TIME ZONES

Living most of our lives in the Midwest, we got so use to Central Time.  You Spring ahead in the springtime, and Fall back in the fall.  Shows started at what we would call  “normal” times.  News at 5:o0pm, primetime shows starting at 7:00pm and news again at 10:00pm.
As we headed out to spend out winter months in Arizona out in the desert, it became different.  Arizona does not Spring ahead or Fall back.  This is mostly due to summer months being so extremely hot that they don’t want the extra long summer days with the sun high in the sky until 7, 8 or 9 o’clock.   So by 7:o0pm the sun could very well be setting in the summer.  As for the news or shows, they still stay the same as if Central Time Zone, even though they are 99% on Mountain Time Zone.  So in the winter time, our Time Zone for Arizona is the same as those that live in Colorado in Mountain Time Zone.
As we talked to family members in Wisconsin, our time difference was only one hour, with them being ahead.  Talking to family members in Virginia only put them 2 hours ahead.  But now that we are back onto Day-Light Savings, that changes everything. 
We are now two and three hours behind family members, and we lag behind one hour from Colorado where our daughter lives..  Pacific Time changes everything for us.
As we sit here near Las Vegas, we are on Pacific Time. Although it’s Day-Light Savings time, Arizona and Pacific Time stay the same. But that doesn’t  mean that our prime-time shows and news start the same.  In Pacific time news starts at 6:00pm, Prime time shows start at 8:00pm and nightly news isn’t until 11:00pm.
If we were to take our canoe out to the middle of Lake Mead, we would literally sit on the time zone for Mountain & Pacific.
So how screwy is all this as we travel?  Well, sometime we don’t know if it’s really time for breakfast,  lunch or dinner, I guess we go with when our tummies are growling, then we know it’s time to eat.  We get up when the light shines in, and when we are totally exhausted at night, we go to bed, whether it may be 8:00pm, 9:00pm or 10:00pm!  Since being on Pacific Time, we haven’t made it yet to 11:00pm.

THEFT DETTERENT

There are several campgrounds located in the  National Recreation Area all around Lake Mead.  Some are popular while others are very desolate.   The popular ones have camp host located in the campground, while the most desolate campgrounds have no one.
A few years back the NRA had a constant problem of the honor vaults either being ripped right out of the campground or money stolen out of the box.  Even with a camp host on the premise the problem was a constant issue.   The problem of the camp host, is that they are no where located near the honor vaults where campers put their fees in.

Then some one came  up with a hair brain idea if  they parked an “RV” very near the honor vault boxes, this might help deterrent thefts.  So the NRA purchased several types of RV’s that have been abandoned through an auction.  They placed these “RV’S” in all of their campgrounds near the honor vault and has it set up as though someone is camped there.

As we walked up to investigate the “RV” in our park, Las Vegas Bay, it’s very easy to see that no one has been in or near these campers for a long time.  The curtains are rotted, and even have fallen off some of the windows.  Peeking in the window, it’s as though more mice live in it than anything else.

Has this worked?  Well since doing this, including their most desolate spots, they have had no more thefts of their honor vaults.

SHOES & FEET

Growing up in my childhood I had several pair of shoes.  One pair was for school only, Two pair for Sunday church; a white shiny pair for spring and summer and a black shiny pair for fall and winter, Then I had my play shoes for outdoors.
As I grew up and had kids of my own, I couldn’t afford to buy shoes all the time.  Once I broke in a pair, I wore them to death-literally.  I’m still that way.  I don’t like to change shoes once I get a pair broke into.  One thing I have very small feet, so finding just the right shoes that fit my feet comfortably can become a challenge.
My Small feet….
I loved my Dr. Scholl’s that I was able to buy just at Wal-Mart but I guess demands for size 5 wasn’t a priority to Wal-Mart and/or Dr. Scholl's, so they have discontinue my shoes size!  So it was back to the basic tennis shoes in the kids department, only problem is that I walk so much that I would wear a pair out in a months time!
Knowing that we would be done working for the Corps of Engineer and that we would be doing a lot of traveling and hiking to unknown areas.  Brian and I decided that maybe we need a much more sturdy pair of shoes.  So we went on a search for Hikers.  For Brian that wasn’t hard to find, but for me, again because of my shoe size, I really have to search around.
We found our one pair at a local retailer in Mountain Home, AR.  They were comfortable, sturdy and I didn’t wear them out a months time.  In fact 8 months later and they still holding up; even after climbing mountain sides, walking on uneven terrain they still look pretty darn good.
But now comes a problem again….Because   of walking so much on uneven terrain I have developed pressure points on the bottom  side of both of my feet.  When they first started, I just ignored them, thinking eventually they will become a hard callus.  Well this time my thinking didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.  the pressure points just keep getting sorer and sorer to the point of burning and severely hurting.         
Brian and I did find another pair of hikers over the winter and we did buy a second pair each to keep on hand.  So we broke out the new pair for my tiny feet.  They seem to fit just a bit better than my old hikers and thinking this would solve my problem.  It didn’t…      
So now it’s time to try that machine for Dr. Scholl’s for special inserts.  After doing the “test” twice and finding the “right” insert for my feet, we spent the $50.00 on the inserts.  Wow, it does make a difference in walking that is for sure.  It makes me feel like it’s pushing my arch more upwards.  It has releived the pain on the pressure points on my right foot, but no relief what-so-ever on the left one.       
      My new inserts from Dr. Scholl’s
So now it’s back to a shoe store to find a pair of just walking tennis shoes.  It seems to help, but the inserts “raise” me up and effects the back part of my heal.  So will try them without the inserts and keep the inserts for my hiker; for whenever I get back to hiking again.  But for now I can’t walk for a few days until the pressure points heal somewhat.   So no adventures for while for me….
After talking with Brian’s mom over the weekend, she recommended an old remedy of soaking my feet in ebson salt and warm water.  So why not try the old trick?  At this point I will try anything, because if the pressure points don’t get better, my next stop is to a podiatrist and I already know that means lots of money going out for special shoes and anything else….besides-I HATE DOCTORS!!                                       
Just think, we have one daughter that I believe she owns over 50 pairs of shoes!!!   And I’m struggling to find just one pair to fit me comfortably-until death do us part.
  ALL the shoes I now own…Which ones to where today?

Technorati Tags: Shoes,Feet,Walking. Pressure Points,Dr. Scholl's,Inserts,Arches

SEARCHLIGHT NEVADA

So what’s in Searchlight Nevada that could possibly draw anyone to this area?  Well, probably not a whole lot that is for sure.  The town really has nothing in it except for two gas station, one being a truck stop with a McDonald’s in it.  There is a small Casino that must be affiliated to the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, since it’s name is Nugget Casino.  That is all you will really find in this small tiny community.  Oh there is a very small laundry mat, but don’t blink, you may actually miss it.  It also has a very small magistrate building along with a library and museum.
But what does draw folks to this area is the National Recreation Area on Mohave Lake.  Mohave Lake is part of Lake Mead and the Colorado River System.  In the National Recreation Area you have Cottonwood Cove Campground and Resort area.
cottonwood Cove Marina & Resort
Cottonwood Cove is split into two different section, all combined together in one area.  Once you enter into the NRA and paid your fee, you drive another 6 miles down the road, descending all the way towards the lake.  As you get closer to the lake, on the right side you will come to Cottonwood Cove’s first section of the campground where there is a ranger station, dump station and then on pass into varies loops of the campground.  The first loop being closed and only the middle loop open for business.  In any of these loops, you don’t get a good view of the lake, but only of the canyon walls.
As you descend yet farther down the road and closer to the lake, on the right again, you will come across a mobile home village, past that is the RV sites with full hook-up and belonging to the concessionaire.  But if you choose not to have any hook-ups, then you will veer to your left and around the bend to the NRA’s campground which is the Lower Loop and the most popular, because of being close to the lake.  Only a few chosen sites give you the perfect view of the lake and Marina.  Only bad thing, the sites are short and needs a lot of finagling to get level. 

We were fortunate to find a longer site, but it did take all the boards we had to get partially level and we still felt we were going down hill in the front, but learned to live with it for the week we were there; only because we wanted the view.
Our campsite at Cottonwood Cove
Once we were all set up, got the cell phone out and discover-no reception what-so-ever.  And TV?  Well unless you have satellite, you got no channels at all.  So hope you don’t plan on coming here to chat on the cell phone or to watch a lot of TV, because you will be greatly disappointed.  But if you come to listen to nature, I guarantee that you will be serenade by owls and coyotes and quaking ducks.
Our Nesting Great Horn Owl the Male Great Horn Owl
Once you paid the fees at the entrance station, then you can enjoy camping for an additional fee; whether you choose the concessionaire or the NRA’s (NRA’s has no hook-ups at all). launching your boat, or just enjoy the day having a picnic and hanging out at the beach
One thing we found out, camping in the lower campground got us woke up on both Friday and Saturday Night after quiet hours.  Seems folks think that coming in at Midnight or later and setting up, is a normal thing to do.  The first night wasn’t as bad as the second night.  On Friday night once they got set up, they did go inside and quiet down.  I think the kids that came in Saturday night stayed up all night long.  Both Brian and I had to wonder where the morals of the parents are, for even the wee little ones were out yelling and carrying on like it was daytime.  Now we know why most of the Seniors and what we would call responsible parents camped up above in the upper campground.  Much more quieter that was for sure.  Even the day-use seemed to stayed hopping all night long for we could occasionally hear rucus from over there.  It was way too warm to close all the windows, so it was either put up with the noise, or close up and suffocate.  Remember-no cell phone service-no help….
We did enjoy walking around the Marina and the Mobile Home Village.  Everyone seemed very nice to us.  And although we were not actually camped in the concessionaire campground, we were welcome to use the laundry mat anytime we needed to and to walk around the marina.  The Marina had 20 houseboats ranging from 50 foot to 70 foot that they rented.  They were open for us to go in and view and man it was like walking into someone’s fancy home!  the 70 foot had 4-bedroom, two full baths, a kitchen to die for.  the upper deck had a wet bar and a Jacuzzi! Oh, and I forgot what a water slide it had as well!  I can’t help wonder if it’s similar to a friend we met back in Mountain Home AR and the one they bought.
Did we even talk about the price to rent one of these luxury houseboats?  A 50 footer goes for over $500 per day, while the 70 footer (the Silver) goes for over $1300 per day; with a minimal of two days rental!!!  The price does NOT include deposit or fuel.  So how many do you think we should rent and for how long??? 

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Pictures of the 50 footer and the Silver 70 footer houseboat
All in all one thing that I can say for Cottonwood Cove Resort & Marina is that it has to be about the cleanest, up-to-date marina that either Brian or I have seen thus far in our travels.  If ever we should strike it rich, I think we would go back there and really give them our business, but for now, we will just day dream about it.

…SET & GO

Last week I wrote about getting ready for hitting the road.  About how you need to check tires, air bags  and ect.  Well now we are all set to go.  Yesterday we spent the day packing and cleaning. 
Brian and I have this rule of thumb that has worked great for us thus far.  He packs all the outdoor compartments while I pack the inside stuff.  Living in a small motor home as we do, it really don’t take much to pack things up.  Now when we had our 5th wheel; well, let’s say that was a different story.  It would take us one whole day to pack everything up.  Now it only takes us about an hour.  The longest thing is the cleaning.
First thing Brian does is get the tow bar and accessories out and aligned up before we place the car into position.  But before we do that, we need to pack the back of the car with our extra water jugs, blue boy and our extra propane tank.  Then the canoe has to be loaded on top and secured for the road.
Once that is done, I place the car behind the motor home while Brian guides  me as to where I need to be.  We have the Blue Ox Tow Bar so it makes it very easy to align the car up behind the motorhome.  We don’t need to be in exact alignment for it to get hitched.  Then Brian has to make sure that the 4wheel drive is in neutral. Once that is all done, he then places the wiring harness in place and that the safety cables are hooked properly.   He also puts on extra small bungees to keep the “extras” from dragging on the ground.  At the same time he also has to make sure there is enough slack in the safety cables for when we make turns.
Then in the morning, when we are ready to go, we have to remember to put the key in the ignition of the car  and on auxiliary for the steering to turn.  Brian will also follow behind to make sure the car is tracking okay and then we check to make sure all lights and turn signals are working properly.  Once that is all done.  We are set to go.
We have outside stuff now to pick up. Brian has picked up and put away the majority of the stuff; like our lawn chairs and tables.  I help Brian fold up our outdoor mat and of course, we cannot forget Leah’s stake and lead.  We haven’t run off and forgotten that-yet.  But we have met folks that have forgotten to pick up their dog stake and rope.
Inside I make sure that anything fragile and breakable are put away.  I wash everything down.  I usually wait until we are set up again to do any major cleaning.  Only because while driving down the road-you always get more road dirt inside and why waste the time doing it twice?
I think that Leah always knows when we are ready to hit the road.  She gets just about antsy as we do and in the morning, instead of climbing back to bed and under my pillow, she is like a fart in a wind storm!  She all over the place.  She loves to travel and go with us.  She spends lots of time looking out at the window and seeing if she can make someone move if she barks at them.  Usually at a stop light she can get the car next to us attention-they will laugh at her.
So now we are all Set and ready to Go! 

Se Ya’s Down The Road!!!

50, FIFTY

50, what does it mean? 
It means it’s half of century.  So when looking at it that way-it’s kind of scary if a person is turning 50 years old.  Brian turns that big 5-0 this week; which means I soon will follow next year.
Each phases of our life we pass a mile stone:

• age 5-starting school
• at 13-becoming a teenager
• age 16-getting a driver’s license
• age 18-becoming an adult
• age 21-being able to legally drink

When I was about to turn 30 someone told me that you will feel it when you reach that mile stone in your life.  They told me that reaching 30 means you are finally growing up and being more mature and you think more wisely…I’m not sure if that was really true on  my part. 
If growing up and becoming mature at the age of 30, then what happens when you turn 50?  You’re not considered an antique, because you should of become that at 25, right?  Does your hair turn grey at 50 or does it fall out by then?  This isn’t true for Brian, for he was already grey before that, and loosing some of his hair!  Which he blames on me (in a joking way-of course).  Do you consider yourself old enough to finally become grandparents at age 50?  Again, that doesn’t work for us-for we are already grandparents of 4 with the oldest being 11 years old!
So, what does turning 50 really mean to some?  Brian tells me it’s just another day for him.  Some folks want a big bang party to commemorate that day.  Myself, I’m like Brian-it’s just another day in life for me.  We enjoy living a  simple and quiet  lifestyle.
What happens to the next 50 years of our life?  Will  we even live that long?  If  I live to be a 100 years old, I hope I’m still in my right frame of mind to where I can put a few grey hair on our kids, give them a scare or two in their lives, I can be worry free while they finally sit and fret about me! And If not,  it was and is God’s will what will happen.  Now Brian thinks that for sure by the time I reach 60, I will be senile; Well if that’s the case,  then I can torture him first!
But for now allow us to live each day the way we want to live-free as a bird doing what we love to do-traveling!  I don’t know what tomorrow will even bring, let alone, 5 years, 10 years or even 50 years from now.
Tim McGraw (country singer) has a song out called: “Live Like You’re Dying” ;  a good song that he wrote when his dad was diagnosed and died of cancer.  In the song it talks about riding a bull, skydiving and living like no tomorrow.  I don’t think that I’m ready to ride a bull or go skydiving, but I’m learning to laugh more, live freely, and enjoy life as it is.

   
On of the things we love to do is go adventuring and trying new things: like climbing mountains!

DESERT CAMPFIRES

As our time winds down, we notice that we still had a lot of wood to burn and in a short time.  Our only obstacle to nightly fire is-wind.

If the winds kick up more than 10mph, then it’s a safe bet that you won’t be burning.  In some areas 10mph don’t seem like a strong wind, but out here in the desert, you have no way of  blocking.  So therefore, 10mph will seem like 20+mph. 

In the desert, you don’t have the rain and humidity like you do in other areas of the country, so everything is dry and with very little moisture to stop a spark it wouldn’t take much to  create an out of control fire.

Out here in the desert there is plenty of Iron Wood, Palo Verdes, creosol bushes, along with varies cactus that have died.  Although the wood is dead, we cannot pick up anything in the desert to burn.  Which means we have to find other sources of bringing in wood for campfires.

There are areas of business that will sell you firewood for a good price.  But for ma ny of us out here, we have learned to go to nearby farming communities and going to the business and picking  up old skids.  Most of the farming is commercial.  The place of business has smarten up to us out here and started to charge for the pallet.  Mainly we could pay anywhere from $1.00-$3.00 per skid; which isn’t a bad price.  However, we have found a few that appreciates us coming and removing their old pallets off their hands.  That way, they don’t have to pay someone to come and remove them.

One in particular is in Blythe, CA.  You just have to have a means to haul them out.  We have met a gentleman that had the truck and trailer and was very willing to take us to go over to Blythe and pick up enough skids to keep us burning for the remainder of our time here.

Now that we have the skids, burning them in whole really isn’t a smart thing to do.  However, we have met some that do, and let me tell you; those skids burned in whole can cause one heck of a fire!  We choose to cut ours up.  Some was done by hand, while the rest was done by a circular saw.

As our pile was getting down and we thought that one or two more fires we would be done, low and behold one of our nearby neighbors left.  Upon investigating their area, we notice they left a very nice pile of seasoned wood from their home state of Colorado.  So naturally, we just couldn’t let it sit there to rot the summer away. 

We thought to ourselves-wow, a real campfire, we for sure will enjoy now!  We only had one obstacle stopping us: that nasty ole’ wind….

Time to take action….We notice that other folks were having campfires, even with the winds we have been having.  So upon seeing what they were doing different, we notice that they built their fire rings high.  So it was time to rebuild ours and make higher sides.  It worked!  So the past several nights we have been enjoying our campfires extremely.  We mix a little of the season wood with our pallet woods and have a wonderful campfire.

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 & Vet

Living on the road like we do, one of the inconvenience we sometimes come across is locating veterinarian for our little dog, Leah.  It’s not really hard to find one, but to find the “right:” one can be the challenge.
When it comes time to finding one, we simply look in a phone book or go to the yellow pages on the Internet to locate one.  We will write down several and then call to find out their prices and scheduling.  We kind of go by how they sound on the phone as to whether or not we will take our pet to them.
It was different this year for us, we got use to and very familiar to the Vet up in Mountain Home AR.  Presley’s Veterinarian (Dr. Siedel) was gentle, kind and a very caring vet for animals and to their owners.  Even his workers were fantastic.  They were there when ever we needed advise or to answer any questions we might had.  Those that know our little dog, knows she has given us  few grey hairs and shed some of her 9 lives.  Even the crew at Presley’s was waiting to see what mischief Leah could find herself in. 
Being that this year we will not be anywhere near Mountain Home, it was time to find that Vet once again for Leah’s annual check-up and shots.  We did call around to areas in Blythe, Parker and even to the one here in Quartzsite.  Although they were to the point and very direct when calling, they were the cheapest and didn’t do a lot of unnecessary test that some vets seem to want to push in doing (like cleaning of teeth), so we did choose Quartzsite Animal clinic.
We both agreed that once walking into the clinic and upon meeting the vet, would determine if we walked out or stayed and let him give her her shots.  The verdict is:
The receptionist, which we assume might have been vet’s wife, was friendly and very courteous and chatted with us while we waited our turn.  The vet  himself, wasn’t very talkative and was very business like.  Most vet’s we have gone to allowed us to hold our dogs while given their exams or shots, this one kept demanding that we keep all four of  her feet on the table. 
His examining room desire maybe a little straightening and organization, but the exam table seemed to been cleaned and disinfected (or we least hope so). 
He did however, listen to her lungs, took her temp, checked her teeth and ears.  Called her a “wiggle butt”; which she was and that didn’t bother us, we thought that maybe we would see a little humor finally come out of him.   Leah did manage to wiggle so much that her first shot ended up all over Brian’s hand and not hitting the prime target-Leah….He was actually gentle on her when it came for him to give her shots. 
Leah must not have thought to bad of him either, she didn’t even make an attempt to bite him!  She has only bitten one, okay two vets.  The first one, he deserved in my opinion.  and the second time was poor Doctor Siedel, when she was sick, so I guess she had an excuse that time.
One of the things that really made me think better of this vet is he is the only one that I have ever heard that will help someone with a sick animal that can’t pay.  Oh, they don’t let them leave without something.  They ask if the owner has anything of value to put towards the bill until they can come up with the money.  The receptionist told us about a kid bringing in his sick dog last week and had no money, but had a violin.  So they are hanging onto his instrument until he can get cash.  I guess over the years they have accumulated jewelry and electronic gadgets just to name a few things.  Some folks have come back with money, others have not.  Too me that says a lot about a business owner and that will make me want to continue doing business with them.  You don’t come across to many people like that anymore, so I would rather patronize and help them out, if they are willing to help another poor soul out.
Will we go back there again?  yes; but only for her annual check-up and shots.  He takes no appointments and he does not do emergency calls after hours.  And most of Leah’s “emergencies” has always been-after hours.
After her shots-poor girl:                                                                                                Leah Kay-3 years old and spoiled rotten….

Technorati Tags: Presley’s Veterinarian (Dr. Siedel),Quartzsite Animal Clinic,Quartzsite,Arizona,Veterinarian,Traveling,full-time RVing,pets,Animals,Min Pin

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…

Blogging

For the past several weeks, or maybe even longer than that; I have contemplated whether or not to blog and then if I do, why? At one point I even started a Blog and then after starting it, I couldn’t help but wonder why am I doing this? Who the heck is going to read my “stuff”? So I deleted everything that I had started with only a few followers; leaving them out there just hangin’….

I constantly still have all these crazy thoughts running around in my head an no place to go with the thoughts; other than to write them down. They are not bad thoughts, but my thoughts….So back to writing the blogs or not to write. I finally decided what have I got to loose? I do enjoy writing things down so there fore I will continue once again and go back to blogging; whether I have one follower, three followers and hundreds-someday my voice may be heard and if not, at least I got them out of my head…(lol)

After having a mild nervous breakdown a few years back and being placed temporarily in a hospital; one of the things that I had to do while hospitalized is write a daily journal beginning with how I was feeling. Then I had to write letters to the person or persons that I might have been angry with or maybe to someone who has hurt me deeply in the past. the letters never were intended to be mailed out to that particular person, but to relieve my mind of the burden that it was causing on me. So I guess in some ways that is what Blogging will do for me; relieve my mind of heavy burdens. Oh, I also keep a very private and personal journal just as well, and that is just for me.

You have to wonder; what burdens can a person carry that is so heavy on their mind? For me, I like to think about what if… or maybe if I could…But knowing that I never will….or maybe I will….

Now there are so many blog web pages out there, heck, I even started one, and didn’t even know that I did it. Then comes along another one that sounds a little better than the other one, and will even pay you if write lots of blogs. Don’t know if that will ever happen to me-but again, who knows….

Now the next question I have; which blog do you go with? Since I don’t know which one is really the best, I have settled on three…why? who knows…just because they are convenient and out there for me. Now I Wonder if anyone will really read them and if they do, will they learn something from my blogs? Well, if they haven’t learned a thing, it’s their loss and my gain, for it’s out of my head and down in black and white. Maybe I can go back someday and read my blogs and either laugh at it, or think wow, did I really do that?

This is not to say that I lead an exciting life, for I probably don’t to some; but for others that don’t have the opportunity to do things that I am able to do, maybe by reading my blogs will give them some hope or dreams of their own.

My dream is to do what I’m doing right now, traveling with a wonderful partner, seeing different parts of the USA, living one day and one moment at a time and hope that others will be able to do the same.

So to all those other Bloggers out there in our crazy world, look out because here I come!

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….