The Proverbial Wall and a visit to California

When I was researching this new lifestyle, I heard it said many times... 'this lifestyle will make or break your relationship'. Well, we hit that wall yesterday. In all fairness to both of us, this heat has been terribly difficult on us both. We now know why people don't get this far south until November. Today we finally broke the 30's(Celsius) and had a freezing temp of 27C (80F), it is said by those in the know that we will be maintaining this temperature for the next couple of weeks - likely story, but we'll see.

In any event, yesterday we woke up and all was fine. Then Brad made himself a Keurig coffee and the machine turned off during heating. We then realized that we had no power. None, zero, zilch. After checking all the stuff we know to check, I called the boys at Discount Solar. Could they have a guy look at it if we brought it in. Yes, Larry says. So we packed her up and off we went, Brad following in the Jeep.

When I arrived Larry came out and checked this and that, I've no idea. To cut a really long story short (and lose a great punch line), it turned out that the Solenoid in the engine compartment has a breaker on it and that had flipped. (your welcome ;) ) Craig (owner) was the genius that figured that out, went right to it once the guys told him what was happening.

We are so appreciative of the great service and friendly staff we have received at Discount Solar here in Quartzsite. These guys know their stuff!!

Anyway with that stress AND the heat, when we returned to our campsite we had a rather large argument. A make or break argument. Can't imagine what the neighbours think of us! In the end, we have chosen to make it work. We have been through much worse in our 12 years together, I have the best husband ever.

I can only speak for us - but it seems that this lifestyle changes the way you do things. You know how you break things down at home? He does the garbage, She does the dishes... whatever it is. It changes when your living this lifestyle, at least it has for us. The Ying/Yang that makes us work has been fluctuating the last couple of weeks and yesterday it exploded.

Everything is fine now and we have agreed to change things up a little to accommodate the new lifestyle but anyone considering doing this with a spouse should be aware that the way things have worked in sticks and bricks may not work so well on wheels. When your camping there are no obvious his/hers breakdowns.

Today we went for a drive to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, its just a portion of the valley set aside really but the landscape has more and different vegetation than the part of the valley we are staying in which was interesting since its only a couple of miles down the road. I can only assume it is a lower altitude thereby gaining much more of the water run off from the hills.

Entrance marker to the Kofa Wildlife Refuge

Kofa Wildlife Refuge Information

Notice of former mining and munitions

We got pretty close to the hills we have been looking at for the past week or so

View of the Refuge

Pretty Cacti

It was still early so we decided to go and check out Blythe. Of course this means crossing into California! Yay! Well, turned out not to be so Yay! Blythe is done, like dinner. We drove all over the place and I even went in to a couple of shops to see about getting something small for lunch but only found rotting vegetables and dried up bakery goods in the two places we stopped. Perhaps it was a bad day, but we were sorely unimpressed with both Blythe and by extension California today.

About to cross into California

Entering California you have to go through this check for produce and stuff

A Canal in Blythe, prettiest part of the trip

Appeared to be a cotton field or something white and puffy anyway

All in all we had a great day out getting familiar with our surroundings. I'd like to find out what there is to do around here, I've checked a couple of apps and other than GeoCaching with snakes I can't find anything. I'll be doing a more indepth review of the AllTrails app because I think there may be more there than I found the first look I had.

Snakes, Scorpions and Coyotes. Oh my!

Went to Quartzsite for breakfast this morning after discovering that the dog seatbelt we were looking for in town was not a seatbelt at all but a seatbelt looking dog collar. Aaargh. Then we decided to go to Parker looking for a dog seatbelt, they didn't have any so we grabbed some paracord and a couple of caribiners and we (he) shall make our own.

What I'm looking for with regard to the dog is a strap with a seatbelt latch on one end and something we can hook to his collar on the other. I'll be checking Amazon tootsuite. Just did. Like this:

The others he just gets tangled up in

I also bought myself another hat. Blondie left her hat in the restaurant at Paradise Casino in Yuma. So I bought the identical hat, because frankly I liked that one. Once back in Quartzsite we drove around a few of the tents to see what there was to offer, I got a new pair of sunglasses. Adding even more to my beauty ;) (I look terrible in glasses)

We returned to the rig to discover we had set it in the wrong direction. The longest/hottest sun was on our sit outside side, so we moved slightly down the road and set up there - facing what we hope will be the right direction this time, offering us mid/late day shade.

Brad was putting up his TV antennae and new Canadian flag when the neighbour (from British Columbia) drove over to say hi. He proceeded to tell us that for years his 'group' has had this area filled up, although most are dead or dying now. He is 88 and his 'partner' who is in Washington at the moment is 97 he tells us. I inquired if we were in the way and he assured me that no we were fine, if not a little too close to the creekbed. Then he warns us of the snakes, scorpions and coyotes. Be careful if your picking anything up (dog poop) and that the scorpions don't usually go into the rigs (insinuation being the snakes do). When he said his 'partner' feeds the coyotes, I figured he was just having me on at that point and was just trying to get us out of an incoming friends anticipated spot.

 We figured all the Americans were flying theirs, so... when in Rome...

While supper (beef stew) was cooking in the Instant Pot - incidentally I don't use a recipe, I just review a few recipes and then wing it on my own with what I have - I walked around the bush beside our outdoor 'sitting area' and filled in all the snake holes (likely 25ish of them). We are sitting inside this evening and will take careful stock of the exterior area in the morning, just in case. Perhaps he's just a nice old guy, I don't know. Personally, I'm leaning toward he's trying to convince us we need to move. Which incidentally, we will be but only a few feet away from the creek towards the road after the next tank dump in a few days. Unless of course -- we have holes in the morning.

This is the suspect bush and the creek to the right (about 20 ft from the rig)

P.S. We know Snakes, Scorpions and Coyotes are a serious business around here but everyone else we spoke to said its not a problem, just be aware, alert and careful. Anyone care to argue that, please let us know. I'll be having dreams of Medusa tonight.

Do you speak English?...

This morning we gathered ourselves and Brad went on the roof to strap down the slide topper since we couldn't find anyone to fix it on a Saturday and even those willing didn't have access to the parts. We then took Deuce (New Jeep for those who missed the news) to Jiffy Lube and had all fluids flushed and or drained and replaced.

Back to Paradise Casino for what we hoped would be breakfast but no luck - ends at 10:30am. so lunch it was. Then we headed off to Quartzsite. I drove the RV and Brad drove the Jeep. We decided not to tow it until we have the insurance in place. So many things can go wrong when you're towing.

My new Driver

Driving back we had to go through a Border Patrol along Hwy 95..... When pulling up I was unclear if I should pull over the last 'bump in the road or stay outside of it. The guy was guiding me up with his hands and then gave me a thumbs up. Now, in my blondeness I took that to mean I was good in the spot I was in. Threw it in Park and shut it off. Reasonable, right? What I didn't know- because the A/C was on and the dog was doing his usual car routine- was that the guy said I was good to go. I figured he was going to enter the RV and look around, Nope. Because of the confusion this thumbs up caused, he came to the window and asked if I speak English... yes, of course.  Brad is behind me in the Jeep knowing full well that I was in one of (what he calls) my 'dark hole' moments. A blonde moment most people call it. I've been telling him I can't cope with this heat... he's not hearing me.

 Parked beside the road at the...

Yuma Proving Ground

Dog Exhaustion 

Quartzsite Sunset

 Quartzsite Sundown

Anyway, we arrived back in Quartzsite and decided to try the La Posa South LTVA (Long-term Visitor Area) since the West hadn't been very social. When driving in I realized Brad had been stopped. Oh yeah, he doesn't have a sticker on the new Jeep. Anyway, he had to go back to the West LTVA to get the sticker so while he was doing that, I went to dump the tanks and reload the fresh water tank. Enroute to that I saw a spot that would be good and went back to it when I was finished, just as Brad was pulling up.

We left the RV at the spot and drove around the LTVA land looking for something else. Not because of a problem, it's just what we had planned in Yuma this morning. Didn't find anything else and so moved the rig into position and went to Quartzsite looking for a seat belt latch for Robbie that I had seen at one of the tents. Closed, just my luck. We will try again in the morning, at least we know where to look. Went to Silly Al's for supper and then back to the rig where we promptly set about setting up camp. We are now sitting outside, the sun has just gone down and we are enjoying an hour of quiet computer time.

Our new spot

We have chosen this spot as a permanent spot with the understanding that if we should decide to go somewhere else once the topper is fixed, we will. Here are some pics of the broken topper.

The broken slide topper

Deuce is wild

We left Quartzsite, AZ early this morning enroute to Yuma, AZ to look at a Jeep. Well we got it, complete with a Blue Ox tow bar and Base Plate. Pretty happy with the deal we got. A little running around to arrange the funds, but we managed.

At 4:05pm I called the local DMV to make sure they were open until 5pm... ' you have to have a ticket in hand by 4:30 to be seen' the woman tells me. Whaaaaa? So we jumped in the rig and booted over to the DMV arriving at 4:27pm. The woman who sold us the car had to come with us (in her own car) to sign it over in their presence, which to us is peculiar but whatever works I guess.

Robbie guarding Deuce

So we now have her plated and good to go. We have 30 days to sort out the insurance - no one can explain this part to me - but we intend to get it done bright and early Monday morning anyway. So what if something happens in that 30 days? Are we hooped? Does it fall to the previous owners insurance? I just don't get it, so I'm going with hooped.

Because the sun was setting by the time this was all completed we decided to head to Paradise Casino that allows overnights. Apparently it used to be free and then last year they decided to try 3 days for $10. I can only assume that was a bust because they are now back to FREE. My kind of language. I posted the details on Campendium already and will get to the rest as I can but needed to get this blog up. Here is the letter they hand out to RVers after the 1st night.

The temperature got to 41C (105..8F) -- otherwise know as hot as hell. Here is a picture of what that does to my beauty...

Can anyone tell me what the benefit is of painting tree trunks white? Is it a bug thing? Aesthetics? In lieu of snow? We saw a lot of them today here in Yuma. Looks really great but I just wonder - why?

So back to our new Jeep. Brad and I each had an FJ Cruiser, his is white and mine was bright yellow. I sold mine this time last year so when we saw this one online.... anyway, there are some things we'll be doing to it but in the meantime, its some wheels.

Because we named the RV 'Ace', we have decided to call the Jeep 'Deuce'. And Deuce is wild, just like her mama ;)

When we arrived at the casino we set up as per for parking lot parking. When Brad put the slide out the slide topper cracked and came off. Literally just laying on top of the slide. As its dark out we can't even contemplate looking at it tonight so will have to do something with it in the morning. We have been talking about going somewhere new for awhile but now with this topper thing... I think we'll head back to Quartzsite and find someone there who can fix it. Of course, this is all assuming we can either remove or secure it in the morning. Anyone know of someone who can fix/ replace a slide topper in either Quartzsite or Yuma? George? Anyone? It cracked off on both ends where it attaches to the front of the slide. Perhaps (won't know until morning) a spring broke, it sounded like the slide was going out and the topper was not unfurling with it and then snap.... just a second or two, not enough time to react.

My husband is absolutely the best to make all these dreams of mine come true. (he made me write that) LOL

Looking for a Jeep in Arizona

Yesterday I made inquiries into what is involved when a Canadian touring the US for several months figures out that he (I mean they) do in fact need a Tow car. One of those required items is an address. An American address, in our case - Arizona. So this morning I was on Google again...

Now be aware that I had previously researched this American address situation for our mail and so I was already very familiar with the companies and options. I went to Travelling Mailbox and signed up online after calling them to verify a few details. Shortly afterward I received a phone call from a local gentleman here in Quartzsite because they did in fact require more details than the website asked for - because we are Canadian.

So tomorrow morning, first thing -- we will be walking over there and taking care of that so that when we need to insure the new Jeep, we are ready.

We spent all day looking at Jeeps today. Well, first we did a lot of housework... then we looked for Jeeps. A pretty lazy day all in all but good nonetheless. We have a booking at a park outside of Phoenix that we will use as 'home base' while we traipse around looking for our newest vehicle.

So that will be Sunday through Tuesday. No plans after that, but personally I'm thinking cooler weather. Although it is supposed to drop to to low/mid 80F this week...

Fo supper, I decided to use my Instant Pot for the 1st time. Aye, Aye, Aye. Brad had taken out Chicken Schnitzel so that's what I had to work with. I'm not exactly Betty Crocker to begin with and Schnitzel is not something I've had any real experience with, so..

I found a recipe only to discover (after melting butter) that I didn't have the potatoes I thought I had, so back to the drawing board. Found another recipe only to discover I didn't have the Green pepper I thought I had. Screw it: I got a recipe for rice, cut the schnitzel into cubes added salt, pepper and some sauces from the cupboard. Okay, set it to make rice. Check. Wait... only 3-8 min?! what?

I couldn't figure out how to change the time setting so I just let it run its course. 10 min to get to temp and 16 min to cook. Yeppers, you guessed it. Not so great. Brad really enjoyed it but he used to eat in trenches so that's no great feat. It was okay, but I was disappointed it wasn't a little better.

... and STILL no GeoCaches. Also, no excuse. I thought about it several times over the course of the day but it was so damn hot out I didn't dare go out (I tend to faint in the heat) and when it cooled down, which I waited all day for -- I was making supper in my Instant Pot for the 1st time and didn't want to leave it in case it exploded or something.

Dishes done, I am now writing to you and Brad just emailed me 'our Jeep'. So, I gotta go call a chick about a jeep! WooHoo!

P.S. Our plans just changed... details to follow, stay tuned for a little sunshine!

Solar, Laundry, Pizza & TV

This morning we realized that while our inverter was working, we were not bringing in any power to the batteries. So our day of chilling out was out the window once again. I called Discount Solar and let them know we were on our way, what the problem was and that we'd get the buzzer done at the same time. Turned out that a connector was bad on the roof, so about 45 minutes there getting that sorted and the low battery buzzer installed. 

Figured we'd go for pizza - what else do you do when its 35C?! Yes, we're odd. Off to Silly Al's where I saw this recipe on the wall, not sure it will all fit in the Instant Pot though. 

We always get a larger pizza than we need so we have lunch the next day, but we order the 'gargantuan' literally that's what its called (20") clearly we didn't give much thought to just how big that would be. So we had lunch yesterday, a snack last night, likely breakfast this morning and lunch again today. It won't all fit in the fridge, so eat it we must.

Over to the laundromat where the washer was $1.75 and the dryer was $4.50, 20 min for the washer, 25 min for the dryer. As you might expect it wasn't dry and I was mad as hell. $4.50!!!! and its not dry... how much would it cost me to get it dry? I wasn't prepared to find out.

(This is the GoodYear Blimp flying over Quartzsite today)

Back to the RV and Brad strung up some rope for me and we got the laundry out to dry. 2 hours later I checked and all but 4 pieces were done so I brought in the dry and reset the damp stuff. Actually its currently 6:30am and I just realized I didn't bring them in last night. Oops.

This was a couple of days ago, we were trying to find a GeoCache, without success unfortunately, but since I didn't get to do any GeoCaching yesterday I thought I'd throw in the pic that I have been trying. Note the hat I mentioned in a previous blog. Sexy Mama, Right?!

We also stopped at a Satellite/TV place (when I say we, I mean he), and picked this up for around $80 we were able to pick up 30+ channels. My husband it turns out is a techy guru (not), but it works so who's to argue?

Called the AZ DMV yesterday and was advised that all we need to plate a vehicle is the Title, an AZ address (slight hiccup but doable) and within 30 day have AZ insurance (specifically Arizona Insurance, why I don't know - money grab I suppose).

Called Insurance Brokers of Arizona and was assured that we could get AZ insurance, they do it all the time. Even for Canadians. Well, Okay.

Spent most of last night searching for Jeeps, hence I didn't get this blog posted last night and I was up at 4:30am thinking about the Jeep I found and want. We booked a place to stay just outside Phoenix area for Sunday, so we could spend a couple of days searching and doing the paperwork.

When messaging the guy who currently owns the Jeep I want he advised he was taking it to Tucson on Friday to show a couple who want it as a Toad! So at 4:30am I'm awake thinking we should get there before he goes and save him a trip... not to mention, get us a vehicle. Of course, this will require a couple of days of boondocking before our park reservations kick in. 

Have not discussed this with Brad yet (he, apparently can sleep), so will let you know what happens in tonight's post.

Here is a picture of the TV antennae gizmo since kelly at The Bayfield Bunch asked.

$50

The necessary poles and whatnots were purchased seperately at one of the tents (EEZ RV Store, I think) on Kuehn St in the South West Quadrant (southside of highway 10, that is) for approx $30.

Solar Upgrades and Friends in High Places

 Alright so I'm going to relay today's events in sequential order.... try to keep up. :)

So this morning we were due to be at Discount Solar a little before 11am.... We got up and beautified, packed up the rig and off we went. First sight we saw this morning was our neighbours rig with a large sign across the front that says, " We shoot every third trespasser and number two just left". Clearly not a friendly chap and I'm so glad I saw that before I walked up to his rig (I wouldn't have seen this sign from our angle) to say hello.

We then drove over to the Goodwill (behind Silly Al's here in Quartzsite) and dropped off my crockpot, the printer and a bunch of sweaters that I'm clearly never going to need again. I kept 3 sweaters and ditched the rest, most of which were fairly new (don't tell Brad). The women in the shop were so excited to see us bringing in stuff that one of them actually ran around the counter and gave me a hug, Brad was making a Beeline for the door but she chased after him and he got a hug too. Not anticipating any of this display, I didn't take my cell phone with me as my arms were full. So no pictures.

We were at Discount Solar by 10:30am, sat waiting in line for an hour and then went into the 'waiting room' but we felt like a bunch (there was another couple there as well) of Mexican Immigrants stuffed into a cargo container (it was a converted one, quite literally) and the heat (40C) was unbearable, so I grabbed a bunch of chairs and we all went to sit outside in the shade where the breeze was.

Brad and I decided to take Robbie for a walk and we went down the road to Taco Mio and enjoyed a nice lunch in air conditioning. Robbie stayed under the table between us with some ice water in his collapsible bowl.

It was just too damn hot to walk any further and we were feeling the burn, so we returned to our Mexican hut and sat outside with our co-immigrants. Every now and again I would go over and check on Kendon (the installer guy) to see how things were going.  The guys at Discount Solar are all really great. They worked non-stop on those rigs all day long. Always happy, never moaning, remember it was roughly 40C today and they were out there in the heat and sun. Pretty impressed with this place, I must say. They were upgrading all our wiring to the appropriate ought, installing a Xantrex LinkLite Battery Monitor (Thank you Brenda and Len) and 2 more batteries. Putting us at 480w on the roof and 6- 6V Golf Cart Flooded batteries. Enough to send Armstrong to the moon! Totally wired for sound, we are.

Our co-immigrants showed us a map they use, Benchmark maps. Looks pretty detailed and it shows the areas by colour ie. Public land, Forest service, etc. I will be keeping an eye out for one of these.

Our new Xantrex LinkLite Battery Monitor above the original Go Power Solar Controller

$229 US... plus install, but I think it will pay for itself. I wanted it because it has a battery alarm that you can preset to whatever you want so that when your batteries reach a certain percentage an alarm will sound -handy when you use it mostly overnight. So toward the end of the day Kendon advised that there was some kind of snafu happening with my alarm gizmo so I went to the office to inquire what was going on. Turns out they were out of stock of the alarms... but as I was talking to him he got a call that someone had one and they wanted to install it tomorrow. When I told Brad, after 7.5 hours of being in 40C heat, he wasn't having any of it. So I went back to the office and said we would go without the alarm. "Oh, your getting the alarm," he says, "if I have to chase you to El Paso". Apparently there had been such a kerfuffle around the shop all day about this alarm - which we didn't realize - so we agreed that the next time we move the rig to dump or whatever that we will call them and let them know we'll be coming in. A couple of minutes is all they need Craig tells me. Everything is pre-wired, etc. they just have to stick it in. Okay.

We got back to our 'home' base and the chair with the rock had held it for us yet again. Don't know how long this will last, but so far so good. It was 6pm when we got the rigs levellers down and I whipped out the BBQ and did up some quick hamburgers and chips for supper. Before they were cooked darkness was upon us. Mental note: be parked before 5:30 because I'm not putting those pads down under there in the dark with all the wildlife out here in the jungle.

For those who do not know, HP Sauce is named after the Houses of parliament in England. We are English and this sauce is a staple around here. Now in our previous unmentionable abode we had easy access to HP but not the Keene's prepared mustard we love, so my family would send us some for Xmas or birthdays, etc or we would get some when we were there. So when we packed the rig, I brought along a couple jars of Keene's but didn't even think of the HP... tonight we had burgers, and I discovered that we are almost out of HP!!!! This stuff is Gold and they don't sell it down here. So what did I do? I loved Vickie. 

I texted the previously mentioned and sinister Vickie that we met in Osoyoos who will be coming to the states with her dearly beloved Bruce and begged her upon bended knee to please bring me a couple of bottles.. She has agreed. The woman is a saint! LOL

All day - and I mean all day- Brad has been looking at Jeep Wranglers and has found a couple that we will be reviewing once I get this blog finished. So goodnight one and all, I'm off to the Jeeps.

Onwards and Upwards

I had a great birthday!

We pulled up stakes this morning and headed into town. Left a chair with a rock on it as per instructions and sure enough it was still there when we returned. Bonus gift of the day!

We first drove over to 'Discount Solar' and discussed our situation with them, and yes it turns out my suspicions were correct about the battery wiring setup. In any event, we need a couple more batteries because ours are at 100% well before noon so a couple more batteries will allow us to do more with the electric our solar is creating. Larry there at Discount Solar said if your batteries are full around 4pm that's a good balance basically (I'm summarizing here). We're losing about 6 hours of energy generation capacity because we don't have enough storage space. This confirms what we were told at the Woody's in Calgary that we went to a month ago. We were also advised that installers often use smaller wires than they should and these guys confirmed that.

After leaving Discount Solar we went to Parker, AZ. There is a Walmart there and the birthday bunny bought me an INSTANT POT!!!!! WooHoo!!!!! So excited to have this baby. Also got 2 backpacks with Hydration reservoirs, Brad got 2 pairs of shorts but they didn't have any for us girls, we also got an HDTV Antennae (as seen on TV) whatsit that Brad is currently trying to configure, ($15) so not a big deal if it won't work. We realized today that the previous owner had satellite and so likely the antennae on the roof is no longer connected to anything. Don't know but its a possibility. When we got settled back at home, my Mother-in-law had also sent me a Walmart gift card and a package of plastic containers that all sit inside one another taking up very little space. Thank you.

It got to 39C here today (bloody hot in Fahrenheit) and we wanted to go for a meal... unable to leave the dog in the RV we went to the Blue Water Resort & Casino and put his 'service dog' collar on him. No problem. Had a lovely meal at the casino in the air conditioning and I took Robbie's bowl with us and asked for a bit of water for him which the waitress brought in a cup and I poured some into the bowl for him to make sure he didn't splatter it everywhere.

Having trouble with this bike situation. Can't seem to find a bike rack. Bikes are everywhere but we can't get the bikes until we have a rack to put them on. Even stopped today to look at RZRs and the guy says yeah Canadians have no trouble plating them here.... I'm not so sure. And if its easy to plate something then perhaps we should just get a Jeep since we can drive a Jeep anywhere and the RZRs are only good in specific places.

Then we needed to find Brad a hat as the Walmart had one for me (you'll see that later, I'm sure) but nothing for men. Back to Quartzsite we went to the Dollar General and he managed to get the last 'brad appropriate' (big head) hat on the shelf. Actually looks pretty good with his shades and hat on.

Figured since we were out we should dump the tanks so we ran down the highway and got that done, reloaded the fresh water and came 'home' to find our spot reserved by my chair and rock just as the guy at the entrance kiosk said.

Tomorrow we are going back to Discount Solar and the guys are going to have a look at our setup and get it sorted for us. I know we could do it ourselves but we're not good at this and frankly its just not our forte. Being electrical, we are quite happy to let the 'guys in the know' deal with it and we can be confident that it will work properly AND not burn the rig down.

All in all it was a great birthday although I STILL haven't been able to go Geocaching... and tomorrow doesn't look likely either but the shop closes at 2pm so -- maybe?!

The antennae thingy isn't working. I've suggested we remove the TV altogether and put my computer monitor up there instead. We both have our computers with us (yep, we know) and I don't want to throw mine out. Its too big to fit on the desk in the bedroom and Brad can't use the desk because the bed he'd sit on is too far away for his injured back so he uses the desk in the front. Replacing the TV with it (let's face it, TV is outdated anyway) solves my problem, allows us to watch everything we want to watch and I can type my blogs on it as well. Also, we'd lose the weight of a fairly heavy TV.

Incidentally, anyone have suggestions on what to do with said TV and previously said printer? Do I just throw them in the dumpsters? Guess I'll have to ask the kiosk guy.

Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes my way, I appreciate each and every one. Now, where's the Smirnoff.......

P.S I'm 49 going on 22 years old. Shhh don't tell anyone.

Madmen and Englishmen

We finally had a quiet day. It was great. We did virtually nothing all day although I did make bacon and eggs for breakfast, which we enjoyed outside in the shade with views of the Quartzsite hills.

Its very hot here, although we are from Saskatchewan originally, we have been on the east coast for quite a few years and only saw the sun when we went to Saskatchewan.. so this heat is taking a bit of getting used to again. I mean its roughly 30-35C so its not like we've never experienced it before, its not 40 or 45C - that would be too much for our lily white skin for sure, it will likely take us a week or two to adapt and by then hopefully it will begin cooling here.

Funny story I forgot to mention... When we left on this journey we didn't bring any shorts or hot weather attire particularly, as frankly we didn't have any left so we figured we'd wait until we got to the desert to get some. Well the other day I went into Walmart (I can't remember which one) and asked the girl where the shorts were. "We don't have any, its "winter" she tells me, quoting with her fingers.

So the only shorts we have are the swim trunks we got for Brad in Osoyoos and I might have a pair of jean shorts somewhere (I can't remember where).

In any event, I did some shopping at said Walmart and bought a bunch of -- I don't know what you call them, hiking or workout type pants-- the stuff that wicks the moisture away, and a bunch of shirts. I bought a workout bra thingy because it matched and when I tried it on the next day, the front zipper won't stay up! It just zips right down and opens the entire bra exposing all my goodies to the world -so that's a goner. Not that I have a lot of goodies but what I do have I don't want the sun to burn! I'm all for "if you've got it, flaunt it" but that's a bit much and I don't want to scare the neighbours.

We took a walk this afternoon (only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun), did I mention we're both English? Well technically, I'm English as is Brad's mother but we both have what we call English skin - it burns FAST!

Well, I went to scout out the area and see if I could find a better spot, not that we don't like the one we have but just being nosey. Brad followed when he realized I hadn't taken a drink with me - he worries too much as I was within shouting distance of our rig, but it was nice that he joined me regardless. We didn't find anything better and so tomorrow when we head out to do some shopping in Parker we will have to leave a chair with a rock on it to keep our spot (apparently thats the protocol). Wonder if we should buy another chair for such instances as we only have the two. I'll let you know tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow. I think I will be changing my posting time from morning to evening. I'm doing this mostly for scheduling purposes. In the evening we are generally sitting in the rig relaxing, watching something, talking while the generator is charging all our stuff. In the morning its nice to get up and get going and I find that by the time I'm finished writing my blog and reading other blogs, I then have to beautify, sort the RV and general day readiness stuff and its as late as 11am before we are ready for the day. Given the heat here its important to try to use as much of the early morning hours as possible to do things before the sun gets to high. Once the sun goes down and the snakes, scorpions and coyotes are invisible -- that's the time to write blogs.

Here's a question for all you RVers: What fancy gadget do we need in order to get Over The Air TV? I imagined that we would just turn the thing on, put the antennae up and that would be that, but NO... we get nothing.. I know some people have satellites, etc. but I know there is OTA TV down here (unlike in Canada where everything is digital now) and I just don't know how to get it. Is there a required gizmo?

Often throughout the day I think of something to inquire about or mention on the blog but when I sit down to write to you all I can not remember it for the life of me, my short-term memory has always been bad. I guess I'll just have to keep a notepad with me and jot things down as they come up.

We haven't met any of our fellow boondocking neighbours, some were gone before we were beautified and everyone is still fairly spread out here as the masses have not yet arrived. Oh, one thing I wanted to talk about was the damn internet!

WTH is wrong with the internet? Actually, we found it to be particularly T-Mobile as we were driving here from Canada, we also were on Verizon and AT&T without any noticeable hiccups, but guess what we're on here? Yup, T-mobile. Figures. We have full bars, there are not a lot of people -- well there are a lot of people but not nearly as many as what is coming -- and the internet is slower than molasses already. I know all about the wifi boosters and no we don't have one YET but its on our list - along with tons of other stuff.

Dawn - if your reading this there are a lot of Geo-caches in the area that I will be hitting up in the coming days so watch for that. This Geo-cache thing is great when you don't know an area it gives you a point to walk to and gets you off the proverbial couch. I'm sure I walked right by a couple today when I was hunting for a spot but I had Google Earth open to help me look around. Perhaps tomorrow if we get back early enough.

I must say, this writing in the evening is much better. I'm not feeling so rushed and I'm able to put the proper links in AND write longer posts. Feel free to moan at me in the comment section but I like this so far.

Tomorrow... bikes? Oh, and its my birthday tomorrow too so MAYBE an Instant Pot?

P.S. I'm still 21 and holding!
P.P.S Found out today that the LTVA long term permit does not have a 14 day limit, only if you buy a short term permit is it a 14 day limit.

Made it to Quartzsite

Good morning, we arrived in Quartzsite yesterday, we paid our $180 to cover us until April, and I explained we had never been here before so they were gracious enough to explain how it all worked. The most important point is not to leave Robbie unattended for even a moment as the coyotes here are apparently big and smart.

We went down the highway to dump our tanks and load up with fresh water, drove to town for some spirits and reflectix and then returned to La Posa West to find our 14 day home.

Got a really nice spot which offers us some sun protection although if we had the trees on the other side, we'd have more, a thought for another day. For right now, we just want to relax and unwind from the chaos of driving for the last 7 weeks. The bonus here is that we can move whenever we want to a different spot within this camp or a different camp altogether as there are 7 within this system.

I didn't notice until this morning but we are situated between the big Q on the hill and the highway, almost a direct line of sight... we have an awesome view out our main window of said Q.

Its damn hot here during the day and damn cold at night. Well, in fairness to the night, we did have the Maxx fan running half the night. Today we might just wander across to the rig in the above picture and see what their story is. If they are up to being sociable that is.

We have to lose some weight, remember that printer... and some other stuff, anyone know if I can just put it all in the provided dumpsters?

I contacted our mobile internet provider last night because my iPhone says I've used 13.8G this period but their website said 4.2G... which to follow? I was told to follow the website. Bonus! So I got to watch a few YouTube videos which I have been avoiding because of our data cap. Spending that 2 weeks in Osoyoos campgrounds saved a lot of data... given the cost of data....

Now that I'm thinking about it...
    Data costs (when not in campgrounds) Avg: $7/day
    Dumping and Fresh water costs (when on the move) Avg: $3/day

Nope, doesn't make up for the campground sardine feeling at all at an Avg: $30/day

Boondocking: Priceless

Take note: that data cost is based on what we think we'll use but we don't know yet and may reduce it later.