ANZA BORREGO FUN

Our intention was to leave Quartzsite, Arizona Tuesday after we checked for mail at the post office.  Medical supplies were to arrive from Roche that had been ordered the previous week.  

The postal employee checked the general delivery and there was no mail for John.  We returned to the motorhome and John called Roche to see when the supplies were mailed. Just like last year, Roche did not mail them.

Now, going to their website, you find this motto: "Doing now what patients need next"  I don't think so!  

Wednesday, after consulting with John's physician and 

new making arrangements, leaving Roche out of the equation, 

we left Quartzsite for another year and headed to Anza Borrego

State Park and Borrego Springs.  

There were predictions of high wind gusts and John drove with 

much caution.  We had just two mighty gusts as we ventured 

Coachella and Walgreen's to pick up John's medicine. 

After another quick stop at Walmart for a few veggies and fruit, 

we programmed our Verizon Navigator for Anza Borrego State 

Park where we planned to spend a night or two.

I had much laundry to do and wanted to make use of their 

never ending supply of water.

  

Friday evening, we met with Blogger friends Merikay and 

Craig McKenna at Carmelita's for a Mexican dinner.

   

What a nice couple.  They are very excited about beginning their full time life. Florida is their destination for next winter.  

I awoke up early  Saturday morning and took Oliver and Olivia for a hike.  

I was very aware of all the rattlesnake sightings that bloggers have had and was very aware of our surroundings and what the dogs were doing each time they stopped to sniff the pee mail or scent trail.  

A huge Jackrabbit scurried off to our right.  Thank goodness the "kids" did not see it.  I was a bit entertained by it's running pattern.  Starting off slowly and gathering speed. By the time he was out of site he was really racing through the desert.

A bit further on our hike, to my left, I spot something different and of course we are off to explore!  What is this???

It seems that there is an entrance.  I'm too short to see if there is a roof, but I do see a metal cylindrical tube of some sort sticking up at the edge of this stacked rock wall.    Any ideas?  

Yesterday, after shopping at the Farmer's Market on Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs, we moved to our current location at Clark Dry Lake withing the Anza Borrego State Park.  This is a boondocking area called the "badlands."   

After the stop at the Farmer's Market, we are stocked with spring vegetables to last the week. I did not find my absolute favorite honey.  I purchased some last year and proceeded to run out by November.  This year I am going to double my purchase. 

Wind was in the forecast for today and the weatherman did not lie.  This is a photo of the mountains this morning.  What a lovely sight.  

The photo also shows our closest neighbors.  

A bit later, the wind began to blow.  And blow, it did!                                                   The wind and dust came roaring down the valley between the two mountain ranges.  

It did not get better for a long, long time.                                 The dust continued to blow and swirl up and into a backward spiral.                                                         Needless to day, we brought the slides in to protect the slide awnings.  

Here, inside the coach, I have prepared split pea, sweet potato curry in the crock pot.  We are just waiting for it to finish cooking.  

Thanks for stopping by.  And again, thank you for shopping through our Amazon link.  

God Bless!  

MECHANICAL PROBLEMS SOLVED AND SOLAR!

It has been a lazy day here in Quartzsite. Again, John worked on the inverter, fixed our lunch and hard boiled some eggs.                                                                      I used The Solution to remove the bugs from the front of our Tiffin Allegro Bus and walked the dogs.                                                                                           That is the extent of our day. 

This morning, we called the Tiffin service department in Red Bay, Alabama.  John talked to our go-to service advisor, Stanley, and received some helpful advice.  

First, Stanley suggested old batteries.  Our response was that the batteries were new when we purchased our Allegro Bus almost two years ago.  

Second, he had two more things for John to check out.  Nada, zip, nuttin Honey.  Now what?  

Susan Thompson, a snowbird from Minnesota suggested we get in touch with Brian Boone and that is just what we did.  He came out to our part of the desert and voila...."your batteries are the problem!"  

"What? Those batteries were new when we purchased our new to us Tiffin Allegro Bus!"  At lease we assumed they were new since they were so clean when we looked in the battery bay.  And someone tested them as we were sitting in Red Bay awaiting completion of work on the coach.  The someone was not a representative of Tiffin Service.  His gauge must be wrong.  

Lesson?  .....  Never assume anything when purchasing a previously owned motorhome, car, boat...anything.  We looked at the dates on the tires.  Why didn't we think to look at the date on the batteries?  

The batteries were about ten years old!  Brian could not believe that they had lasted this long!  Off to Discount Solar here in Quartzsite.  

Ahhh, four new Interstate Batteries.  Now we will be in tip top shape.  And here we thought it was the inverter.  

Wait, there's more!  The batteries were not the only problem. After Brian installed the new batteries, the solution was not there.  Brian declared the inverter was dead, very dead.  

So now, we have a new inverter in our home on wheels. NOW, everything is working as it should. 

But, there is still more!  We have made the decision to have Brian fit us with solar power.  We have spent days researching and gathering prices and Monday, we will have our first installment of of two solar panels with two more in the plan for next year.  

We are pleased with our decision.  The solar panels make up for the disappointment of not having our booth dining area removed and replaced with table and chair.  This too will happen, just not this year.  

If you are in Quartzsite in winter months and need work performed on your trailer, 5th wheel, class C, B, or A motorhome, Brian is the man to call.  His fees are extremely reasonable.  

Brian is a very  honest young man that has for the last eleven years migrated in the winter from Montana to Quartzsite to work on our rigs.  Previously, he worked for another solar dealership, but has now started his own business.  We wish Brian God speed in his new business.  

Thank you for coming to our blog today and a double thanks for clicking on our Amazon link at the top right of this page.  I know, it's not the end of the year, but I am having a difficult time changing the link.  Can anyone help?  

Tonight, I close with sunset photos.                                                                                                                                                                                                There is nothing like an Arizona desert sunset!  

 Until next time, God Bless!  

                                                                     

PARKER ARIZONA

While in Quartasite, Arizona we took a day trip.  We thought we would drive north on AZ 95 to Lake Havasu City, but we did not make it.  Instead, we explored the small town of Parker with a population of three to four thousand people.  There we found enough to see and do to keep us busy for the better part of the day.
 
Parker was first an Indian reservation.  If I am not mistaken, part of the city still is on reservation land.   Ely Parker was the first Native American to act as Commissioner for the U.S. government.
 
A museum and library of the history of the Native Americans is located in Parker.  You can find it off AZ 95 at Second and Mohave.  At the museum you will find Native American ruins and paintings.  In October, Native American Days is celebrated and December there is an All-Indian Rodeo.

We began a search for a local restaurant that would serve good food.  Our Garmin wanted to direct us to Hardees, McDonalds and the like but we prefer to support local establishments.  Their food is, by far, the best if you find just the right place.  We found our right place when a local health food store employee directed us to Cyber D’Lites Internet Café and Bakery.  The café is located at 1600 California (AZ 95)  in a strip mall.  The sign is small, so keep your eyes open and look to your left if you come from Quartzsite.  I took this photo from their website. 


They have doubled their size since this picture was taken.  Now they have a wall of local artist’s artwork. Photography, oil and watercolor paintings grace the wall of the café.  
Being an artist, I LOVED the work on one artist.  The imagination and creativity in this work swept me off my feet.  I know that some of you are going to utter “say what?” but I raved all afternoon about it. 
  

If I had one empty space in our motorhome, one of these would be hanging right now.  But then, I would have to take down one of my pieces.  It’s not going to happen.  Anything I take down will be replaced by something I do as we travel.

Back to the D’Lites.  As soon as we arrived we were greeted by an attentive server with fresh bread, with a dipping sauce unlike anything we have had before.   We ordered the most delish veggie wraps.  I had the sun dried tomato and John had the spinach tortilla.   Inside was total and tasty veggies with a chef made chipotle sauce.  Our sides were slaw for me and French fries for Mr. Skinny. 


After our delicious meal we set out on a quest to find the Parker Dam.  John thought is was in one direction and I thought it was where the directional signs indicated.  Being such a sweet, submissive wife (uh hum), I deferred to John’s judgment and we drove F O R E V E R! We drove in a huge circle, along the Colorado River, up into the foot hills, back along the river and then on flat land only to be back into Parker.  I quietly just started following the directional signs.
 
This route was very interesting.  The landscape changed significantly on the California side of the Colorado River. I have never seen a river so blue!  Beautiful.

We drove past RV  parks that were located on the river.  They looked inviting for a summer stay when you would want to be on the beach every waking hour to keep cool. Highway signs indicating that wild Burros were in the area.  I has hoping that we would see at least one and we actually saw two groupings that we could get photos. 

 I thought I was able to get a photo of one that came up to the car to beg for food, but it did not register on my camera.  I did get to scratch her nose though.  The burros are as curious as our Llamas were.  I do miss my critters. 
   
Following the Burro experience we came upon Parker Dam.  It was much more narrow than what we had expected.   After the Hoover Dam, this looked pretty anemic.  That is until I learned more about the Parker Dam.


Parker Dam is the world’s deepest with three hundred twenty feet below the river bed.  It was built between 1932 and 1938 as a project of the Bureau of Reclamation.  The dam is the second largest producer of hydro-electric power. North of the dam, the reservoir holding the water is Lake Havasu.

Water from the dam irrigates ten million acres that produce twenty five percent of the fruits and nuts grown in the U.S. 

The Bureau of Reclamation has constructed  six hundred Dams and reservoirs including the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams.  The Bureau is now part of the Interior department and is now a water management agency.

People think of only the Grand Canyon, Phoenix or Tucson when they think of Arizona.  There is so much more to see, do and learn.  We have just begun to scratch the surface.  Next January and February we will return to learn more about this wonderful state.

My next post will continue to share a bit more about another small town in Arizona and how it and the surrounding area played a vital part in our history.

Until then, safe travels and my God bless you during this season of Lent.

CRYSTAL HILL FELT MORE LIKE A MOUNTAIN

Our drive from LaPosa South to the road leading to Crystal Hill was a short drive south.  Then we turned east and proceeded down yet another dirt and rock road.  Crystal Hill is part of the KOFA Wildlife Refuge where Big Horn Sheep, Desert Tortoises, Kit Fox and other wildlife can be found.



While at the Visitor’s Center, we also discovered that other things can be found there in the desert where General George Patton of WWII fame trained some of his troops.  One can come upon unexploded ordinances!  Some land mines and grenades could even be live.  THAT is a do not touch.  The training was in this area since these troops were heading to Africa. 


But there is also beauty to be found in these mountains.  Saguaro, Ocotillo, Cholla and Barrel Cactus are a few that we saw on our drive to the mountain. This is what John and I were in search of on this trip.  This is a photo of what one person found.  They are clear “crystal clear” quartz.  We do not want them for any New Age faith.  These crystals are hard to find and we enjoy the challenge, the search. 


I think the person that named Crystal Hill must have been younger than John and I.  From a distance, it looked climbable.  And it was, to a point.  About the point I was half way to the top.  John was smart and did his rock hounding about a third of the way.  It was a fun day.  We both try to push ourselves to do just a bit more than our last outing.  We both succeeded.  And we rested for the next two days!  This was our view from the car as we approached the “hill.”




We discovered a new to us cactus as we drove up the road.  Do you know it’s name?








This is the path that I followed up the ‘hill.’  It started out gradually then became more challenging the higher I went.  I accidentally had John’s rockhounding tool bag with me and I did not enjoy the extra weight.  The next day, my elbows and shoulders ached from the extra load.  But, I found that loaded bag mighty useful.  At times the grade was so steep, I felt as if I were going to tumble down the ‘hill.’ I carried that loaded bag in from of me to provide more stability.  At times the problem was that there would be a drop off at my right or left. So I carried it of the ‘hill’ side. 
                                                                                                                                    

My goal with that stand of rocks that has a lighter border at the top.  I told myself that I made it that far, I would stop. At times I pulled myself up with limbs of the creosote bushes.  Al of the Bayfield Bunch does not like them in his yard, but they were a great help to me.   I made it to my goal and just sat on those rocks and enjoyed the scenery.  You know though what goes up, must come down.  And I did just that – safely.



On my way down I tried to take a photo of John.  He is that speck in the center of the photo.  As I came further down the ‘hill,’ I found a place to stop and get a better picture of ye ‘ole rockhounder.  He did not find any crystals, but he also exceeded his climbing goal.  Much better than finding a crystal. 


Yesterday, we were walking in the area north of where we were camping.  John found a crystal there.  He had planned to return to search for more, but he has been hanging some of my artwork and doing some honey-dos. 



We came home to enjoy a beautiful sunset.  The perfect ending to a perfect day even though we did not see the Big Horn Sheep.  Their birthing season extends from January to June.  I imagine some were resting or caring for their young. 

After the sun dropped behind the mountains we went inside and played a couple of rounds of Sequence. He beat me soundly in both games. I got my revenge the next evening.

Our next adventure?  Our journey into Parker and Lake Havasu City.  Until next time,

God Bless you!

RAIN IN THE DESERT! AND ANOTHER DAY AT THE BIG TENT

I cannot remember the last time I was happy that it was raining.  But tonight is just that night.  Why?  Because dust is everywhere here in the desert surrounding Quartzsite, Arizona.  The motorhome looks pale rust in color. The Miata's finish looked dull. 

Well, at least I know the Miata will look better.  As soon as a gentle rain came to the desert, I took a pan of warm soapy water and gave my baby a bath.  Now, the rains are rinsing it. And to top it off, the sound of the rain on the roof of the motorhome is like a concert.  I love it.  

I learned this method from a camper from Oregon when we were in California for Christmas.  What a great way to conserve our water resources.  

I have heard and read that the smell of a desert rain cannot be surpassed.  The rumors are true. Ahhhh.

Of course friends and family in the Indianapolis, Indiana area cannot do this since the low tonight is to be fourteen degrees and the high tomorrow will be around twenty-four.   

Almost two weeks ago we made our first trip to the big tent for the annual RV and travel show, we looked and made notes of the things that interested us.  Today, after many eliminations, we made our purchases.  Now...we are finished.  We even have a list for next year.  They are items that we decided to consider over the next year. 

We did join Escapees today. 
Escapees was founded July 4, 1978.  There are now over fifty chapters in the US, Canada and Mexico.  Discounts at RV parks are just a fraction of the benefits of a membership in Escapees. 


Education is also a benefit of membership.  We are seriously considering attending the Escapade in Gillette, Wyoming this summer.  

Last night we were finally able to attend the campfire and chat with some of the Escapees that are camping around us.  Of course, tonight's campfire was rained out. Tomorrow?  More rain.  I will finally have an opportunity to spin yarn and knit on my circular sock machine!  Woo Hoo....  (John cannot drag me out to shop!)

Thanks for stopping by.  We do enjoy and appreciate your comments.  

God bless and stay safe out there.  

QUARTZSITE'S BIG TENT RV SHOW

What a great way to start the day.  A nice hot cup of chai tea.  

Oliver and Olivia wanted to visit the desert before the sun was peaking over the mountains.   That meant I needed to leave my toasty, warm bed and brave the cooler desert temperatures.  

But then.......as they were taking care of their business, the sun peaked over the mountain just ahead of us.  Beautiful.  

Then I turned one hundred eighty degrees to see the first rays on the mountains behind us. 

Wow.  

What a beautiful time of reflection, and thankfulness for all blessings that God has heaped on us.  

Yesterday was a day of surprises.  After two long years of anticipation, the Big Tent and the Quartzsite RV and Travel Show was open for business.    

I had quite a time finding a parking place that would be close enough that John would not have a long walk to the tent.  Finally, I decided to let him of at an entrance then park the car.  It still took me about twenty minutes to find a place to park the car on the last row.  

We were to meet friends Val and Larry.  Two years ago they shopped in our booth at the Hoosier Hills Fiberarts Festival in Franklin, Indiana. Val volunteered to demonstrate spinning on my Schacht spinning wheel.  

Val and Larry live in Tuscon in the winter then travel in their RV during the Arizona heat in the summer.  Hummm what do we call those that travel north?  It sure is not snowbirds!  

We all headed into the big tent to shop for all things RV. NOT.  It is not all things RV.  We were disappointed to see so many booths occupied by vegetable peelers, hair straighteners, food choppers, etc.  Our expectations were unrealistic.  

How is this for a R.V. conversion?

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep it dawned on me.  The joy of Quartzsite is not the shopping. It is  sitting in the warm desert sun, feeling the healing wash over our bodies.  

It is all about reconnecting with friends, making new friends, listening to RVers with many years of experience share their knowledge.  It is not often that we can meet with others who blog about their travels and their RVs.  That is the joy of Q.  

With that, I leave you to have a wonderful Sunday.

God Bless!

  
  

QUARTZSITE IS NOT QUARTSIZE

What a HUGE area with a small town that in January,  expands to many miles in all directions. Quartzsite hosts the largest RV show and gathering in the country.  The website estimates that there are usually between seven hundred and fifty thousand and one million people people in attendance.  Now, that is a large crowd.

We arrived twelve days ago to attend the rock and mineral show that is held two weeks prior to the RV show.  The town was far from crowded.  Booths were not crowded.  We expected the crowds to roll in by the hundreds.  So far, the campgrounds, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas and resorts all seem to have plenty of room.  

I wonder if the lack of people is the result of the cold snap we have experienced the last few days.  Have no fear, I think as the weather continues to improve, we will see more and more people. 

This photo was taken on a much warmer day last week.  I was in shirtsleeves, knitting socks on my antique CSM / Circular Sock Machine.  Notice that there is not another RV to be seen in the picture.  The closest was about a third of a mile away from us.   

We are parked between Saguaro Cactus. Saguaro are very slow growing cactus. A ten year old plant might only be an one and a half inch tall. Saguaro can grow to between forty to sixty feet tall. When rain is plentiful and the saguaro is fully hydrated, it can weigh between 3200-4800 pounds.

The Saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States. 

 

The sunsets in the deserts are beautiful.  The mountains take on colors that leaves me breathless.  Of course the most beautiful sunset was the evening that fellow RVer Sandie Dixon and I had to make a quick trip to Lake Havasu  for a prescription refill.  I am sure that there will be more beauties before we regretfully leave here then end of the month.

The winds have calmed down and the temperatures have risen to a balmy forty-eight degrees.  Since there is this "heat wave," Oliver, Olivia and I went for a walk.  In the short twenty minutes that we were gone, I saw three RVs with flags.  

I need a much faster shutter speed to clearly capture the Maple Leaf of the Canadian flag and others.  Here are the three I found.  

We have met many RVers that we follow their blogs.  It is great to put a live face with a name and a blog title. The first morning we were here Jim and Sandie Dixon of Where are the Dixon's Today.  Sandie was one of the mighty prayer warrior's who supported John and I through his hospitalization with respiratory failure then his short return to the hospital for congestive heart failure, just before our departure in December.  

I hope to meet and thank more of my Blogland friends and thank them for their prayers, thoughts and kind words of encouragement. 

Oliver and Olivia, the fur kids, have been making many new friends.  The funniest combination is Duchess, the Doberman and Oliver the Shih Tzu. Like Quartzsite, Duchess is not quart size!

  

Talk to you later.  There is much to do and see here in Quartzsite and you will be the first to hear about it.

God bless you with His blessings and please be safe out there.