2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 137

 Day 137, Wednesday, March 4, 2026 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood, NM, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 4,629.5 Miles for the Trip.

42°F overnight, 55°F for my morning walk, 72°F at noon, and the high for the day was 73°F.

Not as windy as yesterday, but fairly heavy clouds making it feel cool sitting outside.

Last night I finished C. J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station (The Company Wars #1), and started Dana Stabenow's Shugak #17 A Night Too Dark. I have 2 more of the Shugak books downloaded which will finish the series for me.

I attempted to reserve a couple of sites at Longbeach Conservation Area in Wellfleet, Ontario for a one night stop over on our way to the Algonac Rally in September. It seems that every year the site forgets my password and requests a new one. This time it failed to email me the new password link, would not let me change the dates on the reservation page, then told me my zip code & phone number were in the wrong format. Eventually, I logged on through my Apple credentials and managed to secure the sites for both of us. Since I was not able to talk to anyone and only was able to leave voice mail for the Bolerama reservations this July, I sure hope it worked. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading. I thought about a shower, but is is a longer walk than I'd like in shower shoes on gravel & shorts in the cool wind. On top of that, looking at the last time I used the showers here they were lukewarm, and the water so soft that it took forever to rinse. I'll hold off until tomorrow, hoping that the showers at Hueco Tanks are OK.

Here is a "Golden Hour" photo of the rocks on the hill behind my trailer.

I'm running on Verizon since I put the Starlink Mini antenna back in the trailer to save packing it up in tomorrow's cold morning predicted 42°F. Same with the water hose. I will use the electric overnight for heat...

Dinner was a Scott & Jon's Shrimp Scampi Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 136

Day 136, Tuesday, March 3, 2026 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood, NM, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 4,629.5 Miles for the Trip.

52°F overnight, 61°F for my morning walk, 72°F at noon, and the high for the day was 73°F.

It is still fairly windy so sitting outside in the shade is too cool & in the sun too hot. I did sit out and read for a bit hiding under the shade of my chair.

Eventually the wind got strong enough that I headed inside. My weather app said 30MPH gusts. Not shaking the trailer, but not comfortable sitting.

I ran some speed tests on the internet here at the park. AT&T, while it shows one bar on my phone or modem does not do a connection to the internet. Verizon looks OK at 82.67Mbps down & 11.74Mbps up. Starlink came in the winner at 127.64Mbps down & 16.64Mbps up. 

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada with Spanish Rice & Beans Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 135

Day 135, Monday, March 2, 2026 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood, NM - 185.6 Miles, 4,629.5 Miles for the Trip.

49°F overnight, 59°F for my morning walk, 84°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day at City of Rocks was 83°F.

I climbed out of bed after my 7:00 eye drops (I usually go back to sleep for an hour or so) and called the Long Beach Conservation area in Wainfleet, Ontario to make reservations for the Guidos & me for the July Bolerama rally (today is the first day for reservations). I didn't get to talk to anyone but left a message. I hope we get the sites we asked for since some of them are pretty bad. All are either dry or 15 amp electric sites, with a few sharing a single 15 amp receptacle. I couldn't get back to sleep so I started an early day with lots of on line reading.

After packing up I headed out of Roper Lake at 10:00. The plan was to go through Silver City, NM to get to the City of Rocks State Park, but my GPS kept insisting that I go to Lordsburg to Deming to City of Rocks. I thought I fooled it, but soon discovered that I was 12 miles from Lordsburg so I followed the GPS.

I'm in site E6, an electric & water site since my favorite dry site #1 was already booked. Needed 2 1/2" side to side & 1/2" raise on the tongue. I don't plan on going anywhere so I left the truck attached. The site has a fire ring/grill & a picnic table with a large shade structure covering it. The site is fine gravel. Three nights at $35.00 per night plus a $10.00 reservation fee.

Site E6

I thought about setting out the hummingbird feeder and discovered that I left it at Roper Lake. Could be worse - after setting up I discovered a Jackery 100 watt solar panel against the wall around the picnic table. I told the hosts but they don't have a way to contact the previous folks in the site so it depends on how far they get before they find it missing to determine if it is worth coming back for it. I did discover that it makes a great wind screen for the grill, but I'll leave it in case the owner comes back for it.

City of Rocks is a pretty park. Here is a quick photo of some of the rocks. I'll probably do some more over the next two days.

Dinner was a grilled cheese brat & a salad.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 134

Day 134, Sunday, March 1, 2026 - Roper Lake State Park, Stafford, AZ , Day 2 - 0 Miles, 4,443.9 Miles for the Trip.

51°F overnight, 61°F for my morning walk, 80°F at noon, and the high for the day was 87°F.

A warm night although it cooled off towards morning. After my walk & breakfast I read on line for a bit. I set up my Starlink Mini since, while AT&T looked fast, at times it slowed to a crawl, and Verizon kept dropping my internet radio stations. Starlink - 195Mbps down & 67Mbps up. A first for me - I set it up, went to the alignment section of the app and it said it was perfect. Good guess!

A little before noon I headed to the Station Laundromat in Stafford, about a 6 mile drive. Clean, only 3X and up front loader washers and large dryers. $7.00 for a load in a 3X washer & $.25 per 4 minutes to dry. 40 minutes dried the washer load. Very little seating; I dug out one of my camp chairs and sat outside under the open roof. On the way back I stopped at a Walmart for milk & stuff. 

Back at the trailer I put the food away as well as the washing, then did my monthly update on my retirement & banking spreadsheets. After that it was sitting outside in the shade reading. While the hummingbird feeder is down a 1/2", I haven't seen one.

Around 4:30 I headed to the bathroom for a shower. 2 stalls, one disabled. I used the one with a 5" entry lip. A shelf well out of the way of the shower but both shower & drying area are the same room & level - no shower curtain. A low volume 3" shower head with adjustable water, plenty of hot water. Only one hook in the room. 3/4 of the floor gets wet but clothes on the bench stay dry. Overall, a B-.

Back at the trailer the sun was down enough to enjoy sitting out & reading until dinner.

Dinner was a Healthy Choice Sweet Sesame Chicken Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 133

Day 133, Saturday, February 28, 2026 - Roper Lake State Park, Stafford, AZ - 137.5 Miles, 4,443.9 Miles for the Trip.

56°F overnight, 62°F for my morning walk, 82°F at noon on the road, and the high for the day was 87°F.

I took my time getting out of the park since I only had 130 miles to Roper Lake. Most of the drive was on I 10 with the last 30 miles on US 191. I arrived at Roper Lake around 1:15, checked in and headed to site 22. I'm in a water & electric back in site on asphalt for 2nights with a shaded picnic table and a combined fire pit/grill. $51.80 per night including a $3.60 reservation fee. 1/2" off side to side & I dropped the tongue 3". After hooking up the utilities i fired up the AC. 80°F in the trailer.

Site 22

The view outside my front window (if I had one) includes the first snow covered mountains I've seen in awhile. I checked AT&T's internet speed - 32.67Mbps down and 1.32Mbps up. 

A Bit of Snow

I put out the hummingbird feeder, but so far, no takers. I sat outside and read until dinner.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Chicken Tikka Masala Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 132

Day 132, Friday, February 27, 2026 - Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 4,306.4 Miles for the Trip.

54°F overnight, 60°F for my morning walk, 76°F at noon, and the high for the day was 90°F.

After my morning walk I turned on the AC since the trailer hit 79°F and sat outside in the shade reading. I finished The Final Twist by Jeffery Deaver, one of his Shaw series which have not been one of my favorites of his books, then started C. J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station (The Company Wars #1). 

While sitting outside I was able to catch a couple of hummingbirds fighting (at least I assume they were fighting). Also had a visit by a Gila Woodpecker sitting on a cactus. It likes to wake me up in the morning tapping on the cover of the campground electrical box outside my window. Very loud! You have to look closely at the hummingbird fight - they blend in well with the background. A couple more photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

The Winner!

After that it was back to reading, chasing the shade around the trailer. 

Dinner was Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 131

Day 131, Thursday, February 26, 2026 - Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 4,306.4 Miles for the Trip.

57°F overnight, 63°F for my morning walk, 80°F at noon, and the high for the day was 86°F.

I shut of the AC, opened some windows and turned on the MAXX fan just after dinner when it got down to 75°F outside & inside the trailer. While the Houghton is much quieter than my old Domestic AC, it is nice to have the quiet of the MAXX fan.

I spent the morning sitting outside reading. I finished Dana Stabenow's A Taint In The Blood, so I'm back on the Kindle, reading The Final Twist by Jeffery Deaver. 

After lunch I headed to the post office to mail a birthday card. The closest post office was in an Ace Hardware store, one of the largest I've seen, and only 4.5 miles from the campground. 

After I got back to the trailer I sat outside in the shade and read. 

Around 3:00 I headed into the trailer for a shower. It is only fair to rate it - at best, a C-. No shelf or drying room (unless you consider the rest of the trailer as the drying area), and a very small shower room with a toilet in the middle. Plenty of hot water but you do need to wipe down the entire thing after showering. As I said, a C- at best.

Back outside in the shade.

Dinner was a Healthy Choice Chicken Lo Mein Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 130

Day 130, Wednesday, February 25, 2026 - Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 4,306.4 Miles for the Trip.

55°F overnight, 59°F for my morning walk, 79°F at noon, and the high for the day was 84°F.

A warm night, although it did get cool enough for the furnace to come on for one run around 6:00AM. 

My big project for the day was to head to an Allstate office to get a proof of insurance card for the next 6 months for the truck. For some strange reason, the price was the same as for the last 6 months, although back in September they raised it $200.00.

That was about it for the day. I did take a couple of photos of a Costa hummingbird:

Costa Hummingbird

The rest of the day was spent sitting outside in the shade of the trailer reading on my too small iPhone. I did finish listening to The President is Missing by Bill Clinton & James Patterson, and attempted to download When No one is Watching by Alyssa Cole.

Dinner was a Chef Ramsay's Chicken Marsala Pasta bowl, one of my favorites that I managed to find at the last Walmart.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 129

Day 129, Tuesday, February 24, 2026 - Gilbert Ray Campground, Tucson, AZ - 130 Miles, 4,306.4 Miles for the Trip.

53°F overnight, 65°F for my morning walk, 75°F at noon while on the road, and the high for the day was 85°F.

Lots of 2 lane roads as well as 30 miles on I 10. I arrived at Gilbert Ray around 2:00 after making a stop at a Walmart in Coolidge for gas ($2.99) and a few supplies. I better eat a lot out of the freezer; it is full. 

No one at the entrance station, so I drove to the water & dump area to take on water (the sites are all electric only) then headed to my site. I've stayed in this site before as well as a couple of others. I should have taken one of the ones below the first cross road of the "H" shaped A section of the campground since it saves driving the entire loop, but I grabbed the wrong one. 

I'm in site 56, an Electric only site on desert sand not too far from the bathrooms. No showers & $35.12 per night for 4 nights. It needed 1 1/2" side to side & 1/2" rise on the tongue to level. As soon as I finished leveling the trailer I fired up the AC for the first time in a long while. 85°F outside & 80°F in the trailer. I put out the hummingbird feeder on a branch that someone left wedged in some rocks. After leveling I put down one of my plastic mats to try to keep the sand out of the trailer.

Site 56

After setting up I sat outside in the shade. It took about 15 minutes for a Verdin to find the hummingbird feeder, and another 30 for the first hummingbird. I'm reading Dana Stabenow's A Taint In The Blood. A bit of a pain because it isn't available as a Kindle book so I have to read it on my phone or the iPad, one too small and the other too big. 

AT&T is showing 71.56Mbps down & 36.65Mbps up so I didn't bother to check either Verizon or Starlink.

Dinner was a chicken burger & a salad.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 128

Day 127, Monday, February 23, 2026 - Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction, AZ, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 4,176.4 Miles for the Trip.

57°F overnight, 62°F for my morning walk, 76°F at noon, and the high for the day was °F.

Another warm night with the furnace only firing up twice during the early morning. After my walk & breakfast I sat outside reading. I went for a walk to the dumpsters a little after noon and a roadrunner ran by carrying lunch. All I had was the iPhone so not the sharpest images, but you use what you have.

The batteries were at 90% before breakfast, 95% at noon, and 100% by 3:00. 

I headed to the showers around 4:15. One of the 4 individual showers open. A small drying area with 4 hooks & a bench. A wall between the shower & the drying area whose floor stayed mostly dry. The wall was low enough that you could put your shampoo & soap dish on it. A 4" low volume shower head. All would have been great except no hot water. Not even lukewarm - ice cold no matter where you adjusted the handle. I'd give it an A if there was hot water, but without it a D+.

Dinner was a Saffron Road Korean Inspired BBQ Chicken Meatball bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 127

Day 127, Sunday, February 22, 2026 -Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction, AZ, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 4,176.4 Miles for the Trip.

56°F overnight, 65°F for my morning walk, 72°F at noon, and the high for the day was 77°F.

A warm night. The furnace with the thermostat set at 62°F only came on twice during the early morning. The batteries were down to 92% before breakfast. With making a pot of coffee & toasting a bagel, they were at 90%, and by noon at 97%. While my weather app called for cloudy skies, nothing but blue skies so far.

I finished listening to James Lee Burke's The Hadacol Boogie audio book during my morning walk and went back to listening to James Patterson & Bill Clinton's The President is Missing. As to the Kindle, I'm reading What She Saw by Mary Burton. Libby just informed me that Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak book #11, The Singing of the Dead library loan is available, so that will be next.

After lunch I took the trash to the dumpster, then sat outside reading. Annoying flies, but so far they don't bite.

I dug out the Z8 & set up the hummingbird feeder. It took about 3 minutes for a Verdin to find it, and another 20 minutes for a Anna's Hummingbird to find it. Another kind of "bird" flew over while I was sitting outside, which, according to Google AI is a Bell AH-1Z Viper,. I also took a photo of the Superstitions.

Dinner was left over chicken & potato salad.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 126

Day 126, Saturday, February 21, 2026 -Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction, AZ - 170 Miles, 4,176.4 Miles for the Trip.

36°F overnight, 62°F by noon while on the road, and the high for the day was 72°F.

A cool night. Rolling up the water hose was not as easy as when it is a bit warmer. I was packed up & hooked up by 10:30 and headed out to the Lost Dutchman State Park. Almost all of the drive was on I 10. Traffic was terrible around Phoenix, as usual. Not a place I'd enjoy living. I listen to KJZZ, the Phoenix NPR news station, and they always announce multiple traffic accidents blocking various lanes during the morning & evening rush hours. I went through a little before 1:00 and it was still a zoo with slowdowns to 20MPH (but no stops) and no accidents.

I'm in site 2, a dry site on asphalt with a picnic table & fire ring with the Superstition Mountains out my back window. I'm here for 3 nights at $25.00 per night plus a $3.20 reservation fee.

After setting up I headed to Fry's grocery store for some supplies, including Grape Zero Gatorade in the large bottles. An interesting store. Almost as big as a Texas HEB, and similar but still missing some stuff. For example, the last HEB I was in had all 6 varieties of Bubba Burgers (no, they are not from Texas - Made in Georgia for a company based in Florida). There was 1 box of standard Bubba Burgers at Fry's. Lots of frozen meals, but missing some of the ones I like. A very long wait at the Deli, most of the time only one person working the counter.

Dinner was a couple of Fry's chicken legs & thighs and a bowl of Egg Potato Salad. Edible, but nothing to write home about.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 125

Day 125, Friday , February 20, 2026 - Quail Run RV Park, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 4,006.4 Miles for the Trip.

46°F overnight, 61°F for my morning walk, 66°F by noon, and the high for the day was 66°F.

A little windy this morning but nothing like Borrego Springs. I am doing a few repairs. My outside thermometer decided to stop working overnight. I cleaned up the battery contacts and is seems to be back to life. I have a cell phone hanger attached to the window frame next to my bed. I don't use the phone for much besides as a source for my radio when listening to internet radio stations. The plastic mount broke around the screws holding it in place. I predrilled a couple of new mounting holes that will do until I get home and put in a replacement. Yes, it is a bit boring here so this is as exciting as it gets!

The Repair

I spent the rest of the day reading. I finished Dana Stabenow's Killing Grounds and started #9 in the Kate Shugak series, Hunter's Moon. 

Dinner was a Farewell for the Season gathering at the clubhouse. Pulled chicken (or pork) sandwich, excellent potato salad, and, for the first time for me, apple baked beans which I loved. Apple pie for dessert. One of the better dinners of the trip.

After dinner I headed for the showers, 3 stalls plus a disabled one. The unusual thing - they were pay showers, $.25 per 2 minutes. At $62.20 per night I expected free showers, That said, they were large, had adjustable temperature (although it needed to be all the way on hot) a shower head that had 4 different types of spray and a mostly dry drying area separated by a 1/2" lip and a shower curtain, with a chair for a bench & 4 hooks. I would have made it with three quarters, but it took an extra quarter to rinse because the water is soft. All in all $1.00 for the shower. Overall, I'd have to say a B- that would have been a B+ if they were free. 

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 124

Day 124, Thursday, February 19, 2026 - Quail Run RV Park, Quartzsite, AZ - 179.7 Miles, 4,006.4 Miles for the Trip.

46°F overnight, 63°F by noon (on the road), and the high for the day was 68°F.

Just a normal amount of wind overnight. I dumped the tanks, but was not able to wash out the hose as much as I would have liked - the park water was shut down due to a leak. 

A mix of 2 & 4 lane roads with about 30 miles on I 10. I was going to stay at Dome Rock, but decided that I wanted to do laundry, shower, etc so I headed to town & a Quartzsite RV park. They sure are not cheap. $62.20 per night for full hookups on a large gravel corner site with a concrete pad. Level side to side & I had to drop the tongue 2".  No picnic table or fire ring.

Site 56

After setting up I did laundry at the park - $2.50 for both wash & dry with carts, a folding table, and comfortable chairs. 

By the time I was finished, it was dinner time. I decided to go to the Mountain Quail Cafe, had a shrimp dinner & iced tea for $21.89 plus tip.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 123

Day 123, Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - Borrego Springs Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 3,826.7 Miles for the Trip.

48°F overnight, too windy for my morning walk, 69°F by noon and for my late walk, and the high for the day was 69°F.

I only thought it was windy yesterday. This morning the trailer was rocking the worse I've felt since I started trailer camping. A Winnebago next to me had its roof stripped, a bunch of palm trees lost their dead palms (one into my trailer, and one that covered a truck further down the row) and it took 5 helpers to close up an A frame trailer that partially collapsed. 

My weather app said a peak of 75MPH for gusts, and it felt like it. Lost power around 9:30AM, and the wind started calming down around 10:30AM although there are still gusts that rock the trailer. Once it died down I checked the outsides of the trailer. I lost one wheel chock, but later found it. We are suppose to get high gusts until around 4:00 but right now the sun is out and it is dead calm. I can hear chain saws in the distance and the power is still out. Some folks are running their generators. The folks across from me were planning to do a test run of powering their trailer by solar alone with no hookups. They got their chance!

A ranger stopped by and mentioned that power was out for the entire park as well as most of Borrego Springs. That was reassuring since while the power was out in my trailer (well, at 19V AC), the lights were still on in the bathrooms. I discovered that they are solar powered. Lots of wind damage around town including buckling of the ranger's garage door at home. I'm running on solar & the inverter. I went for my morning walk at 12:30 and took a few photos of the stripped palm fonds.

Last night I finished reading Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series #7 Breakup, and started #8, Killing Grounds. Some of her books are available at my Kindle Unlimited for $0.00, and others at the NYPL, but a few are only available as Kindle editions for $15.00 each. I'll skip those. The paperback versions from Amazon are running from around $20.00 to as much as $95.00.

I tried to set the time on my laptop. Both my iPhones, one on AT&T & the other on Verizon have no problem believing I'm in California & the Pacific time zone, but my laptop insists I'm in Phoenix, AZ (Mountain Time). The only way I can get it to switch to the Pacific Time Zone is to shut off automatic & manually enter the correct hour. I'll have to do that again tomorrow when I'm back in Mountain Time. I will have to do the same with both of my temperature monitors. While they do show the correct time to the second (they shut off the display at 2:00AM and "talk" to a time server) they don't know where I am, so they need to be told the time zone. The laptop is suppose to know where I am but evidently, doesn't. I give up. I switched it to the correct time on manual settings, and 10 minutes it changed from Phoenix to Cupertino, CA, but decided it was 12:20 instead of the actual time of 1:20. This is while the time setting was on manual.

The electricity came back at 3:20.

Dinner was a Boston Market Chicken Pot Pie.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 122

Day 122, Tuesday, February 17, 2026 - Borrego Springs Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 3,826.7 Miles for the Trip.

47°F overnight, 55°F for my morning walk, 61°F by noon and the high for the day was 66°F.

The wind died down although more is predicted for this afternoon. There was still a bit of off & on rain overnight. Partly clouded skies for my morning walk and most of the rest of the morning.

While I checked out the showers, I didn't use them. Unheated & a $1.00 token for each 2 minutes. I still have a token from the last time I was here in my shaving bag, but I guess it will stay there. 

While a few folks left this morning, the park is still fairly full. Everything from 40' motorhomes to half shells, including an Escape 5.0TA. 

I made a trip to check out some new (at least to me) metal sculptures along Borrego Springs Road and on the way back stopped at the Central Market. I picked up a strawberry shortcake that looked better than it tasted, but on the other hand, I found a box of Tabatchnick Creamed Spinach, my favorite and one that disappeared from the Oswego shelves.

I also added a couple more photos of me that Paula took while watching the fireworks & lighting the evening fire.

Back at the trailer I'm doing more reading. I'm currently listening to James Lee Burke's The Hadacol Boogie, taking a break from The President is Missing because Burke's audio book was one I've been waiting a few weeks for. I'll restart The President is Missing once I'm done with The Hadacol Boogie. I'm currently reading another of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series Breakup.

Dinner was a Blake's Country Fried Chicken plate.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 121

Day 121, Monday, February 16, 2026 - Borrego Springs Desert State Park, Borrego Springs, CA - 250.3 Miles, 3,826.7 Miles for the Trip.

56°F overnight, 57°F by noon and the high for the day was 59°F.

Last night's fireworks were somewhat lame compared to Friday & Saturday, but I took some photos:

More at today's LakeshoreImages page.

I skipped my morning walk since I had a long drive today. On the other hand, arriving at Borrego Springs Desert State Park before the 2:00 check in time (even a minute before) doesn't work. They won't let you in. Most of the drive after the first 80 was on 4 lane roads, including 45 miles on I 10. I made a stop for gas at the casino ($3.84 per gallon) along CA 86 which runs on the west side of the Salton Sea. While on a "reservation", not quite the deal as Running Man in Parker where I filled up for $2.76 per gallon.

Rain off & on for the last 75 miles of the trip. I arrived at the park at 2:17 and there was a line of about 5 RVs waiting to get in. Heavy rain that was nice enough to stop while I set up, After setting up the rain started off & on. It stopped again around 4:00 and a rainbow formed in the distance. As that went away the wind picked up enough to shake the trailer even with the stabilizers down. Now, at 5:00 both the wind and the rain are back to off & on. I was planning to do my "morning" walk here, but no way!

The batteries were at 90% when I arrived and the converter was drawing 15 amps putting 34 amps into them after I hooked up. I'm in site 34, a full hookup pull through on asphalt with a picnic table & fire ring for $45.75 per night for 3 nights. Other than the asphalt strip, all else is on sand. 

Site 34

I checked both Verizon & AT&T - Verizon was 53.23Mbps down & 30.08Mbps up, while AT&T showed 65.18Mbps down & 15.45Mbps up. While there are a few palm trees so the north is clear enough for the Starlink Mini, I suspect that if I put it out the tripod would blow over.

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada with Rice & Beans bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 120

Day 120, Sunday, February 15, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Day 7 - 0 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

55°F overnight, 60°F for my morning walk, 67°F by noon and the high for the day was 74°F.

Another show last night. They didn't include a drone display, but lots of fireworks.

Paula took a photo of us watching & photographing the fireworks:

Cathy, Me, and Mike

As usual, many more photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

I watched Mike & Cathy pack up & head out. They offered their slot next to Paula's Escape 21, but I think I'll stay here. A mix of clear sky & clouds with a steady wind & gusts to 30MPH. I sat outside reading for most of the afternoon.

Around 3:00 I headed to the showers. Paula packed up her trailer and headed out around 3:30, planning to drive about 1/2 way home to save a 9 hour drive tomorrow. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing more sitting outside reading.

I was planning o eat at the food truck, but it was closed. On the other hand, Scoops Ice Cream was open. Unfortunately, they were out of Cappuccino Crunch, the wonderful flavor I had yesterday, so I had to settle for strawberry. Good, but not as good as Cappuccino Crunch. Of course that meant eating dinner backwards with dessert first, but I'm an adult and allowed.

Dinner was a Lean Cuisine Orange Chicken Bowl.

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 119

Day 119, Saturday, February 14, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Day 6 - 0 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

49°F overnight, 55°F for my morning walk, 65°F by noon and the high for the day was 72°F.

Last night's fireworks included a couple of full shows. A beautiful evening sky, and they started individual rounds before dark. I split up the images by aspect ratio to make them fit better. They did a fancy drone display that I caught the end of.  Many more photos on today's LakeshoreImages page.

While there was plenty of sun for the morning walk, it was still a bit cool. I wore a long sleeve shirt & my vest, although by the time I finished, I didn't need the vest.

Most of the day was spent outside reading. 

Dinner was the barbecue which was not worth the $22.00 it cost. On the other hand, the Scoops Ice Cream Truck, while it had a long & slow line, had great ice cream.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 118

Day 118, Friday, February 13, 2026 - Sara Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City, AZ, Day 5 - 0 Miles, 3,576.4 Miles for the Trip

56°F overnight, 60°F for my morning walk, 67°F by noon and the high for the day was 73°F.

Heavy clouds this morning so that even at 60°F, it felt cool for my walk. 

I took some photos of last night's demo fireworks while sitting around Paula's campfire. More photos on today's LakeshoreImages page.

Today was another day spent in the trailer. While it made it up to 67°F by noon with the wind and clouds sitting outside was not all that comfortable. The batteries started off at 72% this morning, and were only up to 73% by noon.

It did warm up enough that I sat outside for some of the late afternoon. The batteries were up to 80% by the end of the day.

I finished Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow and started her #6 Kate Shugak book, Blood Will Tell.

Dinner was a turkey sandwich & chips.

Until Next Time -