It was only 50F/10C in the trailer when I got up Sunday (Dec. 22) morning. A little chilly but not earth-shattering. Steve usually leaves the heater on very low, just so it's not too cold in the mornings, but decided not to bother last night. I quickly turned the heater on and got the coffee started!
The forecast is for another warm day but mainly cloudy...which doesn't help the solar to charge up the batteries, particularly important if you have no generator! Let's hope more sun comes out in the afternoon!
Steve is going on a quad ride today with the group...I decided that I should give my knee a rest. It didn't really like the long ride we had the other day to Skull Rock. So at about 10:30, I watched as they all headed out...Earl/Allison led, followed by Fred, Art, Dino and Lisa, Steve and Jim and Cec.
Once they had left, I showered, cleaned up the kitchen and then got to work on this blog update. I did a little housework and then took my crocheting outside. It was supposed to be a warm 72F/22C today...they got that forecast slightly wrong, it barely made it to 66F/20C. And it was mainly cloudy all day.
Steve and the gang got back just before 4:00...I'll pass this over to him now to tell you about the ride.
Today's ride was to Dripping Springs...another first for Dino and Lisa. Not much dripping going on today though...
I gave them the tour along the trail to the petroglyphs...
Everyone else hung out chatting around the quads. We've all been here so many times before over the years. If you look closely just left of center you'll see a road heading up the hill. It's quite steep and next on our tour...
This one has been shot at several times and it looks like somebody removed a slab from it...
Not sure what the story is here as the rocks are just stacked where as all the other stone cabins are cemented together...
Arrived at Apache Chief Cabin for lunch...
Spanish Cabin...miners have built lots of these stone cabins in the area...
The last stone cabin...next we'll ride to the top of that hill...
Everyone is looking over the edge to the Mitchel mining area below. Quartzsite is barely visible in the distance...
Another great day out on the trails! If interested, GoPro pictures taken from a previous ride can be viewed
here.
After telling Jim (and Barb) the long saga of our generator...Jim offered one of his Honda 2000's. He has 2 that he twins, but said that he hasn't been using them because his solar seems to be enough (he has quite a bit more than we do). Thanks so much Jim and Barb...very much appreciated! Especially since clouds and rain are in the forecast.
Monday was another cloudy day. We managed to get a short walk in before we headed out with Earl and Allison at 10:00. We're going to Parker, about 40 miles north of here.
We made a couple of stops...one being at Parker Yamaha where our generator is waiting to be repaired. There is no way they can even look at it for at least a week. They had told us that before but we just thought we'd go and plead with them LOL...didn't work!
Next stop was Walmart...OMG, what a zoo! Well of course everyone else is out getting their last minute shopping done before Christmas! It took about as long standing in line at the check-out as it did doing the actual shopping!
With that stop out of the way, it was lunch time, so we headed to Stroke's Bar and Grill. We have been there a number of times. I found my meal "just okay" but the others seemed to enjoy their burgers.
With our bellies full, we continued our shopping. Allison and I were dropped off at Safeway while Earl and Steve went to fill gas containers. Of course, while in shopping, it decided to start raining...sheesh, that wasn't supposed to happen until after 4:00 this afternoon! Steve had to take our shopping bags out of the truck box and put them in the back seat...going to be a cozy ride home :) By the time we had finished, the worse of the rain was over. We made one last stop at Food City for a couple of things...and then we were on our way home. YAY! That was a long shopping day!
I went about putting all of the groceries away...while Steve decided his reward for braving it through a whole shopping day was to go out and fly his new glider. The wind was calm, after all! He had a successful flight and came in just as I was finishing. By this time, it was going on 5:00...time to relax in our recliners!
And then the rain started...and it poured! It also got very windy...something that took us by surprise because it wasn't in the forecast.
We woke Tuesday (Dec. 24) morning to the sound of a few sprinkles of rain...I think it had rained off and on all night.
After breakfast, we went out for a walk...the rain had stopped but it was cloudy and cool. We stopped in for a quick visit with Jim and Barb and then continued on.
The rest of the morning was pretty much spent just chilling. After lunch the guys all got together to start building a wind-block for our Christmas Dinner plans tomorrow afternoon.
The forecast for Christmas is a high of 57 F/14 C with wind gusts to 20 mph/32km/h....Boxing Day we have a Flash Flood warning. We finally get to use this large tarp we've been packing around for the last 9 years!
After it was constructed, we sat around the fire...
Once everyone had gone home, Steve and I decided to roast hot dogs over the fire...a special Christmas Eve dinner LOL!
At 7:00 we headed off with Earl and Allison to see the Christmas Lights at the Schroeder property...
Quartzsite residents John and Celia Schroeder again transformed their property into a free Christmas Winter Wonderland, full of surprises for both young and old.
And we even had our picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus!
What an amazing display...totally unexpected in this little desert town! Thanks Earl and Allison for taking us...we always discover something new each year we come here!
From our home to yours, Steve and I would like to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
