2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 117

Day 117, Thursday, February 12, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

55°F overnight, 60°F for my morning walk, 69°F by noon and the high for the day was 74°F.

Not much in the way of fireworks last night, but here are a few photos.  More at today's LakeshoreImages page.

I didn't go anywhere during the day except for my morning walk. A loop around the outside of the park is a little under a mile. Partly cloudy. The batteries started out the day at 73% and by dinner time were only up to 82%. Still plenty even though tomorrow is suppose to be cloudy. I can save some amp hours by heating my coffee water on the stove although the coffee pot only uses around 3 amp hours to make a 3 cup pot of coffee. 

A neighbor with a class C RV moved into site B22, one of the sites next to mine.

Around 3:00 I made a trip to the showers. A bit of a walk, but the building has 4 family style bathrooms, each with a shower. Plenty of room, a large tub sized shower with benches, plenty of adjustable hot water and a removable hand held shower head. Very clean. The bad - no hooks and no bench outside of the one in the shower. You need to balance your stuff on the edges of the sink or on the closed toilet lid. Overall, a C+.

Around 5:00 the Sea Scouts came by towing a boat filled with firewood & ice. We still have enough at Paula's for at least tonight.

Dinner was an Apple Chicken Brat & steamed green peas.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 116

Day 116, Wednesday, February 11, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

62°F overnight, 64°F for my morning walk, 70°F by noon and the high for the day was 71°F.

Heavy clouds overnight & this morning with lots of early morning wind that died by daybreak. At 11:30 the solar panels were only producing 28 watts, not enough to keep up with the basic demand of the trailer let alone charge the batteries which are at 81%. While my weather app says partially cloudy tomorrow, let's hope for enough sun to put something back in the batteries. At least there was no need to run the furnace last night. 71°F overnight in the trailer, too warm for me since I prefer to sleep in the low 60's.

I didn't do much other than sit inside the trailer. During my morning walk I'm currently listening to The President is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson, and on the Kindle reading Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow. I do enjoy her Alaska novels featuring Kate Shugak. 

Since I don't have hookups, I fired up the gas on the water heater to do some dishes. If there is wind against that side of the trailer it dumps CO into the trailer, setting off the alarm. I have a CO detector that has a readout so I can see if it is creeping up before there is enough to alarm. Just a very light wind this afternoon so we will see how it goes. The count made it to 85. 400 is where it sounds the alarm so I guess I'll live. I do wish I could get a better seal on the water heater rim where it meets the fiberglass shell, but I've done just about everything I can think of and there is still leakage.

I went to Bashes for some baked chicken & discovered that they had 1 8 pack of the large Grape Zero Gatorade bottles. 

Tonight will be the first night of any fireworks. Just demos which are usually spaced far apart.

Dinner was chicken thighs, Bush beans & a salad.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 115

Day 115, Tuesday, February 10, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

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

Last night I finished The Compound by Aisling Rawle. It was interesting to read a novel about a reality show. OK for a first book. I started Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow.

During my morning walk I found another Escape, a 5.0TA in the lower section. Not anyone I know. Paula arrived in her new Escape 21 and next door neighbor just as I was getting back from shopping & picking up my prescriptions. No luck on Chicken Bubba Burgers, but the butcher recommended a brand they carry - Red Bird. I'll try one for dinner tonight.

I also bought a replacement Sony radio - a DSX-M55BT, a marine version that may hold up better to the movement & temperatures in the trailer. The removal of the old one & putting the new one in place went OK. I was lucky - the wiring & connector were the same for the new radio as the old one so I didn't need to redo the connections; just plug it in. Even the remote is the same so I have a spare. I was hoping I could leave one in the front of the trailer, but the radio is behind the closet & the remote can't see it. I still need to do some settings adjustments, but that will wait until dark.

Dinner was a Red Bird Chicken burger & Bush beans. The burger was pretty good. I still prefer the Bubba version, but these will do.

Until Next Time -

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 -