Wednesday, February 1 to Tuesday, February 7, 2023 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

Wow, we're into February already...and the start of our third month here! As we had hoped, we did have some warmer temperatures this week, including calmer wind...well, at the start of the week, at least!

Wednesday (Feb. 1) was a pretty quiet day. Steve did some odds and ends around the rig...including cleaning windows and solar panels...

While he was outside doing his "thing", I was inside doing mine...I made soup from the roast chicken we had for dinner last night and worked on a blog update.

We had a few fun games of Core Crash during happy hour and then everyone headed home for their dinner. At 7:30 a few of us gathered over at Jerry and Debbie's for some more stargazing. 

Other than star and moon gazing we were looking for the rare green comet that hasn't been visible for 50,000 years. We spotted it but it appeared more as a white haze to us...

I took a couple of night shots with my Google Pixel 6 phone but can't recall the constellation...

The moon...

Thanks for the astronomy lessons Jerry and Debbie...such a cool hobby!

Thursday (Feb. 2) morning, we said goodbye to Ray and Deb...they are going down to Yuma for a night or 2, but will be stopping on their way up to Lake Havasu.

Steve wanted to take advantage of the calm wind this morning so took his plane out into the desert for a few flights. I followed by walking instead of riding my quad...just to get some exercise.

After a few successful flights, we both headed home and then decided to go out on the quads for a ride around La Posa South...just to check it out and see how busy it still was. Lots of empty spots around now that the show is over!

Tonight we were joined by a couple of new faces for our happy hour...more RV friends, Roger and Cindi! So nice to see them both again! Left to right, around the circle...me, Marilyn, Roger, Cindi, Colan, Debbie (#2), Debbie (#3), Jerry and Jim...

Friday (Feb. 3) was ride day! We decided to go on one of our favourite rides...towards "Horseface Mountain". Here we are ready to hit the trails...Cindi and a friend Mary-Beth on the left in the red SxS, Colan and Marilyn (behind Steve), Jim and Buddy, and Greg and Debbie...

Rest stop...

...below Horseface Mountain. It doesn't look like it from up close but from camp with a little imagination it looks like a running horse within a mans face when the shadows are just right ...

We then stopped at a wildlife guzzler...

Arriving at Livingstone Mine...and lunch time!

Mary-Beth and Cindi at the mine...

It has a colourful entrance...

As well as just inside...

We are parked on the upper left...

There is so much quartz around here that it almost looks like snow...

Time to continue on...but first Steve took pictures of everyone.

Mary-Beth and Cindi...

Jim and Buddy...

Debbie and Greg (LOL)...

Marilyn and Colan...

And me...

We were back home around 2:00...a familiar ride but very picturesque, especially the Cholla "forest"!

At 4:00 we all gathered for Core Crash...Roger and Cindi joined us too. Roger taking his turn...

Marilyn (Colan was out training on his bike), Greg, Debbie (#3), Jerry, Dave (Cheryl is having some grandkid time via video), Jim, me, Debbie (#2), Roger, and Cindi is taking her turn...

Finally...the sun comes out just before setting...

Ray and Deb pulled in around 5:00, taking a spot behind us. After getting settled, they grabbed chairs and drinks and joined us. We finished our last game of Core Crash and then gathered in a circle to chat...

It is so nice that it is staying "lighter later longer" and the weather is improving.

Not a very exciting day Saturday (Feb. 4)...it was laundry day! Debbie and I headed into town just before 9:30. It was fairly busy, so a good thing the weather was good so that we could hang the laundry at home. 

Another ride was planned for Sunday (Feb. 5) but I decided to stay home. I have a cold and didn't figure all the dust on the trail would help my coughing and sneezing much. 

They headed out at 10:00...Steve, with Colan and Marilyn in the background...

Jim and Buddy and Greg and Debbie...

Shortly after the gang left, Deb and Ray had their slides in on the motorhome and were ready to leave. They are off to Havasu today...

And they're off...

I'll pass this over to Steve now to tell you about their ride...

We rode north of Quartzsite for quite awhile eventually stopping at another wildlife guzzler...

Then we circled around, up and down this hill as a side trip...

Our next stop was one of Patton's training camps from WWII. This one is numbered D124 with rocks. Four of us have drones and wanted to get aerial photos of the layout, however strong winds were in the forecast so we left them behind. Well guess what...the winds were calm!

Further up the trail we stopped at another camp. After 80 plus years, there are tank tracks still visible all over the desert too!

On our return between the trail and I-10 there is a boat that has been used as a house for many years...

While they were gone, I sat outside crocheting in the sunshine...it was a warm day at 22C/72F with a breeze. A beautiful day!

The full moon coming up...

Monday (Feb. 6) and the forecast for today is for sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts to 37 mph expected. After breakfast, Steve and I thought we'd go for a walk but as soon as we stepped outside, the smell of smoke was so strong. We had noticed that it was quite hazy but thought it was because of the wind, but we now realized it was smoke. We cut our walk short.

View to the east...

...and to the west. Apparently there is a wildfire north of Ehrenberg...

Steve and I went into town to pick up a parcel at Quiet Times and get propane. We also decided to pick up a new sunscreen to replace our aging one.

Back home, we hunkered down inside out of the increasing wind. Steve worked on picture editing, I did some crocheting and then started on this blog update.

Steve took more pictures as the smoke increased with the winds..

With the winds howling now we have smoke and dust! Steve had to remove a couple of tire covers off the truck before they blew away...

Tuesday (Feb. 7) morning was much calmer than yesterday, thank goodness! But by the afternoon, a strong breeze had come up...still not as bad as yesterday though.

Steve spent a good part of the morning pumping, dumping and getting water. I cleaned up inside and then went for a walk. After lunch we rode our quads into town. Yesterday morning we had picked up a new sunscreen, however, we didn't realize that it was the type with a zipper. So we wanted to exchange it for one without. Unfortunately, they didn't have any in the size we wanted without a zipper...so we kept it. 

Of course, we had to stop at Beer Belly's for a brew before heading back home...

Back home, we relaxed outside, out of the breeze...I crocheted while Steve read. 

At 4:00 the gang came over for another happy hours...we decided it was too breezy to play Core Crash, so we just enjoyed great conversation. Jerry and Debbie are leaving first thing tomorrow morning...so good meeting you both! I hope our paths cross again in the future. Safe travels!