Day 123, Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 20

Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 20, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

A very cool night. Down to 31°F at 6:00AM, the first night below freezing since I've been at Quartzsite. The furnace had no problem keeping the trailer at the 58°F I set the thermostat for, but between the hour it took to bake the pot pie & running the furnace off & on overnight, I found an empty propane tank in the morning. The auto switchover regulator did its thing so I never ran out, but drove to the 76 station to refill the empty at $2.10 per gallon.

A cool day as well, it only got to the low 60's. I spent most of it in the trailer researching single DIN receivers. I may try another brand than the Kenwood just to see if there is any improvement even though it has a better sensitivity rating than any of those I looked at. I do like the Pioneer SuperTuner even though it isn't rated as sensitive as the Kenwood. I really miss the JVC receiver I had in the 17. Unfortunately, it is no longer made.

I did find a new (to me) Anne Hillerman novel (Rock With Wings). I prefer her father's books, but since he is no longer with us, if I want to read about the Leaphorn, Chee & Bernie Manuelito characters, she is the only choice. Don't get me wrong - her writing is OK, but Tony's was better.

Of course, just as I started the book the North Country Library System (my digital public library) informed me that my reservation for Stephen King's Sleeping Beauties was in. Good for only 14 days - good thing I read quickly since I don't read multiple books at the same time.

So, most of the day was spent sitting in the trailer reading & eating Kettle Corn.

Dinner was a grilled turkey Bubba Burger & chips.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 122, Monday, December 4, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 19

Monday, December 4, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 19, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

Today makes it 1/3 of a year on the road. So far I'm still having fun! I got a notice (and a check) from Escape that I helped sell another trailer. Since they don't have dealers, owners that give tours of their trailers get a check from Escape when the new buyer mentions their name. So far I've "sold" 4 trailers!

I'm getting lazy; rather than walk all the way to the 76 station for coffee, I hit the Bad Boy Cafe (about 1/2 the distance) and had a pancake & bacon & weak coffee instead. Back at the trailer I finished a so-so book on the Kindle. Having Kindle Unlimited saves me money, gets me to read new authors, but I have to say some of them will only survive on a publishing organization like Amazon. I suspect putting their stuff on paper, binding & selling it wouldn't work all that well. Electronic publishing does have it's bad side!

After that I decided it was time to do laundry. I did my usual two loads & by the time I got back to the trailer, it was time to start dinner.

Dinner was a Chicken Pot Pie cooked in the oven. It is cool enough out that the extra heat is appreciated.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 121, Sunday, December 3, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 18

Tonight's Sunset

Sunday, December 3, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 18, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

A relaxing Sunday. I started off the day with my usual walk for coffee, then cleaned some of the bug spatter off the front of the trailer. I'm using a spray detailer, which works OK without water.

I took a break to head to town to buy a package of kettle corn, after which I drove to the Kofa Crystal Mountain, where they allow camping to see if the road was good enough to haul the trailer out there. 9 miles of rough dirt road; I'm not sure it is worth t, but it would be a place where the night sky is dark. There was one truck camper parked in the area, but that was it. I guess I'll decide when i get back from Sedona since there is far too much moon between now & then.

There was a pretty sunset...

Dinner was a Bubba Burger & the rest of the asparagus.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 120, Saturday, December 2, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 17

Moon Rive over La Posa West

Saturday, December 2, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 17, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

I had breakfast at the Bad Boy Cafe, scrambled eggs & sausage, hash browns & sourdough toast. Not at all bad, although their coffee is pretty tasteless.

After getting back to the trailer, I read forums & web pages while I finished the coffee, then tried to fix the reception of the FM radio. I bought a 15db amplifier, which actually made the weak stations disappear. I then tried a separate amplified antenna, which didn't improve things. I suspect I got a bad radio, but don't have a good way to prove it. All I know is the one with the same sensitivity specifications I had in the Escape 17 worked great, picking up the Parker NPR station, as did the RAV 4 radio. The Tacoma radio barely picks up the station, and this one with every combination of antenna attempts only gets dead air.

After putting the radio back together, I finished the cover for the ladder storage fence post. A photo of the cover is at today's LakeshoreImages page. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, sitting in the shade. A little after 5:00, the moon rose over the campground. It is at 99% full. It would be a nice photo over the mountains if there weren't power lines & RVs in the way!

Dinner was the last of the Tri-Tip roast in a sandwich.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 119, Friday, December 1, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 16

Ladder Storage 99% Finished

Friday, December 1, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 16, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

I dragged myself out of bed and walked for coffee, although I had some aches & pains from crawling under the trailer yesterday. As I finished breakfast, I called and made reservations for the Scamp Christmas in Sedona rally next week. I wasn't sure I was going to go since it snowed the last time I did it, but the reports show good weather so why not take a break from Quartzsite.

After that it back to the grind. I used my ice chest & already read paperback books to prop the 5" fence post in position so I could mark the locations for the carriage bolt holes. Would have been easy with two people, but eventually I got it mounted. I did manage to reset my watch during the process of tightening the bolts (many, many 20° cranks on a 6" socket wrench inside the tube). I hope it just reset it. While it is only a cheap Timex, it does do a pretty good job of keeping accurate. All I have left to do is add the removable cover. For those that haven't seen the folding ladder, here are a couple of photos showing in the various stages of folding on today's LakeshoreImages page.

I got a call from RV Lifestyles that my awning end cap was in, so I drove over to pick it up. Wrong part. Mostly my fault - I called it an awning end cap, but the part I need is the end cap for the moving arm of the awning. By the time the parts manager got back from picking up a trailer, it was too late to contact Dometic, so it will be Monday before I can get the price & availability of the correct part. Since I messed up the order, I'll have to buy the end cap anyway so I'll have a spare...

Dinner was a Tri-Tip roast sandwich & chips. I was too lazy to fire up the stove to cook the rest of the asparagus. Hope it will keep until tomorrow. I fired up the water heater, so after posting this I'm heading for a very necessary shower.

Until Tomorrow -