Saturday, December 10 to Thursday, December 22, 2022 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

We woke to another cold start to the day. The last 2 nights have seen lows down to 37F/3C.  Thank goodness Steve has left the propane heater on low all night so it's not absolutely freezing inside. The days are also getting cooler and the temps over the next week are forecast to be in the mid 50'sF/13C. Lots of blue sky so far, so that makes it bearable!

Steve is going stir-crazy basically doing nothing for the last week, so this morning he said he is feeling okay and wants to take Debbie and Greg out for a ride to show them some of the area as they've never stayed or ridden here before.

We parked above Tyson Wash to show them the...

Mortar Holes or Morteros also known as Indian Grinding Holes...

We continued on to the Eardman Cabin at Gold Eye Mine 2...

Steve taking a picture of Debbie taking a picture...

The parade of toilets...

We then continued on to show them the...

Ancient footprint...

On the way back we stopped at another old mine site that's located on the other side of the mountain from Eardman Cabin...

On our way back we stopped at Joseph Cone's Cabins (picture taken last February)...

We don't recall the name of this cabin...

We were home just before 4:00...a great ride! Nice to get out on our quads again! We joined Debbie and Greg for happy hour at their place...

Sunday (Dec. 11) morning Debbie and I went into town to do laundry. After a couple of fun hours at Main Street Laundry (note to self, Sunday is their busiest day...Saturday, their least), we were back at 12:30.

It was a super windy day...so other than a trip into RV Pit Stop for propane, we hunkered down inside out of the wind and dust.

Well, I guess the wind yesterday blew in a cold front, so it was a cool start to the day on Monday (Dec. 12). Rain is in the forecast for this afternoon...definitely a cooling trend with forecast highs in the mid 50's (mid teens C).

Steve continues to be stuffed up with a head cold, and still tests positive for COVID, so he relaxed at home while I went with Debbie and Greg into town to check out a couple of vendors on Kuehn Street. Not many set up yet...most will come in early January.

By the time we got back, it had totally clouded over and there was a cold wind. After dinner, we heard the rain, along with strong winds, rocking the trailer.

Tuesday (Dec. 13) morning we were back to blue sky but it was chilly. I got out for a 3 mile/5 km walk...time to get back into that! There were plenty of puddles around...a sure sign that it did indeed rain hard last night.

We had another low-key day...our first couple of weeks here in Q have been pretty quiet, for the most part due to illness.

Wednesday (Dec. 14) morning Steve finally had a negative COVID test...yay! The sinus issues continue to plague us both, though...being stuffed up on and off. We wonder when we will be back to normal... LOL!

Colan and Marilyn arrived late this morning. Steve showed Colan a couple of spots...he chose the one just east of us. We left them to get set up and settled while we headed into town with Greg and Debbie, who were ready for a little tour of the sights here in Q. 

We started at the Quartzsite Museum...entrance is free but donations are appreciated.

The Quartzsite Museum, also known as the Tysons Well Stage Station Museum, provides an introduction to the pioneer and mining history of Quartzsite including the mining equipment and the Assay Office from the Margarita Mine. Larger mining equipment is displayed in outside exhibits. The original adobe stage station, built 1866 by Charley Tyson, "was an important way station on the California-Arizona line because of excellent water and grass for the horses. Miners and freighters, hauling mining equipment and military supplies from the river port at Ehrenberg to the Territorial Capital at Prescott, also stopped here." (credit: Quartzsite Times)

They have a display in the parking area behind the museum called Barrett's Village...

Rates posted behind the stage coach...

Restoration of the adobe style Oasis Motel...

There is lots of reading of local history if you have the time...

Rear of museum. The museum was built over the original building to protect the adobe walls... 

The dead Saguaro in the background used to be the largest in the area with 47 arms! It was relocated here and seems to be missing many of those arms.

Assay building...

Next was the Hi Jolly Monument and Cemetery...

Checking out the graves...

Finally...Celia's Rainbow Garden. A sad story...

Celia was the daughter of Joanne and Paul Winer, owners of the Reader's Oasis Book Store. Paul was known as the Naked Bookseller and passed away in 2019 at the age of 75 of cancer. He was also an accomplished musician and would put on the occasional concert...fully dressed of course. 

Just before 5:00 we all headed into Silly Al's Pizza for my birthday dinner...only 11 days late, but so nice to finally go out!

Left to right, Greg, Debbie, Marilyn, Colan, Bob, Sue, me and Steve...

After we had finished our pizza, server "summoned" all patrons in the restaurant...announcing it was my birthday! And the whole place sang 'Happy Birthday' to me...how embarrassing! I turned bright red! LOL. Notice the Elf ears on our server behind me.

Thank you Sue and Bob for dinner! We had a wonderful evening!

Thursday (Dec. 15) morning we had another cold start to the day...but the sky is blue and the sun is shining so, although not hot, it warms up quite nicely in the afternoon.

After a little "yard work" rearranging some rocks, we headed into Beer Belly's Adult Day Care on our quads. Now Debbie and Greg know the trail we take to get into town.

We enjoyed our first visit to Beer Belly's with a brew...they also had a really good band playing!

We were back home just after 4:00 and sat out at Greg and Debbie's soaking up the late afternoon sun.

Friday (Dec. 16) was another cool, but sunny day so after lunch we went with Debbie and Greg to check out some of the vendors on Main Street. A great supply of junk at some of them but as we ventured further west, we found a couple of interesting shops. Still some vendors/stores are not open yet but I'm sure in another couple of weeks, they will be in full swing.

Debbie and I got a kick out of this sign and bench...

We woke up to the coldest morning yet on Saturday (Dec. 17)...it was 32F/0C outside! So glad for our propane heater keeping our inside temperature somewhat warmer than that!

Today we are taking a bit of road trip down to Castle Dome Mine Museum and Ghost Town. We have been there a couple of times before so Steve didn't take many pictures. For an in depth look, check out our blog from January 2016.

We headed out at 10:00 with Greg and Debbie...Colan and Marilyn followed in their truck...

There were a couple of really healthy coyotes passing by. Apparently they get table scraps from the volunteers and property owners...

Castle Dome Mountain...

Then we continued another 10 miles south to the Yuma Proving Ground Open Air Museum. Again we've been here several times before so for a more in depth tour from a previous visit click here.

Sunday (Dec. 18) was ride day! We headed out at 10:00...after it had warmed up a little. This trail was littered with ribboned stakes so not sure what that's all about.

We call this the Horse Face Mountain Trail. From our camp, not so much as you get closer, and depending on the light, this mountain appears to be a face looking skyward with a running horse within it. (The lighter area below the nose and chin.)

We stopped at a wildlife watering location called a guzzler...

Taking a break...

Those trails in the distance are called Hog Back. It's been a few years since we've been up there as the trails are really getting chewed up in so many areas...and we don't have a side x side with a roll bar! 😉

Steve got a picture of us arriving at Livingston Mine for lunch...

I got one of everyone parking from above on my way down...

Looks like Debbie is enjoying the sun while Jim and Buddy check out the mine.

Colan entering the mine...

Checking out some other areas...

Heading back...

Jim's site to the left of ours and Greg and Debbie's to the right...

A great day out on the trails! I also did a "Relive" Video, if interested, take a look... Horseface-Livingston Mine Ride.

Monday (Dec. 19) we did a few chores around here...which included putting up the clothesline. We used the dryers last time we did laundry but with the busy season approaching, I prefer to spend as little time as possible in the laundromat. 

While working outside, Steve noticed this black smoke to the north of us. Apparently a Class A motorhome was on fire in La Posa North...no one hurt, thank goodness!

Steve had just come down from the roof after cleaning our solar panels so went back up to get a better view...

Steve also put up our Christmas flag...

Another RV goes up in smoke in La Paz Valley just south of us...(from the internet)

Claude and Theresa, RV friends that we met a number of years ago in Cochrane, Alberta, also popped by on their e-bikes. They have purchased property in Nova Scotia, Canada but after a couple of winters there, decided they needed the warmer temps of Arizona. We had a great visit with them but unfortunately did not get a picture. We plan on more get togethers, so we'll ensure to snap some pictures next time!

Tuesday (Dec. 20) morning we were hearing the news of the cold snap and winter storm that was hitting back home in BC. Both the greater Vancouver region as well as South Vancouver Island were getting a wallop of winter, including up to 35 cm of snow and Arctic outflow winds. 

Picture from our son, Chris, in Coquitlam, (Vancouver area)...

And from our son, Rob in North Saanich...(Victoria area)

Debbie and I headed off at about 10:00 to Parker for groceries. The usual shopping trip between Walmart, Safeway and Food City. We also grabbed a bite to eat at Cross Roads Cafe and were home around 3:00.

While I was gone, Steve knocked off another chore off his "to do list"...change the oil, spark plug, and clean and oil the air filters in the generator.

That evening, we had a family video call with my family back in BC. Since COVID, we have started having an annual call. Great seeing everyone!

Wednesday (Dec. 21) morning we had another cold start to the day. We both got to work getting some chores done around here. While Steve "pumped and dumped", I cleaned inside, made chicken soup...and worked on this blog update.

Steve attempted to change the leaking hose to one of the propane tanks with the new one he purchased the other day but of course it had to be a different size thread, so we went back to K & B Tools to get a bushing. Done!

Thursday (Dec. 22) morning, after a lazy start to the day, Steve and I got out for our usual walk. Once back, I continued work on this blog while he went outside to fix the PVC pipes that he sets up on the slide toppers to stop them from flapping in the wind.

At 3:00, Steve had the Core Crash game ready...and Bob, Sue, Colan, Marilyn and Debbie joined us for a few games. 

The playing area is all groomed and ready to go!

Bob, Sue, me, Marilyn and Colan...as Debbie takes her turn...

Bob's turn...

Another one of Debbie's throws...

We played 3 games...Steve won the first 2, Colan the last. A fun time!

The day ended with a beautiful sunset!

This is our final blog before Christmas so we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!