Wednesday, February 25, 2015 (Travel to Pilot Knob LTVA, CA/Yuma, AZ)

Our plan was to pull out of our spot by 9:30 this morning...we were a half hour late. However our pack up went well after two and a half months sitting in one spot...the slides all came in without issue, the trailer hitched onto the truck smoothly and the tires were still round!Art and Jan walked over to say goodbye.

After a stop at the sani-dump, we said goodbye to La Posa South LTVA and headed to Love's Truck Tire Care Center to have warranty replacement wheels put on the trailer.


Off with the blemished wheels (this was the worst one)...


Service Manager Chancey said he would personally switch out the wheels himself by hand so that none of his guys would mark up the new wheels. Chancey apparently has many show cars and admittedly is anal about this kind of stuff...just like Steve :-) Chancey has really treated us well. He allowed us to have the new wheels shipped to his shop last January and stored them until we were ready to leave.
Victor doing a re-install...
New wheels installed...

The fellows working at Love's are all very nice, professional and run a clean shop (that's one thing I was impressed with...being a female, I guess LOL). Chancey went above and beyond for us...thank you, Chancey! Here's one of his cars that he's restoring...

It was going on 2:00 when we said goodbye to all the fellows at Love's and headed to Tyson Wells. We had no problem parking in the parking lot there...not like when the RV Show was on! The big tent is gone as are about 95% of the vendors. After eating lunch, Steve walked over to K and B Tools to pick up new electrical plug ends for the trailer. When he disconnected the 50 to 30 amp coach adapter plug from the 30 amp cord this morning he discovered that the plug and receptacle ends were burnt. Sheesh! Was this part of out inverter burnt wire issue?

They didn't have what he was after, so we headed back past Love's to RV Lifestyles. They didn't have it either, so we had one final option...Gamblers. No luck there either, I guess we'll use our 50 amp cord and adapter plug until we have a chance to find what we need.

So we finally hit the highway...heading south to Yuma! This is a Border Patrol stop...

Yuma Proving Ground and road to the Imperial Dam Recreation Area...
Steve re-torquing the wheels along the side of the highway...they were loose...
We're nearing Yuma and farm land...


People camped at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars Campground)...


Farm fields outside of Yuma...


We connected with I-8 in Yuma and continued the short distance west, across the Colorado River and into California to Sidewinder Road and Pilot Knob LTVA. The gas station there has recently changed over to Chevron and is going through a major update. There is now a sani-dump there...pretty costly, though...$20 for dump and fresh water or $6 for up to 55 gallons of fresh water. We needed to fill the water tank, so we paid the $6...the first time we've had to pay for water!

With that done, we continued into the LTVA and picked a spot. There were still quite a few RVs there..more than we expected. We got unhitched and all set up...

Yep...it's pretty baron around these parts, but it's only 10 minutes away from Los Algodones and Steve's dentist appointment tomorrow...

We relaxed and enjoyed the view as the sun went down behind us...

The I-8 traffic noise isn't that noticeable however there are lots of long trains...




Monday and Tuesday, February 23 and 24, 2015 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

We woke to the sound of rain on the roof early this morning...such a foreign sound! We're in for a bit of a cooler couple of days with wind and cloud. The rain only last a couple of hours,

The next couple of days are work days as we get ready to leave Wednesday. After showers and breakfast, Steve headed out to get started. First was bleaching and flushing the barrels on the poop mobile, then spraying all the dust off the quads...

...and then washing the poop moble...

After the washing was all done, Steve loaded the quads back into the truck. While he was working outside, I took care of things inside. I changed the bedding and sorted the laundry in preparation to go to the laundromat tomorrow. I was going to go today but I wasn't feeling overly great and with a bunch of other errands to run in town, we decided to just go into Q tomorrow and get it all done.

This Direct TV blimp flew over while he was working...

Next, it was back to the poopmobile...time to pack it back up the way we found it...good thing we took pictures when we unloaded it! The pictures helped but we still had a hellava time putting it all together. We managed to get it together and when it came time to cover it all with the tarp and tie it down...well, enough for today...we'll finish that part tomorrow!

After dinner, we had a delightful Skype call with Conner, Rob and Angie. The internet signal seems to be much better lately with fewer RV'ers around. Nothing better than starting the call with a little voice saying..."Gramma and Grampa!" He's such a cutie...we can hardly wait to see him this May!

Tuesday morning we loaded the laundry into the truck and headed into Q shortly after 9:30. Steve dropped me and the laundry off and carried on to run his errands. I don't think I have ever been at the laundromat when it was so busy...and it wasn't just a matter of using the washers and then head back home to the clothesline, today I was drying the clothes as well. It's just too windy out.
While Steve was waiting for me, a fellow brought his glider to the parking lot...


With the laundry all done, propane and water containers filled, parcels picked up at Quiet Times and a stop at the bank's ATM...we were back home at about noon. We had lunch and then it was time to get to work. I put all of the laundry away while Steve got started outside...then I joined him putting things away.

Our last task was to tie the tarp over the poop mobile...there...done! We can't thank you enough Earl and Allison for the use of the poop mobile. See you in Q next season!

Shortly after 4:00 we sat down outside for our final happy hour of the season at Quartzsite.






We are always amazed at how the birds can sit on top of the prickly Saguaro!

Tomorrow it is time to move on...a few days down in Yuma with a trip to the dentist in Los Algodones and then the Yuma Air Show!



Sunday, February 22, 2015 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

The wind kept waking us up throughout the night...it wasn't the super strong trailer rocking wind, but strong enough to flap the slide toppers and keep the flags flapping. And it was very "breezy" all day with gusts to 30 mph. But it didn't stop us from our plans for today...we are taking our quads out for the last time here in Q and going geocaching.

But before we could head out, we had a few chores to take care of...so it was going on 11:00 by the time we hit the trails. We headed towards Rainbow Acres to pick up where we left off on the string of geocaches that we had started on Friday.
Backside of Dome Rock...

This geocache, called Dome View, wasn't part of the "Old West Outlaws" string we were doing but happened to be along the way. We found it, Earl and Allison!
Lunch time!
There were lots of Prospectors along the wash ...

More prospectors...I'm also in the picture...there's a geocache hidden in that tree (centre right)...

We not only finished the "Old West Outlaws" string but also managed to pick up the "Silverheels" series (both strings put out by Bob and Sue). Now it was time to head home...



We came across the remnants of another stone cabin...time for a water break...



It was going on 4:00 when we got home...52 geocaches! I think that's a record for us in one day! The weather had been perfect...not too hot and the wind helped with the dust. After putting our stuff away, we relaxed inside out of the wind.

We had a great chat with Chris and Angela via Skype...they are both doing well and Chris is really enjoying his new job with Microsoft's Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver. It was so good catching up with them! Unfortunately, we missed a call from Rob, Angie and Conner last night and they are out tonight, so hopefully we'll be able to connect with them next weekend!

The sky had some rather ominous looking clouds developing but they made for a spectacular sunset...









See the Hummingbird on the right...

Wow! Beautiful!












Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21, 2015 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

We woke to a light cloud covering this morning and it remained that way all day...so much for the forecast of partly cloudy. But it was still a warm one...with the temperature rising to 80F.

It was going on 11:00 by the time we were ready to get out on our quads and do some geocaching. We were nearing the start of the string that we were going after when Steve realized that he didn't have them on his GPS. I thought I had downloaded them to both of our GPS's but quite frankly, I'd been messing around with my GPS so much trying to get the downloads to work properly that I obviously didn't download them onto Steve's. In my own defense, though, I did suggest that he check his GPS before we headed out. (Steve here...didn't hear this.)

So we just had my GPS to use in finding the geocaches. We got started and did about 14 or so before we decided that it was just too hot...we'd much rather just ride. We'll have to finish the string up in a couple of days.

I know there's a geocache around here somewhere!
Can you see me way over there to the right of the Ocotillo?
The Ocotillo are really starting to green up and bloom...

This geocache hide was pretty ingenious...it's tie-wrapped to a piece of old tire and just laying as scrap on the ground...

After we finished our geocaching, we rode to this stone cabin near Dome Rock and ate our lunch...

Lots of colourful rocks used in it's construction...

As well as tin cans...





Dome Rock BLM and I-10 in the background...
Not sure if this is a real grave site...
Not many rigs left at Dome Rock BLM...
Lets go...I'm hot!
I led us home for the first time...ever!
Another geocache...

We got home at about 2:00...time to change into shorts and relax in the shade for the rest of the afternoon. And as the sun went down...another beautiful Arizona sunset!


We had a little more sunshine Saturday but it was also "breezy", as the National Weather Service called it. We had our usual coffee start and then got our butts in gear...it was exercise day. With that over with for a couple of days, we had breakfast, showered and did the dishes. We were finally ready to head out to Ehrenberg...about 18 miles west on the I-10. The diesel prices are rising again, so we thought we'd drive there to fill up. The Texaco station there has the best fuel prices...about 20 cents lower than here in Quarzsite.

We made two stops on our way home...first at Lifestyles RV so Steve could pick up the Oxygenics shower head that seems to be all the rage with RVer's. Our second stop was at the vendors along Kuehn Road so I could get a new flag for the whip on my quad.

With all of the errands done, we headed home and after a quick bite to eat, Steve hitched the "poop-mobile" up to the quad and headed over to fill the fresh water tank...one last fill before packing it up in preparation for leaving on Wednesday. While he was doing that, I prepared dinner so that I would just have to pop it into the oven. We are having guests over for dinner tonight.

Doug and Toni arrived shortly after 4:00. They are the managers of the campground that we will be working at this summer...so, yes, I guess they will be our new "bosses"! We enjoyed chatting outside...at the back of the trailer, not for shade this time but using the trailer as a windbreak.
Then we headed inside for dinner...

Toni brought dessert...it was delicious, thanks Toni!

It was after 7:30 when, after hugs and handshakes, they headed off. They are staying north of Quartzsite at the Plomosa Road BLM camping area. We're so glad we had a chance to connect with them and chat more about work at the park (Monck Provincial Park)...we're actually quite excited about our gig this summer!