Thursday, February 27, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

There was a beautiful sunrise this morning...a lovely start to the day. We went out for an early morning walk...the sun was shining but the wind had started. It was supposed to be a rather blustery day today.

After breakfast, we got ready to go out on one last ride on our ATV's. Steve and I decided to go and grab some geocaches that the others already have. 

We went on a search for a string of caches that Bob and Sue had put out a few years ago. As usual, some were pretty tricky. 

After about 3 hours and 27 geocaches, we were back home. As you can see by this dust devil, it was very windy out...Steve figured he'd stop and let it go by. The strong wind really sucks because we are having a potluck and campfire tonight. Since we are leaving on Sunday, we wanted to have one final gathering with everyone. We had originally planned it for tomorrow night but with the forecast of rain, we moved it up one day.

We had our truck positioned to block the wind as much as possible and Art also brought his truck over to help out. We started off with happy hour at 5:00...from left to right, going around the circle...me, Terry, Fred, Jan, Art, Earl, Joyce, Rob, Bob, Sue, Earl and Allison...

Shortly after 6:00, all of the food was brought out...a great feast for dinner!

Eric lit the campfire as we were all finishing up with dessert...

After a great evening around the campfire, we called it a night. It's hard to believe we have been here since December 1...that was a fast 3 months!

As a sidebar, today marks 4 years living in our 'home on wheels'...we moved into our fifth-wheel 4 months before we retired. It was a great way to transition and get used to our new home...but very odd going to work each day from an RV!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

It was another work day for Steve today. He headed out after breakfast to get started on his re-sealing project...and wait for the mobile RV Tech to call. He said that he would call between 10 and 11:00 and with no call, Steve finally called him at 11:30...he should have the parts within the half hour. Jesse arrived just before noon and had the new coils installed in the hot water tank valve within 15 minutes. Yay, we have hot water again!

Other than a trip into Q to pick up more silicone seal, Steve spent his day working on the trailer. I puttered around a bit doing this and that but for the most part, spent my day sitting outside reading. One of the things that I had looked forward to upon retirement was having the time to read. 

Well, we seem to be so busy all of the time that I really haven't done as much reading as I thought I would. I have made up for it the past couple of days!

Having a good book makes a difference...I'm already half way through 'Outlander' by Diana Gabaldon!

And that was pretty much our day...

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

We woke to cloudy skies this morning...the temps are still forecast to go into the low 80's, but the blue sky and sunshine is missing! 

After our usual start to the day, Steve hopped on his quad and rode down to the LTVA entrance to meet the tech that was coming out to fix our hot water tank. He was scheduled to be here at 9:30. Just before 10:00, Steve returned...with no service tech! After waiting and waiting, Steve called the company to find out that they had forgotten about our appointment! Can you believe it?...they forgot! After apologizing profusely, they said they could have someone out tomorrow morning. Not very happy, Steve told them he'd keep that appointment but in the meantime he was going to try to get someone else out today.

There are not a lot of choices in the area but after checking the business directory booklet for Quartzsite, Steve called another company and after chatting with the fellow, he said that he was in Salome (about 40 minutes east of here) but would call between 2:00 and 3:00 and be out later this afternoon. 

Well, time to carry on with the day...so Steve drove into Q to pick up 2 parcels that had arrived at Quiet Times. Our new Strongback chairs had arrived from LL Bean. While he was gone, I decided I might as well heat water on the stove to do the dishes and get the kitchen cleaned up.

Once Steve got back, we tested out our new chairs. They have lots of support and are very comfy.


Then Steve decided to get to work on resealing the back window. We plan on having the truck and trailer detailed when we are at Indio so he wants to get any necessary resealing done before then.

I grabbed my kindle and settled outside reading. With the resealing done, Steve joined me relaxing in the afternoon sunshine (yes, the sun had finally come out!). We were getting rather anxious when 3:00 passed and we hadn't heard back from the fellow who was supposed to come out to fix our hot water tank. Thankfully, he called at 3:30...he'll be here in about an hour. Well...an hour came and went and still no tech and no phone call. He called just before 5:00, apologizing...there had been a fire in the the RV park that he was at. It was close to 5:30 by the time he actually got here. 

After checking the hot water tank, he determined that the gas valve needed to be replaced...and you got it...he didn't have the right one with him. He'll be back out tomorrow morning to finish the work.

Stay tuned!

Monday, February 24, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Yesterday after Steve had finished emptying the holding tanks and putting everything away he noticed that the outlet was now dripping a bit. The black water holding tank lever has always been very stiff and hard to close but it now takes all his strength to push the lever in. The lever operates the gate valve on the opposite side of the trailer via a long cable which has a reputation of being troublesome. This morning his plan is to borrow Earl's portable sani-station again and work on ensuring the valves are closed completely. 

Unfortunately, that plan got delayed a bit. I was out for a morning walk while Steve had breakfast and showered. When I got back, he had just finished in the shower...there hadn't been any hot water. It was just barely warm...great, now we have hot water tank issues! At first he thought it just might be low propane flow, so he switched over the tank to the full one and the hot water heater lit...whew! That was it! 

Then it went off...nope, there's still a problem. Time to do some troubleshooting. He checked and cleaned all the wiring connections to the valve including the ground wire. He can hear the valve click and has ignition but no gas flow, so he took the burner tube out to clean out the orifice but still has no gas flow. He suspects that one of the solenoid coils on the valve is not working or the valve is sticking.

Not able to get it to work, he called a technician...he will be here tomorrow morning. At least we have an Extended Warranty.

In the meantime, I had a rather chilly shower...it wasn't ice cold, thank goodness! Steve went over to borrow Earl's portable sani-station and started work on the holding tank valves.  After draining and a few flushes Steve had me add a bottle of baby oil to the tank while he added a couple of gallons of water then worked the lever back and forth a few times. This is a tip he picked up from the RV-Dreams.Com forum awhile ago to lubricate the gate valve seals. It seemed to help however the lever is still extremely hard to push in. We will have to add this to our service at Guarantee RV when we head north. 

While he was working on that, I cleaned up inside and then took my kindle outside and read. It was noon by the time Steve had finished... the valve seems to have completely closed. We had lunch and then we just chilled outside reading for most of the afternoon. Steve did go up on the trailer roof to clean the solar panels, making sure we get the most out of the sun.

Just before 5:00 we rode our quads over to Rob and Joyce's place and joined them for happy hour. We had a great visit with them...of course, happy "hour" turned into happy "2 hours"....lol!

Sunday, February 23, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Instead of getting up at 4 a.m. to watch the Canadian Men's Hockey team play Sweden for the Olympic Gold Metal, Steve PVR'd it. So when we got up at 6:30, we started the day off by watching the game. Canada easily won with a score of 3-0...and the Gold Metal! So we watched both the Men's and Women's Canadian Hockey Teams take gold at the Olympics this year. Canada did very well in the Olympics, coming in third overall. Way to go, Canada!

After the game, we got our resistance exercises over with and then I went out for a walk while Steve had his shower. Ahhh...another beautiful morning and the start to another hot day.

Since we had had a couple of "play" days, today was a "work" day. Steve started off by going into Q to fuel up the truck with diesel ($3.76/gallon), fill the gas containers ($3.28/gallon) and get drinking water. When he got back it was time to borrow Earl's portable sani-station and empty the holding tanks and then fill the water tank. This chore took him two hours in the hot afternoon sun...the temps reached 87F/31C.

While he was busy with all that, I was inside working...cleaning the bathroom and kitchen; working on yesterday's blog; doing a little banking and budget work...all that kind of exciting stuff. I also baked a walnut-raisin loaf...why not heat up the trailer even more by turning on the oven? :)

During the day, I was also in contact with our sons back home. We heard on the news that Victoria and most of Vancouver Island was under a heavy snowfall warning. I sent a text to Rob asking about the snow...he said they had about 4 inches at their house...

Dad (Rob) and Conner outside playing in the snow...

Conner and his first snowman!

We also spoke to our son, Chris, in Burnaby...it was snowing there too but he was hunkered down inside for the day. Of course, we had to boast that it was 87F/31C here! LOL!

After dinner, we went "across the street" to Earl and Allison's to play Rummikub. We played five or six games with Earl, Steve and I all managing to win, but it just wasn't Allison's night for change. We had some very close games, with all of us being down to one chip but Allison just wasn't able to be the first one out! Shortly after 9:00 we called it a night...thanks for a great evening, Allison and Earl!

Saturday, February 22, 2014 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

We were up and ready to head out by 9:00 this morning. Bob and Sue left just ahead of us. Earl and Allison lead our procession, followed by Eric and then Steve and I.  It was another beautiful day as we all headed north to Parker, AZ.

After a quick rest break in Parker, we continued the short distance to Cienega Springs Road. The first pull-out area where we could offload the quads was full, so we continued further on the bumpy road and found another area. Here we all are, offloading our quads and getting ready for today's ride...

And we're off!

We started off by exploring different trails...this one didn't seem to be taking us in the direction that we wanted to go, so we turned around...that's Earl and Allison in front, followed by Eric and then me...



Eric, me, Bob and then Sue and Vince in the RZR side-by-side...

 Arriving at the back entrance to the Desert Bar. Earl, Allison and Eric are already parked on the hillside...

It was just after 11:30 when we arrived at the Desert Bar and even though it doesn't open until noon, it was already packed with people jockeying for tables in the shade (which are few and far between). We found a spot, had a beer and then it was time to get lunch. Here are Allison and I standing in line at the Gyros stand. Steve, Bob and Eric were in the longer line-up for burgers. fries, etc...

Just finished lunch and waiting for the band to start...(left to right...Allison, Eric, Steve, Earl, Vince, Bob and Sue)...

The Bob Gulley Band were playing today...

This is the lower level where there is food (and line-ups), more seating plus another stage...

Before we left, Steve wandered around and took more pictures...

 New section below has food and washrooms...

 Ladies line dancing...

It's a busy place!

View of the main road left, and trail right from the hilltop above the Desert Bar...

The original bar...we are parked on the far right...

They now have helicopter tours from here...this is one ready for take off...

Tortoise, rocking chair, and bench all made out of horseshoes...and the horseshoe pitch behind the bar...

Eric and Sue...and the helicopter tour returning...

It was shortly after 2:00 when we decided to head back out for a little more exploring on the trails...and we're off!

 More riders below...

Earl and Allison heading up to the viewpoint. It was quite steep and rough, so I chose to stay down below. Sue and Vince in the RZR didn't go up either (not quite sure whether it was to keep me company or whether Sue didn't want to drive up either)...

Earl, Allison and Bob ahead at the viewpoint...

Wow! Colorado River in the distance. Dianne, Sue and Vince have been joined by others down below centre right...

Be careful Earl...it's a long way down!!

Mining shaft to the left of this colourful rock...

 Colorado River...

Down we go...back to where Sue, Vince and Dianne are waiting...









Better view of the river...

Old stone building...

Eric, Steve and I headed back to the trucks while Earl/Allison, Bob and Sue/Vince checked out another area. On our way home we stopped at Safeway in Parker and were just pulling back onto the highway when we met Bob, Sue and Vince, and Earl and Allison...so they weren't too far behind us.

It was around 4:30 when we got home. Another great day!  I know it must be getting a little tedious with all of the ATV'ing pictures but we only have one week left and then we will be washing and putting the quads away for the winter. We will be going to Estrella Mountain Regional Park (just west of Phoenix), followed by Blythe, CA and then Indio, CA before we start our trek north back to Canada...so after this week, that will be it for ATV pictures until this spring/summer in BC.

Allison, Earl and Eric joined us for happy hour in the late afternoon sunshine. Shortly after 6:00, they headed home and we retreated inside...but Steve did go out to capture this beautiful sunset...