Thursday, November 29, 2012 (Travel to La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Ugh....that 6 hour “happy hour” we had last night (without dinner) is showing its affects this morning.  Actually, I’m probably feeling better than I should...I’m just mainly tired (and slow...just can’t move too fast this morning).  Good thing we are leaving today...those new friends of ours are a very bad influence on us...haha...just kidding! The whole group at Midland are wonderful people...very warm and welcoming...we will be back to see you all again.

After a stop at the sani-dump, we left Midland at 10:30 and made our way south to the I-10 where we headed east towards Quartzsite.  As we crossed the Colorado River into Arizona, we changed time zones again...and lost an hour (oh good, I can go to bed an hour earlier tonight!). 

Dome Rock...

We had a short travel day, arriving at La Posa South LTVA just before 12:30.

We filled up with water...it took forever with low water pressure and then made our way into the area where we had camped last January when we were first here. 

We pulled over and decided to walk the rest of the way to see what spots were available.  We received a warm welcome from Art and Jan who suggested a spot just down a bit further from where they were.  It was right across from where Rob and Peggy are, so we stopped to say hi to them and then Steve walked back to get the rig.

It took a few minutes to get the trailer angled in the right east/west direction to give the solar panels optimal performance and then it was time to get leveled and unhitched.  All went smoothly...Steve even managed to get a satellite signal right off, just needing to make a bit of an adjustment.

After a shower, Steve went into Quartzsite to fill a propane tank...the one we emptied last night at our ‘campfire-in-a-can’ gathering.  I sat with the laptop working on our blog...we have a great signal on our MiFi here...4G with all bars...yay!

When Steve got back, Rob popped over and invited us over for a glass of wine.  We will definitely come over for a visit but no alcohol for us tonight!!  We chatted with them and watched as the sun went down...another beautiful sunset...and then headed back home to have dinner and veg in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.  Earl and Alison also arrived this evening...looking forward to seeing them in the morning!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 (Midland LTVA, Blythe, CA)

It was another beautiful day today...not quite as hot as it has been but still a really pleasant 76F/24C.

We finally decided to do something that we have been talking about doing for quite a while...go through our clothes and get rid of the things we haven’t worn in the last 29 months.   So while I finished up responding to some emails that I had been neglecting, Steve got started on his stuff.  I was doing the dishes and he was still in there...it’s amazing the clothes in the closet that we brought along once we started this lifestyle...and haven’t touched!  When it was my turn...well, I was in there just as long and really tried to be brutal but I think it’s harder for women...I just might want to wear this...or that...and I even found some things that I had totally forgotten about...too funny!

The end result was three big garbage bags of clothes and shoes.  We had asked Ann and Armand if there was a thrift shop or goodwill store in town where we could drop the bags off and they offered to take the bags to their church.

So shortly before noon, I set off in the truck and after dropping the things off with Ann, I headed into Blythe to pick up a few groceries.  Once back, Steve loaded the quads back into the truck and packed some things away in preparation for leaving tomorrow.

At 3:00 we decided to go for our usual walk.  On our loop back, we stopped at Tom and Lynn’s, Wolf and Marg’s, and Armand and Ann’s to say goodbye and thank them for all their hospitality.  Steve had already invited Dennis and Charlene over for a ‘happy hour’ campfire so we also invited the other three couples to pop over.

Dennis and Charlene arrived just before 4:30 bearing gifts for Steve and I...Charlene had knitted booties to keep our feet warm on those cool desert days...thanks so much, Charlene!





Next to arrive were Ann and Armand...

Followed by Lynn and Tom...

...and then Marg and Wolf...

Everyone had a great evening!  So much so, that it seemed no one wanted to go home!  It ended up being a much later evening that we had planned...but it was lots of fun!   Perhaps a little too much fun,,,probably going to be a little "slow" tomorrow. 

A great group of people...we will definitely be back!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 (Midland LTVA, Blythe, CA)

We had our usual start to the day and then after exercises, showers, breakfast and dishes...we were ready...we’re going riding today!  It was another beautiful day...but with a light patchy cloud covering.

It was just before 10:30 when we headed out.  We had planned on geocaching but Steve’s GPS is not working properly...don’t know what is up with it but all it will do is track where we are going.  It won’t calculate properly when trying to find geocaches or track back.  I will plug it into the laptop when we get back and see if there are any software updates and if not, see if we can troubleshoot the problem.

We rode the same trail west along the base of the Maria Mountains that we did on our first ride  but carried on further this time towards the Rice Valley Wilderness area..  We basically rode trails that follow the base of the mountains.  We stopped along the way and took a few pictures...

It took some doing, but we eventually found a tiny bit of shade where we could stop for lunch...

We're actually on the edge of a wash here and that little spec in the background is an old car that has been left there...

Most of the mountains in this area are scarred with roads that go nowhere. We were told that this was the result of  the removal of rocks for decorative landscaping.

It was going on 3:00 by the time we got home...after stopping to say hi to the gang working on installing the solar panels at Tom and Lynn's.  We had had another great ride!

After getting cleaned up, I immediately fired up the laptop and plugged in the GPS to see if perhaps there was an easy "fix" to the problems Steve was having with it.  Hmmm...nope, software is all up-to-date.  Well, I think I'll let Steve troubleshoot and/or contact Garmin about the issues he's having with it.

It was now time to go outside and relax and watch the sun go down.  With some clouds in the sky, it was a spectacular sunset...

Monday, November 26, 2012 (Midland LTVA, Blythe, CA)

It was 10:30 when we drove out of the LTVA and headed to Blythe with three big bags of dirty laundry...yes, it was laundry day.  Steve dropped me off and then went in search of a haircut.  He walked back into the Laundromat almost two hours later with a very disgusted look on his face...and very short hair.  He was right put off...the fellow cutting his hair did exactly the opposite of what he asked for.  Its okay, honey...it looks fine.  I need a haircut as well...but I think I will wait until we get home!

With laundry done, we ran a couple of other errands and then headed home.  Steve pumped fresh water from the water containers into the trailer while I dealt with all of the clean laundry...and made up the bed.  Whew...work done for the day!

We sat outside relaxing for a bit and then decided to go for a walk.  We basically followed the same route as the other day, doing a big loop.  On our way back we passed Armand and Ann’s, so we stopped and chatted with the group...Armand, Tom (east) and Tom (west)...that’s how they distinguish between the 2 Tom’s...were working on a solar system for Tom (west) and “the girls”, Ann, Lynn and Mary were sitting in the shade.

Back home, we cooled down in the shade for a bit and then headed over to Dennis and Charlene’s for happy hour.  They were sitting outside enjoying a view of their lovely “yard”.  They are on the edge of a wash and have set up bird feeders along with water dishes and a little dog food for the foxes.

Kit foxes frequent the area, so we watched for one to show up.  We weren’t disappointed...as this young fellow came along...

As usual, our happy hour was a little longer than it should have been but we really enjoyed chatting with them....another great evening with our new friends!

Sunday, November 25, 2012 (Midland LTVA, Blythe, CA)

Our plans to get out for an early morning ATV ride were thwarted when Steve checked the pressure on the back tire of my quad to find it had lost a pound of air.  Well, it looks like we will be taking the wheel into a tire shop for repair tomorrow.

However, when Steve took the wheel off he discovered that the problem was a nail...I must have picked it up when we visited the remnants of the old mining site the other day.  Well, at least it is something he can fix himself...sweet!

So, now it is time to fix it...it just doesn't seem right, but the first thing he has to do is make the whole bigger with the tire rasp...

Then he takes another tool and inserts a "pepperoni" plug into the slit in the tool and then pushes it through the whole in the tire...

And voila...fixed...

And back on goes the tire...finished!  Thank you, honey!

It was just before noon when he had finished fixing the tire so we decided to pack our lunch and head out on a ride...yeah, in the heat of the day again...oh well.  Just as we were leaving, Steve said that we should have downloaded some geocaches so that we could go on a hunt...drats, that would have been fun.   We headed out in the same direction as our last ride but this time we planned on continuing further into the mountains heading east and as we got a little ways out, Steve said that his GPS has picked up some geocaches!  They must be the ones from last year that Earl gave us...sweet!  It is so much fun going on a hunt! 

Our first find..."Big Maria"...thank goodness there was a pencil in the cach because we had left unprepared, not expecting to be geocaching.  The last time someone found this cach was in May, 2011...

Now onto our second hunt..."Big Maria 2" a little over 9 miles away...

Some great views...

We found a shady spot to stop for lunch...

And...we made it to our second cach...it was well hidden, but we finally found it...

By this time it was 2:30...we have under two hours to get back home before dark, so we had better get going!  We had a bit of angst when our GPS decided to go "squirrely" on us and not work...great!  It did the same thing last summer when on the GPS run at Three Valley Gap. There was a huge solar storm affecting some of the satellites that weekend...could that be the problem again?  It's a little scary when you can't depend on your GPS to get home...but finally it smartened up and worked properly...whew!

Pretty steep here...

We actually made it home much faster because when the GPS started working, it took us on a more direct route back.  It was about 3:30...another great afternoon ride!

We got cleaned up and then decided to walk over with a drink and visit Armand and Ann.  We sat chatting with them for about an hour and then went back home to make our Sunday evening calls home. 

We had a great chat with Rob and Angie...it had been a few weeks since we spoke with them.  They are doing great and the baby's room is taking shape as well...so exciting...only a couple of months to go until our first grandchild is welcomed into the world!  After that, we got caught up with Steve's sister and brother-in-law, Nadine and Mike...another great chat!  And finally, Chris called once he got home from dinner at Angela's...wonderful talking to everyone!