Saturday to Tuesday, December 14 to 17, 2019 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Saturday morning, Dale and Ruth picked us up at 10:15...just like last Saturday! But this time we headed south on highway 95 to Yuma. We arrived at Prison Hill Brewing Company just before noon, picked a table for 6...and a few minutes later "The Fergs" (aka Allen and Donna) arrived. They bought a place in Yuma so are part timers now.

We enjoyed lunch, a brew...and had a great time catching up! Left to right around the table...Allen, Dale, Ruth, me, Steve and Donna...

Steve took a picture of us all out front...

...and then a kind lady offered to take a picture of us all but didn't get the sign in. It was great catching up with you Allen and Donna...see you in Q next year!

Main Street was closed off in preparation for the The Electric Light Parade tonight...everyone had their chairs out already reserving a spot to watch it...

Walking back to the truck...

We made a quick stop at Home Depot and Fry's before our grocery pick up time at Walmart. That's pretty slick...put your order in, select a pick up time, and they let you know when your order is ready. Through the app on your phone, you can also let them know you are on your way.

We were home after 4:00...another great day! Thanks Ruth and Dale, for including us!

The day ended with a beautiful sunset...

Sunday (Dec. 15) we were up, had the generator loaded in the truck and were ready to head off into Blythe shortly after 8:00...but Buster delayed us. He wouldn't start...must be something about Sunday's (he did the same thing last Sunday!).

Steve eventually got the truck going...and we were off. We made a stop at the Arco in town to fuel up...$2.99/gallon...and then we continued west to Blythe, CA.

Crossing the Colorado River into California...it's looking a little low by the time it gets this far south...

After dropping the generator off at Ace Hardware, we had some time to kill so we went to Albertson's so I could check it out...I ended up picking up a few groceries too. We went back to Ace and Steve wandered around inside having a look and then managed to talk to Julian, the fellow working on the generator. He had drained the gas, checked all the gaskets and even tried a new carburetor but that didn't stop the surging, so more investigation was needed.

We ended up going to Denny's for a bite to eat...a very popular spot on a Sunday morning! And then with more time to kill we decided to take a drive north along Lovekin Blvd which turns into Midland Road to check out Midland LTVA...a spot we have stayed at numerous times when good friends, Dennis and Charlene, were there. Unfortunately, they no longer come down south for the winter. We shared many a happy hour with them solving all the worlds problems :)

Cotton fields...

Midland LTVA...on the left side of the road is the free 14 day camping area...

It's sparsely populated and if you like quiet this is the place to be...

They have an info board, with a book exchange and phone. There is no water available here but there is a sani dump and garbage dumpsters. Water is available at the Blythe Wastewater Treatment Facility in town.

We think that is Wolfe and Marge's place on the left. He used to bring a lot more stuff with them so it looks a little different plus there is a truck and camper there. There didn't appear to be anyone home so we didn't bother to knock on their door.

The area ahead on the right is where we used to camp near Dennis and Charlene...

Surprisingly Dennis and Charlene's spot is empty...

It's one of the nicest spots here overlooking a gully. They used to have a feeder out for the Kit Foxes.

After our little tour through the LTVA, we decided to continue up to the end of the road. There's lots of good ATVing here too...

The old Victor Gypsum Mine is just ahead at the base of the mountains on the left. There used to be a rail line out here that ran from the Midland Depot...

Entering Midland...

This collection of hats has been here for years...

 There is a small "community" of campers way out here...

There's not much left of the old ghost town of Midland except old vehicles and building foundations...

We turned around and headed back...look at the dust! It's quite windy out and it is really stirring up the dust...

Back at Ace, Steve went in to see how Julian was doing. He was still working on it and was at a loss. He showed Steve that when he put the cover back on that contained the air inlet hose the surging started ever so slightly even though there was no blockage. Then he inserted the new air filters and the surging returned with a vengeance. He's basically done all he can do so said he'd place a call into Honda first thing in the morning and let me know.

So I guess we will be without a generator tonight! Good thing we have lots of blue sky and solar to charge our trailer batteries!

We pulled into La Posa South to find more friends from BC had just arrived...Jim and Cec were just going into the gatehouse to purchase their permit. It wasn't long after we got back to our trailer, when they pulled into a spot behind us along the wash, beside Fred and Terri.

Monday (Dec. 16) was a cold, windy day! A cold front has definitely moved in! But at least the sky is blue and the sun is shining!!

Jim who happens to be a diesel mechanic had read on our blog that we had a starting issue with our truck. He agreed that it sounded like a fuel filter issue and offered to help out. We were just going to make an appointment in town to have it checked out.  So Earl and Jim came over this morning to help take the boat and loader off so the cab could be tilted.

Steve ended up on the phone trying to find someone who stocked the filter he needed. Nobody in Quartzsite or Blythe stocked the filter. In fact everyone he called could find the GM filter number Steve had given them but it didn't cross reference to any other manufacturer. Finally Jessie at O'Reilly Auto Parts said he would make a call to Isuzu to see if they had a cross reference for it. (Our truck has an Isuzu engine and they make the Duramax engine for pickups.) Jessie called back and said he got a Wix filter part number for our truck and would have it by 8 a.m. tomorrow, 9 a.m. our time.

Julian from Ace also called...Honda suggested that he should check the valve adjustment on the generator. Hopefully that does the trick! However, by late day when Steve hadn't heard further, he called...no luck. Julian was waiting for a call back from Honda. Looks like we're without a generator for another night!

Poor Buster...people in the area are probably wondering whats up with this!

Tuesday (Dec. 17) was another cool 37F/3C, breezy day but the sky was blue and the sun was still shining!

Julian from Ace Hardware called to let Steve know that after talking to Honda, he had discovered a plastic gasket/spacer had a crack in it and is most likely the culprit. Of course, this has to be ordered in...so we continue to wait. No generator for at least a few more days...ugh!

Earl and Steve headed to Blythe to pick up the new fuel filter. It was 11:30 by the time they got home. Jim immediately came over and got to work. All went smoothly and the new fuel filter was in, the truck started immediately and ran smoothly. Steve's replaced fuel filters before but never on a diesel which is more involved but very simple once you know what your doing. The filter bowl has a drain at the bottom. Once drained there is a large nut at the bottom of the bowl to loosen then the bowl can be unscrewed from it's mount. Once the internal filter cartridge is replaced there is a port to open at the top beside a plunger that is pumped until diesel squirts out the port meaning the bowl is full... then you're good to go. With that done the boat loader and boat were put back in place...by mid afternoon. Thanks for all the help Jim and Earl!

Last year when we were in Elkhart, Indiana we had the truck serviced and the tech came out and told Steve he couldn't get the fuel filter off. Look at all the marks on the bowl. He obviously didn't loosen the large nut on the bottom of the bowl. No wonder it was the longest service we've ever experienced...6 hours! He didn't know what he was doing...

I had been working on the laptop most of the day...and was surprised that it was already after 2:00 when Steve said he was going to take the poop-mobile over for water. I had managed to take care of setting up auto-pay with Verizon...a savings of $10/month! And had booked RV parks for next April and May when we return to BC.

When Steve was done getting water, we drove into Q to fill our drinking water containers ($1 for 5 gallons) and pick up a parcel at Quiet Times. The truck was running fabulously!

After dinner, we went over to Earl and Allison's for Rummikub. Tonight we all won games...some of us more than others, right Earl?

And that brings us up-to-date for now...