Sunday and Monday, December 28 and 29, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

It was another cold morning...the coldest yet at 29F (-2C); well that's what the WeatherBug app on my phone said it was. Later in the morning we spoke to Art and his outdoor thermometer read 24F (-4C).

So again, we had a very lazy morning hunkered down in front of the heater staying warm. It was late morning when we decided to bundle up and head out for a walk. Within a half hour or so, we were back inside keeping warm.

After a bowl of hot soup for lunch, Steve headed outside to get started on today's task...emptying the holding tanks. While he was doing that, I puttered around inside.


I even managed to capture a couple of pictures of hummingbirds...finally at our window feeder instead of the bees...


Shortly after 5:00 we walked down to Bob and Sue's...they offered us a ride to Silly Al's where the group was gathering to celebrate Art's birthday.
Jan and Art...

Left to right around the table...Sue, Vince, Fred, Teri, Laurie (Art and Jan's daughter), Jan, Art, me, Steve and Bob...

On the way home, we all stopped at Bob and Sue's to discuss New Year's Eve celebrations. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is for a major winter storm Wednesday and Thursday so it doesn't look like we are going to be able to have our usual potluck campfire. Oh well, we'll figure something out...at this point it looks like we will be gathering at Bob and Sue's for a potluck dinner inside.

Monday morning was another cold start...sure looking forward to this cold snap being over!

Steve started the generator to give the batteries their usual boost before letting the solar take over. While we were doing our resistance exercises he noticed that the generator rpm had dropped, so he checked the panel display and realized that there was no AC coming in...great, what's going on with that?!

So after breakfast he headed out to start his troubleshooting...the generator was outputting 123 volts, the surge guard was switching the AC out to the inverter. That was as far as he was comfortable going. After talking with Bob, he learned that our neighbor, Brian, is very knowledgeable with this stuff. Unfortunately Brian wasn't home...we'd have to wait to go over and talk with him. At least we were still getting a solar charge.

With the cold weather, we've been going through lots of propane so Steve went into town to fill up with both propane and gas. I stayed home relaxing outside in the sunshine reading.

Brian arrived home at around 2:30 so Steve went over to talk to him about our problem...a few minutes later he came over to have a look. It turned out that the wiring was burnt inside the inverter. Steve thought he could faintly smell something the morning before. Brian wasn't sure what was the cause...a loose connection perhaps? This could have been more serious and caused a fire so Steve is planning on installing a smoke detector in the basement storage area.

Steve helped Brian get his tools out and he went to work repairing it...a great neighbor to have! He had to add a junction box and lengthen the wires which he just happened to have. With the work done about an hour later we paid him $50...what a deal, Steve and Brian sat outside chatting over a beer. Apparently the trailer really should have had a sub-panel installed when Camping World did our initial solar install and this was also mentioned by AM Solar when they upgraded our solar system. So Brian is going to take care of that for us sometime while we are here.

I had decided to start working on a new 2015 budget, so I was inside at the kitchen table on the laptop.

It was going on 5:30 when Brian left and Steve came inside...time to hunker down inside as the temperature dropped.


Saturday, December 27, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

It was cold in the rig this morning...even with the heater on medium all night! 57F/14C inside...mid 30's outside...brrrr! So we had another slow start to the day...much more desirable to sit in our recliners in front of the heater than do anything else! But eventually, we decided that we should do our resistance exercises and get on with our day.

It was noon by the time we had done our exercises, showered, had breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen...time to get out for some exercise! After a couple of days indulging in delicious turkey with the trimmings, I think a long walk was called for!

Lots of rock work here marking their turf...

There are a bunch of RV-Dreamers scheduled to be in the Quartzsite area next month, so we are trying to get a mini-reunion together. One idea as a venue for the gathering is the large picnic area near the entrance of La Posa South. It has a large covered area, some picnic tables (not many, though...we'd have to bring more tables), horseshoe pits, fire pit...and restroom facilities.
We thought it would be a perfect location for an afternoon "appy" gathering.

We walked down to the gate to see what was involved in using the spot...can we actually book it for a function? We found out that the space is available for group gatherings and that we have to submit a letter of our intended use to the LTVA manager and it has to be approved. It is already booked on Sundays and Tuesdays...so if there are enough people interested in the gathering and we can determine a date, then we will proceed with booking the space.

Steve decided to spend what was left of the afternoon filling the rig with fresh water. I paid some bills and entered some recent expenses on our budget spreadsheet. It's the end of the year, guess I'm going to have to create a new 2015 budget spreadsheet sometime soon. Speaking of budget, a significant expenditure we are saddled with this year is the exchange rate. With the Canadian dollar running around 85 cents against the US dollar, we are ending up at roughly a 20% deficit when buying US dollars. In two months, this has added an additional $1300 to our expenditures!

We sat outside enjoying the late afternoon sun. The wind had died down considerably and the trailer provided a shield from the breeze there was but as the sun went down, we headed inside. After dinner we decided to watch a movie that my brother had downloaded for us last year...12 Years A Slave...it was well done but I must admit, it wasn't a movie I would rave about.


Friday, December 26, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

It was cold in the trailer when we got up this morning...44F/7C...Brrrrr! We usually leave the heater on low overnight but our smoke detector packed it in yesterday...so no smoke detector means no heater; we didn't want to take any chances!

Looks like a cold snap is settling in over the next week or so...there is a freeze warning for tonight and the daytime highs are only in the mid 50'sF (12C). At least we have clear blue sky and sunshine!

We had an extra lazy morning today...as we waited for it to warm up. By late morning we were ready to head into Quartzsite to run a few errands. We started by going to RV Lifestyles...interesting that in our four years coming to Quartzsite that we have never been there. After looking through their parts and accessories department, we bought a new vent cover to replace the disintegrating one in the bedroom and then continued with our errands...filling our gallon jugs with drinking water, getting propane and finally a stop at Herb's Hardware for a new smoke detector.

Before heading home, we stopped at the vendors on Kuehn Street...more and more are setting up in preparation for the busy couple of months ahead. We had a quick look around and then continued home for turkey sandwiches. We had left Bob and Sue's last night with some leftover turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce...along with homemade buns...for lunch today. Delicious, thanks Bob and Sue!

After lunch, it was time to get to work. Steve started with the bedroom vent while I did some baking. He had to dismantle the vent starting from the inside...
Here's what's left of the old one. It's amazing how brittle it had become considering we have the MaxAir vent cover over it.
Up on the roof installing the new one...

After the new vent cover was installed, it was time to move onto the new smoke detector. Of course all of the new ones we looked at had a larger mounting footprint so Steve had to make another hole in the ceiling. One feature we like about the new detector is the "Hush Button" that silences nuisance alarms for 8 minutes. The old detector alarm was always going off from the dust being burned off our Olympian Wave 8 heater or making toast.

I had to postpone my next baking project because he had taken over the kitchen at this point...
And done!

It was going on 4:00 by the time all of the work was done...time to relax in the sunshine with a drink. Although the sky was clear and the sun was shining, it was breezy and not all that warm...so it wasn't long until we retreated inside to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine through all of the windows of our trailer.

We had tacos for dinner (we thought of you, Chris...he loves tacos!) and then settled in front of the TV for the evening...with the heater on!

Happy Boxing Day to all our family and Canadian friends!


Wednesday and Thursday, December 24 and 25, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

After our usual start Wednesday morning, we decided to get outside for a walk. We stopped at Bob and Sue's place and chatted with them for a few minutes and then carried on, walking a loop around back to our place. We also stopped at Rob and Peggy's and had a nice chat with them as well.

We had passed a string of geocaches on our way home from our Diablo Pass ride the other day...so Steve and I thought we'd head out on our quads to get them. So we changed into our riding clothes, packed a lunch and extra water in my quad cargo box...and we were off. It was about 10:30.

We took the trail from La Posa South to La Posa North, went west crossing the highway into La Posa West to Tyson Wash...and then headed north up the wash to...well, I don't know the name of the gravel road, but it cut over to Boyer Road. 
We took a bit of a side trail looking for a geocache but determined that it was actually accessed off the main road and was hidden somewhere on the golf course...we'll leave this one for another time as there were a few golfers on the course.

The golf course is on both sides of the road...

To speed things up we are leap frogging one another to each cache...
I had to walk down into a gully to find this one...
There I go...zooming by to find our next geocache...

The "Quarry Quest" string of geocaches, hidden a couple of years ago by Bob and Sue, ended at the Sunset Marble Mine entrance. I'm down there trying to find the last cache...

We turned around and thought we'd go look for a couple of other geocaches in the area.

Steve is across from me on another hill...I'm looking for a cache hidden up there, but under which rock?!
Steve taking in the beautiful views waiting for me...
... and my pencil...we both lost pencils today...

There is another string of geocaches along a trail not far from where we are but they are going to have to wait for another day...it's going on 3:00...time to head home...

We got home just before 4:00...another great day out on our quads...and a great way to spend Christmas Eve day!

We spent a quiet Christmas Eve watching the final few episodes of Homeland that we had downloaded.

The wind woke us up in the wee hours of Thursday morning...1:50 a.m. to be precise! There hadn't been a strong wind warning in the forecast so we hadn't worried about putting the sunshade and awning away...sheesh! So there we are outside at 2:00 a.m. removing the sunshade and putting in the awning in the blustery conditions. The stars were amazing though!

With that done, we were back in bed, waking up at a much more reasonable hour...Merry Christmas everyone! This is a very different Christmas for us...the first time we have not spent the Season back home with family enjoying our traditional Christmas time together. However, traditions change...time to make new ones! We miss everyone back home, though. Friends here at La Posa are wonderful and have certainly helped fill the void.

Shortly before 9:00 we headed over to Art and Jan's where we had been invited over for breakfast omelettes. Fred is the omelette maker...Sue giving him a Merry Christmas hug...
Fred cooking, Teri, Jan and Sue...I'm the first one to eat...
Art, Vince, Sue...with Bob checking off the items he wants in his omelette...
Jan and Teri...

Art also made waffles for anyone wanting one...

 " Sue said I had to have one"...

The omelettes and waffles were delicious...thanks so much guys!

We spent the rest of the morning on Skype calls with family...really miss this little guy!

But it's so great having technology that allows us to see and talk to him! We had a great chat with Rob and Angie...and then Chris and Angela (their first Christmas together as a married couple)...and then Nadine and Mike (Steve's sister and brother-in-law)...then Steve's Dad...and finally, Steve called his good friend, Ken, in Cochrane, Alberta. We had had Skype calls with two of my brothers (Dennis and Don) earlier in the week...and since Boxing Day was a traditional get together day at my younger brother's place, I'm hoping to connect with Dwight tomorrow.

With it so windy and blustery outside, we spent the afternoon relaxing inside reading...until it was time to head down to Bob and Sue's for turkey dinner. Steve took this picture from outside their place...you can hardly see the distant mountains because of the dust!
Our hosts, Bob and Sue...
Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, carrots, salad, deviled eggs and cranberry sauce...a fabulous feast!

Bob and Sue managed to get a table long enough inside their fifth-wheel so all 9 of us could enjoy a sit-down Christmas Dinner. From left to right...Sue, Bob, Vince, Art, Jan, Teri, Fred, me and Steve (unfortunately those at the far end of the table got a little washed out due to the sunshine streaming in through the windows)...

Jan baked pies for dessert...pumpkin, cherry and homemade mincemeat! Decisions, decisions!

After an absolutely delicious meal, we sat chatting for awhile and then called it an evening...we'd had a lovely Christmas Day...thanks to our Quartzsite friends for including us in their festivities!



Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, December 21, 22 and 23, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

These three days were basically work days. Sunday, Steve decided to "unpack" Earl's poopmobile and empty our holding tanks. Earl had it well wrapped up for transport and storage...after undoing about six knots, we got the tarp off.
We took pictures to refer to when we have to pack it all back up...Earl, we'll do our best to put it back the way we found it when we are finished with it! Thanks, again, for letting us use it for our stay here at Q!

An integral part of the setup, the macerator pump, was trapped up north with Earl so Art lent us his...thanks Art! After a quick trip into town to pick up a new fitting to connect our sewer hose to the tank, Steve finally had it all ready...and started pumping out the tanks.
Off to the dump...to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump...
Then filling up with fresh water...

While Steve was taking care of that, I did a little cleaning inside...and that was pretty well our day. A beautiful sunset...

Monday was laundry day. We headed off into town shortly before 9:30 and were back about an hour and a quarter later...with wet laundry ready to hang on the clothesline. Art and Jan kindly offered us the use of theirs...thanks, guys!


While I was in the laundromat, Steve went over to the hardware store and picked up a hummingbird feeder...the type that attaches to the window with a suction cup. He filled it and attached it to the window while I was hanging the clothes...all it attracted were dozens of bees...sheesh! Steve is going to put it away in the morning before they return for breakfast and try again in a few days.

It was an absolutely spectacular day with temps reaching 25C/78F...so nice to be back to clear, blue sky! While the clothes were drying, we both sat outside in the shade reading...and I would go back and forth to the clothesline gathering clothes as they dried.

It was going on 11:00 Tuesday morning by the time we were ready to head to Parker. Mind you, we did sleep in until 7:15...then after our usual coffee start, we did our exercises, showered and had breakfast....so by the time dishes were done and we were ready...well, no wonder it was late morning!

Today was shopping day...our first stop was Quiet Times in Quartzsite to pick up our laptop battery that had been delivered (already). Then it was onto Parker. Once at Walmart Steve lingered behind to take a picture of this cool 1931 Ford while I headed right in to get started...

Of course, it was crazy shopping today...patience was in order to make it through the crowds. After Walmart, we went across the street to Safeway to finish up...and then headed home.

And that's basically our last three days...not very exciting, but it can't be all play, all the time! LOL!

With the Christmas Season now upon us, Steve and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones the very best of the Season....
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!