Day 120, Saturday, December 2, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 17

Moon Rive over La Posa West

Saturday, December 2, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 17, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

I had breakfast at the Bad Boy Cafe, scrambled eggs & sausage, hash browns & sourdough toast. Not at all bad, although their coffee is pretty tasteless.

After getting back to the trailer, I read forums & web pages while I finished the coffee, then tried to fix the reception of the FM radio. I bought a 15db amplifier, which actually made the weak stations disappear. I then tried a separate amplified antenna, which didn't improve things. I suspect I got a bad radio, but don't have a good way to prove it. All I know is the one with the same sensitivity specifications I had in the Escape 17 worked great, picking up the Parker NPR station, as did the RAV 4 radio. The Tacoma radio barely picks up the station, and this one with every combination of antenna attempts only gets dead air.

After putting the radio back together, I finished the cover for the ladder storage fence post. A photo of the cover is at today's LakeshoreImages page. I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, sitting in the shade. A little after 5:00, the moon rose over the campground. It is at 99% full. It would be a nice photo over the mountains if there weren't power lines & RVs in the way!

Dinner was the last of the Tri-Tip roast in a sandwich.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 119, Friday, December 1, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 16

Ladder Storage 99% Finished

Friday, December 1, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 16, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

I dragged myself out of bed and walked for coffee, although I had some aches & pains from crawling under the trailer yesterday. As I finished breakfast, I called and made reservations for the Scamp Christmas in Sedona rally next week. I wasn't sure I was going to go since it snowed the last time I did it, but the reports show good weather so why not take a break from Quartzsite.

After that it back to the grind. I used my ice chest & already read paperback books to prop the 5" fence post in position so I could mark the locations for the carriage bolt holes. Would have been easy with two people, but eventually I got it mounted. I did manage to reset my watch during the process of tightening the bolts (many, many 20° cranks on a 6" socket wrench inside the tube). I hope it just reset it. While it is only a cheap Timex, it does do a pretty good job of keeping accurate. All I have left to do is add the removable cover. For those that haven't seen the folding ladder, here are a couple of photos showing in the various stages of folding on today's LakeshoreImages page.

I got a call from RV Lifestyles that my awning end cap was in, so I drove over to pick it up. Wrong part. Mostly my fault - I called it an awning end cap, but the part I need is the end cap for the moving arm of the awning. By the time the parts manager got back from picking up a trailer, it was too late to contact Dometic, so it will be Monday before I can get the price & availability of the correct part. Since I messed up the order, I'll have to buy the end cap anyway so I'll have a spare...

Dinner was a Tri-Tip roast sandwich & chips. I was too lazy to fire up the stove to cook the rest of the asparagus. Hope it will keep until tomorrow. I fired up the water heater, so after posting this I'm heading for a very necessary shower.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 118, Thursday, November 30, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 15

My iPhone Mount

Thursday, November 30, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 15, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

I started on the first (and I hope the most difficult) project, mounting the 5" fence post for storing my folding ladder under the trailer. Because the trailer fiberglass shell hangs a little below the trailer frame, I had to add a spacer - a couple of 2"X2"s. I don't have any power saw or my hand saw with me - there is a limit to how many tools I carry. Did you ever try to cut a 2"X2" with a 32 TPI hack saw? Don't - it takes forever. Anyway, bolting (actually machine screwing) the wood blocks to the trailer frame took most of the afternoon - drilling holes into the frame over your head isn't much fun. I find the older I get, the more difficult it is to crawl around under the trailer (particularly on Quartzsite gravel). A job that would have taken less than an hour at home with the proper tools, a creeper, etc takes forever out here in the desert.

At least it was a nice day to work outside. Lots of cloud cover to keep the sun away, but warm enough for short sleeves. I was only down 20 amp hours after toasting a bagel for breakfast, and even with the clouds, the panels put them all back by sundown.

I'll finish up the storage tube tomorrow, and start on the radio antenna. I did get one other thing done. I've been looking for a good way to mount my iPhone at the head of the bed since I like to use it as a tuner for internet radio. I already have a USB/lightning cable run between the position & the radio and have been balancing the phone on the window crank. It works until the alarm goes off; the buzzer shakes it off the crank, which unplugs it. Since the alarm goes off to remind me when to take my eye drops, it goes off a lot! So, I found a mount that looks like it will work.

Dinner was a Tri-Tip roast grilled outside, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. It is a cut rarely found in my home town, so I only get to cook it here, or while traveling in the west.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 117, Wednesday, November 29, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 14

Wednesday, November 29, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 14, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

Hard to believe I've been here two weeks!

Today would have to be called "Super Shopper" day. I headed out early for the Lake Havasu City Lowes to pick up my 5" X 5" PVC fence post that I will attach to the back of the trailer & use to store my folding ladder. As long as I was heading to the "Big City", I also made a bunch of stops, knocking off most of the items that were on my shopping list. I even found a 12V DC FM antenna amplifier. I don't know if it will help, but the reception I've been getting on the trailer's FM radio has been terrible. I tried replacing the short outside antenna supplied with the trailer with a longer one, and it didn't help. I added a 4' piece of wire run between the antenna and the refrigerator vent housing & it helped, but I still can't pick up the stations the radio in the Escape 17 did, and both have the same specifications. The truck radio is a little better, but I definitely was spoiled by the excellent radio in the RAV4, and the one I installed (using an amplified antenna) in the 17. We will see if the amplifier helps.

I now have a bunch of projects - the ladder storage fence post, the FM antenna amplifier, and adding the tilting hinges to the roof top solar panels.

I got a call from my son while wandering around Lake Havasu City and the water heater is in & working. They also discovered that the upstairs zone valve failed, so they will replace it in the morning. All in all, an expensive project!

By the time I got back to Quartzsite, it was 4:30, and I didn't feel like cooking dinner. I tried a new (for me) restaurant, The Mountain Quail Cafe. It had been recommended to my by a cousin of the owner last year at either a campground or rally, but I never managed to get there. Very good food. A bit more expensive than Sweet Darleen's, but I have to say, better quality. A fresh salad with excellent honey mustard dressing, and either fresh or frozen corn with my chicken fried steak. The vegetables at Sweet Darleen's are canned...

Until Tomorrow -

Day 116, Tuesday, November 28, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 13

Tuesday, November 28, 2017 - La Posa West, LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ, Day 13, 0 Miles, 3,253.8 Towing Miles For the Trip

After breakfast I headed to RV Lifestyles, one of the larger RV dealers in Quartzsite, to order the part for the awning. $20.08 including shipping. I hope it is the right part - the awning model numbers copied from the paperwork packed with it didn't seem to mean anything to Dometic, so they "think" they are sending the correct part. On the way back I stopped at a couple of the LTVA offices & traded in some books for new ones (well, not so new, but new to me).

I got a call from my son - Lowes left a message on my answering machine in Oswego that my order was in. I called the Lake Havasu City Lowes, and they did have the order. Even though I gave them my cell number to call when it was ready, they used my home number. At least they didn't send the fence post to Oswego! The end caps sent by UPS are also in, so I'll pick it all up tomorrow. Kyle also told me he still had not heard from the heating people to schedule the replacement of the water heater. I called, complained, and they now promise it will go in tomorrow. I hate doing things by remote!

I've mentioned the things I like about Quartzsite, so it is only fair to include those I don't. Just after dinner, the wind picked up enough to start blowing the Quartzsite "sand" (actually dust) around. It starts with the mountains to the east disappearing (they are the furthest away). The ones to the west start to dim (this time, unlike other times, they didn't also disappear). I quickly closed up the trailer, but some dust always makes it inside. For what ever reason, my combined smoke/CO alarm went off. Since the smoke side is photo electric, you would thing it would be the dust that set it off, but for what ever reason, the alarm indicated excess CO. Since I wasn't burning anything but the refrigerator, and that is sealed from the rest of the trailer, I'm not sure what the cause was, but eventually I got tired of it and took out the batteries. They went back in this morning & it remains quiet! This is the third time this has happened, usually with a sudden change in the weather.  I may look for a replacement tomorrow.

This morning there were mostly blue skies, but anything that was horizontal outside had a layer of dust on it. Since the solar panels are cranking out close to their usual amount & the batteries were full by noon, I didn't climb up on the trailer to wash them. While the dust isn't anywhere near as bad in the trailer, there is a light coat on the laptop monitor.

Dinner will be the second batch of chili. There is also one in the freezer for the future.

Until Tomorrow -