La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 15

The TV Mount (Yes, it is Crooked!)

Monday, January 20, 2014, La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 15 - 0 miles 4,878.8 For the Trip

After breakfast I stopped by the campground office to add the next two weeks to my stay. When I registered, I was told that after moving to a permanent site all they would do is check my electric meter & book the second two weeks at the monthly rate plus $.16 per KWH used. Evidently, they were mis informed - if I wanted the monthly rate I would have to stay for a month starting today. So, I'm booked at the weekly rate which is a bit more expensive, but with no electric charge. I looked at how much electricity I used over the first couple of days, and the monthly difference came out to about $40.00 in favor of the monthly rate, so I'm still much less expensive than the state parks.

I drove into Parker to get the parts to hang the TV. On the way back I saw an Escape 19 in the golf course parking lot. I bought some 4mm machine screws to mount the TV to a couple of pieces of aluminum that hang from some hooks in the cabinet over the foot of the bed. The directions that state the length of the 4mm machine screws was wrong, so after building the brackets & finding the screws wouldn't tighten, it was back to Parker for shorter ones. So, it is hung. Not quite level - I still need to file the hole in one of the hangers a bit larger to level it, but, like all projects, it took long enough that I'll save adjusting it for later.

I was planning grilled chicken for dinner, but it is not quite defrosted. While thinking about what to make, someone rode by on a bicycle and shouted - "The tacos at the Roadrunner Bar (the floating bar next to the campground) are great". I forgot that Monday is Taco Night (well, since it starts at noon, I guess it should be called Taco Day). Six beef tacos for $5.00. They also have 4 chicken or fish tacos for $5.00, and since I can't eat 6 beef tacos, I decided to try the chicken & fish. The chicken - OK, but the fish tacos were excellent.

Until Tomorrow -

La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 14

Sunday, January 19, 2014, La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 14 - 0 miles 4,878.8 For the Trip

A typical Sunday - read the Syracuse paper on my iPad, played a couple pages of Candy Crush (I'm up to level 29) took my walk around the campground, and relaxed. I was out of milk so I made a run to Parker. Stopped in Walmart, and on impulse, bought a 24" TV. I got tired of setting up my computer to watch TV, even though I hardly ever watch it. Now I have to find a way to mount the TV in the trailer - I'll probably hang it from the cabinets at the foot of the bed, but I'll have to make some hardware to accomplish it. I have to admit it is far easier to just turn on a TV than add all the parts to make the Mac thing it is one.

Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs.

Until tomorrow -

La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 13

Stearman Biplanes

Saturday, January 18, 2014, La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 13 - 0 miles 4,878.8 For the Trip

Since i didn't take any photos today, I added one from yesterday. Lots of non photo activity. After breakfast it was off to the Swap Meet to see if anything new appeared. Even though there were fewer booths than last week (I was told many of them are either at the Balloon Festival or Quartzite) I did manage to find the two things I was looking for - a pair of spare locking pins for my Weight Distribution Hitch, and 2 1/2" hose clamps. Spent a whole $1.65 (well, $6.65 since I also bought a bag of Kettle corn.)

While at Lake Havasu City yesterday I stopped at Lowes and picked up some parts for adapting my 12V compressor so it can use my standard air hose connectors. It solves a problem for single travelers - if you want to blow the water out of your lines to winterize the trailer, you really need two people using a non threaded water line to air hose adapter. The plastic one I have has no threads on the air side, so you need to hold the air chuck on it. If you are doing that, you can't go into the trailer & open each faucet one by one, and certainly can't operate the spring loaded toilet valve. At home it is no problem since I made water line to air adapter that uses standard air hose fittings for my 120V compressor. The problem is the 12V compressor uses an 1/8" air hose & all my fittings are for 3/8" hose. Lucky, I found 1/4" pipe fittings with 1/8" barbs at Lowes. So, my 12V compressor things it is a big boy with real fittings! Looks a little silly since the fittings are almost as bit as the compressor.

I was able to do two other projects because my package from Amazon came in. I have an XM radio receiver that I use in the RAV4, and when I can't get a public radio station, I move it into the trailer. While the radio is a docking version, I only have one dock & one power cord so it is a pain to move it back & forth. I bought the missing pieces, and spent a couple of hours threading cables through the trailer cabinets so the radio can go at the head of my bed & still plug into the Sony iPod dock that sits on the extension table at the foot of the bed. More of a project than I expected, but aren't the all!

The last was to replace the propane regulator. The last time I went to fill an empty tank I did the usual - switch the lever to the full tank & disconnect the empty one. The problem - gas hissed out the connector for the empty tank. That isn't suppose to happen. What's more, if it is doing that, I suspect it is also feeding the trailer from both tanks even though it is suppose to only switch tanks when the first is empty. So, I ordered a replacement. Again, not a simple change since the replacement was a different brand with different mounting holes, etc. At least the fittings were the same size. It is also a bit tighter fin inside the tank cover. After hooking everything up & checking for leaks (none) I tried disconnecting one tank & no hissing! Probably should throw away the old regulator, but I always like to have a spare, so it went into the RAV4 storage area for awhile. Now every time I open the storage area I smell propane.

The projects took up most of another beautiful day. I got to sit in the sun and read for about an hour before dinner, which was a cheeseburger & fresh string beans.

Until tomorrow -

La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 12 & The 4th Annual Havasu Balloon Festival

Havasu Balloon Festival

Friday, January 17, 2014, La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 12 - 0 miles 4,878.8 For the Trip


I drove to Lake Havasu for the 4th Annual Havasu Balloon Festival. While it is a weekend affair, I'm going to stick with just doing Friday. I parked far to far away from the actual festival. What I thought was the "free" parking was 1/2 mile from the festival; there was parking much closer. At least on the way back there was a bus that drove most of the way.

Like other balloon festivals, lots of other things going on. Many food & craft booths, an entertainment stage, and amusement section. They also had sky divers, three Stearman Biplanes that flew by, and, of course, balloons. A large field with quite a few balloons, however very few that actually flew. I'm not sure why - it wasn't very windy. Maybe they didn't have enough paying customers. In any case, most of them inflated, stayed tied to the chase cars, and then deflated. I still got quite a few photos. Some are at today's LakeshoreImages page, the rest on their own page.

After that it was a 30 mile drive back to the campground. I stopped at Bashes in Lake Havasu for some fried chicken for dinner, not that I needed it; I had a Gyro at the festival, although far from the best I've had.

Until tomorrow -

La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 11

Thursday, January 16, 2014, La Paz County Park, AZ, Day 11 - 0 miles 4,878.8 For the Trip

One of the warmest days here at La Paz - it hit 79°F. Unfortunately, the wind is back, making it uncomfortable to sit outside. I didn't do much more than take my walk around the campground. I did add some tent stakes to the bottom of the hummingbird hanger to keep it from blowing over. No photos today.

Dinner was soup & a sandwich.

Until tomorrow -