2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 102

Day 102, Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 60 - 0 Miles, 3,449.7 Miles for the Trip

47°F overnight, 52°F for my morning walk, 60°F by noon; the high for the day was 69°F.

I'm getting tired of these cool mornings, although it is far colder back home in upstate NY. Still, it would be nice to get back to shorts. Light clouds & enough wind to make it feel even cooler.

While I'm not leaving until Sunday, I started putting some stuff back in the truck. I folded up the mat that was inside the Clam & will take down the Clam tomorrow. I checked the trailer tires & three of them will need a bit of air so I'll have to dig out the compressor again. 

Made a trip to Walmart for a belt & some lithium AA batteries, but they don't seem to carry them here. I did find the belt I was looking for. The lithium batteries work better in the freezer temperature sensor than standard batteries.

Started reading Elle Gray's The Girl in Town and gave up. Unusual for me since I try to finish any book I start, but the writing was so bad that I couldn't keep going. Joyce Carol Oates Fox. I've read a couple of her books and they are readable. 

Dinner was beef stew.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 101

Day 101, Tuesday, January 27, 2026 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 59 - 0 Miles, 3,449.7 Miles for the Trip

42°F overnight, 45°F for my morning walk, 61°F by noon; the high for the day was 72°F.

Another morning cool enough that I needed my quilted coat for my morning walk.

I finished The Last King Of California, and not as good as his first novel She Rides Shotgun, but Jordan Harper is someone I'm going to keep reading. I restarted Brian Freeman's Break Every Rule. Freeman is not a new author for me & I enjoy his books.

Today is propane day. I didn't need any, but he filled the tanks of the RVs on both sides of me. Handy to have someone deliver to the park, particularly for those that don't have removable tanks.

I spent the afternoon reading. A fellow fiberglass RVer currently staying at Buckskin State Park stopped by for a chat  on his electric bike. He needed air for the back tire so I dug out the Viair compressor & he topped it off for the 4 mile ride back to the state park.

Dinner was shrimp tacos from the Roadrunner River Bar.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 100

Day 100, Monday, January 26, 2026 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 58 - 0 Miles, 3,449.7 Miles for the Trip

46°F overnight, 49°F for my morning walk, 62°F by noon; the high for the day was 66°F.

Cool enough that I wore my quilted jacket for my morning walk.

After breakfast I changed the sheets, filled my laundry basket, and headed to the Kofa Laundromat. The busiest I've seen it. I wanted 3 washers, but could only get the last two so they were well loaded. Better luck with the dryers, although someone tried to claim my second one even though I had a dryer sheet and few pieces in it. 

On the way back I stopped at Food City & Safeway for some food. I've been craving a Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie, but no one has had one. Today Safeway had a crustless Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie. Since I tend to skip most of the crust anyway, we will see what that is like tonight.

I finished The Lie Maker by Linwood Barkley, and read a new author (for me) Jordan Harper's She Rides Shotgun. An impressive read so I picked up another of his books The Last King Of California. I had already started Brian Freeman's Break Every Rule (another author I enjoy reading) and was half way through it when I headed to the laundromat, forgetting my Kindle. Unfortunately, my iPhone Kindle App wouldn't sync with the actual Kindle even though I had a good AT&T cell signal at the laundromat. The app did have the downloaded The Last King of California, so I started that, and am now on page 28. I hate reading two books at once so I'll finish Harper's book than go back to Freeman's.

Dinner was a Boston Market Crustless Chicken Pot Pie.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 99

Day 99, Sunday, January 25, 2026 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 57 - 0 Miles, 3,449.7 Miles for the Trip

49°F overnight, 53°F for my morning walk, 68°F by noon; the high for the day was 74°F.

They restarted qualification runs after the rain stopped & the wind died down, but I didn't go down to take any more photos. I'll do some today.

As part of my morning walk I took some photos of more of the test/tune & qualifying runs. The actual races won't start until around 2:30.

For those that haven't watched boat drag races (which includes me) they start towing the boats to the starting line with a jet ski. There is a rope across the river that the boat drivers hold on to to keep them in position. They are given a signal to start their engine, toss the rope over their heads (and boat) then go with traditional starting lights. They record time, speed & reaction time. Some of the photos towards the end show the start.

There was a jet ski that ran multiple times with different boats, beating them most of the time, although there were boats he wouldn't have had a chance against. 

I went back after my Sunday phone calls (everyone is getting snow) and took a few more photos:

Many more photos of both sessions at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Dinner was a bowl of Chicken Chili.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 98

Day 98, Saturday, January 24, 2026 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 56 - 0 Miles, 3,449.7 Miles for the Trip

50°F overnight, 51°F for my morning walk, °58F by noon; the high for the day was 67°F.

I stopped at the Black Pearl Restaurant for their stuffed French toast for breakfast during my morning walk. $18.97 with coffee & $.85 Lease Fee? before tip. In any case, very good. Very crowded since the drag boat races are starting today. They were making practice/test & tune runs while I ate breakfast with the starting position just outside the window. These races must be tough on boat engines - at least half died on the starting line.

Around noon I walked back to the Pirates Den park (south of the La Paz park & the location of the Black Pearl Restaurant) to watch some of the qualifying runs of some of the boats. Sort of like watching paint dry - a long time between runs, but I stayed for a few photos. While the boats sometimes get as far up the river as my trailer, they are coasting by then. The start is at the restaurant, and the length of a run is 660', 1000' or 1320' depending on class. It looks like they are doing the shortest run today since I was well into the Pirates Den park to take these photos & for most of them I was at the finish line.

More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

The wind has picked up quite a bit and while there are some pieces of blue sky to the east, here in the park we now have heavy clouds - I don't know if the wind will have an effect on the races this afternoon, but if they are still running, I'll go back for some more photos. I will be able to tell if they are running - the engine noise from the bigger boats shakes the trailer! Since I haven't heard a boat since I got back to the trailer, I suspect they are on a weather/wind hold. Around 3:00 a light rain started, getting heavy enough to hear on the trailer roof. It only lasted around 15 minutes but it is still windy. Some of the boats were running by the park around 4:30; I think they were heading home for the night since many of the slots in the no RV area are competitor trailers.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala Bowl.

Until Next Time -