2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 114

Day 114, Monday, February 9, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ - 11 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

51°F overnight, 54°F for my morning walk, 68°F by noon and the high for the day was 77°F.

I headed out around 11:30. No line at the dump station, and no one behind me. An uneventful 11 mile drive to the rodeo grounds. I'm in B22, a dry 20' X 40' section of a parking lot for a week. A $250 donation to the Sara Rodeo Grounds for 7 nights or $35.71 per night. I had to raise one side 2 1/2" and drop the tongue 3". You best be comfortable with a horsey smell since there are horse droppings all over the parking lot. The ground is very hard - Tough to stake down the mat & I had to use a tent stake to drill holes for the hummingbird feeder & the camping sign.

Site B21

A Present From the Horses

I parked the trailer with the back window pointing at the location of the fireworks so I could sit inside & watch them if I got tired of sitting outside. It also puts the door & sitting area in the shade. I miss the shade I had at Cattail Cove. With one side of the trailer facing the sun even though the temperature only made it to 77°F, inside the trailer it is 83°F at 5:00. I'm sure it will cool down at night.

I sat outside for a bit. The flies are a PIA. So far they don't seem to bite, but they like to land on you. At least one made it into the trailer.

I got a call, text, email and voice mail that all but one of my prescriptions are ready at Walgreens, so I'll head into town tomorrow.

I turned on the radio and it was very loud, then died. I can listen directly to my phone, but it doesn't carry around the trailer.

Lots of empty spaces in the park. I thought most of the fiberglass folks from last year were coming back, but the A sites they were in are filling up with stick built trailers. A Bigfoot arrived, but it isn't Dan & Chris. Dan had a stroke and they won't be coming.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 113

Day 113, Sunday, February 8, 2026 - Cattail Cove State Park, Lake Havasu City, AZ - 65.4 Miles, 3,565.4 Miles for the Trip

52°F overnight, 77°F for my afternoon walk, 77°F by noon and the high for the day was 79°F.

I finished packing up the trailer, made another run to Loves & filled the truck tires, then hooked up the trailer. Said good by to lots of folks that I won't see for 2 years since next year is Florida for me.

I made a short stop at Safeway for a gallon of water & a couple of things, then continued to Cattail Cove. I'm in site 35, a back in on asphalt across from the restrooms. Needed to raise 1 1/2" side to side & drop the tongue 3 1/2". $33.20 with reservation fee for water & 30 amp electric.

After setting up I did my "morning" walk around 1:00. I included a photo of the construction sign for a new section of the campground. A private campground closed & the state added it to Cattail Cove. It will open in March. There are two other fiberglass trailers, another Escape 21 that some friends own but didn't attend the Quartzsite rally, and a Scamp 19. I also included a photo of one of the largest truck campers I've seen on a truck without dual rear wheels. There is a section along the road that they are starting a cactus garden. I included a photo of the existing garden. There are also some fruit trees, although I didn't find the lemon tree that I picked a lemon from for my blueberry pie the last time I was here. I did find some grapefruit trees as well as an orange tree, both with a couple of pieces of fruit on them.

Lots of wildflowers in bloom along all the places where water has run over the winter. 

More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Just before dinner I headed to the showers. 2 large stalls in the men's section, both roll in disabled with a bench in the drying area and a shower curtain between the shower & the drying area. The left one has a bench it the shower and additional rails. An interesting show head - it is the typical 1" high pressure, fine spray types, but they must have drilled out the spray nozzles so that they produce a coarse spray. A big improvement. Plenty of adjustable hot water. 2 hooks in the drying area. While the shower curtain keeps the direct spray out of the drying area, the floor drain is directly under the shower curtain, so most of the drying area floor gets wet. Overall, a B+.

Dinner was a Tyson Broccoli & Cheese Chicken Roll cooked outside in the toaster oven to save additional heat in the trailer, and a salad. The shade of the tree keeps the sun away, but is is still 78°F in the trailer.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 112

Day 112, Saturday, February 7, 2026 - Dome Rock BLM, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 7 - 0 Miles, 3,500 Miles for the Trip

51°F overnight, 67°F for my morning walk, 77°F by noon and the high for the day was 80°F.

I took a photo of the campfire last night with the iPhone 17. It did better than the Nikon Z8.

We actually had a few new arrivals yesterday, and a few left today. I started packing up some of the stuff I didn't plan in using such as the grill, outdoor table, etc. Made a trip to Loves to put air in the truck tires, but there was someone parked in front of the air hose. You can't blame them since the parking space isn't marked but it means I'll have to dig out my Viair compressor. 

I took a few photos during the afternoon.

A few more photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Dunner was an Amy's Enchilada with Rice & Beans bowl. After dinner I folded down the solar panels. After dark it will be out to the campfire. I'll add a campfire photo later.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 111

Day 111, Friday, February 6, 2026 - Dome Rock BLM, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 6 - 0 Miles, 3,500 Miles for the Trip

50°F overnight, 58°F for my morning walk, 79°F by noon and the high for the day was 80°F.

I headed to the swap meet this morning and sold my Lagun table mount & smaller Viair compressor.

Back at the trailer I sat outside in what ever shade I could find. The trailer with the loud generator & dog left so it should be a bit quieter. A steady wind from the west keeps it cooler in the shade, but the strong sun heats up anything it hits. I have been sitting in my shaded chair with the trailer blocking the wind and it isn't too bad.

Around 3:00 I took a walk around the place with the camera.

While it didn't look all that different from yesterday's music gathering, I added a photo of today's. 

Dinner was left over pizza from yesterday's linner. While I am not all that fond of microwaved reheated pizza, it was just too hot to fire up the oven.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 110

Day 110, Thursday, February 5, 2026 - Dome Rock BLM, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 5 - 0 Miles, 3,500 Miles for the Trip

56°F overnight, 64°F for my morning walk, 72°F by noon and the high for the day was 75°F.

It actually cooled down a little during my morning walk as the sun ducked behind clouds. The clouds came & went during the morning. I took the camera with me:

Rock painting started while I started building the day's journal so I managed to get a photo or two.

After that it was off to the laundromat. On the way I stopped at the car wash behind Terrible's & washed the truck. 3 bays + an automatic section with a 7' clearance. The manual bays were all tall & long enough for a RV, and the first bay had a platform high enough so you could wash the roof. While there was a credit card card option, it didn't work. Tokens were $1.00 each & $5.00 worth let me wet down, brush scrub & rinse the truck with a minute left over.

On to the laundromat. Crowded as usual, but I had no problem getting a 3 load front loading machine. $5.50 to wash. Dryers were $.25 per 5 minutes. While my clothes were in the dryer I headed for the showers. $11.00 for 20 minutes. They had a 40 minute option - who can spend 40 minutes in a shower? They do supply soap, shampoo, a wash cloth & towel.

On the way back it was time for a late lunch/early dinner so I stopped at Silly Al's for a vegetarian supreme pizza, the only one I've ever had that included cashews. Very good, as usual. $23.75 before tip for a small 12" pie ($.63 cheaper if you pay cash). I took half back to the trailer.

After putting the clothes away I sat outside & read. Current book is The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson. Around 4:30 I wandered down to the music group for a couple of photos:

More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

There wasn't any real dinner since I'm still stuffed on the late lunch pizza & snacking on my bag of Kettle Corn.

Until Next Time -