Tag Archives: Arizona City (AZ)

2015/04/01-03 (W-F) The Land of Enchantment

2015/04/01 (W) Hello New Mexico

We were awake at 6 AM, which is not unusual for a travel day, and were up by 6:30. I went in the house to use the bathroom and instead of beeping once the alarm started beeping continuously. I found the touch pad and was able to silence it but it left me wondering if I had disturbed Curtis or when the police were going to show up. Curtis was outside working by 7:00 AM and told me later that he did not hear the alarm and that it “just does that sometimes.” We did not have breakfast or coffee, which is typical for us on a travel day, and targeted an 8:30 AM departure. By the time we took showers, finished preparing the coach for travel, and visited with Curtis a little more we missed that target, but not by much.

We wanted to be out the gate before Curtis’s standing 9 AM RVillage team meeting. By 8:45 we had the bus turned around and lined up with gate and Linda pulled the car up behind it. At 8:50 we were hooking up the car when Curtis came over to open the gate, exchange final hugs, and go start his meeting. We were hooked up and finished our light check by 9:05 and pulled out. As soon as we were clear of the gate Linda texted Curtis while I lowered the tag axle tires and we were on our way. We made the slow trip through Arizona City on Sunland Gin Road up to I-10 and were headed east at 9:17 AM.

Desert flowers in bloom in Hatch, New Mexico.

I set the cruise control at 63 MPH and let the bus roll towards Tucson. Tucson is not a difficult metropolitan area to transit and soon enough we were on the other side. The speed limit on most of I-10 in Arizona is 75 MPH except through metropolitan areas and major interchanges. The bus was running well and as traffic thinned out I bumped the speed up to 65 MPH and then to 68 MPH, and occasionally ran at the speed limit when passing slower vehicles. At 63 MPH the engine turns ~1,800 RPM and I have long felt that the powertrain and chassis, not to mention the driver (me), are very comfortable at that set point. The fact that 65 MPH is often the maximum speed limit in much of the eastern half of the country probably contributed to that impression. What I discovered today was that traveling 68 MPH at 2,000 RPMs also suits the bus, and the driver, very well.

At 12:15 PM MST we crossed the border into New Mexico and entered Mountain Daylight Time, changing the time on my phone to 1:15 PM MDT. Twenty four miles into New Mexico we stopped for the first time at a Pilot Truck Stop and topped up our fuel tank, taking on 110 gallons of diesel fuel. It took less than an hour to complete the last 61 miles to exit 85 on the east side of Deming, New Mexico. From there we had 1,000 feet to the entrance of the Escapees Dreamcatcher RV Park and pulled in. Linda got us registered and navigated us to our site at 2:45 PM. The park was only about 15% occupied so parking was easy.

Linda checked us in to the Park on RVillage and I called Butch Williams to let him (and Fonda) know we were finally on the move. Curtis monitors his RVillage home feed closely, so we knew he would know we arrived safely. Looking ahead to tomorrow the weather forecast for this area was for sustained winds of 25 – 30 MPH with gusts of 40 – 50 MPH. Given that forecast we decided to stay tomorrow and head on to Albuquerque on Friday.

Sparky’s restaurant in Hatch, New Mexico. Funky facade and great food.

Escapees RV Parks and co-ops have a long standing tradition of 4 PM happy hour so we walked over to the club house/office at 4:15 and found seven folks sitting around a table with their beverages plus the couple that manages the office. We stayed for a half hour and then went back to our coach to have an early dinner having only had pretzel snacks while we were driving. Linda prepared a whole wheat linguine with a garlic, onion, and sun-dried tomato sauté and added vegan Italian sausage. It was excellent, as usual.

Our son had texted us while we were driving and said he would call us later. He received an e-mail a couple of days ago asking him to get in touch with the chair of the art history department at Eastern Michigan University. That call took place today and he was offered the assistant professorship for which he has been interviewing these last many weeks. We were obviously very excited, very pleased, and very proud.

2015/04/02 (R) A Day in Deming

Like many (most) places in the southwest there are lots of things to see/do in and around Deming, more around than in in this case. The main thing I knew about Deming is that the company that makes the Steer-Safe aftermarket steering stabilizer is located here. We had their product on our Itasca Sunrise motorhome and it made an enormous difference in the stability and tracking of the Chevy P-30 chassis. This chassis was notorious for poor ride quality and handling, no doubt exacerbated by the stupid way in which manufacturers used it to create much longer motorhomes than it was designed for with long overhangs behind the drive axle. Steer-Safe, Henderson’s Lineup, and Banks have, in particular, all made very good businesses out of correcting the deficiencies inherent in this chassis and powertrain (454 cu. in. Chevy big block V-8). We were obviously excited to find and buy our Prevost H3-40 Royale Coach bus conversion, but I was sorry to see the Itasca go as it handled well and had lots of power by the time we were done spending money on it.

Linda needed to do some grocery shopping and at happy hour yesterday was steered towards Peppers as having better/fresher produce than the Wal-Mart. She went to Peppers this morning but they did not have many of the things she was looking for so she went to Wal-Mart and said she liked it better. I guess we got spoiled having access to Albertson’s supermarkets for most of the winter. Linda called from the store to have me check quantities of ingredients on hand. She then decided to make her chickpea salad and use it as a filling for small roll ups to take to the potluck dinner this evening.

Another flower in bloom in Hatch, New Mexico.

After lunch we decided to visit the Luna Mimbres Museum in downtown Deming. You never know what you are going to find in small town museums but we were impressed with the breadth of the collection and the quality of the space and exhibits. Admission was by voluntary donation so we contributed something. Once we finished at the museum we drove around town just enough to get a feeling for the place which was nicer in some places and not so nice in others. In other words, pretty much what we see most places we go with the exception of places like Scottsdale or Lake Havasu City, Arizona where everything appears to be new and very upscale.

As we headed back towards the Escapees Dreamcatcher RV Park in the east end of town we decided to drive the extra 3.6 miles farther east to the St. Clair Winery’s Deming tasting room. We learned that the Lescombe family has been making wine for six generations starting in France and, for the last 30 + years, here in the Mimbres Valley Appellation of New Mexico. Their wines are made only from grapes from their own vineyards, with the main one being approximately 46 miles west of Deming.

The free tasting is normally two wines but we were the only customers there initial and Elly let us try small samples of several more, including their sweet and dry “tap” wine. For under $4 a bottle they will fill your empty bottles with their red and/or white tap wines; sweet, dry, or blended any way you want. The most unusual wines we tried were infused with red or white chili. Linda did not care for the white chili but we both liked the red chili. We are always looking for something that is unique to an area we visit and the red chili wine was what we have been waiting for so we got one for each of our kids and one for us. Since we got 10% off of six (6) or more bottles we also bought the Mimbres Red, the Nebiola, and the D. H. Lescombe Port.

We had intended to go to the 4 PM happy hour at the RV Park but Linda got busy researching where we might go tomorrow and what we might do there while I worked on another consolidated blog post. We did, however, remember to go to the potluck dinner where we met other park guests including three people who belonged to RVillage.

We went for a walk after dinner and then settled in for the evening. I worked on my consolidated blog post for Jan 27-31, 2015. While I was doing that we both started getting messages from our whole house generator. Linda checked the utility company map and we were in a small outage area do to “local equipment failure.” Before I went to bed I received several more messages indicating that the utility power had been restored, the transfer switch had switched power back onto the grid, and finally that the Genset had stopped. It was good to know that it was performing as intended; that’s why we had it installed.

Hatch Chile Sales in Hatch, New Mexico.

Temperatures back home have been warm enough that we are no longer concerned about water pipes freezing if we lose power. The concern now is the sump pump. As winter gives way to spring the sump pump runs every few minutes and a failure would be a disaster for our basement. In addition to the whole house generator we have a secondary sump pump piggybacked on the primary one and set up to run off of a 12VDC automotive battery.

Before going to bed we decided to stick around Deming for a few extra days and use it as a base to visit some sites in the area.

2015/04/03 (F) The Chile Capital of the World

After taking care of some morning chores we drove to Hatch, New Mexico. Several folks in town (museum, winery) and the RV Park told us that Hatch was THE chile capital of the world and was worth a visit.

We went north out of Deming on US-180 and then NE on NM-26 to Hatch. Our Rand McNally Road Atlas indicated that this entire trip was a scenic route. It was a relatively flat drive up a valley with low mountains on either side, and was certainly scenic enough although not in a dramatic, jaw-dropping sort of way.

The front (outdoor) area of Hatch Chile Sales in Hatch, New Mexico.

Hatch was a small, quaint place but busy with people and traffic. We had checked around and been advised that Hatch Chile Sales was the best place in town to shop for chiles, so we found it and purchased three different kinds. We go a bag of Ancho chiles, which are dried/smoked poblano peppers, and a bag of dried red Hatch chiles. We also bought bouquets of small hot pequin chiles, one for us and some as gifts. Again, this is one of those unique things that we are always looking for as gift items.

We were in Hatch at lunch time and there are several restaurants in town, but we decided to eat at Sparky’s based on the recommendation of several locals and some online reviews. Sparky’s is famous for their green chile cheeseburger although we obviously did not have that for lunch. There was a long line to order, but we waited patiently and studied the menu. We ordered a corn dish, spicy French fries, and chili infused lemonade. All of them were very good. There was also a singer / guitar player performing and we enjoyed his music while we ate.

We drove back to Deming by way of I-25 south, taking a short-cut through Las Cruces and back to the Dreamcatcher RV Park by way of I-10. It was a much longer drive than if we had gone back the way we came, but it allowed us to see that the cut-off through Las Cruces was NOT a good choice for the bus due to lots of road construction with lane closures and shifts. Even so, we made it back to the RV Park in time for some of the happy hour. We also decided to stick around for at least another day and do some more sight-seeing in the area.

2015/03/27-31 (F-T) Wrapping Up Arizona

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2015/03/27 (F) Queen Creek Olive Mill

This is really Linda’s post more than mine. Lou and I stayed in camp all day working with our information technologies while Linda and Val went on an explore. I have been using my iPad2 to go through drafts of blog posts dating back to March 1st filling in details, turning notes into complete sentences, and then e-mailing them to myself. I got caught up as far as that goes and then started writing drafts of posts for the last few days.

Linda and Val made a day if it away from camp. Linda took our car and drove them to the Queen Creek Olive Mill (QCOM) in Queen Creek, Arizona just beyond the southeast limits of the Phoenix metropolitan area. QCOM is a large olive grove producing 17 different varieties of olives. (Technically it is an orchard as olives are a stone fruit.) The hot, dry desert conditions in this part of the U. S. turn out to be ideal for growing olives. They are harvested by spreading tarps on the ground around each tree and stripping the olives off. Olives that fall to the ground naturally are past ripe and are not used.

Once harvested olives are processed within 24 hours. For pressing into olive oil they are simply washed to remove dust and then pressed (ground or milled, actually), pits and all, to extract the oil. The mash that remains is used as fertilizer for the trees. Olives that are destined to be sold whole may be packaged whole in a brine or have the pits removed and replaced with a piece of garlic or habanero pepper and preserved in a brine.

QCOM has a restaurant so the ladies stayed for lunch. Val had a chopped Italian salad and Linda had a quinoa and kale salad, both of which they said were ‘excellent’. The Mill also had a gift shop and Linda picked up several things there.

It was late afternoon by the time they returned and neither of them felt like cooking so Lou suggested we go out for dinner and try the Chinese restaurant we intended to eat at a few nights ago when we ended up at the Golden Corral. We piled into Lou and Val’s pickup truck and set off in search of Big Wa. Linda had checked the menu online so we knew they had several vegetarian dishes we could probably eat.

Lou and Val had been to Big Wa before and knew approximately where it was but Linda pulled it up on her smartphone and guided us in for a soft landing. Big Wa was a small mom and pop Chinese restaurant; the kind we used to patronize a lot back home once upon a time. We rarely go to Chinese restaurants anymore because it is essentially impossible to get anything vegan. We ordered vegetable Kung Pao stir fry and Moo Shu vegetable dishes. We suspect that chicken broth was involved in the stir fry and I think the Moo Shu, which was already made up when it came to the table, contained eggs. We rarely stray from our chosen diet and although doing so doesn’t kill us our systems do not always react well either. In this case our dishes were mostly vegetables and it was very tasty.

We stopped at Home Depot so I could look for a GE Water filter cartridge and then stopped at Walgreen’s so Val could pick up some things. It was well past dark by the time we got back and we retired to our respective rigs for the night. Linda and I watched some TV (Big Bang Theory) and she played online word games while I responded to some e-mails. Linda liked Queen Creek Olive Mill well enough to enter it in the RVillage Marketplace and recommend it.

A panorama of our motorcoach parked at RVillage World Headquarters in Arizona City, AZ.

2015/03/28 (S) Haircuts

Linda was awake by 6 AM and read quietly in bed. I was awake before 7 AM and got up, put on my sweats, and made a pot of coffee. Our two cats climbed up on us to be adored and when they’d had enough of our attention we had some granola for breakfast. Linda got our last bag out of the freezer so if we want this to last until we get home we will not be having it for breakfast every day.

I have been overdue for a haircut for a while so this morning we finally got the clippers out and Linda lightened the load. Not that my hair was long, but the daytime temperatures have risen into the 90’s and it is much cooler and more comfortable with my buzz cut. As long as the clippers were out I trimmed up my beard and shaved. Linda said I cleaned up pretty well. 🙂

Linda is also way overdue for a haircut but I am not about to attempt that. She and Val had planned to go to the mall in Casa Grande today anyway, so she did a quick online search and located a hair salon at the mall. She assembled a short shopping list and added the haircut to it.

While they were gone I pulled together all of my blog post drafts for the period before, during, and after the Escapees RV Club Escapade rally into a single Word doc and attached it to an e-mail to Lou. He plans to use it as the starting point for an article about the Escapade in the next edition of our SKP Photographers BOF newsletter.

Lou and I needed a break from working with our technology so we put two of our camp chairs in a shady spot with a nice northeast breeze and just sat and relaxed and chatted. Lou asked about the barn we plan to build and I described the three approaches I am considering. We were still doing that when the ladies returned home late in the afternoon. They had both done some shopping so I helped carry bags of stuff into our rig.

Linda made a nice salad for our dinner and Val heated up leftovers for them. There is a period of time in the late afternoon when the sun shines into the covered porch of the house and is so hot it us uncomfortable to sit there. Small ants have also appeared with the hot weather so we ate inside at the dining room table. We lingered for a long time talking before finally retiring to our rigs for the night.

Curtis got a good deal on this Fleetwood Bounder. He plans to put it in a rental pool.

2015/03/29 (N) Mexico Connection

I made arrangements on Friday for us to visit with Larry and Orene Brown today. We left at 10 AM to drive to their place northwest of Florence, Arizona. Larry and Orene are members of both FMCA and Escapees and belong to the Freethinker groups of both clubs, along with several related RVillage groups. We crossed paths with them most recently at the Escapade and agreed to get together after we returned to Arizona City. We stopped briefly in Coolidge to buy flowers at the local Safeway and arrived at their place in the Del Webb (Pulte) developed Anthem communities at 11:10 AM.

Larry and Orene are also active in SKP Chapter 8 — Mexican Connection, and will be the wagonmasters for the Chapter’s February 2016 caravan/rally to Puerto Penasco, Mexico on the mainland shore of the Sea of Cortez. We have not had any desire to travel to/in Mexico, but after chatting with Larry and Orene at Escapade we became intrigued with the possibility of traveling with a good sized group and wanted to know more about it.

Larry gave us a tour of their house and Orene poured small glasses of wine which we enjoyed sitting outside under their Ramada. Orene made a green salad and vegan chili for lunch. Both were delicious and enjoyed with some iced tea. By the time we were done eating the air temperature had warmed past comfortable so we went inside where Orene served fresh strawberries and cantaloupe for desert.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in pleasantly stimulating conversation on a wide range of subjects including, but not limited to, the outing to Mexico next year. We got a lot of important insights, most of which furthered our interest in going. We have enjoyed getting to know everyone from our Freethinkers chapter we have had the opportunity to meet and hope to cross paths with Larry and Orene many times in the years to come.

As we wrapped up our visit at 4 PM I got a call from Curtis letting me know that he would probably be arriving tonight between 11 PM and midnight unless he decided to pull in to rest area, in which case he would arrive early tomorrow morning. Either way it meant that Lou would have to move their 5th wheel trailer so Curtis could park his bus in its usual place. It also meant someone, most likely me, would have to open the gate when he got here. I tend to stay up late anyway, but we would obviously do whatever was required to get him in and settled.

As we were getting back to our encampment around 5:30 PM Linda called Lou to have him open the gate. After we were in and settled we let him know that Curtis would be returning late this evening. They were in the spot where Curtis parks his bus, so before it got dark Lou hitched up their 5th wheel and pulled it around 180 degrees to the east side of the driveway and pointed towards the gate. He plans to take their rig to Casa Grande tomorrow morning to buy some tires for the truck and the trailer and have them installed so the rig is positioned for an easy exit.

Having had a nice lunch Linda and I just had hummus with chips and grapes for dinner and watched several episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Curtis called at 9 PM to let me know he would be arriving around 11 PM. Linda headed off to bed while I let Lou and Val know that Curtis was definitely arriving yet this evening. I then settled in to watch TV while I waited for the call to open the gate. That call came a little before 11 PM. I opened the gate, waited for Curtis to pull in, closed the gate, and helped him get parked. I returned the gate fob and house key and we chatted about RVillage and the FMCA rally while Augie got reacquainted with his yard. Curtis asked if I would take some interior and exterior photographs of his Fleetwood Bounder before we left so he could use them to help advertise it for rent and of course I agreed. I then retired just before midnight, leaving him to finish unpacking a few things from his bus and car

Another view of Curtis’s Bounder.

2015/03/30 (M) Re-Tired

Since we knew at 4 PM yesterday that Curtis would be returning late last night, Linda started doing several loads of laundry as soon as we got back to camp. We watched TV and snacked for dinner while the loads washed and dried. She took the last load out of the dryer around 9 PM and we then folded clothes and made the bed. She turned in while I waited up to let Curtis in the gate.

I slept in until 8 AM his morning and finally got up when I heard (and smelled) the grinding of coffee beans. Breakfast was toast and fruit juice. As planned, Lou and Val left around 9:30 AM to take their truck/trailer to Discount Tire in Casa Grande. He needed two tires for the truck and two for the trailer.

Although Curtis did not leave Pomona, California until 4 PM yesterday he managed to make the 400 mile drive back to Arizona City in seven hours. In spite of what was obviously a long day for him he was up and working this morning, although we did not see him until later than usual. Launching a company is exciting but hard work.

Linda sat at the outside table and chatted with Curtis while I worked on blog posts at my computer in our bus. By 11:45 AM the temperature in the bus was 85 degrees so I turned the generator on, turned on all three air-conditioners, and closed up the coach. That kept it cool enough for the cats but I decided to take my computer into the house and work at the dining room table as the house is air-conditioned and quite comfortable.

I had copied all of the posts for January 15 – 21, 2015 into a single Word doc but by the time I finished editing it I decided it was way too long so I split it back up into individual daily posts. The other reason for doing this was that this was a very busy week during which I took a lot of photographs. I managed to upload posts to our WordPress blog for the 15th through the 19th. It was a small dent in what I need to accomplish, but it was something.

Val brought over a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade at 4:30 PM. By that time my computer battery was run down a bit and I was tired of staring at the screen so I took the computer back to our bus and plugged it in and then joined the others on the veranda to enjoy my glass of lemonade.

Although it gets pleasantly cool after the sun sets, and a bit chilly by sunrise, the hot days have brought out ants and midge flies, compounding the notion that we have probably lingered a bit longer in southern Arizona than is ideal. On the other hand, we are experiencing this for ourselves rather than trying to understand it second hand. Also, highs in the mid-to-upper 90’s are not typical for late March in this area, running 15 or more degrees above normal. That is the old (historical) normal, of course, not the new normal.

Curtis eventually rejoined use around 5:30 PM. We asked if he wanted to go out to dinner but he was not up for it so we all made and ate our own dinners. While Linda was cooking and I was wrapping up a conversation with Lou and Curtis I got a call from Butch Williams. He and Fonda had just arrived home having driven all the way from the Wal-Mart in Forest City, Arkansas. That same drive took us two days on the way out west in December. It was 7:30 PM here and 10:30 PM there.

Linda had the TV on while she was cooking and we watched NCIS Los Angeles and other Monday evening programs during and after dinner. She made a red beans and rice dish and added greens (kale) and crushed red pepper flakes which definitely kicked it up a notch. I continued working on blog posts while half paying attention to the TV programs.

One last look at Curtis’s new Bounder.

2015/03/31 (T) Farewell Arizona

As March draws to a close so does our time in Arizona. We have, and more specifically our motorhome has, been here since December 11, 2014 when we drove from the Escapees Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming, New Mexico to the RoVers Roost SKP CO-OP near Casa Grande, Arizona. From there it was on to our winter “home” in Quartzsite where the bus remained parked until March 3rd.

On March 3rd we said our “so long, see ya down the road” to Butch/Fonda, Jim/Barb, and Jim Liebherr, our host/landlord while we were in Quartzsite. We drove to Arizona City and boondocked at the rental house of Curtis Coleman, founder and CEO of the RVillage social networking website for RVers. From there we relocated to an RV park in Tucson for a night and then went to the Escapees RV Club Escapade at the Pima County Fairgrounds where we worked very hard as event staff.

After the Escapade we drove back to Arizona City with Lou and Val Petkus, stayed three nights, and then drove over to Why, Arizona for a week to visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The four of us then went back to Arizona City to decompress for a week and try to catch up on some computer/Internet-based work.

While we were in Arizona City we managed to drive the Florence-to-Kelvin scenic road with Lou and Val Petkus, tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West (just the two of us), visit an Olive grove/mill (Linda and Val only), visit with fellow FMCA/SKP Freethinkers Larry and Orene Brown (me and Linda), and visit with Curtis when he was there as much as his work permitted. The daily high temperatures the last few days have been in the mid-to-upper 90’s while only a couple of hundred miles to the north they were just reaching 70 degrees F with lows at or just below freezing. Our Aqua-Hot is working better than our air-conditioners and we are ready to start moving east and north.

Lou and Val pulled out today at noon for the short drive to Tucson and checked into the Prince of Tucson RV Park where we stayed for one night just before going to the Escapade. We will depart tomorrow and head to Deming, New Mexico, or thereabouts. From there we plan to head over to Las Cruces and up I-25 to Albuquerque where we will look for a full-hookup RV park for a few nights so we can explore the area a bit.

From Albuquerque we will push on to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to visit my only uncle. A long day’s drive from there will put is in an RV Park near Edwardsville, Illinois not far from where Linda’s sister (Marilyn) and her housemate (Linda) live and a reasonable driving distance from my sister (Patty), niece (Amanda), and her family. We plan to hang out in the area for a while if folks can make time to visit with us and keep an eye on the weather and road restrictions in southeast Michigan.

Another day’s drive will put us at Butch and Fonda Williams’ place in Twelve Mile, Indiana; the place from which our two two-bus caravan departed for the southwest on December 3rd, 2014. We will likely linger there a few days and try to figure out what is going on with our two front air-conditioners. Once we leave there our final stop will probably be an overnight at the Turkeyville Campground south of Lansing, Michigan where we can dump our holding tanks in the morning before driving the last 80 miles to our house.

With the hot temperatures have come bugs so we spent a long evening inside the house having a relaxed conversation with Curtis and getting to know each other better. It was the first time we have had a chance to talk to him without RVillage being the focus of the conversation. We opened the bottle of Black Currant wine we bought at the Forestedge Winery in Laporte, Minnesota in July 2013 and remembered why we bought it and why we brought it along. It was nice to share it with our new friend. We finally went back to our coach at 9:30 PM, had an easy, light supper, and went to bed.

2015/03/24-25 (T-W) RVillage WHQ Redux

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2015/03/24 (T) Return to Arizona City, AZ

[Note: There are no photographs for this post.]

We targeted a late morning departure from Hickiwan Trails RV Park. The normal checkout time is 11:00 AM but that had nothing to do with our target as we were paid through Tuesday evening and the park was empty enough that the manager did not care when we left. The timing mostly had to do with the necessity of having some agreed target time when traveling with other RVers, not wanting to feel like we had to get up at the crack of dawn and get on the road, and not wanting to drive into the morning sun but wanting arrive at our destination by mid-afternoon. There is a lot that goes into something as simple as answering the question “what time are we going to leave?” which was preceded by answering the apparently equally simple question “what day are going to leave?”

We only had 120 miles to travel so an 11 AM departure met all of our requirements. We pulled out of our site about 10:45 AM and hooked up our car. I tried to adjust the driver’s side rearview mirror and could not position it where I wanted it. The mirror had loosened and moved on the support arm and needed to be repositioned. Lou got out his small step ladder and I found a star bit for my screwdriver. It took a bit of back and forth but I got the mirror repositioned and tightened so that the correct view was near the center of the motorized travel that I can control from the driver’s seat. By the time we put everything away and were ready to pull out it was 11:20 AM. 11 AM was a target, not a hard and fast requirement.

It was a warm day and Lou decided that he wanted to keep his speed at 50 MPH because he was unsure of the spare tire he had installed on their trailer on Thursday. That is slower than optimal for our bus, especially when the speed limit is higher than that. He suggested that we travel at whatever speed was comfortable for us and they would meet up with us sometime later at our destination. Once we cleaned Ajo we had a good run up AZ-85 at 55 MPH. The road is posted 65 MPH but it is a 2-lane highway with very little shoulder, so 55 felt just fine. Once we got on I-8 headed east the speed limit was 75 MPH. I set the cruise control at 63 MPH and let it roll. The bus likes that speed which has the engine turning ~1,800 RPM in the top gear of the transmission.

We did not need to stop for fuel or to rest so we rolled slowly through Arizona City to our destination and got ourselves parked at the RVillage headquarters. Lou and Val stopped to eat lunch and take on fuel and finally arrived an hour or so behind us. We circled our camp chairs, slumped into them, and said a collective “ahhhh.” It was beautiful and peaceful here, as always, with warm sun and a cool breeze. Linda captured a gorgeous sunset over the lake and mountains to the west on her cell phone. It cooled off quickly after the sun set and soon enough we retreated to our rigs for the evening.

Curtis is a very gracious host and even though we are boondocking he lets us use his wireless Internet connection. I wasted almost 4 GB of our 10 GB Verizon data plan last billing cycle trying to download a map update for our Rand McNally RVND 7710 GPS that failed after most of it had been downloaded. The GPS is an excellent device but the download/update protocol is one of the most stupid I have ever encountered. Why do I say that? Read on.

Almost 1,000 files are involved in the update and even at that a few of them are gigantic. The entire download of 4.4 GB has to succeed or everything is lost and you have to start over. Even on a good Internet connection it takes one-to-two hours for the download so the chances of having it fail are definitely non-zero. By 11 PM no one else was using the Internet and I was able to get everything downloaded in a little over an hour. It took another 30 minutes to install the updates into the GPS, after which it indicated there were more updates available. Thankfully those only took a few minutes to download and install and I managed to get to bed by 12:30 AM.

2015/03/25 (W) Chill’n at the Lake

In a switch from our normal routine Linda got up before me and made coffee while I slept in until 8 AM. We have our customary ways of doing things, but they are not hard and fast rules. We had toast and jam for breakfast with fresh grapefruit and coffee. We opened up the windows and turned on the exhaust fans to keep the inside of the bus comfortable for the cats and then moved to the shaded table on the porch by the lake. I took my iPad and worked on drafts of posts for the last two weeks.

Linda made up a nice lunch platter for each of us and brought it to the table where Lou and Val eventually joined us with their mid-day meals. Mid-afternoon Lou wanted to go find some tire stores and get prices for two new truck tires and two new trailer tires. I was ready for a break so I went along. That proved useful as I was able to use Google voice on my smartphone to research places and request navigation. Linda uses this feature all the time, but I rarely do. It’s pretty cool and I should probably use it more than I do.

Our first stop was the local SpeedCo truck tire and lube facility in Arizona City but they only sold 22″ and 24″ truck tires. We stopped at the Love’s truck stop across the street where I found the 12 VDC cigarette lighter style plug I needed to wire up the TireTraker repeater we got from Darryl Lawrence at Escapade to try out. We stopped at Discount Tire in Casa Grande next and that turned out to be the best quote Lou got. We stopped at the Arizona City Post Office at 4:30 PM on our way back to camp so Lou could mail something.

The rest of the day and early evening was spent by the lake quietly using our technology. Once the light faded and the temperature started to drop we returned to our rigs to have dinner.

2015/03/18-19 (W-R) Why, AZ

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2015/03/18 (W) Hickiwan Trails

Why, indeed? Or perhaps Why Not. You can go there too.

Looking east from Hickiwan Trails RV Park at sunset.

Bonnie left yesterday headed for New York (eventually) and Curtis was planning to leave today for next week’s FMCA national rally in Pomona, California. We were invited to remain at RVillage WHQ while Curtis was away, but we had our sights set on Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (OPCNM).

An Ajo Lilly at Hickiwan Trails RV Park.

Our original plan was to stay in the ‘modern’ campground at the Monument. It is strictly boondocking (no hookups) which would have been fine except that the section where generators are allowed is limited to only four hours a day with two windows from 8-10 AM and 4-6 PM. We could have managed on the four hour limitation for a few days, but the unequal spacing of the two windows would have drawn our batteries down more than we wanted during the 14 hours from 6 PM to 8 AM.

Linda searched for websites and found Hickiwan Trails RV Park in Why, Arizona. It was 10 miles south of Ajo, the nearest/only town of any size, and would locate us about 20 miles north of the north entrance to OPCNM. Linda called to make reservations, which were not necessary as it was past prime season and the park was mostly empty, and confirmed the availability of full hookups and 50 Amp power. The price was $19/day or $85/week with bathrooms/showers and a laundry. It was located just inside the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation behind their combination casino, filling station, and convenience store.

Wild burros on the trail leading east out of Hickiwan Trails RV Park.

We left Arizona City around 1 PM and traveled back west on I-8 to Gila Bend where we headed south on AZ-85 through the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, a beautiful drive through yet another part of the Sonoran Desert. We wound our way slowly through Ajo (25 MPH speed limit) past an enormous open pit copper mine (shut down) and continued on to Why, AZ where we took AZ-86 (the left branch of the “Y”) for two miles. We pulled in to the RV Park around 3:30 PM after missing the (poorly marked) entrance, finding a turn-around spot, and unhooking the car so we could turn around. Linda got us registered while I parked the bus. We drove through the campground and selected a 50 Amp back-in site facing east. Lou and Val took the site just south of us.

A group of wild burros watching us watching them.

Hickiwan Trails turned out to be a hidden gem. The park was clean, the roads and sites generous in their size, the bathhouse and laundry clean and fully functional, and the view in all directions amazing. We had barely finished making camp when we heard the braying of burros. The park manager, Dave, and several of the campers confirmed that there were wild burros in the area east of the campground and all we had to do to see them was hike out a wide, clear trail about 3/4 mile to the wash where they like to hang out. Or wait for them to come through the campground at night. Linda hiked out and found them and took a few photos with her cell phone.

The wild burros were obviously used to the presence of people.

Somewhere before pulling into the RV Park the driver side rear tire on Lou and Val’s 5th wheel trailer went flat. We got out our Dewalt air compressor and aired it up and the leak was immediately obvious, a 1/2 inch gash at the edge of the tread. It was likely not repairable but the condition of the tire tread, which was badly worn in one spot, ruled that out anyway. They had a spare that had never been used but was 10 years old. Not ideal, but it’s what they had. We discussed several options and Lou decided to sleep on it.

A nice family grouping of wild burros.

We took some sunset photos and let ourselves be awed by the dark night sky and plethora of stars before turning in for the night and using the park Wi-Fi which had initially been a bit fussy and not very fast. I discovered, however, that the connection stability and performance increased the later it got. By midnight I may have been the only user and was seeing a rock solid connection and almost 12 Mbps, which is outstanding for RV Park Wi-Fi.

It was a real treat to get such a good look at this wild animals.

2015/03/19 (R) First Things First

We came to this place to see and photograph nature; western landscapes, flora, fauna, and night skies. But our homes on wheels always take precedence over everything else except our personal health. Until the flat tire on Lou and Val’s 5th wheel trailer was fixed we were not going to be doing anything else. After thinking about it overnight, Lou decided to call Coach-Net. Yes, they could send someone out to take care of it. The guy arrived an hour or so later and in less than an hour had the bad tire/wheel off and the spare tire/wheel on and inflated.

I know they are wild animals, but this is just too cute.

You just can not have too many pictures of wild burros.

While the tire was being taken care of Linda and I hiked out the trail in search of the wild burros. We found them about a mile out, a group of 12 and another group of 5. As best we could count we saw and photographed between 17 and 20 wild burros in a beautiful, natural setting. On the way back we left the trail as we neared the edge of the campground and headed through a sparsely vegetated area, watching the ground carefully for snakes. We were strolling along when I heard a rattle and looked to my right to see a rather large snake coiled up and staring at me. It was only about 7 feet away and Linda had passed by it on the other side by about the same distance. It decided I was not a threat, uncoiled and slithered off under a large, nearby bush. That was when I could positively identify it was a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake that I judged to be at least five feet long, which is close to the maximum size they attain. It was so well camouflaged when coiled up that either of us could have easily stepped on it even though we were looking carefully where we were going.

They never took their eyes off of us.

Look carefully. That is, indeed, a very large Western Diamondback Rattlesnake.

By the time the tire issue was resolved it was too late to head down to OPCNM so we decided to scout out a good place to photograph the sunset. It turned out that there was a BLM 14-day STVA just south of Why on the west side of AZ-85. It was a maze of makeshift dirt roads and washes but we kept working our way west trying to get beyond where most of the campers were located. We were surprised at how far back some of them had gone and the size/type of rigs they had brought back there, including large tag axle motorhomes and a full-size tractor towing a huge 5th wheel trailer. We could not have gotten our bus in here without scratching the paint and risking getting stuck.

Panorama of a desert thunderstorm at sunset near Why, AZ.

We finally found a suitable spot and set up our cameras on tripods. Rain had passed through the area and there was a thunderstorm in progress over the mountains to the northwest. Lou concentrated on shooting HDR images with his small Sony camera which has excellent low light sensitivity and records colors very nicely. I concentrated on shooting panoramas and got several nice ones with rain falling from the storm clouds. We hung in as long as the color was good and then packed up our gear and found our way out while there was still just enough light to see.

Sunset as viewed from the BLM STVA just south of Why, AZ.

2015/03/14-16 (S-M) Escapade to RVillage

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2015/03/14 (S) Wrapping Up; Signing Up

I spent most of the day and evening processing photos, although I took time to dump the holding tanks and fill the fresh water tank. Linda and Val did Laundry and then went grocery shopping after which Linda started preparing the inside of our coach for travel. It was a long, busy, productive day but it was mostly chores and work, so not much to write about. We did, however, sign up to be staff at the July 2016 Escapade in Essex Junction, Vermont. I signed up to be the assistant staff photographer again while Linda signed up for any job that was in a quiet environment so she can hear. We really do enjoy the Escapade rallies.

Sunset as viewed from our campsite at the Pima County Fairgrounds near Tucson, AZ.

2015/03/15 (N) Back to RVillage WHQ

Today was our scheduled departure date but we did not need to vacate the Pima County Fairgrounds until noon. We would be caravanning a relatively short distance with Lou and Val and targeted 11 AM for our departure.

The more time we spend in our bus the less anxious we are the night before we are going to move to a new location, but there is still a certain anticipation about it. Moving the bus is not like getting in a car to go to work. It’s a big, complicated, machine and there are many details to attend to before we can move it. It also rarely travels the same route twice so we spend time researching and planning travel routes. Fortunately, we enjoy these aspects of the RV lifestyle and had most everything in order by the time we went to bed last night. We both slept well enough having worked and played fairly hard all week.

We had a leisurely morning and took care of the final preparations for travel. As it was getting to be 10 AM we had to ask someone to move a car so we could pull out. Paul Evert’s RV dealership had moved some of the rigs they had sold during the rally to the full hookup area where we were camped all week and had folks pull there trade-in units there so they could transfer their belongings. As a result the area was getting crowded and obstructed with cars parked wherever it was convenient (for the owner). The RV Driving School was also busy in one of the parking lots near us teaching people how to turn, back up, and park, including teaching the “spotter” (co-pilot/navigator) how to give hand signals to the driver. (This is actually the more difficult job requiring judgement, proper positioning, and clear/timely signals.) As long as the driver can see the spotter all they have to do is follow directions. Many of the Escapade staff were still at the fairgrounds and attendees who signed up for HOPs (Head Out Programs) were still camped there as well. The HOPs are organized outings that sometimes involve a tour bus for transportation, a tour leader/guide, admission to one or more venues, and possibly food.

We pulled out roughly on time with Lou and Val right behind us. We headed out of the fairgrounds and then north on Houghton Road to I-10 where we headed west. They needed fuel so we took an exit on the west side of Tucson where there was supposed to be a truck stop, but it wasn’t there. Lou pulled into a station where we could not get in/out so we found a spot a little farther down the road where we could turn around and waited for them to pull out of the station.

We followed them back on to the highway and then retook the lead. We exited at Eloy where there were both Pilot and Flying J truck stops. We topped up our diesel tank while Lou filled their propane tank. We got back on I-10 for another eight miles and then exited at Sunland Gin Road and headed south into Arizona City. A few miles, and a bunch more minutes, later we pulled into the rental property that currently serves as Curtis Coleman’s residence and headquarters for the RVillage social network. Good things are happening for RVillage and it was good to be back here to spend a little more time with Curtis and his adorable dog Augie, a Bevar (sp? may be Biewer) Yorkshire Terrier.

A panoramic view looking west from the deck of RVillage World Headquarters. It was very peaceful here.

We got settled in and then visited a bit. We eventually went to Duffer’s Restaurant at the golf course and then went back to the house for movie night. The film for this evening was “The Social Network” about the founding of Facebook; a most appropriate choice given where we are boondocked.

2015/03/16 (M) Florence, AZ

Someone at the Escapade told Lou about a road that runs between Florence and Kelvin Arizona. They said it was mostly good gravel and very scenic and Lou was determined that we find it, drive it, and photograph it. Linda and Val packed a picnic lunch while Lou and I prepared our photography gear. I grabbed the Garmin GPS out of our car (just in case) and we took off, leaving Curtis some peace and quiet to attend to RVillage.

I managed to navigate us to Florence where we decided it would be prudent for Lou to top off the fuel tank in his truck. We pulled into a Circle K (Kangaroo?) and took care of that. When Lou tried to start the truck the starter would not engage. It would turn but made a really bad grinding sound. Sometimes the throw-out gear binds and we tried tapping on the starter with a long stick and hammer but it did not help. The starter had just been replaced a month ago in Mesa, Arizona and had a 60 day towing policy in addition to the parts and labor warranty.

Val, Lou, and Linda having lunch by the fuel pump island at the Circle K in Florence, AZ.

Lou called the repair shop and they dispatched a tow truck. I then called Curtis to see if he could fetch Val, Linda, and me from the Circle K and he graciously agreed to come get us. We let the station attendants know what was going on and they were cool with the whole thing even though we were blocking one of the pumps. It took a while for the tow truck to arrive so we ate our lunch standing in the shade at the end of the fuel island. We must have made an interesting sight to passersby. The tow truck eventually arrived, pulled the pickup truck up onto the flatbed, and drove off with Lou riding shotgun. A little while later Curtis arrived. We loaded our picnic supplies and camera gear into the back of his SUV and he drove us back to his place.

Lou photographs their pickup truck being loaded onto the flatbed hauler at the Circle K in Florence, AZ.

I expected to get a call from Lou letting me know that I needed to drive to Mesa to pick him up. What we got instead was a call that the truck was repaired and he was on his way back. The problem was that the starter mounting bolts had not been torqued tight enough and had backed out about 1/4 inch. As a result the throw-out gear was pushing the starter back rather than engaging with the gear teeth on the flywheel. As we thought about it we were realized we were very lucky this did not happen on the road from Florence to Kelvin.

Bonnie was also staying at the RVillage compound and joined us for dinner last night. This evening we did a pot luck thing and dined at the outside table by the lake.

2015/03/04-05 (W-R) RVillage Stopover

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2015/03/04 (W) RVillage World Headquarters

World Headquarters of the RVillage Social Network and residence of founder/CEO Curtis Coleman.

We pulled into the driveway yesterday of the house that currently serves as the World Headquarters of RVillage and home of the founder/CEO Curtis Coleman. Forrest and Mary Clark were already here and Randy Sturrock and Marianne Edwards, who run Boondockers Welcome, arrived about 20 minutes after we did.

Augie doggie strolling on the sidewalk by the lake.

We were not in a rush to get up this morning, made coffee once we did, and enjoyed the lovely grounds and the view of the lake. Curtis had work to do, some of which involved Randy and Marianne, so we visited with Forrest and Mary and just relaxed and read or worked on our iPads and computers.

RVillage founder/CEO Curtis Coleman at work on his patio office.

By lunchtime Forrest and Mary had left, followed by Randy and Marianne. Not long after that Dave and Vicki McKenna arrived. They handle membership for the Escapees RV Club SKP Boomers BOF, so it was nice to finally meet them. We all had a nice chat with Curtis and then left him to work.

Forrest and Mary Clark visiting with Augie by their Foretravel motorhome.

The five of us went to dinner at Duffers, the bar/grill/restaurant at the local golf course. Linda and I had nice garden salads with fresh ingredients and a basket of sweet potato fries. We sat and talked until we were the only folks left in the restaurant. We took the conversation back to the house and continued it there much later into the evening than is normal for us.

2015/03/05 (R) Prince of Tucson

Linda holds Augie for a beauty shot.

We spent the morning visiting with Curtis Coleman (RVillage) and Dave McKenna (SKP Boomers BOF) and then started getting ready to leave. We turned the bus around, hitched up the car, and finally pulled out around 1 PM. We had a relatively short drive of just over 50 miles to get to the RV Park in Tucson where we had a reservation.

Marianne Edwards and Randy Sturrock with Linda (holding Augie).

RVillage is run by Curtis, and Curtis runs on coffee. 🙂

We had an easy run with good access to the RV Park. Tucson is not a kingdom, and it does not have royalty, but it does have a street named “Prince” and it has an RV Park at the end of that street by I-10 named Prince of Tucson RV Resort. The park was clean and attractive enough and there were some aspects of the park that were better than usual, especially the road leading in and the check-in lanes. It was right up against a retaining wall for the entrance ramp to eastbound I-10 which we thought might be a noise problem, but it wasn’t. The pull-through spots, which are intended for overnight guests, were very narrow, but they had full hookup 50 Amp service and were easy to pull out of when leaving, so they served their purpose.

Lou and Val Petkus were going to stay at Prince of Tucson but changed their plans and stayed at a Passport America park just on the other side of I-10 from us. We called to let them know we were in and see if they wanted to go to dinner. They were both tired and settled in so they took a pass on dinner. We needed groceries so we unhooked the car and drove to a Whole Foods Market about 8 miles away and stocked up on some items that are difficult to find elsewhere.

Forrest Clark and Marianne Edwards talking on the lawn at RVillage WHQ.

Back at the rig we got the groceries put away. We then scanned for TV stations and found some!!! We could not receive OTA TV in Quartzsite and were not able to pick up any stations in Arizona City, either.

Linda, Curtis, and Dave McKenna discussing details of RVillage.

2015/03/01-03 (N-T) Wrapping Up In Q

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2015/03/01 (N) Clean Flying

I had coffee and toast for breakfast. That finished the sourdough bread, which lasted two weeks, and the strawberry preserves, which had been around a lot longer than that.

I spent most of the rest of the morning cleaning the inside of the coach, specifically the tile floor, and putting things away so that there was someplace for two people to sit. The floor and kitchen counter looked better than they have most of the time Linda has been away.

Heavy rain over the mountains and desert east of Quartzsite and south of Plomosa Road.

I left a little after 11 AM to drive to Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. Linda’s flight was scheduled in at 2:35 PM MST but was delayed on departure with a revised ETA of 2:56 PM. The weather was overcast with intermittent rain; something we have not seen much of since we arrived here in early-mid December. It is approximately a two hour trip from Quartzsite to the airport so that left me two hours to take care of two shopping errands. That seemed like plenty of time but I had not calculated in the time required to deal with Sunday noon traffic at a major shopping location. I needed cat food and had an address for a PetSmart. I also needed a GE water filter and had an address for a Home Depot.

As I approached the Dysart Road exit on I-10 I saw a Home Depot. It was not the one I had programmed in my GPS, but it was right there. Little did I know that the area around that exit was a massive shopping complex that felt like square miles of retail stores. The Home Depot did not have the GE housing or filter element I was looking for, even though I bought it at a Home Depot in Logansport, IN. I no sooner got on the highway when I saw the sign for a PetSmart on the north side of I-10. I took the next exit and doubled back. In retrospect I should have taken W McDowell Road and snuck in (and out) the back way but I had no way of knowing that in advance. They had the Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Stomach and Skin cat food and I bought a 20# bag. There was a Lowe’s on the same (north) side of I-10 on the west side of Dysart Road so I went there looking for the GE water filter but they also did not have it.

Although I still had plenty of time to get to the airport the delays associated with dense shopping traffic and finding stores led me to abandon my quest for a new water filter. I didn’t really need it anyway as the filter in question fits in a GE inline housing under the kitchen sink and provides the final filtering for our drinking and cooking water. It’s a 1 micron cartridge that filters for at least five different classes of things and costs $35 – $40 as I recall. I think it is supposed to be good for six months of ‘normal’ use. Our filter has been installed for about four to five months, and has not had that much water run through it, so it should be good for quite a while yet.

I got to the west cell phone lot at 2:38 PM, about the time Linda’s flight was originally scheduled to arrive. I knew it was delayed because she texted me when she boarded. I checked the status on my smartphone and it showed the flight arriving at 3:10 PM. It was a bit latter than that when Linda texted that they had landed. She called me from the terminal at 3:30 PM and I headed for Terminal 3, Door 5. I missed the pull-off and then missed the turn-around, ending up six miles east of the airport before I could exit and head back. I called Linda to let her know but she saw me drive by and knew I was out there somewhere trying to get turned around. Fortunately the airport was easy to get back to and this time I pulled in to the correct place, looped around, and picked her up. Another loop-around and we were headed back to I-10 West.

The first serious weather we had was on our last full day in Q.

Linda picked up a bug yesterday, perhaps just a cold, but she was obviously tired and not feeling well. She dozed off and on the whole trip back to Q. The weather had lifted a bit, with the sun occasionally peeking through the clouds, but closed in the farther west we traveled and we encountered light but steady rain for the last 60 miles. The skies were especially dark, and the rain heavier, as we cleared the last mountain range and made the long descent into the La Paz Valley and took exit 19 into the east end of Quartzsite. I stopped at the Road Runner Market for a bag of salad greens, sandwich bread, and bananas and then headed to our coach.

It was cool in the coach so I made some hot tea. I fixed a big salad for dinner after which we were not hungry enough to have soup. Linda went to bed early while I checked e-mail and then worked on my blog post for the third week of January. I took a lot of photos that week and did not have enough time left to make selections, process them, and upload the post. I won’t have time to work on it tomorrow but I will try to finish it on Wednesday and upload it.

2015/03/02 (M) Our Last Full Day In Q

Today was our last full day in Quartzsite, Arizona unless something prevents our departure tomorrow morning. After our usual breakfast of coffee, juice, and granola we filled out our mail forwarding form for the P. O. Box, signed our tax returns, and got them ready to nail. We left around 9:15 MST for the post office. There was a line so we decided to come back later and headed for the UPS Customer Service Center in Blythe, California. The center is only open for will call pick up from 9 to 10 AM PST Monday through Friday. We pulled into the parking lot at 8:57 PST and were second in line behind a couple from Alberta, Canada. I retrieved my package and then had a nice chat with the other couple in the parking lot.

We stopped at Albertson’s for cat litter and a few other sundry items and then headed back to Q. We stopped at the RV Lifestyles store to buy a repair kit or replacement for the fresh water tank blade valve. They had both 2″ and 1.5″ and I did not know which one I needed so I left empty-handed. By then it was after 11 AM MST and we avoid the Post Office between 11AM and 1 PM as those are the hours for General Delivery pickup. I stopped at the Union 76 station just behind the post office and topped off the tank before heading back to our motorcoach.

Another view of the storm.

We spent the next four hours straightening up the interior of the bus. Linda sorted through all of the brochures and guides we had picked up and designated most of them as trash. I consolidated bus parts in cardboard boxes and put them in the car. I cleaned out the storage space under the bed and we pulled out the air pump for our old Select Comfort air mattress. The pump went in a big bag and we took it over to Butch and Fonda along with some literature on things to do in/around Yuma. I reorganized the space under the bed which created room for us to store things.

At 3:15 PM we drove back to the Post Office. There was a line but it was short and was moving along. We turned in our mail forwarding form, put postage on a letter to the FMCA Freethinkers chapter treasurer, Dan Fregin, and mailed our federal and state tax returns certified mail with electronic tracking.

Back at camp Linda put a load of laundry in the washing machine. Fonda had taken Butch to pick up a “desert bug.” He found a 1969 VW bug for sale that had been modified to be an ATV. Butch drove it to Bouse with Fonda following him and we made the trip a short time later. We got to see the dune buggy and the park where they will be the working next season as the managers.

On the drive back to Q we drove through some heavy rain and pulled over at one point on Plomosa Road to take pictures. We stopped again on AZ-95 to photograph brilliant white RVs against the very dark storm clouds and then finished our return trip to Q. Linda and Fonda had left a few items on the clothesline to dry when the rains came through so she put them in the dryer. The laundry was done by 6 PM and we headed over to Crazy Jerry’s for our last meal together for a while.

I got a call from Lou Petkus. He had just found out that they are supposed to be at the fairgrounds on Wednesday rather than Friday. He wanted us to check our e-ticket which Linda did back at the bus. We were definitely setup for Friday entry which means we will not be able to enter and park together.

On the drive back we scouted out places to hook up the car and decided the ARCO station on the east end of town looked like out best bet. I had e-mails from Stacy indicating that she had finished proof-reading two more of my articles. I retrieved them from our Dropbox and did the final editing on them while Linda streamed the last episode of Downton Abbey for the season on her iPad using our Verizon MiFi. She went to bed to nurse her cold and I uploaded the final versions of the two articles and also updated/uploaded my article tracking spreadsheet. I then headed off to bed too.

2015/03/02 (T) Farewell Q

We arrived in Quartzsite, Arizona on December 12, 2014 with Butch and Fonda Williams and got our buses parked at the Liebherr-Brockner lot on the north central end of town. Our bus remained in that spot for 80 full days and was there for all or part of 82 days. We were up at 7 AM to have a cup of coffee and some granola early enough to have time to digest it before we hit the road.

After breakfast I dumped the holding tanks, flushed out the drain hose, and stowed it away. We were down to 1/2 tank of fresh water so I topped it up. I then disconnected the water softener and all of the hoses and filter housings that go with it and stowed those away.

And another view of the storm.

We were aiming for a 10 AM departure so around 9:30 AM Jim L. read the electric meter and calculated our final bill. Linda added in the loads of laundry and wrote a check to cover our obligations. I shut off the power, disconnected the shorepower cord, and stowed it away. I connected the chassis batteries, turned on the air supply valve for the engine accessories, and turned on the air valves for the auxiliary air system accessories. I also checked the oil level in the engine and it was at the ‘full’ mark.

Butch and Fonda were also supposed to leave today for Yuma but when they checked on their reservation they were told the rains yesterday had softened the ground and they should wait a day before coming down. Larry and Sandy had not returned from Yuma yet, but Butch/Fonda, Jim/Barb, and Jim L. were all gathered to wish us farewell and safe travels. Jim L. was also there to help me get the bus out of the lot with damaging anything.

The engine fired right up, I switched it into high idle, switched the Level Low system to ride height mode, and lifted the tag axle. Once the air pressure was fully up (~130 PSI) I dropped the engine back to low idle and got out to do a walk around, checking the suspension height and securing the bay doors. Linda did her own walk around to verify everything was closed and locked. At that point there was nothing left to do but pull out. Jim L. suggested I back up while swinging the noise gently to the passenger side to get a better angle going forward. I was going to back up a short distance anyway to release the brakes in case they had frozen while sitting. The humidity has generally been quite low here and the brakes were fine.

I cut the steer wheels hard to the right (PS) and pulled forward aiming for the gap between the concrete patio pad on the left and the Palo Verde tree and light pole on the right. Jim L. spotted me on the DS while Linda kept an eye on the PS and I made it through with plenty of room to spare. Once clear of those obstacles I pulled up to the left and straightened out. I then backed between the park model trailer on the PS and the cactus garden on the driver side with Linda watching the rear of the bus and the street and Jim watching the front and sides. I backed into the street and then pulled forward so I was not blocking any driveways. I shut the engine off and then guided Linda has she pulled the car up behind the bus. Hooking up the car usually takes 15 to 20 minutes or a bit longer if we gave not done it for a while.

We were ready to go for real at 10:35 AM, had one last round of “farewell for now, see you down the road” and finally pulled away at 10:40 AM.

Looking east from AZ-95 at part of the Plomosa Road BLM STVA with heavy storm clouds in the distance.

I had some concern about the turn from southbound Lollipop Lane onto eastbound Kenoyer with the car attached but Jim assured me it would be fine and it was. We turned south on Central Ave (AZ-95) to Main Street (BL-10) then east to Riggles Road and south over I-10 to the eastbound entrance ramp. I got on the accelerator and the bus responded nicely coming up to speed as I merged onto the freeway. Leaving Q to the east or west involves long, steady climbs of 700 feet and I wanted the speed, RPMs, and turbo boost up going into the grade.

All of my gauges indicated that everything on the bus was running well except I wasn’t sure the air dryer was purging. When the air pressure in the system reaches the maximum set point the governor actuates the unloader valves, stopping any additional compression, and sends a pneumatic signal to the dryer to open the purge valve and release any water it has removed from the compressed air. The brief puff of air sounds a little bit like a “sneeze” and is often referred to as such. I always listen for the “sneeze” when the chassis first airs up but did not recall hearing it. As we were driving, however, the pressure in the auxiliary air system cycled between ~100 and 130 PSI, indicating that the air compressor and governor were doing their main jobs. Later, as we were getting ready to pull out of a rest stop, I heard the air dryer sneeze so I finally had confirmation that everything appeared to be working correctly.

The other thing that surprised me was that I never saw over 15 PSI on the turbo boost gauge. The old gauge only went to 15 PSI but the needle would routinely go past that to the limit of its movement. I had gathered from the POG and PC forums that 22 to 25 PSI was more like what I should see when asking for maximum power.

The drive over I-10 was nice as the recent rain had changed the appearance of the desert. Just before coming to the western edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area we took AZ-85 south. As we did we could see rain to the southeast and wondered if we might encounter some of it. The run down AZ-85 was flat but there were interesting mountains on either side of us. We eventually reached I-8 and got on going east. Much of the drive across I-8 was through the Sonoran Desert National Monument but we could not locate a headquarters for it on any of our maps. We also drove through rain and started to get a glimpse of the desert in spring.

Not long into our trip Linda used my phone to text Curtis and give him our ETA. He called back and asked if we could delay our arrival until 3:30 PM as he had a meeting at 2 PM. Linda found a rest stop on I-8 not too far from I-10 so we pulled in there, had lunch, and took naps. It turned out to be a picnic area with no facilities but that was OK with us; we are self-contained and it was a lovely day to sit and enjoy the scenery.

The final leg of our trip took 45 minutes. Linda texted Curtis when we exited I-10 at Sunland Gin Road and he texted back that the gate was open. Although wide enough for the bus we decided to unhook the toad before going in. We were going to have to unhook the car anyway as we will have to back up to get turned around when we leave. Curtis came out to greet us, closed the gate behind us and directed us into a parking spot. He let Augie out so he could greet us and run around, which he loves to do. Augie is a small, six year old, white dog who is full of energy but has spent most of his life living in a bus. Having the enormous yard of the house Curtis is renting to run in is very exciting for Augie and he takes full advantage of it.

$Rainbow colors refract from the rain near the center of this scene. AZ-95 looking NE over the Plomosa Rd BLM STVA.$

Rainbow colors refract from the rain near the center of this scene. AZ-95 looking NE over the Plomosa Rd BLM STVA.

Forrest & Mary Clark were already here in their Foretravel U295 so it was good to see them again. When we crossed paths with them at the RoVers Roost SKP Co-op they were waiting to have solar panels and a charge controller installed. Forrest said they did not run their generator once while boondocking for five weeks near Quartzsite so their system appears to be correctly sized and working properly. Randy & Marianne (Boondockers Welcome founders) pulled in about 20 minutes after us. After greetings and introductions Curtis gave us a tour of what is currently serving as the World Headquarters of RVillage.

The house is hexagonal and sits on a bump out into the northeast corner of a man-made lake. The house was originally a bar/restaurant, with the bar on the main floor and the restaurant seating on the second level, which was not enclosed except for railings. The property is extensive because it was once a parking lot. When the restaurant was closed in the early 1990s the owner converted it to a house, enclosing the upper level and dividing it to make bedrooms. He retained a portion of it as an outside deck that most of the bedrooms open onto. Back on the main floor the central bar was converted to a residential kitchen surrounded by an open floor plan with a generous outside deck. The building still has a functioning walk-in refrigerator that Curtis uses as a pantry. It is an extraordinary property and the driveway could accommodate eight buses as long as the neighbors did not complain.

Exciting things are always going on behind the scenes with RVillage so one of the perks of crossing paths with Curtis is hearing about them or even getting a sneak peak at some of them. It is also an opportunity to see the “back end” of the site which has the tools Curtis and his team use to develop and manage the system.

After tours and demos we all stood around on the lawn chatting and enjoying the view and the cool evening air. Too soon the air was chilly. Forrest and Mary returned to their motorhome to have dinner while Linda and I did the same thing. Randy and Marianne had business to discuss with Curtis and hung out with him on the deck a while longer. They may have gone out to dinner but we did not see them leave or return.

I had turned our generator on to bring the batteries up to charge and so Linda could cook dinner. She made a green salad and red beans and rice, which went well with the Franzia Fruity Red Sangria. After dinner we got our technology set up and got online. Linda is still recovering from the cold she picked up just before flying back to Arizona so she went to bed early. I checked e-mail and saw that Stacy had proofread another article so I made the final edits to it and uploaded it to the READY folder in my Dropbox BCM Articles folder. Since we are boondocking I shut off most of the unessential electrical loads and then shut down the generator for the night.

Travel days are exciting but also a bit stressful, especially when we have been sitting in one place for a long time, be that at home or away. But it felt good to be on the road again and to have landed in such a lovely place for the night. It’s harder on the cats, who do not like it when the engine is running and the bus is moving, but they came out of their travel (hiding) spots as soon as we were parked and were fascinated by the change of scenery. We were both tired but it was a good kind of tired.

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Tag Archives: Arizona City (AZ)

2015/04/01-03 (W-F) The Land of Enchantment

2015/03/27-31 (F-T) Wrapping Up Arizona

2015/03/24-25 (T-W) RVillage WHQ Redux

2015/03/18-19 (W-R) Why, AZ

2015/03/14-16 (S-M) Escapade to RVillage

2015/03/04-05 (W-R) RVillage Stopover

2015/03/01-03 (N-T) Wrapping Up In Q