go with me anyway.  Oh well, my sewing is now on hold for about a week and I absolutely hate it.  How will I ever get my projects done??

We didn’t ride on Wednesday either.  After all, we’re pretty busy folks.  Our neighbors invited us to go to a get together with them.  We did but discovered they had the wrong date for the get together.  It’s actually on Thursday and not on Wednesday.  Oops. Haven't we all done that? 

We met Jim and Sandie at Superstition Skies.  This place has the most fantastic duo.  We went last year to listen to Brant and Kerry.  They are really, really good.  The food?  Well, prime rib was the special for the evening and Terry couldn’t pass it up.  His comment – it was excellent.  For an extra $5 you could add a slab of ribs and they were excellent too.

If you happened to drive down the road in front of Superstition Skies, you’d think it was a real dive from the outside.  Maybe that’s what makes it such a special place.  It’s different.  The restaurant has been around since the early 50’s even though the owners have changed. This place was popular back when ladies of the evening, cowboys and movie stars were a common sight there.  During the filming of many Apacheland western movies the stars frequented this place.  The bench Elvis sat on is still there for all to see.  Do you think they are waiting for him to show up again?  Not only was it one of Elvis’ haunts, Ronald Reagan, Kenny Rogers, and Marty Robins walked through those doors.  This place and it’s surroundings will definitely make you feel part of the Old Wild West.  And, the music of Brant and Kerry on Wednesday evenings is fantastic!

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.

Arizonian–A Snowbird Park

Speak when you're angry and you'll make the best speech you'll ever regret.

Guess what I saw out the motorhome window Sunday morning?  

This little coyote just wandered down the road and out of the park.  Well, I guess he wandered out of the park.  At least I saw him walking down the road.  Then, I saw a second one when I was out walking Duchess. 

This is the first year we have booked any RV park for a whole month at a time.  Normally we have opted to stay more at locations where there aren’t full-time or most-time residents.  I guess you can’t call them residents but I’m sure you know what I mean.  I’m referring to the snowbirds who come year after year to the same park.  In the past we have always felt that these parks were more like staying in a regular neighborhood where everyone aleady knew everyone else.  The Thousand Trails, Elks, Famcamps, and COEs have always been more our cup of tea.  The people seem  eager to meet others and just a bit friendlier.

I’m not saying people aren’t friendly in the snowbird parks but definitely not as much as a regular campground where there are more RVers instead of snowbirds.   I think different types of people search for different types of parks.  Unless the snowbird parks are brand new, folks have already established relationships with others by the time you show up and it’s a little more difficult to connect. So, why did we book a park that was a snowbird park?  It was because this park allowed us to ride the ATVs in the park and had acres and acres of state land around it also for riding.    Isn’t that what counts? The ATV group seems pretty friendly.  For now it works because we figure we’ll do our own thing – whatever that is – and ride in the desert when the mood strikes.  There are a few other parks that also allow ATVs and we certainly plan on checking them out this winter too.

Last week we went to the little potluck affair.  It was nice and we were lucky in that we sat across from another newbie to this park.  We’ve met a few newbies so I’m sure there are even more around.  Then, Sunday night we went to the ice cream social.  I’m not so sure it’s a social event.  Even though there are quite a few tables in the North Hall some of the long ones were pushed together into one long table and that’s where they all sat – together, shoulder-to-shoulder, hip-to-hip  – at the one table.  There was no room for anyone else .. none.  I should have taken a picture.  We did find two other folks away from the mighty long table at least to sit by until the ice cream social was over and they headed back towards “home”.

Card bingo followed.  We’ve played this at other parks and always played with four per table.  We had intended to play.  It can be fun.  We had our quarters and dimes.  However, we didn’t because we weren’t at the right table.  There was only ONE table playing … can you guess which one?  We walked out.  The tables aren’t set up to allow folks to mingle and the person in charge concentrated only on the big table. We hadn’t seen it like this before.  The activity director is having a short meeting Monday morning.  That might be interesting.  I plan on attending but promise to keep my mouth shut … maybe.

After the meeting there is another event listed on the big calendar in the North Hall.  It’s shuffleboard.  Being the introvert that I am, I thought I’d walk over there and see if outsiders are allowed to play.  If outsiders aren’t allowed to play with the card group, will they be allowed to play with the shuffleboard group?  Who knows? Maybe I’ll ask.  Do I really want to play shuffleboard?  Well, not necessarily but now I’m curious.   I’m sure that the different activity groups consist of different people.  It’s not that I’ve ever played before so I might just be pushing my luck.  The scary part is what if they really let me play?  The nice part is that it’s raining right now and the chance that anyone will want to play shuffleboard in the rain is another thing so I’ll probably just have to wait for another day.  Whew!

Either way we’re here to ride and mingle with other friends in the area. We also have really nice neighbors at this park.  So, afterwards?    Well, maybe towards Quartzsite!!   Jim and Sandie are coming over for dinner on Monday and we’ve already got plans for Wednesday so things are working. 

Another Day -- Working at Living

Retirement . . . is when you stop living at work and begin working at living

We had narrowed down our quad search to a few that we wanted to check out and drive.  Two that we looked at were red!  Yippee …. they matched my helmet.  One was even identical to Terry’s quad other than the color.  However, the one I really had my eye on wasn’t red at all.  It was lime green.  It was also the biggest but the easiest to use and the smoothest ride. You can probably guess that we ended up with the green one.  If I had owned a green helmet, we would have ended up with the red one.  That’s how it works according to Murphy.  Remember him?  He's responsible for everything going wrong.

Totally different than what we looked for --  Arctic Cat 650 VTwin 4x4

Guess what we saw driving down the road in Apache Junction?  We wondered if someone might just be inside when we saw the toilet paper flapping out the door.  Hopefully, they checked it out before they decided to move it.   People joke about taking their bathroom with them.  This fellow actually did.  Well, isn't that similar to driving a motorhome or pulling a 5th wheel?  You're ready for just about anything.

There are actually a lot of interesting things in Apache Junction.  Some of them we just haven’t had a chance to check out yet but we will.  The most important thing we needed to get done on this trip to town was a haircut for Terry.  He was on the verge of looking like a wild man!  Tucked into a little corner shopping center was a barber he decided to entrust his growing locks to.  Instead of waiting while the barber did his magic, I went across the parking lot to a bead shop.    Anyone been there?

I walked in the door and was greeted by the clerk letting me know I was welcome to look around but couldn’t take my purse with me.  Granted there were little lockers to put your purse in.  However, you know the clerk certainly has a master key.  I just felt if she wasn't going to trust me to look at her beads, should I trust her with my purse?  I know shoplifting is certainly a problem for merchants.  I just didn't care for the clerk even thinking I might stash beads in my purse.  Actually, I'm really glad she didn't realize I had pockets in my pants.  Who knows what else she might have suggested. I guess I felt if they weren't comfortable with me being there, I wasn't comfortable being there either.

Thursday we went for our first ride in the desert.  There’s a gate in the back of the park that opens up to miles and miles of areas to ride.  That’s what we did!  We went for a ride.  It was wonderful, it was fun and an absolute blast.

I also want to report we had a fabulous lunch.  We hadn't had such good luck lately with dinners out so we tried lunch.  Where did we go?  I know you're asking that.  We went to McDonald's for their McRibs!!  We knew what we were getting and got what we expected. They were just great!

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.