We headed into town in the afternoon to get propane and fill up our drinking water containers.
Monday was ride day!
We forgot to mention a few weeks ago when we were at Gunsight Wash ATVing how pleased we are so far with our new replacement Chatter Box Radios (X1Slim). They are about a 1/3 the size of our old ones and weigh far less. The reception is great too and they don't cut out all the time.
We bundled up (it's been a little chilly so far this week...a good 10 degree drop from last week!) and just before 10:00, we headed down to Bob and Sue's place. After chatting with them for a bit, Vince arrived in his side-by-side with Frank as a passenger...and then we were off.Bob led the way...the plan is to do a loop, taking Hogback Trail, then to Apache Chief Cabin, Dripping Springs and home. We have done this route numerous times before but this time we are going the opposite direction.
And we're off! (Picture warning...there are lots! Remember, you can click to enlarge)
This is probably the most colourful mine we have ever visited...
We tried a couple of different trails but they dead-ended, so we had to turn around...just exploring, that's what's so much fun!
...and a close up...
Alan and Cec...you're missing from this picture (they were in it when we were here last year)...
Dripping Springs area...Bob, Steve and I chose not to walk down to see the springs. We waited while Sue, Vince and Frank walked in to take a look. Bob also pumped up his tire a bit more...it seems to still be loosing a bit of air.Some of the many Petroglyphs in the area...
Since neither one of us walked into see the springs this year, I thought I would add a picture from last year...here are Sue and I at the Dripping Springs...
It was around 5:00 by the time we got home...roughly 35.5 miles/57 kms...a great ride...a great day!
After unloading the cargo boxes, we quickly got to work before it got dark...the boat needs to come off the truck and the sun shade and awning put away. We have an appointment tomorrow morning with Midway GMC in Phoenix to have the exhaust squeal fixed...again! Steve has also noticed that the front tires are showing an unusual wear pattern, some cupping on only some of the centre tread pattern, so we'll have them check that out as well.
Tuesday got off to a bit of a rocky start. We had planned on getting up at 5:00, leave by 6:30 so we would have time to stop for diesel and be at Midway by 9:00. Well, I woke with a startle...it was 5:45! My alarm (aka iPod) hadn't gone off...I soon discovered that I had forgotten to change the time zone...it was still on Pacific time...drats! We both had quick showers, packed an overnight bag just in case we needed to spend the night in Phoenix, and were on our way at 6:35.
Although we were just five minutes late leaving, it turned out that we had miscalculated how long it would take to get there (Google Maps and our truck GPS didn't agree)...but only by about fifteen minutes. We did manage to stop at the Zip Travel Center outside of Salome but just took on $100 worth of diesel because the satellite pump wasn't working...no time to fool around with that, we have to get going! So we decided that we would stop and fuel up on our way home...at $2.98/gallon!
Once at Midway, we left the truck with our service rep, Brian, and had the shuttle drop us off at Arrowhead Mall. We wandered around for a couple of hours, Steve got his haircut, we had lunch at Johnny Rockets...
It was going on 1:00 when we were dropped off. Brian wasn't there but our truck was sitting out in the lot so a colleague of Brian's called him to find out was going on with it. It turned out that parts needed to be ordered and wouldn't be in until after the New Year. They could find no problem with the truck's front end that would cause the erratic tread wear. So Steve decided we should take it to a tire place and have them take a look. So we headed to Redburn Tire. The service rep, Dan, came out to have a look. He then took Steve in to go through a tire wear manual and found a picture that showed something similar called "spot wearing". Of course it gave many possible causes from worn shocks and other front end mechanical parts, but Midway said ours checked out fine. Another possible cause was out of balance so that's what they decided to do...re-balance the tires.
Right away three guys got on it. The tire from the drivers side was giving them some kind of reading they didn't like so they decided to remove it from the wheel and remount it in a different position to balance it out a bit better. They again put it on the balancing machine and it indicated that 13 ounces of weight was still required, so they decided to remove the tire from the wheel again and reverse it...dirty side out. They put it back onto the balancing machine and that got it down to 10 ounces required. They can go as high as 16 oz's but prefer 6-8.
Dan didn't know if this would solve our problem but assured Steve that the tires weren't defective, however are starting to age out. They are 7 years old and they normally age out between 7-10 years regardless of wear. (5-7 years on a trailer tire) Not once did they try to sell me a tire and after spending almost 2 hours with us my bill was $0...now that's service! If you're ever in the area and need tires give them a try. They do it all. I did enquire about replacement cost. Fronts about $840 ea., and rears about $620 ea. OUCH! There is a significant discount though if you belong to FMCA so we will check to see if we qualify.
It was around 3:30 by the time we were finished at Redburn Tire...time to get our shopping done at Costco and head back out to Quartzsite! For a change, it wasn't an absolute madhouse at Costco and I managed to get in and out fairly quickly. It was about 4:45 when we were back on I-10 heading west. After a stop at Zip Travel Center again for diesel and a cup of coffee, we pulled into La Posa South at exactly 7:00. That had been a long day...we were exhausted!
Wednesday was a cool, cloudy, rain day...well, the morning was. It rained most of the morning with the temp at 52F/11C. (Feeling sorry for us yet?) The clouds did break somewhat in the afternoon, allowing the sun to peak through a bit but it was still cool and breezy.
After getting the dishes from the last two days washed and the kitchen cleaned up, I decided to clean out kitchen cupboards and re-arrange things. While I did that, Steve edited the 186 pictures he had taken on our quad ride Monday. Some great pictures...he managed to get them down to the 92 you see above.
We had soup for lunch (nothing like a bowl of nice hot soup on a cool day) and then thought we'd get out for a walk. We weren't out long but felt better for having gotten a little exercise.
Back inside, Steve watched one of "his shows" on TV while I worked on this blog post...a lot to get caught up on!
By the way, it's been a week now and Steve no longer has any gum inflammation...the antiseptic dental spray (Bexident) did the trick!
And that pretty well gets you caught up on our first four days here at Q!
That was a busy few days! Looks like you guys had fun on the wheelers. No more sore gums, does that mean you are not heading back to Mexico for the root canal?
ReplyDeleteAt this point it doesn't seem necessary. The nerve in the root never did ache. Time will tell though. :-)
DeleteCheers!