Our Awesome Travels

Thurs. Feb 9th. Just hanging out.

2012-02-10T06:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America
in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Bullhead City AZ

Today the weather is a bit better, warmer overnight, (had to sleep with the windows open) and nice and sunny all day. Even the wind had let up a somewhat. AND my back was feeling somewhat better, a few exercises, short walkabouts, ice packs and even a trip to the store for a walkabout and a few groceries.

In the afternoon we found a sunny spot out of the wind, and we were able to give me a haircut then on to read our books until Rick and Suzie stopped by for Happy hour, sharing a few tips about motorcoach living and use.

Then at about the right time I threw together a tasty meatloaf, whipped potatoes, peas and fresh french bread, something we have not had for quiet a while. Now we can look forward to meatloaf sandwiches for lunch.

It was just another nice day and you know what? I forgot to take any pictures until I had cooked supper, too late now, can't replay the day without pictures. Hmmm, guess it's soon time to move on to another warm location hopefully one that's not quite so windy. That actually happens a week today.

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Wed.Feb. 8th Visiting Friends

2012-02-09T06:50:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America
in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Bullhead City AZ.

Another sunny, warm, windy day here, does the wind ever stop? But hey, what am I complaining about the sun is shining, it is actually warm 70-72 f, it could be a lot worse.

Morning coffees, computing and I was going to do a walkabout. I was quite stiff this morning (not sure why) and as I set out realized this walk was not going to happen. Bent over and in pain I turn around go back home and relax with a bit of ice. I hate when this happens. So got a chiropractor appointment for this afternoon.

In the meantime we drove to visit Rick and Suzy, just too far to walk right now. They pulled in last night and are here for 5 nights. We went to check out their new house. We met them last winter in south Texas and they had been fulltime rvers for just 6 months. They had a nice 5th wheel and diesel pickup truck. Just last week they traded this setup for a very nice (new to them) motorhome and a small car to tow behind it. Big change for them. After 18 months they realized that it would suit them better to drive a nice motorhome, setup is easier and quicker, its easier to back into a site than a trailer and they have a nice small car to drive around that gets real good gas milage. They didn't care much for the pick up truck for site seeing and grocery shopping.

We had the tour of their home, they had not finished unpacking yet so we gave them a few tips. (don't move again!) Their front tv was analog and they were going to get a digital converter box for it. well just so happens I had a brand new one in a box so we made a real good deal and I installed it, they now have tv to watch.

After a bite to eat for lunch we headed down the Bullhead City parkway a quick freeway to the south end of town where the chiropractor is.

the parkway

Now after an amazing adjustment I feel brand new (almost). I can move, stand up straight, and the pain is almost gone wow! Back home we stopped by Rick and Suzy's for Happy hour, I will celebrate with one beer.

one beer for Happy hour

Ok now we getting hungry so to our house and I can get out the cutting board, start chopping and slicing for supper. Onion, mushrooms, asparagus, zuchinni, celery, carrots, fresh garlic, pork, chicken, bean sprouts and bamboo shoots all the prep for a chinese craving we had. Now a drizzle of olive oil, a couple of pans and quickly throw it all together ending up with mushroom egg foo young, pork fried rice and sweet and sour chicken. Hit the spot and we have leftovers, yummy!

our chinese fix

Now relax again with a bit more computing, reading, ice pack and tv calling it another fun day. In a few days my back will be good as new until it decides beg for another adjustment.

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Tues. Feb 7th. A Lazy Day...

2012-02-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler,since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Bullhead City Arizona

This morning was coffees, computing and a walkabout but still have a chilly wind here, don't much care for that its almost a week and constant cool winds. But now today there is no sunshine, just overcast gray skies. So what are we going do today? No ambition just feel lazy like the weather so that's about what we did, be lazy.

Just hang out read, compute and chat for a while then outside to see if the weather changed at all. Nope still cool and very windy about 67f (19c). Then suddenly with a spurt of energy I got to replacing a few more of our brass door handles with the new ones and rubbing down the woodwork with Old English Lemon Oil to clean everything up.

looking much better

Well just as quick as the spurt of energy came, it went away, I only got eight handles done when I decided enough for today. After all I have a good book to read and we have the time. Looking out the window watching the Quails running up and down the hill across.

see any Quails here? No ? neither do I, they are quick.

Such a lazy day did not even feel like making supper, but we were in luck, left over roast beef, gravy, with some creamy mashed potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, and ever so tender baby asparagus made for a very simple and tasty quick supper.

tasty hot beef sandwich

Now we can get back to our books until 8 o'clock when our CSI show comes on tv, that we like to watch. Then only problem is the last half of the show usually watches me! These lazy boy recliners make it hard for a fellow to stay awake, especially once you turn on the tv.

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Mon, Feb. 6th, We checked out a couple of Casinos.

2012-02-07T08:19:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America
in our Holiday Rambler,since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Bullhead City Arizona

Monday yes! Exciting, sunny and the beginning of a brand new week. Wonder what kind of things we are going to get into this week? No real plans just kinda hang out enjoy the weather and do things as they pop into our heads or whatever we feel like at the moment. Of course the first few hours we are computing, blogging, drinking coffee and waiting for the sunshine to warm the early morning air.

Now by 9 am its not too bad outside so after a nice walkabout I got out a bit of paint and painted the support brackets we had welded under our generator last week, can't see them but wanted to protect the steel somewhat from corrosion. Now next on my list was to clean up the plastic headlight lenses on our coach. I had picked up a small kit the other day for nine dollars and set out to see if it worked. Wow, in a matter of a few minutes they cleaned up from a dull yellow to like new.

Before After

Well that took care of most of the morning, then we had a bite for lunch and thought maybe we would wander over to Laughlin and pick up a players card for The Edgewater Casino and resort.

the Edgewater

They have a good price for their buffets and meals if you have a players card and appear to be the only casino here this year that gives any freebees for joining their club and getting a players card. We got five dollars free slot play and got lucky, we were able to play for about and hour on that. Then a walkabout the casino to check out the restaurants and the riverwalk for a bit, but it was little too windy to enjoy today.

Now we wandered on over the Aquarius Casino Resort to check it out as well. Interesting just walking about these places for a bit checking out the sights and sounds, then again a quick look outside at the riverwalk.

Aquarius

riverwalk

riverwalk patio

Now enough casinos for one day, Suzie wants to get her hair trimmed so back to Bullhead and drive along the main street looking for a suitable place to have this done. we found a few that were closed monday, so just carried on until guess where, Walmart. More beautiful than ever with lightly trimmed hair she says lets go home to find a sunny spot out of the wind to enjoy our books for the rest of the afternoon.

We parked the car to use as a windbreak and all is good. Until is time to fire up our Weber and fry daddy for some home made fries and a grilled salmon burger, a nice tasty, light supper.

tasty salmon burger

While cooking supper I noticed three rabbits on the site behind us, across the wash, looks like they were just hanging out there. I snapped a picture and upon editing it noticed what appears to be carrots on the ground, no wonder they like that campsite!

rabbits hanging out

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Feb. 5th, Superbowl Sunday ?

2012-02-06T06:34:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Bullhead City Arizona

A sunny Superbowl Sunday are we excited? Sure we excited, the sun is shinning, its pretty warm, we are upright and breathing and healthy enough to be able to enjoy this fantastic lifestyle. Are we excited about the Superbowl? Well we tried, no being sports fans it's kinda hard. Turned the TV o a US channel for the pre game stuff. Suzie read her book while I made her some mini pecan tarts with a rich pastry of butter, cream cheese and spelt flower.

mini pecan tarts

Then we got our chairs out and found a sunny spot out of the wind (I moved the car to block it). A beautiful day to enjoy our books outside. And a whole bunch of Gambels Quails were making a heck of a noise across the road, then came running across , and behind our neighbour's trailer, that's our exciting entertainment for the day. The game was on inside waiting for us. We could have went to the clubhouse with a big super bowl party, snack and beverages, but could not see the point in that, had fun here.

the Quails

Then we finally went back inside, the tv was on but volume was muted, I whipped up some Yorkshire pudding to go with tonight's tasty supper, a tender roast beef, gravy, potatoes and carrots that had been in our slow cooker all day. Suzie reading her book. While eating supper the half time show came on and we turned up the volume to watch Madonna do her stuff. Then mute the tv again so we could chat.

Yorkshire pudding

yummy

Sorry sponsors, we missed the commercials and the game for that matter, don't know who won, not even sure who was playing. But we did enjoy the half time show and a wonderful sunny day just puttering around.

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Sat. Feb. 4th. Kingman, Oatman and Route 66

2012-02-05T09:36:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler,since August 2006

Where are we today ?

Bullhead City Arizona

come feed us in Oatman

Saturday and a bright sunny day again, but still a little windy so our plan is to take a day trip from here to Kingman Arizona where we will travel the Route 66 "the Mother Road" to Oatman then completing the circle tour back home .

Don't forget you can click on any picture for a larger view

89 miles (143 kms) total

After morning coffees and computing we figured we should be hitting the road to enjoy this lovely day.

So about 9:45 we hopped in the car and along AZ 68 over the mountains about 3700 ft. thru Golden Valley and into Kingman az. looking find Andy Devine Ave and Route 66.

The first picture of the day was a mountain top giving us the finger! Even Mother nature has a sense of humour.

giving us the finger

nice new highway

This nice 4 lane highway thru the mountains is fast, smooth and boring compared to the old Route 66 we are going to take from Kingman to Oatman. First of all a short cruise around Kingman to take a few pictures then head off down the road.

Kingman

Mr. D's

Now heading southwest towards Oatman Arizona we are now on the original Route 66. It's only 28 miles but will take us over one hour.

flat two lane road

After a short drive thru the desert heading into the mountains it looked like the drive was becoming more interesting. Just before we began the twisting turning roads we came across the Cool Springs Service station (no longer pumping gas), but still a store and cabins so the sign says.

Cool Springs Cabins

old gas pumps

parking lot

Ok now the drive gets interesting, very narrow road, winding up,and around the thru the mountains, mostly no guard rails, or shoulders, lots and lots of hairpin turns, amazing views and a speed limit of 10 to 15 mph. You really don't want to try and drive any fast for sure. There was signs posted " no trucks over 40 feet past this point". It was fairly tight for our little car, I found it hard to imagine large trucks and vehicles using this road so many years ago. Even meeting a pickup truck made the road very tight in places.

beginning the climb

slower

hairpin turns

you can see some of the winding road on the hillside

the summit

From the summit we can see the Laughlin casinos and Colorado river about 25 miles away.

Now the steep descent the car in low gear with very tight turns and speed limits still 10 to 15 mph, just watch for the edge no guard rails or shoulders.

very tight turn

narrow with a retaining wall?

all downhill

We knew we were getting closer to Oatman Arizona we past the Gold Road Mine with an interesting history over the years, opened and closed many times. In its heyday 1905 or so about 12,000 miners lived in Oatman Arizona with many hotels and bars, now a ghost town turned into a fun tourist place to go.

Now finally this leg of Route 66 is over and Suzie is very glad, she was on the outside edge of the roads with no railings and narrow roads, tight turns. Her finger nails imbedded in the dash and my white knuckles need a rest. It was a very scenic drive and glad we did it, but like she saws we don't need to do that drive again (been there done that!)

Gold Road Mine

Well we arrived in Oatman Arizona at high noon found a parking spot and wandered on down the street, past a few colorful shops to a crowd gathered in front of the Oatman Hotel.

if you click on this sign you should be able to read it

cool murals

Oatman Hotel

Now this crowd gathers around to close down the highway (Rte 66) for and entertaining high noon Arizona Gunfight. Always and entertaining story, a bit of a scuffle and finally a shoot out with both shooter get shot in the middle of the road. But they have to come back to life quick so that the highway can re-open and allow traffic thru.

gunfight

shoot out

ok get up gotta open the road now

After the shootout we wandered about watching people feed the wild burrows that wander the streets in the daytime here.

feeding the burrows

Suzie found a friend

There is quite a few baby burrows here and the towns folk put a red sticker on their foreheads warning people not to feed them carrots (they are too young)

cute babies

After checking out the shops we wandered into the Oatman Hotel for a bite to eat, a beverage and listen to some excellent music and interesting stories by entertainer big Mike Fox. Folklore has it that Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honeymoon upstairs Mar. 18th 1939.

Lobby

Yes that is one dollar bills completely covering almost every surface in the saloon, estimated (guessed) at over 80,000 of them, each one signed by a different tourist (person)

dollar bills

our corner booth

Suzie's blt

yes wings for me!

good music Big Mike Fox

Well as we were finishing up lunch, Big Mike was taking a break, pout his gun back in the holster and headed out front to see what all the commotion was about. Well looks like another gunfight, so out we go to check it out. New players this time, the last gunfight the others got shot.

setting the scene

this burrow is checking out the crowd

the bad guy is shot

Post Office

traffic jam!

Now after a few hours of fun and entertainment got back to the car and carefully drove thru town around the burrows on the street and headed back home. We found a sunny spot out of the wind to relax with our books for a while. After a bit, the loud noise of hundreds of birds chirping made us look around and across the street was a tree full of the loud birds. Eventually they went away and a few bunny rabbits appeared, now they are quiet!

lots birds

quiet bunny

Around 5 o'clock I fired up our Weber to make a bite to eat for supper. Tonight is some grilled chicken thighs, a small baked potato, grilled zuchinni.Yep we like our BBQ'd chicken.

almost ready

tasty

As our meal was finished cooking, the sun set giving us lovely ending to a fun day.

Just a comment about so many pictures, I only posted about 1/2 of what I took, after editing them all its hard to decide!

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Fri. Feb.3rd. Settling in to Bullhead City

2012-02-04T09:07:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us on our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Bullhead City Arizona

Now we are in a resort with full hook ups and all is nice, I guess. But we kinda got spoiled with the wide open spaces that we had in the desert. Early morning sunrise shining in our window and on our patio all day and room to roam .

Here we are assigned a site, just about the only empty site here so there is no choice. Because we are on the west side of the mountain we don't get the morning sun until 9 am on our patio for a couple hours then we are in the shade all day with 20 mph winds making it a cool campsite. Hopefully the winds will go away and it will get hot enough soon so we can enjoy our lovely cement patio. It's a nice 68-70 f but feels real cool in the shade with the winds.

sunrising in Nevada

This morning went out for a few groceries and stopped by the visitor centre for some local info on the area. Its been 5 years since we were here, and there is a few things we want to see and do. Now after lunch down to the nice large laundry room and wash some desert dust from our clothes at least here I can relax in the sun with a book and no wind.

nice laundry 10 machines

hot tub

Chores are done by mid afternoon and we are discussing our game plan for the next two weeks. Then we just hopped in the car and drove across the river to Laughlin Nevada and cruised down Casino dr. (the strip) checking out all the signs and specials here. Also stopped at the visitor centre to pick up information on shows and specials for all the casinos.

heading to Laughlin

Welcome

There is quite of large parking lots and free parking for Rv's as well. One nice camping spot is parking lot at the south end of town, high on a ridge overlooking the strip and the Colorado river. Last time we were here we stayed behind the Tropicana Express where they have a free dump station and water fill.

view from the hilltop

the river

the strip

Now with an armload in information to check out we headed back home. I got out our Weber grill (the wind has died down a bit) and fired it up to grill a Teriyaki pork loin, and sweet potatoes with apple, brown sugar and cinnamon, with fresh broccoli and tomato slices for a yummy supper.

almost done

another tasty meal

Right behind our rig and thru the middle of the resort is a nice clean looking cement lined "wash" (dry river bed). This is here to handle the flash flooding that occasionally happens in these desert areas.

the wash

Then after dark we can just look down the street at the bright city lights, across the river, on the strip and have the peace and quiet of our home.

night lights

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Thurs. Feb 2nd, Parker to Bullhead City AZ

2012-02-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Bullhead City Arizona

A wonderful sleep in the casino parking lot and nice sunrise today, no picture thou of it, I was too busy walking about the parking lots at 7:30 am looking at all the rv's and desert race cars.This weekend is the Parker 425 and from what I was told by some of these rver's it is 425 miles of desert racing not far from the casino. A lot of money in these expensive fun toys!

nice jeep

two trucks in this trailer

the desert sound system

desert ready street trucks

nice

Its just amazing to see all these rv's in the parking lot of the casino.

here we are

This race would have been a fun time, dirty, dusty and loud, but we had planned to relax in a membership resort in Bullhead City after three weeks of desert dirt ourselves, its hard to turn down two weeks of free camping with full hookups. Especially when Suzie is so looking forward to it.

two days to go 138 miles

We headed north on 95 thru the desert and Lake Havasu City. Enjoying the scenery of desert golf courses, the Colorado river and Lake Havasu. We by passed the famous London Bridge here, been there done that in 2007 and were disappointed, nothing exciting and not much more than a tourist trap. We did notice a few wind gusts while driving along, but did not appear too bad. Then We stopped at a rest area to stretch a bit stepped outside and was just about blown away wow! Our coach is handling real well now after the new sway bar bushings.

So across the river to California then to Needles and back across the river to Arizona we had a short cut! Yep it's short all right, low bridge clearance only 8 feet oopps! We are 11ft 9 inches, no problem we just take the long cut.

warning low bridge! OOPPSS.

Now this other bridge (over the river) has a large sign advising "danger no jumping" from the bridge, and I did not notice until after I down loaded the pictures this huge memorial cross and flowers hanging from the bridge, so sad these accidents have to happen.

memorial

A few minutes later we are heading down the main street of Bullhead City towards the resort.

main street Bullhead City

Now right on the Colorado right we turn right to the resort. Turning left takes us across the river, into Laughlin Nevada a different time zone and a world of Casinos.

Colorado Belle Casino

Ok Ridgeview resort here we are.

We had stopped to make a sandwich for lunch in the Home Depot parking lot across from Laughlin so we could just check in and set up.

our site with a cement patio

Looking down the road we can see a couple of casinos on the strip in Laughlin.

Riverside casino across the river

Now setting up Suzie vacuumed the coach real well to get rid of some of the dust and dirt accumulated from camping in the desert. Putter around a bit then, still very windy so I whipped up a nice inside supper of garlic shrimp pasta with a tossed salad and garlic toast.

tasty garlic shrimp pasta

Supper done time to read and compute for a while and a bit of tv, can relax once again. Just love finding new places to stay.

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Wed. Feb. 1st. North to Parker Arizona

2012-02-02T06:24:00.001-07:00

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Where are we Today ?

Bluewater Casino, Parker Arizona

Bright, sunny and up early today, we are on the road again! We have our last Quartzsite sunrise for this year (I think).

Arizona Sunrise

Its about time, we have been here 16 days and thats a pretty long time for us in one spot . Mind you we have been busy supporting the local businesses in town thats for sure, but it was all stuff that needed to be done, the service here has been great as well as their prices.

BLM Ranger checking for permits

Well we are all secured and ready at 8:30 said goodbye to neighbors Jay and Joanne and headed for the dump station. only 8 rv's in line so we were outta there at 9:10 am, into "Q" to top up our propane tank. The streets are pretty barren now.

A week ago it was bumper to bumper traffic at this time

Then to Quality Rv were we had the genny fixed and are getting some welding done on the broken support brackets for our generator, also picked up a new" extend a stay" propane adapter to replace the leaking one. ( this was $40. cheaper than the original I purchased in Ontario five yrs ago !)

Monty getting the welding done

All this done then north on 95, thru the desert about 35 miles, to the Bluewater Casino in Parker arriving at 11 am. WOW, is it ever nice driving with clear windows now I can see the mirrors! Here we will spend the rest of the day with free secure overnight parking.

nice drive

One thing rv'ers soon learn when travelling is that Casinos are a great deal for an overnight stop, even if you don't gamble. First time visitors go in and sign up for a players card, its free. Then because we are new comers we each got a free buffet meal, we choose to have a large lunch buffet today, and it was pretty good as far as buffets go, (we are not lovers of buffets), then we each get free, ten dollars of slot machine play as well. Now we had a very filling lunch, good for the day now and more than an hour of slot machine play just for the price of a free parking spot for the night. Now can you turn down deals like that. Oh we did spend two bucks to activate the free play but blew that as well. Suzie is right beside me so I don't get carried away.

lotsa rv's

the hotel at the Casino

With full tummies we waddled back home putter around for a bit, chat with a couple of parking lot neighbors (lots rv's here) and a few big boys with their toys too. Four wheelers, speed boats, dune buggies, a baha buggy and even an old pickup truck.

baha buggy

ATV's

nice old truck (see the dog driving?)

A walkabout to the river then relax in the shade with our books until 6 pm , can you believe it and still in shorts too, then a nice sunset before we head inside for the night.

Arizona sunset

It's really hard to tell the difference between an Arizona sunset and sunrise.

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Tues. Jan. 31st. Last day at "Q"

2012-01-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

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in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

A busy Tuesday it is. Started out quiet and relaxing just few things to do. After coffees and computing we both had short showers but used up most of our fresh water. So I gonna go get another 8 gallons of it. But outside I smell propane, did some checking and I found our extend a stay fitting had a small leak. So I take it apart needs an "O" ring. The way its installed is not fixable so I order a new part will be in tomorrow no problem.

Now grab our water jugs and fetch some water for our fresh water tank, thats done, good for a couple more days.

adding water

Next to lower our solar panel, put bikes on the rack, roll up our mat, check tire pressures (we wanna be outta here by 8:30am, got stuff to do tomorrow) and by now its early afternoon and hot out here. While I am doing this Suzie took another dozen books to the book exchange and got some more.

Ok now its 2:30 and off to visit some friends from Ontario, Gary and Pat who stay at one of our home parks, Galvin Bay Resort, near Buckhorn Ontario. Yep they home and we had a very nice visit catching up and Suzie with her dog fix as well.

Before we know its almost 5 o'clock, so the plan today was Silly Al's for another hand tossed awesome Pizza, share a salad, and a beverage to wash it all down, after all it's Happy hour! (well one of many here). One thing that we have noticed when coming here is that everybody is always in good spirits. The customers, the wait staff and the kitchen staff as well, everyone very efficient good service and friendly. Oh and the food is excellent, very reasonable to.

tasty salad to share

awesome pizza

Well we enjoyed the pizza, salad and beverage and both went home happy and full, after a busy day of doing stuff.

the end of another great day

Its now almost dark, (nice sunset) and cooler outside so inside to relax, read and compute for a while watch two minutes of tv (for me) and call it a night.

In the morning we are on the road again with a few things to do, gotta keep those wheels turning!

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Mon. Jan. 30, Things are quieting down

2012-01-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Beautiful blue skies with a few fluffy clouds added just for fun. Well yesterday was the last day of the RV show and it doesn't take long for people to leave town. After morning coffees and computing I took a bike ride thru the area of the Big Tent and most all of the vendors are completely gone, the tent and parking lots empty. A huge change from the bumper to bumper traffic and crowds of people for the last week. Not much traffic on the roads, Rice Ranch camping across the road is emptying out, even a lot of our neighbours have gone. We have a huge campsite again!

Rice Ranch

the tent

Add caption

not much traffic on 95 today

After lunch we took a drive to visit Norm and Connie, a couple from Eastern Ontario we met our first winter here in the desert. They live in town for the winter on a lot with their trailer, full hookups and lotsa space. They now leave their trailer here all year, fly down in the fall hile he pursues his of hobby of buying a few interesting California vehicles to putter around with and drive back home.
After a few hours of chatting and a very nice visit, getting up to date we headed back home to read for a bit before supper.

1972 Ranchero

1994 Corvette

We just set up our chairs when an rver came made a beeline across the dirt to see us. He introduces himself as John from Salmon Arm BC, a blogger himself, he has been following the Bayfield Bunch for quite a while and saw our picture on their sunday posting after our visit there and recognized us. So just had to stop by and chat for a bit, small world.

home dirt

the tent in the distance looking norh

looking south, lotsa room

nice bus conversion

I climbed on the roof to take a couple pictures of the space we have here and then fired up our Weber and fry daddy for a feast of hot wings, homemade fries, with veggies and dip, another craving satisfied.

Now to chat and read for a bit, a couple minutes of tv and call it another fun day!

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Sun. Jan. 29. Meeting Fellow Bloggers

2012-01-30T06:51:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Sunny, sunday and another great Arizona winter day. Coffees computing, and a walkabout the big tent for a couple cheapy items, last day for the show. Then back home adjusted the springs in our couch and putter around for a bit. Then we had checked our fresh water level and yes we can have a shower.

Now all squeaky clean and smelling much better, (don't want waste a good shower) we are off to visit Al and Kelly of the Bayfield Bunch. I stumbled on their Blog a while back and noticed they were from Bayfield in Southern Ontario, close to where we spend a lot of our summers. And that he grew up in the areas where we have lived for many years, like New Hamburg, Tavistock, Punkey Doodle Corners and Plattsville, small world. Saw they were just outside of Quartzsite here, sent them an email then he sent us directions to their spot of home dirt in the desert.

The directions were great except I didn't look at a map first (duh !)

Plomosa rd

We headed north on 95 and realized it's not Plomosa Road. So we drove and drove not sure what to do. Spotted a Sherif and were given directions now were are not lost, just later than we said we would be. Directions were right on past a certain mile marker, look for some square rocks at the left side of the road, follow the trail turn along the wash and look for their flags. Hey we found you sorry we are late.

their Jeep

Al, Kelly and Pheebs, Cora was resting.

here's Cora we woke her up

We had a very nice visit, its so nice to actually meet someone that you feel like you have already met. A very nice friendly couple. We both have a real love for southern Arizona and for very different but the same reasons. Hard to explain but it is possible. We love the wide open spaces, lack of huge crowds, the dry climate, clear blue skies, free camping, interesting history and scenery just to name a few reasons. Before we knew it time had flown by and we had to hit the road (don't wanna wear out our welcome) and for the scenic drive home.

back out the wash to the road

Heading home

Jumping Teddy Bear (Cholla) Cactus

A fun excursion for sure, now home to fire up the Weber, read for a few minutes then throw on a couple potatoes to bake, broccoli and zucchini, a small steak for me and a chicken breast for Suzie.

The end to another fun desert day, thanks for stopping by.

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Sat. Jan. 28th, Hunting for more stuff.

2012-01-29T06:59:00.001-07:00

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in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Wonderful Arizona blue skies, no clouds just sunshine and dust. Quite a few rigs have left the area where we are today, getting some of our open spaces back again. We only had to deal with a few days of crowds here. There is a lot less traffic on the roads, second last day of the RV show.

So Suzie and I headed out to check a few vendors to see what kind of deals may be had away from the big tent.

how about an Experimental airplane? not quite done yet

A few stops along the way we ended back at the vendor by Love's Truck stop with lotsa RV stuff, I like lookin here.

what do you need? its probably here

lotsa plumbing stuff

Ok now we found something we need. New hardware for our cabinets in the coach. We like the style, nice clean lines a simple upgrade to our house that really cleans things up. Now I had checked to see how many in our coach and we have 38 of these handles. They can be pretty costly to buy but he has a good deal here only $1.00 each. sounds not too bad. But we can buy the whole box of 50 handles for $20.00. So 38 handles for $38.00 or do we want 50 handles for $20.00, hmm tough decision, so we have a few spares.

The old handles have the brass worn off them and are tired looking.

So back home I set to the chore of removing the old handles and cleaning up the all the doors with Old English oil and polish. Giving our house a refreshing facelift.

it does clean up the look.

I didn't get them all done today, a couple hours of hard labor is enough for one day, I have to remember I am retired. Maybe I'll do a few tomorrow and maybe the next day, maybe not. We do have other important things to do. Like relax in the sun with our books for a while, enjoy a cold beverage, chat for a bit, fire up the Weber to grill some tasty smoked pork chops, potatoes, broccoli with onions and a buttermilk biscuit (gotta eat).

our Weber hard at work

Then after supper our neighbors are having a campfire and we just had to join them. Can't let a nice wood fire burn within range of our house without enjoying the heat and conversation that goes along with it.

nice fire

As soon as we sat in our chairs Lucy, (Jay's dog) jumped right up to on Suzie's knee so now she has another dog fix and they are both happy.

Lucy and Suzie

Soon the cold desert air descends on us as the fire dies down and everybody heads back home to get all snugly and warm.

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Fri. Jan. 27, Where did the day go?

2012-01-28T06:25:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

soon the sun

Morning coffees, computing and the sun comes up with some interesting looking sky today. As day breaks I head out to post our Blog and check out the town before there is any traffic, so nice and quiet then.

Back home I grabbed the grocery list and took off away from this area to check out a few more vendors. Found one at the west end of town near Love's selling RV parts "Cheap". I wandered about the tables set outside here looking for "stuff". Really nice light fixtures only six bucks, not for us thou, too bad. New kitchen taps for the rv only three bucks, don't need any thou. I did find two new dash vent's for our coach to replace the slightly broken ones and a new door holder (I have a spare now) all for the grand total of two bucks, love it.

nice light

deals today

new working vents

Time to make a bite for lunch and putter around a bit to install the vents. Then a walkabout the dirt, over to the tent for a quick look around and chat with a few people along the way. I had gone to the tent for a couple things but forgot what they were so came back checked my list and back again to pick up a couple of bargains, this time I rode my bike. Should have had one of these cool Mountain Trikes.

Mountain trike

Well just puttering around and chatting with a few neighbors and before I knew it Mike and Craig from Reliable Auto Glass of Redlands California were back. To reinstall our like new windows now Fog free. Hey this is way too cool, I can see the side mirrors clearly when driving our coach, a good thing yes? This is a pretty common problem with dual pane windows and considering our coach is thirteen years old we are not surprised.

nice clear windows

These guys are now done, maybe another window or two next year, this is their third year in Quartzsite and are here only for the month of January along with thousands of rver's. Now time for supper, but its a cool 65f out so I be cooking inside tonight. Tonight's selection is a baked salmon fillet, my version of spanish rice, Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits and broccoli with a cheese sauce that ended up too runny, but hey, it all tasted good.

very tasty

So now all our windows are back in and clear, its much quieter and warmer at night, we have a neighbor that runs their genny many hours in the evenings (no solar panels). Dual pane windows really block out the noise.

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Thurs. Jan. 26th Another hot one.

2012-01-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Blue skies, sunshine and its gonna be another hot day, lovin it. Intense sun and very little wind just wonderful. After the coffees, computing and walkabout we decided to wander a bit more. First stop is Tyson Wells vendors check out this amazing "World Famous Redwood Log House" an impressive project to carve out the inside of this huge log. Our main reason here was stock up with with few more books, only a dollar each, excellent price.

the Log house

From here along Main st. to the Main Event at the other end of town. Just checking out the tool barns, discount tents and stores is entertaining and we are enjoying the wonderful fresh air sunshine and Arizona dust as well.

the Main Event

tool barn

We came came across a couple of interesting vehicles in the parking lots. The first one is an old Jeep with a brand new stainless steel body, very impressive!

nice jeep

Then this 1967 Ford Econoline pickup truck, just driven here all the way for North Dakota

1967 Econoline van

Of course shortly after noon we walked by a food vendors handing out samples of his Teriaki Chicken and it tasted soo good and we were so hungry by now we had to have a plate to share for lunch. This was a bargain, a very filling and tasty plate full of food that we shared for only seven dollars. While dining on the sidewalk we enjoyed, a luncheon concert listening to the country songs of Jamie Baker.

food

tatsy snack

A few more vendors and all was checked out, lots of good deals to be had.

Then we have had enough exploring for one day so back to home dirt, grab some shade and relax with our books for a while, a bike ride about the desert checking out the license plates to see where everybody is from. Until shortly after 3 o'clock the Window guys came back to reinstall the dual pane window, this one had to have new glass cut and tempered it was so badly etched.

shining the window

re install

Now they just have to remove the two front windows and repair these. They are fogging up to the point that it was difficult to see my mirrors sometimes. They should be repaired tonight and reinstalled tomorrow.

removing front windows

foggy windows

cover with plastic

After all this was done its now about time to fire up our Weber Q 100 to perfectly cook a cornish hen and a some chinese noodles and veggies for a nice tasty supper and wrap up our day.

ready to cook on our Weber

done deal

we love our chicken

Do you wonder why all the pictures of food? In case you didn't know I owned and operated a small restaurant for ten years and still love cooking and enjoying food and like to share it with you.

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Wed. Jan 25th, Yes it's dry in Arizona

2012-01-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Arizona is a dry climate, you have dry heat and you have dry cold. Compared to other parts of the country with higher humidity we find that the dry cold is not as penetrating as the cold damp winters back home. And a dry 90f (32c) is a lot more comfortable than that hot sticky humid weather back home. Even the bodies aches and pains enjoy the dry climate. The dryness and humidity effect just about everything. Just take a look at the cupboard door above the kitchen sink, every winter is goes thru the same transition. The wood dries out and a large crack appears, back home the crack completely disappears. I have posted similar pictures of this before.

kitchen cupboard door

First thing this morning I set out to post the blog (I had to find new hotspot, the Yacht club was down) Carl's Jr had a nice fast connection this morning. Then on the way back home, shortly after 8 o'clock I stopped by the "Roadmaster Service Truck" to have our tow bar inspected, adjusted, cleaned and lubricated, a free service they offer to all their products at these rv shows.

Roadmaster service

These chores done I reinstalled our tow bar, puttered around a bit and enjoyed the bright sunny day and beautiful blue skies. The jet streams just lingering in the air creating abstract etchings on a blue canvas just wonderful. Reading our books and a nice bike ride in the desert made for a wonderful afternoon.

interesting sky

About 3 pm we decided to hop in the car and visit our northern Ontario friends for see if they are home, they are in free BLM desert camping area about two miles west Dome Rock. 3:30 is usually Happy Hour and they were home, so we sat out about 8 of us and enjoyed a few snacks, a beverage or two.

happy hour

Then we said our good byes (see you again on the road, our next winter, travel safe) and headed back home to fire up our Weber to grill a couple home made hamburger patties. With the noise of a motorized kite flying overhead taking pictures of the amazing sight below, thousands of rv's parked here in the desert.

betcha he has a nice view

burgers and potato salad

Thanks for taking the time to visit today!

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Tues. Jan 24th. Another fun day!

2012-01-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America
in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?
Quartzsite Arizona

Now that our genny is repaired, the sun is shining big and bright no clouds again, go figure. Our solar does just fine with clear skies. So this morning we fired it up anyway for an hour and gave it a good workout just to make sure all is good.

sunny skies

Then a few errands, I had the satellite cable end replaced for a buck (the one I forgot to unplug when I pulled away the other day), made an appointment next week to get the generator bracket welded, and picked up a few groceries. Back to home dirt a bite to eat and we headed to the rv show, check out the tent again not nearly as crowded today and picked up a few items that we can get here for a good price. We even ran into Jim and Mildred, for the second time this winter, last time was December in Casa Grande. They are rvers who live a couple miles from our home area in New Hamburg.

nice day

BBQ chicken

cool rv

food

awesome turkey legs

A few hours of the show then back home to putter, so nice we can walk to all this stuff from home. While Suzie relaxed with her book I removed our Roadmaster tow bar, getting it ready to take to their booth at the show and have it checked out in the morning.

We had been invited to Larry and Marilyn's spot of home dirt at 3pm, with the Escapee Clubs Boomerville group. Just a few miles out of town in the desert following a dirt trail and some signs. Locating their coach and the large group gathered in their meeting area we were in time to enjoy a hilarious "Geraldine contest". This is a half dozen daring men (Baby Boomers) in drag, (for a beauty? pageant.) Finally a Queen was crowned. This was good for a few laughs.

heading to Boomerville

stitting his (her) stuff!

good crowd

Crowned with the pink hair

Buster and Angel

Suzie's dog fix

snacks

more snacks

lotsa snacks

Suzie, Larry and Marylin

wine tasting

Then back to their coach for a visit with them and the dogs, they do love Suzie, until 4pm when Happy hour officially begins with lots of snacks, and even a wine tasting today as well. So we met quiet a few people, chatted and sampled a few snacks. We had a blast and a very nice visit with friends and fellow bloggers from Ontario.

As the sun sets the temperature drops drastically, we stayed as long as we could then headed out shortly after 6 towards home dirt, thanks for the happy hour and travel safe guys. Heading along frontage road to town, into the sunset, we both decided simultaneously the Grubstake Bar and Grill for a feed of fish and chips for me, scallops for Suzie, we haven't been there for a few years. This place is always busy with huge portions and great prices, we managed to share a table with another couple, chat with them and just enjoy the place. They have a tent addition out back thats full and even the pool table is set up for dinning.

busy place

pool table

scallops

lotsa fish

Tummies full, cravings satisfied, unable to finish our huge helpings we packed up the rest and headed back to home dirt to wrap up another fun desert day! Gotta love the desert.

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Mon. Jan. 23. Our Genny is fixed!

2012-01-24T07:49:00.003-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Well the weekend is over enough relaxing back to being retired. The coffees and computing thing, post our blog then to Gamblers RV supplies to see if there is anything new and exciting that we might need. Nope nothing we need there, stopped at the window guys to see how our first window is coming along, then stopped at Bob's Generator Service. He told me to check Monday morning about 10 am to see if he can get our coach in sooner than 1 p.m. While waiting to talk to him I chatted with another full time rv'er from Midland Ontario having service done to his generator small world. Ok back home for a bite to eat we secured our coach and back to see Bob at 1 p.m. Lots of traffic today bumper to bumper for miles and miles north and south on 95, it took 25 minutes to go the one mile to Bob's.

Rice Ranch across the street, full hookups

rv's for sale

lotsa traffic

Tyson Wells Vendors

more traffic

The plan was to probably remove the generator (Genny), but before doing so they were able to remove the top cover and check it over. There is the culprit, a plug blown out of the top of engine block causing oil from the crankcase to be blown all over the place.

checking Genny

the culprit

This is a rare problem that Bob has only seen twice before in his 30 years experience. They searched for the plug but it had disappeared, so luckily the Auto Parts store next door had just got some in and with a little fiddling it was pressed in and now Genny works like new, she just purrs along, no smoke and no oil mess, now we once have more electricity on cloudy days. The only other thing to repair is welding of a support bracket which will be done when we leave town next week.

Now its only 3 o'clock (a lot less traffic), not nice enough to sit outside and the coach is secure for travel anyway, so might as well take a quick trip (2miles) to the dump station, empty our waste tanks and top up with fresh water we will be good for another week then no problem! The line up was not too bad (9 rvs) so in a little less than an hour this task was completed and headed back to home dirt.

dump station

filling with water

Set up again and then throw together a hot pork sandwich with mushroom gravy, boiled potatoes and steamed broccoli for tasty quick supper.

tasty

A busy, productive day again but worth while to get our Genny repaired for a lot less money than Bob originally estimated, now time to read and relax get ready for another day!

sunset behind "Q" mountain

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Jan 22, A Relaxing Sunday

2012-01-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

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in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Well the wind is gone and a bit more sun today so much warmer. Coffees, computing, another beautiful sunrise, walkabout and a bike ride this morning. Nothing planned we just gonna relax a bit and putter around.

another beautiful sunrise

Shortly after 9 am I took a bunch of plastic jugs to La Posa South dump station and filled them with potable water for our fresh water tank, just because I can, we still have lotsa water. The lineup for the sewer dump was starting to grow 14 rigs in line right now. We should be good for another week or so.

14 rigs in line

Back home I just hooked up our old spare water pump and transfer the 15 gallons real easy.

adding water

We had our showers and catch the excess water in a pail which I used to wash the dust from our BBQ and table. We recycle our water here a little goes a long way.

Jay's dog Lucy and the weiner

Now we can relax with our books and watch the heavy traffic heading to the shows. What a wonderful afternoon it was too. Soon time to fire up our Weber to grill a succulent pork roast/ w applesauce, sweet potatoes in foil with apples, brown sugar and cinnamon soo yummy, and to add some more color a little broccoli.

yummy

Supper nicely done a bunch behind us were having a huge campfire and of course we must join them, so we grabbed our chairs introduce ourselves relax and socialize, then more people came, more chairs the circle grows! Such a nice night now wind at all. We chatted shared stories etc, and sang happy birthday to? (hmm I forgot her name). Oh well we had fun and all got a a nice piece of birthday cake too!

sharing pictures

birthday cake

nice fire

a friendly bunch

After a couple hours here it began cooling down so inside we go to relax with a bit of tv and call it another fun desert day.

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Sat. Jan. 21st. RV Show and friends

2012-01-22T07:59:00.002-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Today is windy, overcast, cooler, dust flying around and the first day of the RV Show. Once the sun was up I went to the Yacht Club to check email and post our blog. I only get email once a day now while here. The Yacht Club is a Bar, Restaurant on Main St. I fired up our generator to check it out after yesterdays fix. Hmmm, we still have big oil leak, looks like the generator hospital for sure now!

Jim and Sharon had planned to meet us here at 8:30 this morning park their car and go to the RV show. Shortly after 9 we had not seen or heard from them so headed off to the crowded tent, just to get the feel of things, and see what's new this year.

Lots of new vendors and some new products available, we will go back in a few days to look a little closer when things are not quite so busy. But we had fun and got our exercise. Ran into 4 of our friends from Northern Ontario at the show then Jim and Sharon found us as well, they got lost in the desert trying to find our coach.

full parking lot

lotsa people

Don, Ailene, Oscar and Judy

Saw some really cool stuff, like the custom Golf Carts, a 1957 Chevy and a 1965 Mustang.

'57 Chevy

'65 Mustang

We checked out the western Canada Booths and actually met a real live Mountie from Saskatchewan. Can you believe I lived in Canada over 60 years and have to come to southern Arizona to meet and have our pictures taken with a Mountie in uniform.

RCMP

After enough shopping and crowds we headed back to home dirt. Past the cars and people sitting in traffic jams we just walked. But the winds had picked up a bit and the dust was really blowing. Relax a bit inside, Jim and Sharon came back to chat for a while and a frosty beverage to wash the dust away.

Water Tower

They had just left and who shows up but Larry and Marilyn "The Amazing Vanstones", on their way back from the Desert Bar they decided to see if they could find us and after a long search they did, I guess my directions aren't very good.

lotsa traffic

blowing dust

A short visit with them then a quick trip to generator Bob to make an appointment for surgery, so it looks like monday noon is a good time to remove that sick puppy onto an operating table.

By 4:30 the wind is really blowing up a dust storm and visibility is probably less than 1/4 mile and closing in on us. You really are glad you are not here to experience the dust! So inside we fire up the oven to heat up some left over chicken pot pie and spaghetti squash for a tasty quick supper.

dust

more blowing dust

tasty leftovers

This done and its dark outside, the wind finally dies down from a dull roar, we can relax with our books and then a movie. Thanks goodness the desert and Quartzsite is not for everybody, its busy enough as it is, but we do enjoy some time here.

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Jan. 20th, Windows, books and our generator

2012-01-21T07:38:00.001-07:00

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in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite AZ.

Cool nights, hot days,(90f today), blue skies, dry air, friendly people and lots of fun. This morning after posting the blog I stopped at the store before the traffic got too heavy and then back to home dirt. Noticing the steady stream of rv's coming into town from all directions everyone looking for the perfect spot to park.

lotsa rv's !

On the way back to I saw Craig from Reliable Auto Glass inside the entrance about to phone us on his cell phone. I stopped and showed him the way to our rig, (there is no designated roads, rows or campsites here). He was coming to check the double pane windows on our coach, a few of them are leaking, with moisture between the glass. We agreed to have three windows done, the two by our rear view mirrors, and the real bad one on the passenger side. This one was so bad he will need to have new glass cut and tempered so he took it first.

Craig sealing our opening

Now a bite to eat and back to check out Tyson Wells again, looking for new vendors and new stuff. We can walk to there from home dirt so we don't have to worry about the huge traffic jams in this area. The other day we checked out rows A to N today the rest of the alphabet. Well lotsa stuff to look at, might just find some stuff we just can't do without.

busy place

All the sites and smells are wonderful, barbecues flaming, onions frying, appetizing looking foods of all sorts, thats why we had an early lunch before we came. We even ran into George and Elmer part of the crew we had supper with the other night at Silly Al's.

smells good

tables full

walking her dog

Then we came down anther row and struck gold! Another huge tent advertising over 10,000 books and only $1.00 each if we bought 5 or more. So we checked a few shelves and picked up another 11 books, Suzie checking her spreadsheets for good ones. Don't want get too many today we have a long walk back to carry them, we will be back!

lotsa books

book tent

traffic

So all happy with today's expedition, back to home dirt and I called Bob's Generator Service to check if our oil pressure switch had arrived by courier. Yep its 3 o'clock and it just came in so 10 minutes to secure our coach and away I go to have it installed. OOPPPS !! I forgot to disconnect the satellite dish and saw Suzie running (barefoot) and yelling at me to stop, 50 feet of cable trailing behind the coach. Luckily the cable end just came off the dish and it was very securely fastened to the ground. Got to Bob's and he managed to squeeze our quick repair in and I was back to home dirt by 4 o'clock. Hopefully an easy fix to a potentially big problem. Yes we can get all our rv problems solved right here in Quartzsite. Next repair to be done will be the welding of a broken generator support.

We set up again, fired up our Weber, grabbed a cold beer and relaxed while our supper slowly cooked on the grill, tender, fall off the bone pork ribs, sauerkraut, baked potatoes and carrots.

melt in your mouth ribs

Then to windup a busy day with another awesome sunset!

desert sunset

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Thurs. Jan. 19th Hunting for books

2012-01-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

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in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite Arizona

Arizona blue skies again just look at the pictures gotta love it! This morning coffees and computing, I have been going to the Yacht Club in the mornings to post this blog. Our internet here and everyone else's is just too slow, 4:30 am its pretty good but by 6 am its pretty well a waste of time. But that's ok I get out before the traffic happens and its only about a mile or so away. Besides this morning I wanted to stop at the bank machine and check with Bob the Generator guy to see if he has the part for our generator. Not in stock but can get one from Phoenix, should be here tomorrow.

Bob's shop

Heading back to camp I followed Santa Claus to the campground. He spends the winters here after his Christmas duties have been fulfilled.

Santa's RV

After our showers and bite to eat we set out on a mission to hunt for more books. We had found a few the other day when we checked out Tyson Wells vendors. Today is the tents at Rice Ranch. First book tent did an exchange 2 for one. We brought in twenty novels got ten more, then bought another four for five dollars. Strolling in the sunshine and fresh air we checked out the stuff, lots of stuff, lots of vendors with stuff to look at too. Found more tents full of books again 4 for five dollars, then another three for $1.00 each and all good newer paper backs. Checked out the Gambler for RV stuff, replaced my broken step-stool, they pretty well have everything you need and good prices too. If its for an rv you will find it in Quartzsite somewhere!

checking things out

Suzie checking her list

Lotsa vendors

A successful book hunt indeed, having bagged 21 more, our reading appetites will be satisfied for while, we took a drive south of town to another desert dry camping area. This is a free area so they do not have access to water, sewage and garbage disposal. Here our friends Jim and Sharon (and two other couples we met New Year's Day) from Alberta are at a Beaver Motor Coach Rally. And a perfect place for these functions in the middle of nowhere. We stopped for a surprise visit and they gave us a tour of their camp and facilities. There is a common eating area where they have breakfast and dinner prepared for them, two huge fire pits for nightime socializing and the large area for daytime games.

Sharon and Jim

dining and fire pits

Lotsa rigs

cool flags

Another nice visit but time to go back to home dirt, put our feet up and read in the shade for a bit before whipping up supper. Its a lovely 84f (30c) and of course its dry desert heat. Tonight I made a tasty chicken pot pie with our left over chicken, tossed salad and a few fresh baked crescent rolls.

awesome weather

chicken pot pie

yummy

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Wed. Jan. 18th A Productive Day

2012-01-19T07:54:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America

in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite AZ.

Another perfect desert sunrise to start a bright warm day with beautiful blue skies.

cool jet streams

First issue was I had left my laptop on all night and the battery was dead. Need to plug it in before I could turn it on. So we fired up our generator, charge computers, watch tv, turn on electric heater and use our electric coffee maker to make a pot of coffee. The generator needs to be exercised under load once in a while so this was a perfect time. After a while we could smell something (smoke), a quick check showed it coming from our generator. So shut it down and checked things out. The small oil leak we had last week has grown slightly and engine oil dripping on the exhaust caused a lot of smoke. I found an Rv repair shop that specializes in generators. There is lots of generator and solar places here, the main source of power for probably a million or so visitors every winter. After consulting the technician about the problem I set out to investigate and it looks like the oil pressure sending unit is the culprit. So after many trips back and forth to their shop, he will see if the part is in stock and I will check back tomorrow.

relaxing in the shade

All that fiddling and running around kept me busy for a large part of the day. Occasionally chatting with neighbors that always stop by to see what you are working on. Finally a chance to relax in the shade for a bit with our books and enjoy the clears skies and view of "Q" mountain.

Q mountain

Now today we had arranged with our friends that we had hung out with at the Hot Springs in Holtville to meet at Silly Al's for Happy hour and their Famous Pizza. We had a reservation for 3:30 and a good thing we did there was 14 of us and the place was pretty full as usual at this time of year. Well we had a great time, the beer was cold (1/2 price), the pizza, fresh hand tossed dough, and hot, the conversation lively and we all just had too much fun.

our table

Oscar wearing my hat

awesome pizza

The great meal and social time taken care of we returned back to home dirt and sat outside with our books for a bit and enjoyed another nice sunset. Then inside for a bit more reading and tv and call it a night.

another great sunset

Lets see what kind of trouble we can into tomorrow. The internet here is very slow due to the number of people accessing the one tower in town.

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Tues. Jan. 17. A few Vendors at Quartzsite

2012-01-18T09:39:00.001-07:00

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in our Holiday Rambler, since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite AZ

A cool night last night (as usual) good for sleeping. Morning coffees and computing, fiddle with our internet , its pretty slow with so many people accessing the one tower here. Just love the beautiful Arizona sunrises over the mountains to the east of us.

I took a short drive around Kuehn St. to check out the morning sights and spotted a couple of real cool rides.

You see a lot of interesting vehicles here every shape and size.

After a bite to eat we took a walk past the Big Tent, not open yet, Saturday will be the first day of the show.

The Big Tent

Across the road is Tyson Wells with quite a few vendors set up so we wandered the rows and tenets checking out some of their wares, nice when its not too crowded yet.

lotsa stuff

We picked up a few must have items cheap, including a few books to read and after about three hours made our way back to home dirt.

We past by Beer Belly's patio and beer tent with live music and people dancing, just enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and sunshine of the outdoor markets.

Beer Belly's

Oh, and I bought myself an nice new crushable hat, lightweight with a wide brim for more sun protection.

We relaxed in the sun for a bit with our books and then were joined by Jay and Joanne for Happy hour to catch up a bit on what we have been doing for the last 5 years.

Jay and Joanne

neighbors dog came to visit

Joanne's son is also here with their pet lizards, cat and dog to keep everybody company.

Lizards are George and Georgina, that's me on the left! Good resemblance eh?

Now with our first day here winding down a nice sunset to the behind "Q" mountain I fired up our Weber grill for the great tasty fresh smoked pork chops I picked up at the Quartzsite Market. They have an in house butcher there with great deals on fresh cut meat.

another tasty meal

Now to finish up our day with some planing, reading, our books and a bit of tv was just wonderful.

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Mon. Jan. 16th We in Quartzsite yeah!

2012-01-17T10:09:00.001-07:00

Thanks for joining us in our journey of North America in our Holiday Rambler,

since August 2006

Where are we Today ?

Quartzsite AZ

Monday morning and getting ready to hit the road. Coffees, showers walkabout, jacks up, slide in sewage dumped and fresh water filled, hook up the car, say our goodbyes to Rick and Suzie and on the road at 8:45 am. Down the road to fill with propane, hmm no luck 15- 20 minute wait, so we carry on across the state line to a gas station in Arizona to fuel up our coach $3:37 a gallon ($3:79 in California).

did you know you can click on the pictures to enlarge them ?

92 miles today

Now make our way along hwy 95 north past the Yuma proving Grounds with their huge guns marking the entrance, a border patrol check point, a roller coaster ride thru the dips in the road. Its a lot cheaper to put a dip in the road, than a bridge for when the occasional flash flood happens.

Yuma Proving Grounds

Border Patrol, notice the dog sniffing vehicles

Dips in the road

Shortly after 10 am we arrived in Quartzsite and our first stop is Discount Solar where we purchased our system in 2007, to have our system checked out. A very busy place at this time of year, but we got lucky, one on the installers was waiting for his next installation so he came out and checked us right away. Checked everything over and tightened a few connections, a new ground wire and looks like it will work properly once again. No charge, excellent customer service. From here down the street to the Jerky Store for propane an easy drive thru that takes credit cards.

Back over I-10 south for a 1/2 mile to La Posa west Long term visitor area. We searched and found the same piece of home dirt we had last year occupied so setup here with lotsa space.

La Posa West

looking for our spot

The big tent from our roof

home dirt

Then a quick trip to the store for fresh milk, rollout our patio mat chat with a couple neighbors and found Al and Cathy here again this year is the same spot as well. Also right behind us a neighbor came by to chat and it was Jay from Missouri who we met here our first year in Quartzite 2007 and have not seen since, such a small world. Now to relax in the sun with a nice breeze and our books for a while was nice with the clear blue skies. Until time to fire up our Weber and cook a whole chicken to perfection with baked potatoes, and cauliflower for a yummy supper.

yummy chicken

Now supper done we can read and watch a bit of tv before calling it a night.

Thanks for stopping by.

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