Day 72, Tuesday, January 10, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 15

Inside an Empty Big Tent

Tuesday, January 10, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 15, 0 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

Another nice evening, and although it did get down to 49°F during the early morning, it was in the 50's most of the night; the furnace only ran once around 7:00AM. Right now, at 3:00, it is 72°F with a light breeze.

I did my traditional walk for coffee this morning, and after breakfast, my usual forum & web page reading. Around noon I headed to town. The first stop was at Quiet Times to see if my package from China with the replacement GPS cables arrived. They did, but it cost extra because DHL didn't use the proper address & it was delivered to the Post Office. $3.50 instead of the usual $1.00. On top of that, the cables are the wrong ones for the Solmeta Pro 2 GPS. The Nikon end is OK, but the GPS end doesn't fit. I emailed them & hope it can get fixed. The delivery costs were more than the cables, so I hope they don't want them back.

After that it was over to the Post Office to mail my brother a birthday card. I usually send cards that make noise (I guess it is the old sound designer in me) and they require extra postage, so I can't just put a stamp on them. This one was $1.15 to mail to Nantucket, MA. Not too crowded yet - I only had 4 people in front of me; not much different from the Post Office home in Oswego.

I wandered around the booths next to the Post Office & took a few photos, then headed over to the "Big Tent" to take some "before" photos. I was hoping to get a completely empty photo, but they had already set up the dividers between the booths, although none of them are occupied yet. Still, it looks a lot different than it will in two weeks, and is a view you won't see again, at least empty! On the way back I took a photo of the large wash between the show grounds & La Posa West. It is a very short walk between my trailer & the show, although there are only a few spots where you can climb the steep bank on the show grounds side.  More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Back at the trailer it was an afternoon of reading, chatting with Linda & Mel, & relaxing.

Dinner was a couple of Chicken things that I don't have the name of because I got rid of the box to save space in the freezer. Too bad, because I like them, and don't know if I'd recognize the box if I saw it again. They look like UP Pasties, but filled with chicken, cheese & rice with Mexican spices. While I've eaten one cooked in the microwave, it was a bit soggy, so this time they were baked in the Dutch Oven. I had my usually temperature adjust problems & overcooked them, but they came out better than when microwaved. I Can't wait for the Escape 21 with a gas oven!

Until Tomorrow -

Day 71, Monday, January 9, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 14

La Posa West, Take 2

Monday, January 9, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 14, 68 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

A busy morning. After a walk and breakfast I drained the hot water tank for the second time, then finished packing up the trailer for the trip to Quartzsite. I stopped at the water fill station, added a 1/4 cup of bleach to the fresh water tank & half filled it. I also filled the hot water tank with fresh water, then drove over to the dump station to dump the waste tanks. They had a standard hose connection at the dump station, so I used it with my non drinking hose to run the flush system in the black tank.

On the way back to Quartzsite, when ever no one was behind me, I did lots of stops, starts & trailer swaying to slosh the water around the tank. I stopped after driving about 1/2 way & drained both the hot water tank & the fresh water tank. Once I arrived at Quartzsite I stopped at the water fill station at La Posa South & filled everything. Hopefully, all that will freshen the water system. There was light rain on the drive, but most of it stopped by the time I reached my site.

I pulled into La Posa West and discovered some friends (Linda & Mel) were set up near where we were last year. I'm parked just behind their location. We chatted for awhile, then I finished setting up the trailer. While I was gone, they set up the "Big Tent". The show doesn't start until Saturday, the 21, but it does take time to set up the hundreds of booths inside.

It was a nice afternoon. The sun came out & the temperature was in the mid 70's. My brother in Nantucket, MA said a couple of nasty words about my nice weather over the phone - he has 14" of snow on the ground & 20°F outside. I did remind him that the summers in Nantucket are far nicer than summers here at Quartzsite where the temperature is often over 120°F, but somehow that didn't make him any happier!

Dinner will be a turkey Bubba Burger & the rest of yesterday's Rice & Broccoli.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 70, Sunday, January 8, 2017, Imperial Dam, CA, Day 9

Sunday Jam at the Gravel Pit Ramada

Sunday, January 8, 2017, Imperial Dam, CA, Day 9, 0 Miles, 3,923.7 Miles For the Trip

I walked the garbage to the dumpsters & chatted with the golfers as usual (the flat section just above where I'm camped is a 4 hole golf course). A group of about 6 golfers play every morning. It must be interesting - they only carry one club, and on a long shot the ball often ends on a rock, bouncing in any direction. They have made "greens" around the holes - not actual green, but they did remove all the rocks.

After breakfast I read, including the Syracuse Sunday paper, then sat outside for a bit. I took a couple of hummingbird photos & one of the vault toilet. It is only fair to point out what lets me go for 3-4 weeks without dumping the trailer black tank!

Around 1:00 they started setting up for the Sunday Jam Session. A group of about 20 musicians, half guitar players, jam for a couple of hours. I took some photos. Many more photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

During the afternoon I made a run to Squaw Lake for a shower. This time I waited until one of the non handicapped showers was open just to see the difference. Less room, but you had a place to put your stuff. I waited for the shower to stop on its own, and it was about 2 minutes after I showered as long as I could stand it - at least 7 minutes.

I knew when I bought a bag of ice yesterday that I should have used a five dollar bill, but, instead, gave them my last pair of singles. At the shower token booth all I had was a five, so I now have 4 extra tokens. I hope they will be good next year since I'm planning to head for Quartzsite tomorrow!

Dinner will be a grilled chicken thigh, rice & the rest of the broccoli. After dinner I'm going to drain my hot water tank. The hot water smells musty or of algae. I'm going to try adding some bleach, refilling it and letting it sit overnight, then drain it again, along with the fresh water tank during the drive to Quartzsite. I hope that will be enough to clean it up. I don't usually drink the water from the tank, but use it to do dishes & use the hot water to fill my water pik (you don't want to know what cold water feels like in a water pik!)

Until Tomorrow -

Day 69, Saturday, January 7, 2017, Imperial Dam, CA, Day 8

Saturday, January 7, 2017, Imperial Dam, CA, Day 8, 0 Miles, 3,923.7 Miles For the Trip

Another day without photographs. Last night a little after dark a class A pulling a trailer pulled into the section I'm staying in. I met them this morning; a couple from Quebec. We talked for a bit, although my French is non existent, and their English is a bit rough.

After breakfast & some reading I headed back to Yuma to do laundry. I was hoping to make it back to Quartzsite before I needed to do it, but was down to my last pair of underwear (I know, too much information!) Probably a good idea since it was much cheaper than Quartzsite. I also stopped at Fry's for some bleach & paper towels, and found they had turkey Bubba Burgers. The only problem is when I tried to fit them in the freezer, I had to take out the pint of ice cream. As long as I had to eat that, I made a large lunch so dinner will be something simple.

I Facetimed Don & Anne in Binghamton and gloated a bit about the weather. While a bit cool at 60°F today & 47°F last night, last night's temperature here was 20 degrees warmer than their high today. I did discover that one propane tank is empty, but it must have just switched, so I can wait until I get back to Quartzsite & avoid paying $2.99 a gallon.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 68, Friday, January 6, 2017, Imperial Dam, CA, Day 7

Friday, January 6, 2017, Imperial Dam, CA, Day 7, 0 Miles, 3,923.7 Miles For the Trip

Before going to bed I closed the front window cover. The local Yuma NPR station (which I complained about last year, but is working well both here and at Quartzsite - the Parker transmitter) stated 25MPH wind gusts for Yuma & 30MPH for Parker. We had light clouds over night, but enough wind to rock the trailer.

By the way, there is now a Quartzsite & Imperial Dam Classical station, 105.9.  A strange station started in November that plays a continuous stream of so so quality classical music.  Every 15 - 20 minutes, a voice breaks in saying about three words, then back to the music.  Weird!

I did go for a short walk this morning, but called it quits because of the wind. The canceled both the Aerobics & Yoga exercise classes this morning as well.

I spent most of the day in the trailer, reading & updating some of the blog links on my website. I did take a break when the wind died down a bit during the afternoon to carry a bag of garbage to the dumpsters.

It is still too windy to cook outside, so dinner will be a couple of BLT sandwiches. Makes sense since I cooked extra yesterday since the bacon is getting on towards the use by date.

Until Tomorrow -