Tuesday, January 17, 2012 (Usery Mountain Regional Park, Mesa, AZ)

I was awake earlier than usual this morning after laying there for 40 minutes trying to get back to sleep, I finally decided to just get up...it was 5:40 a.m.!  The coyotes had also been extremely boisterous in the wee hours waking us and I didn’t have a very good sleep after that.  As the sun came up, the sky was mainly clear with just a few clouds off on the horizon.  It looks like we are back into a nice stretch of sunshine.

I needed to stock up with some groceries for our week at Quartzsite so was planning to just drive a short distance to Basha’s...a grocery store chain down here that I have never been to.  Steve decided to come along and fill the propane tanks at the nearby Chevron station.

With those tasks completed, I was inside putting the groceries away while Steve puttered around outside getting ready for our departure tomorrow.  The big decision he had now was whether to fill our freshwater tanks here or wait until we get to Quartzsite.  So he went online to research sani-stations between Phoenix and Quartzsite...where we could fill up before finding a camp spot in the BLM La Posa Long Term Visitor Area.  He didn’t really want to travel the 160 miles with the additional weight of the water.  He found out that there is a water station at the south entrance so we will fill out tanks once we get there.

We were sitting outside enjoying the sunshine when Dennis, Suzanne and Dunkin arrived.  We sat outside with some bevies having a great visit.  We moved our chairs, following the lowering sunshine, until it finally got too chilly and we headed inside.

We played a game of marbles (aggravation)...that we had to restart because I accidently spilled a full glass of wine all over the whole board...cards and all...oops!   Steve was the winner of our first game...after which it was time for dinner.  Dennis and Suzanne had picked up Chinese food on their way out...complete with paper plates and plastic forks...so we filled our plates, put them in the microwave to warm up and...voila...dinner!

We were into another game when Suzanne looked out the window and saw three coyotes near our site...it’s amazing how they can wander around out there in the dark and not get caught up in the cholla cactus lying on the ground.  Once our game was over (Steve won again), it was time to call it an evening.  After big hugs, Dennis, Suzanne and Dunkin were on their way.  They are going to drive out and spend a night with us in Quartzsite next week...they will just have to find us in the thousands of RVs that pile into the vast open desert!  Hopefully, we will have cell and/or an internet connection so we can let them know where we are.