Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, February 1, 2 and 3, 2015 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

We woke to clear sky this morning...YAY! We're back to blue sky and sunshine! And the forecast for the next week is for temperatures in the high 70's!

After our usual start to the day, we got our butts in gear...we had a few chores to do around here before we could relax in the sunshine. Steve went into town to fill up both propane tanks from the trailer. When he got back, we took the boat off the truck in preparation for our trip into Phoenix tomorrow to have the exhaust brake squeal addressed (again...4th time). Then he puttered around outside while I started up the generator and vacuumed inside.

Finally, with the work done, we were able to relax in our chairs outside and enjoy the afternoon sunshine. Buster looks funny without his hat on! (LOL!)...

Monday morning we were out of bed at 5:30 and on the road shortly after 6:30...on our way into Phoenix for our appointment at Midway Chev. As we neared Phoenix, the layer of smog over the city is really noticeable. We have just left the I-10 and are heading north on Loop 101...

We passed the arena where the Super Bowl was held yesterday...

We arrived at Midway just before 9:30. After talking to Dan (our usual Service Rep, Brian, was away), we had the shuttle drop us off at Arrowhead Mall (as usual). We headed directly to Super Cuts where Steve had a long overdue haircut. While he was doing that, I wandered around Macy's and then managed to find an optical store that fixed Steve's reading glasses.

After his haircut, Steve sat in the food court for a bit with the iPad reading while I did a little more wandering around the stores. I had just sat back down with him when he got a call from Dan about the unusual wear on the front tires. The tech said that a rod in the steering assembly had a lot of play in it. What...?! They sent us to a commercial tire dealer where we had our front tires re-balanced because they said the front end was fine when we were there in December?!

It was after 11:30 when we headed out of the mall to find a brewery/restaurant that, according to Google maps, was nearby. We had no problem finding Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery and next thing we knew, we were sitting in the bar side trying to decide what beer to have.
The waiter brought four samples and we chose one of their specialty dark beers...that I can't remember the name of...cheers!







Haircut, beer and a burger...life is good!

After lunch, we called for the shuttle to pick us up. While we were being driven back we got a call that the truck was ready...sweet.  It was going on 2:30 by the time we were back at Midway. This time they replaced the EGR cooler instead of just the gasket. The tech showed Steve the old EGR cooler and said that if the new one squeals again the next option is replacing the manifold. We hope this doesn't happen because the four previous repairs were during our extended warranty period which just happened to expire last month. Steve doesn't want to deal with a dispute with GM for coverage.

We left Midway and stopped at a Shell Station and fueled up the truck...$2.32/gallon...wow! Then we made one more stop before heading home...Costco! I would have been out of Costco in about 40 minutes but I ended up having an issue with my American Express credit card...it wouldn't go through. To make a long story short, it ended up being because my card is from Canada. Costco in Canada stopped using American Express at the end of December, 2014...Costco in the USA still uses American Express, so I figured that I would be okay using it while down here. Apparently not. I guess there is a new card waiting for me at home. Anyway, the only other method of payment they would accept was my debit card...well, at least that worked! Just not looking forward to seeing the amount that was actually debited...with the Canadian dollar at 79 cents US!

We arrived back home just before 7:00...a long day after being up so early! We unloaded the groceries and got them put away, had a light snack and then relaxed in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday was not a very exciting day...basically, it was a work day. After exercises, showers and breakfast, it ended up being late morning by the time we headed into town. Steve dropped me (and a ton of dirty laundry) off at the laundromat then went to check out our warranty replacement wheels that arrived at Love's Truck Tire Center last week. We'll be getting the wheels put on the trailer when we leave here towards the end of February. While he was waiting to speak to the service manager he noticed tire wear pattern charts on the wall. After researching countless websites he was never able to find our wear pattern listed, but here it was! It was listed as "depression wear" and one of the causes was worn shocks. Steve explained our situation to the service manager and after inspecting our shocks he confirmed that they were shot...he pointed out the wear marks to Steve. So Steve will be ordering shocks tomorrow and have them shipped to Love's for installation. Why didn't Midway Chev find this during their inspection of our front end?  Grrrr!!!!

I was waiting for him when he returned to the laundromat to pick me up...the clean, wet laundry was ready to be hung on the clothesline back home. So, once home, I took care of that while Steve emptied the trailer's holding tanks and filled up with fresh water. And that was it...a very busy work day! BUT...it was a beautiful hot sunny day...love it!

Friday and Saturday, January 30 and 31, 2015 (La Posa South LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ)

I woke up numerous times through the night to the sound of rain on the roof (I actually love that sound as I'm snuggled down under the covers in bed)...and it was still raining when we got up this morning. It didn't last, though, and to our surprise the clouds broke up a bit allowing small patches of blue sky to show with the occasional rays of sunshine peeking through.

Other than getting out for a walk, we really didn't do much today. Steve spent a good part of the afternoon replying to an email...a fellow Canadian had a lot of questions about joining this lifestyle. While he was doing that, I settled on the sofa, reading...and closing my eyes for a bit.

We were expecting friends from Ontario but they postponed their visit due to the rain. Dave and Lisa and Armand and Leonie are staying in Buckeye, AZ and were going to drive out to Quartzsite for the day. Hopefully, the weather improves and we see them tomorrow!

Saturday was another mostly cloudy day...but at least the cloud was broken allowing bits of sun to come through.

After a pretty lazy morning, we were sitting outside taking in a little sunshine that was peeking through when the phone rang...it was Leonie letting us know that they were at the entrance. So Steve gave directions to where he would meet them and hopped on his quad to go get them.

Dave and Lisa, and Armand and Leonie are folks we first met back in the fall of 2010. We were staying at an RV park in Winnipeg when Dave came over to chat with Steve. When he heard that we were heading east, he said that we would be going through Sault Ste Marie, Ontario...and that we must stop and look him up. He gave Steve his phone number and told us to call him when we got there...so we did! We must admit it was a little out of our comfort zone because Steve had really only talked to Dave for a couple of minutes, but we "bit the bullet" and did it. So Dave...you're responsible for turning us into a couple of social butterflies! We ended up going out for a nice dinner with him...and met his wife, Lisa and Lisa's sister, Leonie and her husband, Armand. We really had a nice visit with them and have stayed in touch ever since. We have met up with Leonie and Armand a couple of times down here in Arizona but this is the first time we have seen Dave and Lisa since September, 2010. So just a warning...if you threaten us with an invite you might find us at your door step! :-)

We had a wonderful visit with the four of them and then a couple of hours later, they headed off to explore Quartzsite a bit. So good seeing you all! (left to right....Leonie, Armand, Lisa and Dave)

After they left, we puttered around doing a few chores and then Steve decided to fill the fresh water tank in the trailer, so he headed off on his quad, trailer in tow to the water taps. While he did that, I decided to grab my kindle and sit outside reading.

Just before 4:00, we put a few beer in a small cooler and jumped on our quads and headed over to see Rob and Joyce, and Tom and Joyce. We hadn't seen them since last week, so we thought we'd invite ourselves over for happy hour. Tom and Joyce's fifth-wheel made a nice wind break so we sat chatting there and as the sun went down, Tom got a campfire going and we continued a little while longer enjoying the fire and the company. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera...not only would it have been nice to get a picture of us enjoying our happy hour together, we also missed taking a picture of the beautiful mountains lit up as the sun went down!

It was going on 6:00 when we thanked them for a lovely evening, said goodnight, and got back on our quads to head home. Driving at night around here is always a bit of a challenge...everything looks so different! But we made it.

After a light dinner, we settled in front of the TV and watched a movie. We're supposed to be back to sunshine and clear skies tomorrow...sure hope they are right!