Day 82, Friday, January 20, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 25

Friday, January 20, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 25, 0 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

Just a little rain overnight, but very cloudy all day. With all my 355 watts of solar I only produced 11 amp hours of electricity. Since I use 30 - 40 amp hours per day, I'm losing!

I drove to Parker to do some shopping at Walmart & Safeway, and stopped in at the Parker Vision Care to see if I could get a pressure test. Their doctor was only in for the morning, so I made an appointment for next Monday.

It rained off & on most of the day. By the time I got back to Quartzsite it was almost time for the Friday Fish Fry at Sweet Darleen's. Six of us went a little after 4:00. Very crowded; every seat taken when we got there. We waited around a half hour to find seating for 6 split between two tables. As usual, a good meal at a good price, but I'll be glad when the crowds leave.

There was a steady rain falling when we got out of Sweet Darlene's, but not enough to fill the washes, or even make puddles around the area. Since it is still going, we will see what it looks like by morning. There are a couple of trailers parked in some of the smaller washes. If they fill up like they did 3 weeks ago, it is going to be "interesting".

As mentioned, dinner was the cod dinner at Sweet Darlene's.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 81, Thursday, January 19, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 24

Ascending Hot Air Balloon

Thursday, January 19, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 24, 0 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

A little after dark I took a few photos of the stars since I don't expect to see them for a few nights (rain & clouds predicted). The last image includes a rising hot air balloon. They sell them in a couple of places here at Quartzsite. They consist of a paper or plastic balloon with a "burner" on a wire frame below the balloon. The user lights it & it drifts into the sky. 

Unfortunately, they eventually the heat source goes out & it fall to earth, sometimes on a RV. Even worse, sometimes the balloon catches on fire & they fall to earth with the heater still flaming. They are outlawed in some areas, but evidently, not here at Quartzsite. There are times during the show that you can see a dozen of them in the air at once. Pretty, but dangerous. At least the desert doesn't have a lot of flammable ground cover, but you get nervous when you find one of the metal frames next to your trailer.

After breakfast I made a run to town for propane & to pick up my package at Quiet Times. Arizona/US 95 (they split at Main Street) was busy enough that a left turn, even with a turn arrow, took two or three cycles of the light. Only one ahead of me waiting for propane, and the small parking area at Quiet Times was empty. Not so for the streets! While there are not as many arrivals today as yesterday, it is still packed.

Back at the campsite I spent most of the day in the trailer ducking the rain. Right now it is trying to clear, but there are enough clouds that I'm only getting 1.8 amps of charging from my solar panels. On a clear day it would be around 15. I probably won't have the batteries back to full by the end of the day. I'm posting this early to use the solar panels to power the laptop as much as possible.

I'm not sure what I'll have for dinner - a sandwich inside if the weather doesn't clear, a grilled chicken patty if it does.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 80, Wednesday, January 18, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 23

La Posa West is Filling Up!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 23, 0 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

I made a short walk for coffee this morning, stopping at a food truck across from K&B Tool. While a shorter walk, at $3.00 for filling my mug compared to $.50 to $.65 at the 76 gas station, and about the same quality, I'm not sure it is worth saving the steps.

After breakfast I packed up the trailer & headed to the dump station. I could have gone another day or two, but the weather predictions are for rain (although only 50% - 60%) and we are parked between two washes. No problem with rain where we are, but if there is a lot of it, we might have problems getting out.

The line at the dump station wasn't too bad, at least for Quartzsite during Big Tent times. About a 40 minute wait for 5 vehicles. I really think they should have a "small trailer" line, like the 15 items or less at the grocery store. I dumped in 5 minutes, while some of the RVs took 20. I only had to wait for one vehicle at the water fill station.

Today was one of the nicest, clear skies & warm 70°F plus temperatures. We sat around watching many RVs driving by looking for space. The place has really filled up; we have reached the point where people are parking in the road when there are more than one way in & out, and much closer than the rules (15' minimum between vehicles). It will only get worst over the next couple of days. Glad I dumped today!

I took a photo of an Ultralight & the moon, as well as one of Linda's Sunrader Classic, one of the few Class C RV's that is built the same way as fiberglass trailers - an upper & lower half combined with a belly band. Much better than having a seam at the edge of the roof that eventually leaks. Unfortunately, they, like all the Toyota based Class C's, are no longer made. I also included a photo of the view from my trailer to the northeast showing how crowded La Posa West is & some Class A's & a 5er that are parked closer than allowed & partially blocking one of the roads into our area. We still have 2, so I guess we can't complain.  More photos at toady's LakeshoreImages page.

Dinner was Spaghetti, meatballs & sausage.

Day 79, Tuesday, January 17, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 22

Tuesday, January 17, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 22, 0 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

After a cool night I made the usual run (well, walk) for coffee, ate breakfast, did some reading, then headed to the Laundromat. I expected it to be very crowded because of all the short term visitors for the Big Tent Show at the end of the week, but was just about normal. After folding everything & heading back to the trailer, I stopped at Quiet Times to see if DHL delivered my cables. Nope; because of the holiday they said they only got a small amount of mail from the post office & expect a large delivery tomorrow. I'll check back in a day or two.

Back at the trailer I put the laundry away, spent 10 minutes making the bed (good time for anyone making a bed that has walls on three sides), and sat out and read. Mel stopped by asking for some help finding out why a nearby trailer couldn't turn off their awning lights. We played around metering the switch, and were about to cut the wires to the lights since they were drawing a continuous 1.5 amps 24 hours per day when the owner dug out a remote. Seems the wall switch has a relay in parallel that is switched by the remote. After a bit of fiddling, we got the lights turned off.

We also discovered that the tires were at 35 lbs, and should have been at 65 lbs. Mel had a 120V compressor, she had a Honda 1000, so they are slowly pumping the tires up while I cooked dinner.

Dinner was the remainder of the 4 Cheese Ravioli with 5 cheese sauce, but instead of snap peas, a length of chicken sausage.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 78, Monday, January 16, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 21

Home of Crystal Hill

Monday, January 16, 2017, La Posa West, Quartzsite AZ, Day 21, 0 Miles, 3,991.7 Miles For the Trip

I got a call this morning from DHL in Phoenix, and discovered why my package from China was delivered to the Post Office rather than Quiet Times. It seems that DHL doesn't deliver to street addresses in Quartzsite, so they repackage shipments & mail them to the Post Office. The Post Office doesn't accept packages addressed to a PO box (unless it is one of theirs), so it is easy for things to get lost or sent back. So, just in case someone suggests paying extra ($30.00 vs $12.00) for a package from China to Quartzsite using "Expedited Delivery", don't, it only make delivery questionable, and if you get the package, takes longer than standard air mail. Hopefully, my new GPS to camera cables will be here tomorrow (no mail today - Martin Luther King holiday).

After breakfast, coffee, and computer time, I sat outside for a bit (still a little cool with a 5-10 MPH wind & 60°F) until 1:00 when I headed to the Kofa National Wildlife Preserve, and Crystal Hill. It is one of the few places where you are allowed to pick up rocks on BLM property. No tools or digging, even with your hands (although there are signs that plenty of people went at the veins of quartz with a rock hammer), but there are sections of the hill that are covered with pieces of quartz. I'm not sure why I went, since I did the place last year & never found anything better than what is here at Quartzsite, but I keep hoping to find an actual quartz crystal. I did find one piece that had two of the normal 6 sides, but that was about it for crystals.

After that it was back to the trailer and some sitting outside.

Dinner was fresh 4 Cheese Ravioli with 5 cheese sauce & snap peas. Enough cheese?

Until Tomorrow -