The last couple of weeks, we have seen (and felt) temperatures go from hot, to hotter and windy, to breezy, to cold and rainy...and back to warm and breezy. Most days, we have gotten out for our morning walk and sat outside when possible, but we did spend a fair amount of time inside, out of the wind, dust...or rain.
Monday (Feb. 24) we saw a FedEx semi come in making a delivery...that's a first! Apparently their axles were bent so replacement axles were being delivered...
Tuesday (Feb. 25) and Wednesday (Feb. 26) were both very hot days...30/31C (87/89F). Tuesday night it cooled off nicely by bedtime but Wednesday, Steve had to fire up the generator in the evening so we could run the A/C...that was a first!
Thursday (Feb. 27) was a super windy day...and of course, 'dump' day. Steve headed over to La Posa South LTVA to dump the black/gray tanks and fill up the fresh water tank...leaving me to sit with my back to wind "guarding" our stuff.
Steve here...
Holy crap...this dust storm blowing across the water stations seen from the sani-dump is not going to be fun!
Friday (Feb. 28) we had just a slight breeze, but it was very hazy...perhaps from all of the dust in the atmosphere, or the controlled burns that they have been doing in the fields near Parker.
On our walk to Beer Belly's Adult Day Care, we passed this vintage car with a trailer from Alberta parked at the gatehouse...
Saturday (Mar. 1) afternoon we walked over to Beer Belly's again...this time to meet Fred and Terry. We had another great visit with them, as we enjoyed a few brews and listened to live music.
Sunday (Mar. 2)...and an inside day due to another wind storm with gusts up to 58 km/hr (36 mph). Luckily come Monday (Mar. 3) and Tuesday (Mar. 4), the winds were fairly light. We had a trip to Parker with Fred and Terry on Monday...thanks for letting us tag along!
Wednesday (Mar. 5) and time to dump the tanks again. At least it wasn't during a dust storm this time! This fellow was flying over distracting Steve as we were about to hitch up...
Steve ended up being gone a little longer than usual...our permit expired yesterday, so we knew we had to purchase another one today. We thought we'd do it once he got back...totally forgetting that with the expired permit, he would not be able to use the sani-dump and water station over at La Posa South...sheesh! So he had to purchase a permit...and to make matters worse, the gatehouse at La Posa South was closed today, so he had to go across the highway to La Posa Tyson Wash.
That afternoon, we walked to a very busy Beer Belly's Adult Daycare to attend their customer appreciation day. Lots of people enjoying good music and a free meal, along with some rather whacky door prizes.
Thursday (Mar. 6) and another wind warning. When a wind warning is issued for Quartzsite, you know that it is going to be very windy! We ran a couple of errands and when we got home, Steve parked the truck beside the trailer to help block the wind. Needless to say, we were hunkered down inside for the rest of the day.
Friday (Mar. 7) morning we woke to rain...it had also rained throughout the night. This was the first measurable rainfall since we got here last December. It was also a much cooler day with temperatures not getting much higher than 13C/55F. The wind started up again by late morning but not as bad as yesterday, thank goodness. With the wind and higher humidity, it felt very chilly!
Saturday (Mar. 8) we were back to sunshine and a high of 19C/66F. We are in preparation to leave mode now...Steve checked all of the tire pressures on both the trailer and truck, while I rearranged the pantry, checking what was left.
We met Fred and Terry at Silly Al's Pizza for one final visit...
Sunday (Mar. 9) we took care of more odds and ends around the trailer and then met Colan and Marilyn at Beer Belly's at 2:00. We had a wonderful few hours catching up...it had been 2 years since we last saw them and a lot has happened to them both since. Thankfully, they are both doing well, and it was absolutely great spending time with them...not sure when we will see them again. Such wonderful memories of all the happy hours we have spent together over the years!
Monday (Mar. 10) morning we were busy packing up the last of the outside stuff. We decided to get it done first thing in the morning as it is going to be a hot day...temps up to 28C/82F. Once that was done, we headed off to take care of a bunch of errands...fill our drinking water containers, top off the diesel in the truck, fill the gas container, get propane and pick up some weather-strip for the truck box doors (we will be heading into a rainy climate, after all).
That afternoon, we had our last visit to our favourite spot, Beer Belly's Adult Day Care. We met Fred and Terry there and spent a few hours enjoying the music, people watching, chatting...and of course, a few brews.
It was a rockin' this afternoon! I took a 17 second video...
And that wraps up our time in Quartzsite. I must say that we are definitely looking forward to moving on. Tomorrow we hit the road to the Palm Springs area where we have a great time planned for 10 days. A couple of days in an RV park, followed by a week in a 2-bedroom condo with our son Chris and his family joining us. Can hardly wait! Stay tuned to hear all about it!
