Sunday, December 31, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 77

Sunday, December 31, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 31 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

I went to the far end of the park on my morning walk. No sign of and work being done on the Roadrunner floating bar. I was hoping it would open before I leave, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

After lunch I headed out to Walmart for some supplies & stuff for dinner both tonight & tomorrow. While the lines were very long when I went in, by the time I was done shopping I was able to get an open self serve station. The few open cashiers all had long lines.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading - I finished Simon Beckett's Written in Bone and started his 3rd in the David Hunter series by Beckett, Whispers of the Dead. There are a few more - while not on the top of my favorites list, I did enjoy Written in Bone.

While reading & sitting in the Clam I took a few hummingbird & bee photos. Sorry for the quality of the flying bee image - they are hard to catch!

Anna's Hummingbird

A Bee

A Bee Mid Air

Brewer's Blackbird

Anna's Hummingbird

Like all the other hummingbird photos in the area, all these are Anna's Hummingbirds. 

Dinner was a turkey based meatloaf, mashed potatoes & mixed vegetables.

Until Tomorrow - 

Saturday, December 30, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 76

Saturday, December 30, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 30 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A cool morning walk at 44°F. Since it was Saturday, the walk was to the Swap Meet. Nothing much new. 

The RV that was in my old spot across the road left this morning, as did my next door neighbor - they are heading to Quartzsite. 

With the cloudless sun, it warmed up quickly to 71°F by 3:00. Enough wind that it was not all that comfortable sitting outside, but in the Clam it was fine. I did some reading, finishing Colin Falconer's Ends of the Earth, which was a good mix of history & fiction, and started Simon Beckett's Written in Bone, a new author for me. His style is less British than most of the British authors I've read, but so far, so good.

That was about it for the day.

Dinner was an Amy's Cheese Enchilada Meal.

Until Tomorrow -

Friday, December 29, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 75

Friday, December 29, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 29 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A couple more RVs moved into the overflow area. Even the side of the road we were thrown out of is starting to fill with 3 RVs, including one in my old space, and this side is filling up with 5 of us. Some of those on the other side of the road are taking up 2 sites - if there are many more coming they may have to move. Evidently, lots of folks wait until after Christmas to hit Arizona.

Our Side

Everyone

On my walk this morning I watched a water skier on the Colorado River. A bit too cold for me, but I do wonder if I still have the stuff to slalom; it has been over 30 years since I've been on water skis.

Wednesday's Sunset

We haven't had a lot of vivid sunsets so far this season, but there was one on Wednesday evening.It is again time to take a break from the Cadfael series, not because I'm tired of them, but because the next one has 2 people in line before me at the NYPL. I'll do some other reading until #15, The Confession of Brother Haluin is available. I could read them out of order since they are not serialized to the extent of some other authors, but I try to do them in order. So, I just started Colin Falconer's Ends of the Earth

Around 2:00 I made a shower run. Went to bathroom #9, and while I was in the shower someone went into the one next to mine - the one I couldn't get any water to flow. Somehow, they didn't have a problem. Either he is stronger than me (quite likely) or they fixed it. In any case, I'm clean, and it appears we now have 2 showers in bathroom #9.

A nice afternoon, 68°F by 2:30. I sat outside reading.

For dinner I finished off the tacos from Wednesday.

Until Tomorrow - 

Thursday, December 28, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 74

Thursday, December 28, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 28 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Today was domestic day. I changed the sheets, thus getting my exercise for the day (not really - I did do my usual 1 mile walk) and after breakfast visited with a couple of fiberglass trailer owners that are staying in Quartzsite & stopped in Parker for some shopping and at the park to say hello. 

After that I headed to the laundromat, going back to the Kofa Laundromat, which I prefer over the 16th Street Laundromat. On the way back to the park I got a call from Parker Ford letting me know my truck was done. So I turned around and dropped off the rental a day early - cost was $75.00. By the way, while the Escape (car) had all kinds of fancy features, it drove more like a truck than my truck. You felt every bump in the road. It did nave a brighter back up camera, push button starting, and dual zone climate control, but I far prefer the truck.

Unfortunately, the truck was just a bit more at $3,180.40. The rattle is gone & it has a 2 year parts & labor warranty at any Ford dealer. While I'm not sure, looking at the parts numbers it looks like they used the better cam phasers (with a pert number starting with an "M"), so hopefully it is fixed for more than 30,000 miles. Hopefully, because I priced out a Toyota Tundra that was as close a match to my current truck - it does have a few additional bells & whistles, and I'd be looking at $66,000.00 before taxes. Hard to believe trucks have gone up that much in 5 years - the Ford listed for $43,000 in 2018. 

I also received a text from Walgreens (as well as email, and an automated phone call - they want to make sure you know your prescriptions are ready) so it was off to Lake Havasu City for a test run of the truck. The truck did fine, and Walgreens in Lake Havasu City knows how to do math. My Oswego Walgreens insisted that one bottle of nose spray was a 90 day fill, while counting the number of sprays in a bottle & the number required per day works out to two bottles. I had to pull out my calculator at Oswego to show them the math in order to get the second bottle. No arguments with Lake Havasu City Walgreens - 2 bottles in the bag.

On the way home I stopped at the Lake Havasu City Bashes for some baked chicken and mac & cheese. They also had my favorite donuts - the baked kind, not fried versions, so I bought some of them. The baked chicken at Bashes is much better than Safeway's; too bad they are 30 miles away.

Back at the trailer I put the food and prescriptions away & ate dinner, which, of course, was the chicken & mac & cheese.

Until Tomorrow - 

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 73

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 27 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Another way to early day - off to Parker Ford at 7:30AM. I'm now the temporary owner of a 2021 Ford Escape. While the name goes well with my trailer (an Escape 21) the little 4 banger certainly wouldn't tow the trailer. I don't like having to look up at other vehicles - I'm used to sitting high in the F 150. 

My New Escape

Back at the trailer I unpacked my package from Escape, my new table. I'll need to get some painter's tape to position the mounting hardware so the project won't begin right away. I finished reading Cadfael #11, An Excellent Mystery and, since I already read #12 The Raven in the Foregate, started # 13, The Rose Rent.

I'm not quite sure what the project that chased me out of site M is going to be. I thought it was fixing a water leak, but they are building a set of forms that looks to be a concrete pad. On the way to take a photo I discovered that we have a new addition to the neighborhood.

The Construction Project

Our New Neighbor

Dinner was an El Monterey Chicken Enchilada meal.

Until Tomorrow - 

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 72

Tuesday, December 26, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 26 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

I went out last night to take my annual "Moon" photo. This was shot through a bit of haze with the Nikon Z8 & my 80mm - 400mm lens at 400mm & f:5.6. Some enlarging in Adobe Lightroom:

Last Full Moon of the Month

After breakfast I called the help desk at SUNY Oswego and went through the process to reconnect to my Oswego email address. I was able to make the connection, however I still cannot add the account to my MacBookPro mail app or my iPhone. I have to use a web browser to read my mail. A bit of a PIA, but at lease I can read the mail.

After lunch I headed to Safeway for some supplies, them moved my laundry baskets (My dead storage) from the truck to the Clam in anticipation of taking the truck to Ford in the morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent attempting to move web pages from Safari to Chrome. Finding the passwords that I haven't had to enter in years is not a lot of fun!

Dinner was turkey tacos.

Until Tomorrow - 

Monday, December 25, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 71

Monday, December 25, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 25 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Merry Christmas!

Even cooler last night at 41°F, but is still reached 67°F this afternoon.

I Facetimed my daughter & family to watch them open Christmas presents (and for them to watch me open mine). All but Karin are down with the flu, and I think she is faking it to take care of the rest of them. Lots of other phone calls - everyone else is doing well and enjoying Christmas. Among the presents from Karin & her family, I received what have become traditional puzzles - Hanayama puzzles, usually one easy one and one that takes days. The easy one (a #3) was done in about 30 minutes, but I'm still working on the hard one (a #5).

After my walk & breakfast I spent the day reading. During my walk I finished listening to Charles Todd's The Murder Stone, and started Whispers Underground, an audio book by Ben Aaronovitch.

Other than that, not much going on. I played around with Google's Chrome browser, which is the one recommended by the IT folks at SUNY Oswego. I don't like it as much as Safari, but that may be just I've used Safari for so long. In any case, I'll give it a try.

Dinner was an air roasted Cornish Rock Hen, new potatoes, and broccoli & cauliflower. To make it a Christmas dinner I used a real plate rather than the usual paper plates!

Until Tomorrow - 

Sunday, December 24, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 70

Sunday, December 24, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 24 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A little cooler than previous nights at 46°F overnight, but it did get up to 69°F today. 

I spent much of the morning attempting to fix my Oswego email with no success. After that I decided to try to start a new Fiberglass Trailer Rally map. The old one that lived at the Fiberglass RV Forum was taken down by the owner. I had to switch out of my favorite browser (Safari) since Safari & Google Maps do not work well together. I probably should switch out of Safari for everything, but I like some of he features that are only available with it. Still, I have compatibility problems with many of the upgrades with my banking sites as well as others.

For anyone interested in checking out the progress on the map, here is a link.

That was about it for the day - the map project took up all of the afternoon.

I did get a notice from the NYPL that my Cadfael #11 book - Ellis Peters's An Excellent Mystery was available.  Managed to get the email just before it crashed.  Since I already #12, I also downloaded #13 The Rose Rent.  Since it only takes a day or two to read one of the series and the loans are for 21 days, I have no problem getting through 2 of them before the loan expires.  I can only download 3 books (including audio), so I'm at my limit for downloads.

Dinner was a Butterball turkey burger, asparagus and peaches.

Until Tomorrow - 

Saturday, December 23, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 69

Saturday, December 23, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 23 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A little more rain overnight, never heavy and in bursts. By morning, partly cloudy and cool at 52°F. Evidently, Quartzsite got his pretty hard - many sections of AZ 95 were closed at the washes that cross it, although all are open this morning. I watched my radar app & the storm sat over Quartzsite for quite a while. It seemed to stop moving north and just sat there. We got very little rain with a few puddles showing this morning. 

I went to the swap meet on my morning walk. Nothing new, although there is rumor that the vegetable folks will be coming after New Years; still no kettle corn. I ordered biscuits & gravy at the food truck. Good biscuits, good but very hot coffee, lousy gravy. 

A little too cool to sit out in the Clam; 56°F at 11:30. I finished Wendigo, and while I probably won't read any of the author's other books, it was a good story poorly told. I'm currently reading Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni. For some reason, I've been turned off on lawyer & trial books, but I do like most of his.

My vermilye@oswego.edu mail account stopped working. If you need to contact me through email, try jonvermilye@gmail.com. Hope I can clear this up but no one is at the Oswego help desk until Tuesday.

Dinner was a Benihana Hibachi Chicken & Rice Bowl.

Friday, December 22, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 68

Friday, December 22, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 22 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

The predicted rain rained in around 11:00AM with 5 minutes of rain so light that you could hear it on the roof of the Clam, but it dried immediately (outdoor humidity is 38%). It started again around 2:00 with much the same result. Still, very heavy clouds, and later, a mist that could almost be called light rain, but not loud enough to hear on either roof - the 320 watts of solar panels on the trailer roof cranked out 2 amps at best; most of the day nothing. 

I did a bit of reading in the clam - finished The Match, and started Wendigo by Vaughn C. Hardacker. Very poorly written, but I'll probably finish it and put him on my "No" list for future reading.

I spent most of the day either in the trailer or the Clam. I did finally meet my other next door neighbor.

While it has been very light rain or mist during the afternoon, my radar app shows some heavier rain on its way. They even have flood watches & warnings for most of the towns in the area. For some reason, Parker is not one of the named towns.

Dinner was the other half of yesterday's Tillamook pizza.

Until Tomorrow - 

Thursday, December 21, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 67

Thursday, December 21, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 21 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Another warm night, maybe the last for awhile, according to my weather app. The heat didn't come on until near midnight, and that was with an open window near the thermostat.

After my walk & breakfast I sat outside and read for awhile. Eventually, I headed to Walmart for some washers and a pair of shorts. Hope i get a chance to wear them! Back at the trailer I re-staked the Clam, adding the small washers to keep the nail heads from slipping through the large fender washers. As long as tomorrow's rain is not accompanied by strong winds, it should do well.

Not much else going on. I am reading Harlan Coben's The Match

I put the sides on the Clam.  Even if the rain is light enough not to be a problem, it is going to be cool for the couple of days, so it might be more comfortable sitting out of the wind.  I could even stick an electric heater inside if it gets too cool.

Dinner was a Tillamook Three Cheese Supreme frozen pizza (well, it wasn't frozen by the time I ate it). I've never seen Tillamook pizzas before, but I like their cheese & ice cream. The pizza was excellent, at least for a frozen pizza.

Until Tomorrow - 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 66

Wednesday, December 20, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 20 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Sorry for the late posting of yesterday's journal.

I went out for my morning walk and a hot air balloon was floating above Parker.

Balloon Over The River

I got a morning phone call from the office letting me know that they were going to do some construction on the site next to my trailer & I could move across the road if I wanted to. I'll wait to see if the construction is more trouble than packing up the Clam & trailer, although my black tank is 2/3 full so if I moved I could also dump. 

It took me until 2:00 in the afternoon to decide to move. While the digging (they have a broken water line) might not raise all that much dust, filling it in could be a problem. So, I'm across the street in site E. I didn't finish the dump & move until after 4:00. Takes much longer if you have been in a site for 3 weeks. Of course dealing with the Clam adds to the time. While they advertise it only takes a minute to set up or take down, they don't consider the time to stake & unstake the 6 tie downs. I have to pick up some smaller fender washers for the nails I use as tent stakes. The normal nail like tent stakes with the green plastic top were almost impossible to get out of the desert ground. The 6" nails I use for the ground cloth are not too hard to remove, but the heads are too small for the large fender washers necessary for the large holes in the tie down straps on the Clam. 

Any how, I'm in my new home.

Dinner was a couple of chicken tacos made by my new/odd neighbor. He had no choice in the move since the leak was at his site, and now he is one site closer to me. 

Until Tomorrow - 

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 65

Tuesday, December 19, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 19 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Another warm night that didn't turn into a warm day - still only 58°F at 11:30AM. 

I decided that this would be a good day to try out the Black Pearl Restaurant at the Pirate's Den (the RV park next to the La Paz County Park) for breakfast. Unfortunately, when I got there on my morning walk it was still closed. Evidently they only open at 9:00AM on weekends; the rest of the week they open at 11:30. So, back to the trailer & my own bacon & eggs breakfast.

Another gloomy day; we even had a short bout of very light rain around 5:00AM. There was some sun around 8:00, but the clouds are back. I finished Wintering, and started The Turn of Midnight by Minette Walters. I've read a couple of her books, but this one is a bit difficult to get into, probably because it is book two in a series & I believe one should have read book one first. I'm still listening to The Murder Stone by Charles Todd as an audio book while I do my morning walk. 

I just got a call from Escape Trailer Industries that my folding shelf is ready to ship. I decided a small shelf on the dining area side of the kitchen wall would be useful. I often put my drinks on the stove cover while eating inside, but it isn't the most convenient location. I will have to modify the seat cover to be able to open it fully once the shelf is installed, but that is a minor change.

I got a knock on my door telling me I had two packages at the office. One was the Christmas package from Karin & her family, and the other was the part I ordered to fix the Maxx fan. I won't be able to install it until I get home since I have to reach the middle of the roof, but I wanted to be sure I had the part. I guess they replace a number of them - comes with photo assisted directions.

I tried switching to Verizon, and while it looked good on a speed test with a fast ping and over 40Mbps, in reality it took forever to load web pages. Even the campground WiFi was more usable. I went back to AT&T.

Dinner was cottage cheese, fruit, and a yogurt.

Monday, December 18, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 64

Monday, December 18, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 18 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A busy day. After my walk & breakfast I read for a bit, then packed up the dirty clothes & headed to the laundromat. I decided to try the 16th St Laundromat. OK, but I like the Kofa laundromat better. While the overall prices are about the same (a quarter more to wash at the 16th St, but 9 minutes per quarter vs 8 at Kofa), the Kofa has cleaner floors. I ended up with dirt on my sheets when folding them from them hitting the floor. 

On the way back I stopped at Ford & scheduled the cam phaser repair. I wonder why I had to stop in to get scheduled; they never called. In any case, it goes in on Wednesday, December 27th.

I stopped by Safeway for milk, and saw that they had turkey thighs in the hot food display. I prefer dark meat, and it is rare that you find turkey thighs. I've always looked for them (usually raw that I can bake myself) when on the road around Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc but while there are lots of turkey breasts, no thighs. Wonder what happens to them? So, I bought one. Big mistake. I don't know how they managed to destroy a turkey thigh, but either Jennie-O of Safeway managed to take my favorite part of a turkey and turn it into a stringy, greasy tasteless chunk of meat. Very over cooked, and in pieces in the bag. Oh, it was also very salty. I made a sandwich with it for lunch, and did the same for dinner (along with fresh asparagus) but overall very disappointing.

After lunch I pulled a chair out of the Clam and sat outside reading. There are 2 hummingbirds. With the heavy clouds, the bees were not crowding the feeder, so the hummers came back. Today was the first time I saw 2 at once. Fighting, of course. Current book is Wintering by Katherine May. It is non fiction, which I rarely read, but was highly recommended. 

Around 4:00 I headed for a shower. I went to building 9 even though I like building 6 better because building 9 is a bit closer, and there was a prediction for rain. In fact, my not so accurate AccuWeather App said it was raining (it wasn't). It did look like it could start at any time & I wanted walk in the rain a shorter distance if it happened. It didn't.

As mentioned, dinner was a turkey sandwich & asparagus with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Until Tomorrow - 

Sunday, December 17, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 63

 Sunday, December 17, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 17 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

After my walk & breakfast I did my usual on line reading. I'm still using the AT&T cell modem, although the speed is all over the place. I've even had the data rate slow enough that internet radio timed out. Other times it shows over 60Mbps data rate. I tried the park WiFi and at times is is better than AT&T. I may switch to Verizon for awhile.

It warmed up quickly; I was outside by noon. Still reading The Wedding Guest, but will probably finish it tonight. No availability announcement from NYPL on An Excellent Mystery.

No hummingbirds at the feeder. I washed the outside & refilled it hoping the bees would give up, but they are there in force. By 4:15 they all left, but I still haven't seen a hummingbird come by to check it out.

Dinner was a Chicken Raman Noodle with a bunch of left over rotisserie chicken thrown in.

Until Tomorrow -

Saturday, December 16, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 62

Saturday, December 16, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 16 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

I'm glad for many of the contributions by the Australians, for example I love to hear a didgeridoo make its way into a musical piece, but their idea of a chicken & mushroom pot pie is a long way from mine. First, finding any chicken was impossible, and there were very few mushrooms. Lots of crust. Still, it didn't upset my stomach as much as a Marie Callender's Creamy Mushroom Chicken Pot Pie (although that might be because it was less than half as much pie). In any case, no recommendations for last night's dinner of a Boomerang Chicken & Mushroom Pot Pie.

Not much sun for the morning walk. Even though it was warmer than the last couple of days ar 54°F, if felt cooler with the clouds. 

I went on line to do my bi monthly check of my retirement plan to be sure I can afford to be retired; Looks like I'm still doing OK, (although if I had to go back to work after being retired for 22 years, it would be "interesting"). Electricity has not changed all that much since I retired, but the equipment for theatre sound & lighting has already gone through a couple of generations, leaving me way behind; I doubt I could figure out how to turn on a modern sound console. I remember how difficult it was to catch up after being away for 2 years (drafted into the army) to catch up with the shift from individual components to integrated circuits in the electronics field.

After reading my usual forums & journals, I continued with The Wedding Guest, an Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman. I finished Never Pick Up Hitch-Hikers! last night, which I enjoyed, and am still waiting for the New York Public Library to make her Cadfael #11 An Excellent Mystery available. Never Pick Up Hitch-Hikers! was one of Ellis Peters's stand alone novels. She had an amazing oeuvre of work, although most od those written as Ellis Peters were some kind of mystery novel. She also wrote under her actual name - Edith Mary Pargeter.

The poor hummingbird(s) is fighting bees. They found the feeder, and when there are only a few it doesn't seem to bother the hummers, but when there are 3-4 at each "flower" (the feeder has 4) the birds look, but bypass a stop for a drink. The bees seem to leave late afternoon, so the hummingbirds do get a chance to feed late in the day.

I met a couple trying to figure out the layout of the sites in the overflow area (here). The layout is a bit confusing, and there is only one hand drawn map kept at the office showing which spaces are RV slots & which are the open space for the RV's picnic table & stuff. They try to show you at the entrance booth, but by the time you get to the sites, any memory of which is which disappears. They have to leave the site they are in & since they plan to be here until the middle of January, they will move over here.

Dinner was a chicken & fresh salad with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Until Tomorrow -

Friday, December 15, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 61

 Friday, December 15, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 15 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Not a lot happening today (I seem to be saying that most days). I did stop by the office & pick up my package - the new propane/CO detector, and did my usual morning walk. As soon as it was warm enough I moved outside to the Clam & read. Finished Less by Andrew Sean Greer and found it interesting, well written, but a bit surprised that it won a Pulitzer. I am waiting on Cadfael #11, An Excellent Mystery, and while I wait (I'm next) I am reading one of Ellis Peters stand alone novels, Never Pick Up Hitch-Hikers!

By the way, just to be mean to my friends & relatives back east, today is the 21st day without rain (or snow) & at 5:20 it is 73°F outside the trailer. It will cool down quickly when the sun sets; 43°F is predicted for the overnight.

Dinner was a Boomerang's Chicken & Mushroom Pot Pie.

Until Tomorrow -

Thursday, December 14, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 60

 Thursday, December 14, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 14 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

I listened to the grackles dancing on my roof - they seem to stop by almost every morning around 8:30. I haven't dug out the ladder to climb up & see what they are doing, but since they only hang around for about 10 minutes, I don't think they are building nests.

Last night I sat out for a bit with the camera to take some meteor photos. I didn't see any, but did catch a couple of satellites. The only Z mount lens I have is a 24mm - 70mm f:4 that is impossible to manually focus to infinity if stars are the only subject, and it isn't the best glass I own. I should try the adapter with one of my better lenses; maybe tonight. I included an interesting one of an airplane - the wing lights are always on, but flash every 2 seconds or so along with a central red light flashing less often. All exposures are 15 seconds @ f:4 or f:5.6, & ISOs 8000 to 12,800. In any case, nothing to write home about, but a couple of images:

Stars & Jupiter

An Airplane

Looking East

Like the last couple of days, a cool morning, nice for my walk. Well after lunch it is warm enough to sit outside.

Other than a quick run to building #6 for a shower, that was about it for the day.

Dinner was the last of the turkey Bubba Burgers - I have Butterball to replace them, and a salad.

Until Tomorrow -

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 59

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 13 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

The first night in awhile below 40°F, although not much below; 39°F at 7:00AM. After my walk & breakfast I did my usual forum & journal reading, then the Kindle & continued the Ellis Peters binge. I'm only half way through the 20 books of the Cadfael series, although I have already read a few of those after the current one (#9) so I only have 8 to go. 

Another cool morning that warmed up to a comfortable 67°F by 2:00. I moved from sitting in the trailer to sitting in the Clam. Watched a new arrival in a large class A that had problems getting into a site. Eventually, one of the hosts came over & sent them to another part of the park, although these sites are by far the easiest to get into, a least as long as the site behind (or in front) of yours is empty. Since there are only 3 of us in the 12 or so sites, it should not have been a problem. He was towing a car which prevents backing up.

I did another lupper with a meatloaf sandwich & broccoli/cauliflower. This time I turned on the range hood fan & the propane detector stayed green.

Around 5:00 I snacked on crackers & cheese.

Until Tomorrow -

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 58

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 12 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Another cool morning; I wore both a fleece & my vest for my 46°F morning walk. The clouds cleared by mid afternoon, and it warmed up to the high 60's. I even sat outside for most of the afternoon. I finished The Devil's Choice, and started Dead Man's Ransom, Cadfael #9. I did make a fast trip to Walmart & Safeway, picking up a store baked meatloaf for the next couple of main meals. A short line at both. 

I had linner or lupper (depending on what you call combined lunch & dinner) around 2:00 - Safeway meatloaf & a mix of fresh broccoli & cauliflower. I discovered that my propane detector thinks the fumes from microwaving broccoli & cauliflower are propane. It went off, and for the next hour would go off each time I restarted it. I even vacuumed it, which sometimes helps. Now, 3 hours later, it reset OK. 

I ordered a replacement anyway since mine is 6 years old and seems to be getting more sensitive to false alarms. The new one will also do CO, although I have a battery operated CO detector, one with a digital readout which is useful to see the CO generated by cooking with the gas stove. If I don't turn on some ventilation in the trailer either a couple of stove top burners or the oven will generate enough CO to be detected (but so far never enough to make it alarm).

Until Tomorrow -

Monday, December 11, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 57

Monday, December 11, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 11 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

Up & on the road by 7:30AM, awful early for the retired me. It took Parker Ford a little over an hour to diagnose the problem as bad cam phasers. The replacements are on order, and when they come in they will call with an appointment time. At least a 2 day, and maybe 3 day job and an estimated $3,200.00. I will probably rent a car from Ford for the duration of the repair.

Back at the trailer I read my new Kindle. Currently, I'm back on the Cadfael binge, reading # 8 The Devil's Choice, having finished #7, The Sanctuary Sparrow. Before going back to the Ellis Peters books, I read Steven Rowley's The Guncle, a fun read. I sat inside reading most of the afternoon. While it did warm up to 65°F, with the breeze it still felt too cool to sit comfortably outside, even in the Clam.

Dinner was turkey sandwich & a salad.

Until Tomorrow -

Sunday, December 10, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 56

 Sunday, December 10, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 10 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

It didn't get down into the 30's, only the mid 40's overnight, and eventually warmed up into the high 60's by 3:00.

I drove out to the Desert Bar (their website needs work), a 4 mile dirt road in good condition (standard 2 wheel drive passenger cars have no trouble getting there) but lots of dust mostly from those in a rush. An interesting place; it hasn't changed much since my last visit in 2017. All run by propane & solar since it is 4 miles from Arizona 95. The owners have a house in the area, and the bar has a couple of buildings, bandstands, and food areas. Unfortunately, only one of the food areas was open; there were very long lines for food - I waited 45 minutes & by the time I reached the order window, the line behind me was longer. I had a traditional gyro & diet coke for $16.50. One of the photos shows the menu & prices for more standard fare.

A near full parking lot, half cars & trucks, and a large number of off road 4 wheelers, but lots of empty chairs & tables. Most of the empty ones were in the shade - it was cool & the sunny tables were a premium.  More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

The Menu

The Line

The Later Line

The Parking Lot

Back at the trailer I sat outside in the Clam and read. Around 4:30 I headed for a shower, not the usual building #9, but a little longer (.16 miles vs .13 miles) to building #6. Much better lighting, a nicer shower head and temperature control. On the other hand, no shelves in the shower or drying area, a stool type bench, no shower curtain or lip so about 2/3's of the drying area floor gets wet. A few hooks in the drying area. Overall, I like it better than building #9, but can't rate it much higher.

Back at the trailer I decided to skip dinner since I am still stuffed from the lunchtime gyro. Maybe I'll snack at something before bed.

Until Tomorrow -

Saturday, December 9, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 55

 Saturday, December 9, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 9 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A warm night, however it never got much warmer during the day, and a fairly stiff breeze made it worse. I drove to the Swap Meet to see if much changed since last Saturday - nope, although there were a few new vendors, no kettle corn. Verizon had a booth & I discovered that I could get a veteran's discount.  I thought I already had one as a Red Cross volunteer, but that is on my AT&T phone.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the phone with me so I couldn't add it while at the booth. I walked around a little, but since I was wearing shorts, soon decided I'd had enough. 

Back at the trailer I changed to long pants & added my photo vest, then sat outside in the Clam reading. The breeze was enough to make the Clam dance a little, but the no see em mesh screening cut down the amount of wind inside. Eventually, I headed in for lunch.

After lunch I made a run to Walmart. Not at all crowded. Back at the trailer I sat out in the Clam braving the wind & cool weather. My weather app says it is going down to 34°F tonight. If it does, that will be the coolest night since I hit Parker. The week looks to be in the mid 60's to 70°F as highs with low 40's overnight. I can't complain since the night time temperatures here are the highs for back home in upstate NY.

Dinner was a Barber Foods Broccoli & Cheese Chicken bake and creamed spinach.

Until Tomorrow -

Friday, December 8, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 54

 Friday, December 8, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 8 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

A busy day. After my walk & breakfast I headed to the office to pick up my first delivery to the park - an Amazon order. I now have "Jon's Kindle #3", a back up memory card for the Z8 camera & a card reader that will read the camera cards. I no longer need to plug the camera into the computer, only eject the card & use the reader. I prefer the reader rather than the wear & tear on the camera connectors.

After that I decided to set up the Clam. I don't always use it, but since I'm going to be here for 2 months, and I will need to take the stuff I use out of the truck when the cam phasers are replaced, it makes sense. It is also nice for days like today where it provides partial shade and a wind break.

The Clam

After lunch I thought I had a new neighbor, but it was someone that just needed water. He called most of the parks along the river and asked if he could fill his tank (a 100 gallon fresh water tank) and they all said no. He finally stopped here and asked for a one night stay even though he would be leaving as soon as his tank was filled. He was willing to pay the $37.00 one night fee just for the water since he would be dry camping for the weekend 20 miles north of here. They only charged him $20.00.

I walked down to the river with the camera to show what some of the park is like. A couple of things from the photos - There are a number of piles of asphalt millings ( the stuff they grind off roads before resurfacing them) that they use in place of gravel for much of the park. While I'm sure it saves money, some of the chunks are large enough to make walking at night "interesting". Also, there are a number of trees with what looks like bean pods scattered beneath them, although the pods are very hard & when snapped, don't show seeds like beans. Anyone have any idea what kind of tree these are? (More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page)


The Tailings Piles


Using them For Gravel



What Kind of Tree?

After my wandering around the park I headed back to the trailer & started this page.

Dinner was an El Monterey Chicken Enchiladas meal.

Until Tomorrow -



Thursday, December 7, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 53

Thursday, December 7, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 7 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

We are back to 4 RV's; a large class A moved in on the far side of the area next to the single axle trailer that has been here almost a week. 

Not much going on. I did my usual 1 mile walk, then breakfast. By the time I finished reading on the computer it was warm enough to sit outside. Not as hot as yesterday, but in the mid 70's. I decided it was time to head to the laundromat. There are a couple of choices; I tried the Kofa Laundromat. Lots of standard, but commercial rated washing machines at $1.75, and large dryers at $.25 per 6 minutes. Lots of folding tables & laundry carts, even padded stools outside as well as sitting areas inside.

After 2 loads were done & folded, I decided it was time for a haircut. I went back to Mike's since that is my usual Parker barber, forgetting that he was going to be closed for the week to attend his son's graduation from college. So, off the the Safeway Plaza & Loren's Classic Barber Shop. $20.00 for a simple haircut (plus a $5.00 tip). 

Back at the trailer I put away the laundry, then headed for another shower - no matter how they try to get rid of the tiny pieces of hair left over after a cut, there is always enough to itch, and get into pillows, hats, etc to annoy for weeks. 

After the shower I sat outside until dinner, which was left over chili (like stew, always better the second night) and French bread from Safeway.

Until Tomorrow -

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 52

 Wednesday, December 6, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 6 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip 

After my walk & breakfast I did my usual journal & forum reading. Eventually, it warmed up enough to sit outside. I had to find new shade since the large stick built trailer next to me left. I squeezed in between the truck & front of the trailer. Eventually, it warmed up to 80°F on my outside thermometer, which, I have to admit is inside my ladder housing in the sun. Still, the warmest day since I have been in the park; I even ran the air conditioner.

Around 2:00 I headed to the showers. Maybe I should say shower; I decided to try the other shower. A different stall with fewer shelves for stuff, but enough. Otherwise, the same as the further shower I used last time except - no water. Try as I might, I could not get the knob on the water control to pull out, starting the water. I may need to downgrade the showers!

Back at the trailer I read for awhile, unfortunately, on my iPad. I really like the size & weight of the Kindle, and for the way I use it, the size of the iPad. The problem is the iPad is too big to use to read a book. The additional problem is my current book is the last of Kyril Bonfiglioli's four Mortdecai series The Mortdecai Great Mustache Mystery. It is only available as a Adobe copy protected format that is not readable on the Kindle. My iPhone is too small, but the iPad it to heavy. I've only found 4 library books that won't work on the Kindle, so I can live with it. 

Around 3:30 I decided that chili would be good for dinner. I made a run to Walmart and almost left before I started shopping - very long lines at the cash registers. I decided that since I don't really have a schedule, I'd shop & wait as long as it takes. While I was shopping there were a number of announcements "All cash register qualified personnel to the registers". By the time I got my stuff, the lines were down to a 5 minute wait, typical for the Parker store.

Back at the trailer I started the chili made with turkey rather than beef. I still have problems with beef bothering my stomach, so I decided to try it with turkey.

So, dinner was chili. Tastes OK with turkey. I'd better like it since I have 3 large servings left over. You can't buy less that one pound of turkey (or beef for that matter) so it is tough to cut a standard recipe in half or less. I'll have one of the servings tomorrow, and will freeze the other two. 

Until Tomorrow -

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 51

 Tuesday, December 5, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 5 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip

It was a little over 50°F during my morning walk, but plenty of sun and a light wind so it was comfortable. By 11:00 it was up to 67°F and according to my weather app, heading to 73°F. 

After breakfast I did my usual journal & forum readings. Good Sam destroyed the the RV.net forum a couple of weeks ago. I'd be the first to admit that the format of the old RV.net forum was dated and a bit difficult to use, but the new community.goodsam.com is even more difficult to use & adds lots of graphics to slow things down. The way it groups threads is not as useful as the old version. The other problem is it won't let me transfer my old RV.net ID to the new site. Using the "official" method, it tells me my log in name is too long. It won't let me start a new one because I already have an account. I think it is time to say good by...

While I can feel the effect of the Shingrix shot, it isn't as bad as the day after the first one. I did massage the shot location at the advice of my GP, and that helps with the local soreness, bit I have a mild headache and am a little tired. 

The air force flies out of the Parker airport almost every weekend:

An Air Force Airplane

It did warm up to 77°F, warm enough that sitting outside required finding shade. The stick built trailer behind me is large enough to provide plenty. I read for a while, then grabbed the camera to try for some hummingbird photos. I don't thing there is more than one - I haven't seen any battles at the feeder. My iBirds Photo Sleuth tells me this is an Anna's.




Around 4:00 my shade left for Wickenburg, AZ. The pair of guys in the trailer are wholesale meat sellers up & down the river, and have sold out and are heading home to catch some rodeos.

Dinner was a left over chicken thigh & a salad.

Until Tomorrow -

Monday, December 4, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 50

 Monday, December 4, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip

I have a correction - the closed bar that I thought was Fox's isn't; Fox's Bar is further up river at the Fox's RV Resort. The one I liked in 2014, and is closed this winter is the Roadrunner, just outside the park. There are a bunch of floating bars on the river & I got the wrong one. Here is a photo of the closed entry & the bar:

The Closed Entryway

The Roadrunner Bar in 2014

My neighbor in a large class A RV left this morning. There are now just 4 of us in the overflow area, although one of the trailers is parked 3' from mine. The layout staggers sites so that the space behind each site is the table space for another site. No one is directly behind you but the corners of two trailers can be close to each other. You have the equivalent of a site as the space for your table, etc. 

I was beginning to believe that there were no hummingbirds in the area, but after 3 days, one finally found the feeder. At least they don't feel they need to defend "their" flower.

A smooth trip to Lake Havasu City. Even discovered that the US Post Office is just up the street from Walgreens, so I mailed my granddaughter's birthday card. I have always sent singing cards, which require extra postage.

I stopped at Safeway (in Parker) for a few supplies, and picked up a chicken thigh & deviled egg potato salad for dinner. The thigh was fine, not all that impressed with the deviled egg potato salad.

Until Tomorrow -


Sunday, December 3, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 49

 Sunday, December 3, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip

Last night I got caught by the California border & time zone problem in this area. Every once in a while my cell phone & watch will decide that it is across the Colorado River in California. Unfortunately, since the other side of the river is in the Pacific time zone my watch & phone hop back an hour. I have an alarm set for my 7:00 eye drops, and at 8:00 the watch decided it was 7:00 and alarmed. By the time I realized what was going on, it jumped back to mountain time. I remember the last time I spent any time close to the border that setting your time zone manually was a good idea. I hope the watch gets its time zone from the phone - I don't see any way to set it on the watch itself.

I have a shower report. As I mentioned before, there are a number of bathrooms spread throughout the park. I have access codes for #6, 7, & 9. Only 9 has showers. 2 stalls, both identical. Small drying room with 1 hook on the door and a broken hook on the wall (although enough left to hold my shirt & shorts) and a small bench. A standard (but small), dark household shower with a standard showerhead & single knob control. Very fine adjustment on the temperature control. Unfortunately, it has no stop - spins round & round. A 3°- 4° turn is enough to go from lukewarm to uncomfortably hot. Lots of shelves in the shower stall & a shower curtain. Dri-Dek on both the shower & drying room floors so the drying room floor does not get wet. Overall, a B-.

Another lazy day - most of them are going to be like this since there isn't a great deal to do in the Parker area, and not even all that much in a day trip. I did make my usual Sunday phone calls and all seem to be doing well. The weather people exaggerated the snowfall in Oswego. They were talking about feet, Kyle said there was an inch on the driveway that melted the next day. 

I do have a trip to Lake Havasu City tomorrow to pick up some prescriptions & get a vaccination.

Dinner was a cheese brat, salad, and green jello for dessert.

Until Tomorrow -

Saturday, December 2, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 48

 Saturday, December 2, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip

After breakfast I headed over to the Swap Meet. This is held every Saturday during the winter at the far end of the park. Not as crowded as it was my previous visit in 2014. The worst part is the Boy Scouts were not there selling Kettle Corn. In 2014 I had my first exposure to kettle corn, and it was right out of the kettle. I've tried it in the east, and it isn't the same. For one thing, they seem to have the largest kernels of popcorn ever made out here; the eastern version is made with standard popcorn. In any case, none here. I picked up a stainless steel drain screen to replace the plastic one I have in the kitchen sink.


The Swap Meet

The Swap Meet

Towards the river from the area where the swap meet is held is the Black Pearl restaurant at the Pirate's Den Resort, another marina & campground on the river. I discovered during one of my morning walks that the Fox's Floating Dock Bar located at the up river end of the La Paz park is closed for renovations this year. Terrible news - they had great fish dinners on Fridays, and excellent tacos on taco night (which was all day). The prices at the Black Pearl almost require you finding one before you go, although I have to admit it is a nice sit down restaurant compared to the wobbly stools and bar food only at the floating bar.

The rest of the day was spent sitting around reading. I'm up to #5, The Leper of Saint Giles of the Cadfael series (I had already read #4). Her books are addictive!

Dinner was a turkey Bubba Burger and a salad.

Until Tomorrow -

Friday, December 1, 2023

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 47

 Friday, December 1, 2023 - La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ - 6.4 Miles, 3,402.3 Miles for the trip

An overnight light show - thunder & lightning for an hour or so around 8:00. Light rain with the "storm". I left Blue Waters as late as possible (around 11:00) since I only had a couple of miles to go to reach La Paz County Park and didn't want to arrive before who ever was in my site left. No problems with the registration. I did a down payment when I made the reservation, then at today's registration paid another month's worth - I have one more payment to make on January 1st. Averaging the total payment over the 62 days of my 2 month stay works out to $14.90 per night.

I'm in site M in the overflow area, which is about 5 rows of sites from the Colorado River. Basically, a piece of the parking lot with water & 30 amp electric hookups on gravel. Nice & flat - no leveling necessary other than adjusting the tongue after unhooking. The site has a picnic table, long enough for both the trailer & truck, and about 15' of space between sites. There are bathroom buildings scattered throughout the park - the nearest is #9 & a long walk from the site with a 5 digit code to get through the door. 2 showers. I've been told the bathroom #11 is nicer, but for some reason they didn't give me a code for it and it is further away. 

Site M

I'm back on AT&T for the cell modem. A speed test shows 36.7Mbps down & 2.33Mbps up. While Verizon may be as fast or faster (I didn't bother to check), I have used up most of my high speed Verizon data for the month. It does restart tomorrow, but since I seem to have true high speed unlimited on the AT&T, at least they haven't ever slowed me down due to data use, I'll stick with them unless the speed becomes unusable. Verizon slows me down to 600kbps once I go over 50GB until the end of the billing cycle.

I have fly in the trailer that recognizes a fly swatter. Every time I pick it up, it disappears. Hope to get it before bedtime.

I got the shipping address for the park & put in an Amazon order. After that I sat outside in the shade of the trailer awning and read. I'm continuing my Ellis Peters binge by starting #3, Monk's Hood.

Dinner was a chicken thigh & a salad with a chocolate pudding for dessert.

Until Tomorrow -