WEEK OF: 03-01-2012: PERCULATOR

Being this is Leap Year, and having one extra day really meant nothing to us, other than it’s another election year and I just hate all the political garbage in between TV shows.  One politician knocking down another politician really doesn’t do me any justice and therefore, we choose to watch very little TV. 
So with that said and no more talk about politics, I will let you know how are week went.  This past week the glass to the percolator glass finally broke in half.  It  had a minor little knick out of it, but that isn’t where it finally cracked.   Brian was cleaning it out and getting ready for another morning, when it broke in half.  So the question became what do we do?  Our only problem is that we special order this percolator from Coleman and we would have to special order another glass for it.

Upon going to Coleman’s web page, I soon discover that they are slowly discontinuing parts to this particular model.  However they did still make the glass replacement and it wasn’t really expensive.  But we would have to have it shipped to a business here in Quartzsite and this year she sky rocket her prices for deliveries-providing it would come UPS or FedEx.  If shipped by mail, well then it would have to be shipped all the way back to our NM address and then again shipped general delivery to us here.  To many obstacles…
We could fire up the generator every morning and get out our electric coffee maker until we get back into Quartzsite and/or Parker to find a glass for it. Starting that noisy generator every morning, wasn’t my cup of tea, specially when the generator is directly under the bed and I like to stay nice and warm until the coffee is just about done.
Or Brian could devise a temporary fix until then.  And that is exactly what he did.  He made a temporary fix until we got back into town to find a glass for it.  Here is what it looked like:

He simply took foil and put it over the hole until we could get it fixed. 
Brian checked several junk dealers, the hardware store and no one had this large of a glass for our size of percolator.  So back to square one-to order or not to order.  If we ordered, how soon would the 3rd one break and how many to order?  Along with the regular shipping and handling, we have to pay this lady extra as well. 
Looking at the percolators at Wal-Mart, they didn’t have glass just the top, so Brian thought why do we need a glass, why couldn’t he fix it so that we wouldn’t ever have to worry about it again?  He contemplated on how to go about fixing it and came up with the idea of a water plug or two washers with a bolt & nut to hold it.
We went to Ace Hardware in Parker, taking the lid with us, Brian explained to a worker what he was trying to do.  Took us down the aisle of nuts and bolts.  While Brian was trying to figure out what size would work, this same worker came back with a this stainless steal cap with prongs.  Upon placing in it in the “hole” it was a perfect fit and cheap ($1.40)!  Here is what it looks like now:

Now the question is: will it work?  Yep, best coffee ever!  We even think it perks faster than when we had the glass and I notice less grounds in my cup of joe.  We just simply listen to when it starts to perk and slow down the flame until we know it’s right for us.
Now that’s fix and we once again can enjoy our coffee, the rest of the week went fairly well for us.  It’s starting to warm up more around here.  However the springtime winds seem to be upon us.  The other day we had wind, and an unexpected trace of rain through the night.  Sure wish we could get more rain to help settle all this dust.  The trace we seem to get only makes our car and motorhome show dust mud spots.  I don’t think I have ever seen our home look so dirty as it does now.
Our little dog Leah loves to be outdoors-when it’s not blowing and she occasionally gets a visitor from the neighbor.  It’s a male beagle dog named B.D. and he likes to come over and steal a quick kiss from her and then wonders back home.  The one evening while out walking, we could hear her barking in her kennel upon coming back.  I noticed a four legged critter on our patio; not knowing if it was a coyote or what, Brian goes running home just to discover that B.D. had come a calling!

B.D. is a rescue dog and has learned the art of survival out here in the desert. 
Well soon the countdown to leaving and a new adventure will soon begin.  until next week….

WEEK OF 18-22: TOOTLING

This past week we have just been tootling around Quartzsite and we even took a few ATV trails to see how far we could go in our car without putting it into 4-wheel drive.
We started on BLM road 419 and got between the two  mountains, then the dirt road split in so many directions and not knowing which direction to go, we decided it would be best to turn around.  We have been told that there was an old mining camp back there and that you could get to it by the way of 419.  We didn’t bring our trustee GPS system, so we didn’t want to get lost either.
On the way back we found this saying done in quartz stone:

while out tootling, we decided to check out the LTVA at Lapoosa North and decided that one was way too busy for us to ever consider staying.  Some areas even looked like they were almost on top of one another.
Then we checked out Scaddin Wash which is only a 14 day limit, although it was really spread out, and many areas to “hide”, you  can only stay the 14 days before they kick you out and according to BLM rules, you have to move at least 25 miles for 7 days before coming back and you cannot use their dump station or fill with water-not an option at this time for us. 
Anyways, getting back on track again, we are still on the hunt for that old mining camp.  And again we have not found it and taken the wrong road.  Brian was told that we could jump on the Interstate and take the next exit to get to it-the easy way.
We finally did and yes, we finally found the old mining camp.  However, for all those that seem to talk about it, it was disappointing to me.  Yes, it’s built mainly out of stone, but I never expected to find modern appliances.  Here are some pics of the mining camp:

well we finally had enough of tootling around and it was time to think about heading back home again.  Being this is our second year here at Quartzsite, AZ we always laughed at the watering tower in town where you can contact Quartzsite and pay for water, here are some pics:
notice that the “boy” has a longer “nose” than the “girl”?  Only time we ever saw anyone getting water from here was during the RV Show and then they would water down the grounds to help keep the dust down.
Also something new in Quartzsite this year was at every entrance to the town was new Quartzsite signs.  I guess all the money we winter visitors dish out here They finally put the money to some use.  Question is: Was it worth it or a big waste of money?  I guess that is why this town is in constant uproar over their own local government.  Here is a pic: 

Now that the car is all dirty and dusty, both inside and out, it’s time to stop tootling around and head back home.

GET READY...

As we start counting down the days, we know it's time to start to check things over and prepare for hitting the road.

The first thing is checking all the tire pressures to make sure they are where they should be.  Next thing Brian does is check the air bag in the back of the rig.  You don't want too much or too little and sometimes it's hard to determine how much you need all depends on the load.  Then he checks all the fluids in the engine to make sure they are topped off. 

Now comes the fun stuff; Cleaning out all the compartments.  Brian and I have this agreement: He does all the outdoor compartments, and I do all the indoors-except for his tool box.  We have a rule of thumb that we have used since starting to travel and has worked thus far for us.  It is:  If it's not been used in the last 6 months to a year-it goes.  Except for a few chosen items; like Christmas stuff, and a few electrical appliance like our electric roaster for our turkey to name just a few. This rule also goes for clothing as well. 

When you live in a rig, no matter what size-you have limited space.  We have met folks that are just pack rats and won't give up nothing-even if they never used it!  They don't stop to think not only does it create clutter, but after a while you eventually can become overweight in your rig, which causes lower fuel mileage and then you become not only a road hazard for yourself, but for others as well.

Twice a year, Brian tries his best to wash and wax the rig and now the car.  This year was going to be a bit of a challenge for the motorhome.  The one and only place in Parker that has an RV bay to wash the rig, is down and they were not sure when it would be fix.  So now trying to figure out where we could wash the rig...

We got a nice gentle rain the night before and yesterday morning.  It took off most of the dust and grime, so Brian got out there yesterday and whiped the rig completely down.  Today he was able to actually put a coat of wax and it looks pretty good and ready to roll.  We got the car done in town the other day, so it too is ready to hit the road.

Brian will put a second coat of waxing on the front part of the rig, where the bugs hit the worse.  This really helps in removing them icky bugs off after you get parked again.  If you get it right away, all you need to due is take a garden hose and spray it off.  Or take a  little gentle soap and hot water, and gently rub and the bugs come right off.



Next step is: Set....That's for the next Blog

Water Supply

Yesterday was time for our weekly bathing....
Okay, just kidding, we do bathe more often than once a week.  Anyways, boon-docking and not moving the rig, requires a bit of work to be done.  Meaning-since you don't move your rig to get water, you have to bring water to your rig.  Here is how we do it:

Some folks uses varies sizes and types of barrels, water jugs, and water bladders to haul water back to their rigs.  We choose to use 7 gallon water jugs to haul water back into our rig.  We find this is more convenient and easy for us.

We just can't "poor" the water in like some RV'ers, our water system is pressurized.  We also have to use a water pump to get the water to flow into our tank.

So before we are ready to get showers or if we need extra water put into our holding tank here is what we have to do:
 Brian first has to hook the first hose from the jug to the water pump and open the valve.  the second hose also hooks from the out on the pump and then into to the RV water fill connector.

Then when he is already, he just simply plugs the electrical connection to the cigarette plug in the car.

Now he has to watch it carefully as to not to run dry.  If the jug gets low he always makes sure that he has another 7 gallon ready to go and usually poors it in the one jug while the pump is running.  (as you see him doing in the upper picture).

Now we learned a great little secret.  One day he had an extra 7 gal of water and couldn't put anymore into our RV.  So he left the hook-up to the 7 gallons.  He thought that would be plenty of water for me to shower.  We discovered that we don't get the "surging" that you get from you in-house water pump, the temp is more stable, so no quick hot or cold water while showering.  AND we both can shower with 7 gallons of water!  So now when it's time to get rid of the stink on our bodies, Brian hooks the water pump up to the 7 gallon jug and we are all set to go.

Brian also forgot one time to open the valve on the jug.  We were lucky not to burn up the water pump.  By the time I got out, and he got in, he told me that he might have forgotten the valve.  I went out to check and sure enough the jug was almost sucked inwards!  No damage that time, so he's more cautious now.

So now if you are ever boon-docking, this will help you to bring in fresh water into your tank without having to move your RV!



Leah & Lizards!

As it's starting to warm up, Leah is wanting to be outdoors more and more.  She is constantly on the look-out for anything that moves in the desert.  Around here, there are plenty of little lizards.  There are a few that I believe will sit on our wood pile, stick out their tongue and if I didn't know better, was laughing at her!



She gets so upset that she can't get to them.  We are surprise that she hasn't broken her collar, for the way she keeps pulling and tugging.  She has managed to get underneath our car, and when she comes out, she don't look like our little min pin!

One thing is for sure; she sleeps good at night and I never have to trim her claws!

I would hate to know what would happen if she were to ever catch one of those small creatures....I think they both would loose-Leah getting sick, and the Lizard loosing his life.

We haven't seen all but one snake since warming up.  I checked on the Internet of the specie of the snake and he was just a harmless desert snake.  It's a bit early for them yet, although with the warmer temps, I do look for them to come out more.  

Quartzsite AZ

Quartzsite is nestled in western AZ just about 17 miles from the California border. Highway 95 runs north and south while I-10 runs east to west through the town. During the hot summer months Quartzsite is a quiet sleepy little town with not much going for it. I think if it wasn’t for a few major truck stops and some fast food restaurant, Quartzsite would not exist during summer months.
As Fall time rolls around, Quartzsite slowly starts to come alive and then by Jan it’s a full blown little city. What attracts people to this area is the dry warm winter that many camp out on the BLM land for a minimal price. There are RV parks around the town that are very reasonable to stay in if you choose not to boondock in the desert.  When we arrived the first part of Nov to Quartzsite for the first time, it was already starting to show signs of folks temporarily staking their claims for the winter months. The BLM land around the sleepy little town was filling in with RV’ers from all over.  They come from the Northern colder states such as Idaho, Washington, Oregon, just to name a few  and of course, Canada.
So besides the warm dry desert winter months, what else attracts folks to this area?   Maybe it’s because of the huge Rock & Mineral Show, or the big RV and Tent show, or the Art & Craft show that follows.  Or just all the junk collectors that are in one area.  Many folks like to come and sell & trade many items.  Who knows what you just might find.  This is all spread out on both sides of the frontage road near Interstate 10.
On the South East Side (of I-10), you have the Rice Ranch.   No, it’s not a rice field, but just the name of the area where vendors set up to sell items. You will find many varies types of vendors selling anything from new to used items.   In this section you may find socks and other particular clothing items.  Maybe you are a biker in need of leather or accessory for you bike.   One one corner you might find someone selling regular speed  bicycles and accessories.  Or you are in need of an RV replacement part or accessories, the I suggest you visit the Gambler and again, no It’s not Kenny Rogers either.  But just the name of a huge outlet that sells anything RV in a huge pole building.
Hungry?  Well you have vendors that will sell you Ice Cream, Home Made Apple Pie (& other pies), breakfast items, along with Indian Bread and tacos.  If that don’t suit your fancy how about a pizza from a fire truck?  Yep, there is one!  It’s two couples, I believe they got the idea from a relative in Las Vegas.  So they purchased a recently retired fire truck  from NJ and turned it into a place to make and sell Pizza.  Of course our curiosity got the best of us, so we had to go and check it out.  What they did is keep the ladder truck in it’s original state, place a temporary shelter around it, and started doing home bake pizza.  Was it good?  You betcha.  I even think they chopped their onions, for it’s not too often you find red onions on a pizza.  Our first trip, they did forget to put my black olives on it, but on our second trip they made sure I had plenty.  The pizza are loaded with whatever topping you would like to put on and at a very reasonable price.  So I suggest if ever there and you see a Pizza hangin’ high in the sky from a ladder truck, go look it up and try it!

On the South West corner starts the Rock & Gem show and then the huge RV tent.  This really doesn’t get going until mid Jan, but other vendors will come in and start selling early.  Here you will find K & B tools; they carry anything you might need such as tools, mini solar panels, solar yard ornaments just to name a few items.  Out here in the desert we see many temporary tarp buildings put up by RV’ers.  This is the number one place to get all you will need to purchase your temporary tarp building!  Once again you will find more clothing and jewelry. 
You will also find a few vendors that will actually sell many outdated grocery items!  Nothing cold, but in boxes and in jars at a very reasonable price.  One vendor comes out here to set up just to sell buffalo sausage and specialty cheeses.  While another will sell specialty beans and nuts.

When you see the huge tents go up (there will be two), one is just full of vendors that sell nothing but Rocks and Gems from all over the world.  I never knew there was so many Rocks, Gems and Minerals that exist until I went to the show to check it out!  I can’t help but wonder if people do buy these things?  But I guess they do, or this show wouldn’t make it otherwise.  The sedond tent that goes up is behind all the other things going on, but trust me, you cannot miss this gigantic tent!  This is the RV show that goes for only one week in Jan.  This tent is filled with vendors of all sort and not just RV.  We found anything from pots & pans, to knives, rugs, ring cleaners, and one guys selling some kind of a unique tiny animal that lives in your pocket!  There were a few campgrounds trying to promote themselves, you also had Land & Leisure as well as Amazon.com.  LED lights are a hot things for several vendors trying to sell the best one on the market.

Thirsty?  You will find a beer garden amongst all the vendors, just follow the sound from the live entertainment and you will find it.  There are other vendors selling a quick meal if you need one.  Only one bad one sticks out in my mind, and that was when he had his food items sitting out along the ledge.  Whether the items were for show or actual sell, I wasn’t sure, but knew it turned me off and we just walked on by and didn’t stop.
Now on the North West corner is where you have the sell and trade vendors.  We call them the junk collectors.  Again you find more shops selling yet more tools and gadgets of all sorts.  We didn’t spend much time over here, for we don’t have room to buy and collect “junk”.  Sorry folks….but hey, if you like that kind of thing, then you will love this area!
The most thing you find around Quartzsite are RV’s!  new or used, 5th wheel, tongue pull, deisel pusher, you name it, it’s here!  Several large dealers come from near and far to try and sell their rigs.  One of the largest is LeMesa RV they have literally taken up the North East corner.  Once they have all their rigs in place inside this huge fenced in yard, then they begin to dish our free, yes, free pancakes everyday, but Sunday!  And if you didn’t get your fill from that, come back at noon and they will feed  you lunch-FREE!  Each day’s menu changes, and you never know what they will serve for lunch.
Each year there has been over two million visitors alone to this sleepy little town of Quartzsite!
All in all I was amazed as to the vendors selling their goods.  I didn’t know the demand for socks was such a huge thing, there were plenty of vendors selling just that-socks.  Tools, tools and more tools, at every corner, someone was selling some sort of tool or another. 
There were plenty of laundry mats around as well, one in particular and probably the most popular is in a pole building right on main street.  In past years, they close down by late April, but they are thinking of keeping it open year round this year.  Although it’s in this pole building, it’s kept very clean and always someone around to help you if you need it.  they also have a little restaurant adjacent to the laundry.
There is a convenient easy in, easy out place to get propane called RV Pit Stop right on Hwy 95 .  Very friendly and courteous.  There are other places to fill propane, but we found this one to always greet us with a smile.
Plenty of places to go and chow down if you don’t want to eat at the shows.  Silly Al’s seems to always carry a full house.  Although we never ate there, we were told the food and spirits are great.  They have Karaoke night, if you like to sing.
Sweet Darlene started out as a vendor at the shows, and now has their own place in town.  the food is excellent anytime you go there.
Quartzsite has a place called the QIA in town where they have plenty of things going on at all time.  They find entertainment, have line dancing, plus many other activities for the winter folks that come here to visit. 
You are sure not to ever get bored while visiting this sleepy little town of Quartzsite…

Desert Life-Part Two

I told you in part one, what went on in our first 4 months of boondocking in the Desert. Besides spend all of our money (ha, ha-he, he), we did enjoy being out here in the desert for the winter months. Now mind you, I don’t think I would like to boondock out here come summer time. the heat can get pretty extensive and there are critters constantly roaming the desert in the summer time, that I don’t think that we want to encounter.

Since hitting the road and other than our first winter out, we majorly spent our winter months down in the Valley of Texas; whether it was at Mathis, Corpus Christi, North Padre Island or Mission. This was being our first year away from Texas; okay I forgot, one winter we spent half in Texas and half in Casa Grande AZ. But the year we spent at Casa Grande, we don’t think we gave it a fair chance, for we ended back in Texas again.

Texas winters and Arizona winters are by far different, no comparison-other than they are both warmer than our Northern States that we hail from. Our Texan winters consist of constant humidity; which means wetness all the time. Unpredictable weather changes; meaning one day could be in the 90’s and bam the next day plummets to the 40’s with strong northern winds. Out here in Quartzsite AZ in the middle of the desert, you have no humidity; so you don’t wake up wet and you don’t go bed feeling wet. The sun also is out a lot more here in Arizona.

Down in the valley of Texas around Mission, Donna and so forth, you tend to get a “valley” smell that wasn’t always a pleasant smell to the nostril; but you learned to live with it. Out here in the Desert, you don’t get any nasty smells what-so-ever. After a rain out here in the desert, you get the most refreshing smell from the bushes and scrubs around you that just would make you want to keep taking in deep breaths. Here you don’t see much rain, and when you do, you welcome it to help settle some of the dust and dirt.

The native folks around here are willing to speak English to your face; which you didn’t always get in Texas.

Now it sounds like I’m putting Texas down, no, just stating the facts as they are. However, with that said, I have to admit that I do miss a lot of things in Texas, that you don’t seem to have here in Arizona. The number one is all of the wonderful friends we met while down there. We miss being apart of their winter lives. I miss the great entertainment people we met along the way, the ones that made you laugh and smile (oh, they know who they are). I miss the great Mexican food and cheap drinks. You can find reasonable entertainment on a daily basis and never get bored while in Texas for the winter months. There is always something to do! But I think the thing I miss the most, is the sound of the Gulf waters hitting the sand. I miss walking on the beach, along the waters edge, watching our little dog, Leah go crazy trying her best to “dig” up that sand crab or finding that unique and one of a kind sea shell.

The winter down here in the desert is really a different world and to some folks, they may never like it here. You don’t have the constant activity that you might find in Texas. Living out here, it’s easy to isolate yourself, which a lot of folks have done; such as us for part of it…It’s very peaceful, for the most part with only the sound of the light breeze blowing through or the coyotes howls at nighttime; which can get eerie. Or you can park as close to your neighbor as you want and not isolate yourself, but then you have to listen to their noises (meaning running generators) as well as them listen to yours, and maybe eat more dust because of the constant traffic in and out.

We probably were not as warm as what we had in the past in Texas, some folks even thought that we might had frost. Although it did get a bit chilly around here at night, we never really saw any frost. We did have some good windy days, but so did Texas! Our daytime highs this past winter never reached higher than in the 70’s with most days probably staying in the upper 60’s and nights reaching into the mid to upper 30’s. I know Texas saw lots of warm days; but we never saw ice, like they did in the Valley of Texas. Only once and just recent did we see a dusting of snow on the far edges of the Mountain tops; and with that I had to zoom in on the camera to get a good picture of the mountain.

There is no grass to speak of around here; it’s mostly sand/gravel with lots and lots of rocks of all sizes. Some that will even jump out and trip you if you’re not careful; so walking can be a challenge. You have varies types of cactus around you and a few that you have to be careful not to get too close to; as our pooch did once or twice and she still hasn’t learned her lesson. We don’t have any large trees to speak of, just some Palo Verde (which by the way gets no leaves, but large thorns) and some Iron Wood. The trees that can be spoken of are usually close to the wash basin.

There is so much desert, with lots of surrounding mountains that you can explore and even get lost in, if you wish to. We have walked miles of the desert floor and climbed a few of the mountains. We have gone cross country, not knowing where we would end up at-thank goodness for a GPS system to help us get back home safely again. The winter months are the best time to do all of this, because those nasty critters such as snakes are hibernating and won’t bother you. Now as February has gone and March is here, our weather is turning to warmer days and nights, so therefore our wandering the desert floor will be limited to the roadways for our safety.

So with all that said, I think that next year we will return back here once again to the desert life and living. We are not done exploring the desert floor or we haven’t climbed all the mountains yet….

Moon rising over the mountain

Snow cap mountains

Desert Life-Part One

Wow I can’t believe that it’s been over 4 months now and living in the desert without any hook-ups. Many of our friends have asked varies questions about us living out here with no hook-ups and what’s been like. Maybe I can shed a little light on it.

One thing that sticks in my head the most is that last fall I posted a question on a rv group web site and the question that I asked is: Are we ready? Meaning are we ready for boondocking life. I posted that we had all the accentual means to boondocking; generator and solar panel. One person answered back that they about guaranteed us that within the first few months we would be making changes and that it was a given for the first timers to boondocking. Well, that person was right. Within the very first month we discovered that moving an rv out here in the desert wasn’t the easiest thing to do. so we purchased a car….

Now that we have the car, we still had the problem of bring in fresh water and getting rid of our grey and black water. So the next purchase was buying the Blue Boy. We had intentions of buying what is called a “ water bladder”, but after meeting some people and talking to them about their “water bladder”, we decided against it and just went with several 7 gal. water jugs that has worked out great thus far. We also had to purchase a water pump to pump the fresh water into the rv, because our fill is pressurized.

Now that we own a car, we could carry a canoe on top of the car. That way when we were near any waterways, we could exploring on our own. So we purchased a canoe and all the accessories that was needed.

When we first hit the road, our house batteries we questionable and we went the cheapest route and purchased Wal-Mart batteries. WRONG!! They wouldn’t hold a good charge after the solar charged them. Wal-Mart was great about returning the batteries, however that did mean we had to purchased different and more expensive batteries, and no not from Wal-Mart.

It did get a little chilly here and we still had one more hurdle. Propane only last for so long and then you need to refuel; which means, yes, moving the rv-again. So we purchased two 20lbs propane tanks and the extend-a-stay hoses and connections.

Then we discovered that the Catalytic heater/Wave 3 just didn’t keep us warm enough and the floors were always cold. We were told that the Wave 3 would be the perfect size for our little motorhome. Well guess what? Yep, it didn’t do the job it should have done. So once again, exploring our different options to heaters, we found one that we really liked. The downfall is the size. It’s a little big for our little home, but let me tell you, it sure does the job great! Oh, we ended up with Cozy World Ceramic Heater with two bricks/10,000BTU. And we found the perfect owners to take the Wave 3 off our hands. We posted on several bulletin boards that we had a heater for sale and that it would be perfect for a small truck camper. An elderly couple was looking for a heater, but didn’t want to pay the outlandish price and ours was just what they wanted.

so with all that said, yes, we put out the money this first winter of boondocking, but the way we look at it; we are now set to go!!

Stay tune…..

Part two I will tell you how well we survived otherwise out here in the Desert….