There was a big rain on December 22 that lasted most of the day but the sun did peak out a couple times and there was a full double rainbow in the sky. Pretty impressive sight.

I had been chatting with Keith Schneider…a friend from Ontario who was planning to come down to Arizona. He was originally planning to leave Ontario after Christmas but decided to head out earlier. He arrived and joined our group on Saturday the 23rd. I met him down at the I-8 ramp and he followed me to the rest area to get water and then he followed me back into the BLM to our area. Travelling along with Keith is his dog Oreo. Keith has a new to him toy hauler trailer so he was able to bring his Quad and some airplanes. He is an avid RC flyer

We had a great Christmas with our group. On Christmas Eve John and Brenda joined us for Happy Hour and we all contributed to putting out a nice spread of food to enjoy. I had make some butter tarts and some fresh bread that morning. There were meatballs, dips, crackers, cheese and various other delights.

Christmas morning was just Kim and I opening our presents together. Later in the morning we had Mimosas with our group. We then had Christmas Dinner all together. I made the turkey and the stuffing. I was able to squeeze 14 lb. turkey into our small oven in the motorhome. It turned out great. Kim did the turnip (rutabaga). Deb K. and Riley contributed the mashed potatoes and Deb D. made a green bean casserole and extra stuffing. There was a lot of food and it was delicious. Can’t forget the apple pie for dessert provided by Deb K. I think we were too hungry to take any pictures….at least I don’t have any.

We also had a bit of a New Year’s Eve celebration at happy hour. Snacks and hors d’oeuvres and some champagne. As the evening began we sat around a nice bonfire for a few hours. We didn’t quite make it to midnight but it was close enough for me.  On New Years Day, Deb D. treated us to what she calls Meat Pie but what we would also know as Tourtiere. Deb’s family going back, have roots in Quebec and her meat pie was a family tradition during the Christmas Holidays. It tasted fantastic! 

I’ve been making a daily trip into the various washes around us; originally to search for gold (with no luck I might add) but I’ve been bringing back an assortment of rocks. I’ve got quite a collection now and I’ll have to decide on just a few to take with us when we leave the area.

Since Keith arrived he’s been out on his quad quite a few times. We are very close to the dunes so he has been over there a few times. The week leading up to New Year’s there was a huge influx of people into the dunes area. Lots of Toy Hauler trailers and Rv’s of various types. There is large gathering in the Glamis area every New Year’s and I guess this year was quite large.

Keith has let me go out on his quad a few times and although at first I was a little hesitant I have quite enjoyed it. I head toward the mountains and there are all kinds of trails and washes to explore. There is a working Gold Mine very near us and I’ve travelled around that area quite a bit.

This past Tuesday, Tom and I drove over to San Diego to tour the USS Midway museum. I was there on our last trip south with Bill Richards and Keith but I enjoyed it so much I wanted to return. I thought Tom might be interested since he is a Navy veteran. We left about 7:30 CST in the morning to arrive at the pier at around 9:30 PST. We arrived just before 9:30 and put in time on the pier before the gate opened at 10:00. Across the harbour at the Naval Base, 2 other aircraft carriers were docked. No. 72 is the USS Abraham Lincoln, and No. 71 is the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The Roosevelt was used in the filming of Top Gun. It’s a great tour if you ever get the chance.

Tom took me out for a ride in his jeep yesterday and we went exploring. Our destination was an old copper vein in the mountains where the rocks have oxidized and have that blue patina. We picked up a few rocks and spent a little time climbing and exploring the area. Next on the agenda was a spot where there was a large amount of quartz on the side of the mountain. Tom had been there before but wasn’t quite sure where it was so we just travelled around, exploring various trails until we finally found the one leading to the quartz. I also picked up a few large chunks of quartz. Tom got out his new metal detector and searched the sides of the hill and the washes to see if could find anything interesting (gold). No luck on the gold but we did find quite a few shell casings and a pop top. We spent about 4 1/2 hours all together out there.

The time has come now to head back to Quartzsite. The area will have begun to get quite busy I’m sure. People will be arriving from now until the big RV show starts in a little less than 2 weeks. We want to find a spot now before it gets too crowded. We’ll be heading back to the Roadrunner BLM. Our plan is to move on Tuesday. Kim and I and Keith will move then and Tom and Deb will move later this week. Deb K. and Riley will be staying here in Ogilby Rd.

Again you’re all caught up. Until next time.

A little added bonus today……. sunsets in the desert

Well the time has come again to fill you in on what’s been happening down here in Southwest Arizona. I’ll just let you know what we’ve been up to since the last post. 

On Thursday the 30th of November, the 6 people remaining in our group packed ourselves into Deb K’s truck to travel south for the day to go to Los Algodones, Mexico for a few hours and do a little shopping in Yuma. We left reasonably early since it was a 90 minutes to the border with Mexico. As I’ve related in other blogs, when going to Los Algodones you park your car in a parking lot on the USA side and walk across the border checkpoint. There is no screening when going to Mexico but on the way back you have to clear the border checkpoint. It’s never a problem but sometimes the line returning to the USA can be long and we have waited in line for quite some time in the past. We spent our time in Mexico doing a little shopping and stopped for lunch at El Paraiso. Before leaving Mexico we stopped and picked up a few things at one of the Pharmacies. Many things there are much cheaper than buying at home or the US. 

I took one afternoon to drive around some of the trails in the desert near us. There is one kind of main trail that follows the gas line called…… Pipe Line Road. The Equinox (that’s our car) did pretty good through the bumpy terrain, down and up through the washes. The AWD was able to handle pretty much everything.  It was a fun ride, but on the last wash my front clearance wasn’t high enough and I scraped the bottom of the front fascia as I was coming up out of the wash. Bummer…. No serious damage just cosmetic. 

A few days later Tom took me out for a ride in his Jeep. We headed over to the mountains on the west side of the La Posa area. We spent a couple hours travelling all kinds of trails and the Jeep was more than able to handle it. It certainly has a lot more clearance than the Equinox.

We weren’t many more days near Quartzsite before we all moved down to the Yuma area. There is a BLM area west of Yuma in California that is on Ogilby Rd. that our friends like to stay at, and that is where we headed to. The move happened on December 5th. It’s a nice area and Kim and I hadn’t been there before. Where we are staying is about 6 miles north off of I-8, close to the Imperial Dunes on the west and is bordered by the Cargo Muchachos mountains on the north. It’s about a 15 minute drive into Yuma. There are just a few Rver’s in our area with lots of space between us and any neighbours. As I’ve mentioned before BLM land is Federal government owned land that, in many areas, RVers are allowed to dry camp on. There are no services like electricity and water. So in our case at Ogilby Rd., there is a Chevron Gas station about 4 miles east on I-8 that has a dump station where we can dump our holding tanks for a fee ..$15.  So we drive there every 10 days or so to dump our tanks. After that we drive 4 miles west of Ogilby Rd. to a rest area that has water. That’s where we fill our fresh water tank. It is a bit of an inconvenience, no doubt, but it is part of the boondocking experience. 

Our days here at Olgilby Road have been pretty laid back. Kim and I did a little Christmas shopping for each other. We’ve done the normal routine type things like grocery shopping and laundry and those types of things. We went to the Arizona market one Thursday morning. Most of us have fallen victim to a cold bug that one of us (me) picked up somewhere. We’re all mostly past it now. 

We met some new friends at one of our happy hours on December 12…. John and Brenda Brown. They are Albertans who spend their winters in Arizona as well. I met John on our first trip to Arizona around January 2019 at a blogger fest in La Posa South. We visited Mexico again with John and Brenda on the 15th of December.

On the 17th of December some of us travelled to Welton, which is east of Yuma to do do a little trail riding. We drove to Elva and Gerry Shannon’s place in the morning. After a short visit Gerry took Deb K. and I in his Jeep and Tom and Deb D. were in their Jeep and we headed off on the trails to our first stop at the Naked Date. This is a restaurant south of Welton that serves light fare and has Date Shakes. I had never had a date shake before so I was eager to try one. They are fantastic. After a quick bite we were off again. We headed off through the desert on various trails and Gerry took us back to the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range. This is an active Air Force facility so you have to stay on the trails and you must have a permit to enter. Our first stop in the range was at Baker Tanks. This is a natural formation of rock that captures water during periods of rain and is able to contain it and the coolness of the rock helps to avoid as much evaporation. Still water in them. Eventually we came to a spot that had a few old Tanks that you could have a look at. I climbed one to get a good look. It was a lot easier to do this stuff when I was a little younger. It was a great excursion and I appreciated that Gerry was willing to take us out.

I’m going to end my update right here as it was getting quite long.  The second part of the update will get posted later today or tomorrow. Stayed tuned. Don’t panic…. it’s pretty much done….I won’t make you wait for another month….

We pulled into Quail Ridge RV Park on the 14th of November. The park is located south of Benson, Arizona about 20 miles or so near Huachuca City. We have stayed here on each of our previous journeys to the Southwest. I will add one more comment here about the park. We have memberships in a few RV clubs that allow us to stay at a discounted price at any associated RV parks. In the past we have stayed here for about $12 a night but when I called to book our stay I found out that Quail Ridge is no longer offering the discount. It cost us $25 a night, so instead of staying 3 nights as we had planned, we only stayed for 2.
That being said, the attraction of this park is that it is close to Tombstone (about 20 miles). We like to spend a couple hours wandering around the streets of the old town and peek into many of the shops. Last time here I bought myself a nice Stetson hat and so I wore it on our excursion to Tombstone on that Wednesday.

We arrived mid morning and the streets were mostly empty except for a few gunslingers and a stagecoach wandering through the town. There was a local lady in all her finery standing at one of the corners. She might have been one of Big Nose Kate’s ladies, but that was only a guess on my part. We moseyed down the wooden plank boardwalks in front of the storefronts along Main Street. We stepped into a few of them to look around but we didn’t find anything to suit our fancy. I reckon most of the locals were still inside their homes so early in the day. There was talk of a gunfight happening later in the day but we didn’t stick around to find out. We decided it was time to get out of Dodge (or Tombstone for that matter).

We toured around the little town in our motorcar for a bit then we headed south out of town. Next stop was Bisbee. This is an old mining town high up in the mountains. The town is built in a valley in the midst of the mountain with steep streets that run up the slope of the mountain. Today Bisbee is a tourist town with many shops and restaurants. As it turns out though, most shops were closed and only open from Thursday to Sunday. So since it was Wednesday, it was a little disappointing. Still a nice place to see and visit, just go on the weekends I guess. Just south of town there is an old open pit copper mine named the Lavender Mine that you can stop and see. Actually quite interesting. That wrapped up our tour for the day and so we headed to the RV back at the park.

Thursday we were back on the road and heading to Quartzsite. We were meeting up with friends Deb and Tom in the desert just south of the Quartzsite townsite. Deb and Tom were there with some other people who’s names we were aquainted with but hadn’t met yet. So we headed out early in the morning and drove north to Benson and once back on I-10 we headed west. We drove through Tucson and took a bypass route around Phoenix. (We found out later that there is actually a better way to bypass Phoenix). We’ll remember that for next time. Once back on I-10 we discovered that Phoenix seems to go on for ever on the west side. Not a big deal but the traffic was quite heavy for many miles. Once at Quartzsite we stopped to fill our propane tank before heading south out of town to the Roadrunner BLM area.

For those who aren’t familiar with BLM, it stands for Bureau of Land Management. BLM land is Federal Government land that in Arizona and other states is available to the public to use for recreation. And specifically for us, we can camp there for free. The only stipulation is that you limit your stay to 14 days in any one location. There are no services…no electricity..no water… it’s for boondockers. In the Motorhome we are self contained so we can live off the grid, so to speak, for an extended period so it’s easy for us to do. Every week and a bit we do need to dump our holding tanks and refill water but thats an easy chore when necessary.

Along with BLM land there are also LTVAs. These are Long Term Visitor Areas. These areas are still for boondockers but have a place where you can dump your tanks and refill water and dispose of trash in a central area. There is a permit fee for the LTVAs. A 14 day permit is available for $40 and a 6 month permit for $180.

Both of these areas are very popular with travellers and Snowbirds fleeing the winter cold. The desert is a big place and so there is lots of room for RVers to spread out, and for miles and miles in any direction there are RV’s. Some choosing to be alone and others who choose to group in clusters of friends.

So we arrived at Roadrunner and following directions given to us by Deb we meandered our way back into the desert to find our cluster of friends. Once you leave the highways and venture in to the desert there are no roads per se but there are vehicle tracks and so you follow the tracks and go left or right here or there and if you follow the directions you arrive. And so we did. It was actually quite easy. Thanks Deb!

We have been in contact here and there with Deb and Tom through texts and such, trying to keep contact with each other and hoping to be able to meet up in the desert again, so it was nice to finally arrive. After parking we exchanged handshakes and hugs and were introduced to Deb K and Riley, her daughter…. and also Lorne Green and his wife Sue. I should have written Lorne and Sue Green but it loses the effect. Do you have a tune playing in your head right now? You should if you’re as old as me. I’ll explain it later if you don’t.

So here we are in the desert. Once here life slows down. There is no need to do things (with exceptions, like cooking food), and the pace changes. Each day is unique and in many ways similar and familiar. So I’m finishing this blog post on Tuesday November the 28th. We’ve been here for close to 2 weeks, and time is spent relaxing in the sun during the later morning and early afternoon. Every afternoon about 3:00 our group of friends gathers our chairs together and we sit and enjoy each others company for a couple hours. We share many stories, discuss our opinions on many things and share much laughter together. It’s a comfortable place to be. We’ve gotten to know Deb and Riley and Lorne and Sue over the past number of days. Certainly glad to spend time with them all.

We haven’t ventured too far yet… there is plenty of time for that. But we have gone to a few places. The occasional run into town for odds and ends of groceries. We took a drive up to Parker to shop for groceries at Walmart. Parker is the nearest town with a Walmart and it’s about a 30 minute drive north from Quartzsite. I did a little baking to try out the oven in the Motorhome. We have been using the oven occasionally on this trip but I wanted to see how well it worked for baking. I made a couple loaves of bread on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (the 21st). I made a loaf of white bread and a loaf of my ‘famous’ cheese bread. Both turned out quite good. So on Wednesday I tried my hand at making some Butter Tarts. They weren’t too bad but I’m still just a rookie. We shared them at Thanksgiving dinner with everyone.

Our friends Bill and Patsy are staying at a campground in Quartzsite proper for the winter and they have been out to visit our group for several happy hours. We all shared a Thanksgiving dinner together for US Thanksgiving this past Thursday. Tom and Deb hosted the meal and we had about 10 for dinner. Deb and Riley, Lorne and Sue, Bill and Patsy, and Kim and I. On Friday, Lorne and Sue hosted a movie night under the stars. We watched The Long, Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Saturday Kim and I drove to Quartzsite to do a little shopping and then went to visit Bill and Patsy at their RV park. Last night our group at Road Runner had a campfire together. The wind had calmed right down and it was a nice evening. This morning I did laundry all by myself. That is not something I do and so I was a little out of my comfort zone. I think I was somewhat successful. My folding skills need to improve apparently. As I was leaving to do laundry, Lorne and Sue were pulling out and heading for Tucson for a couple days and then heading into Mexico for a few months.

Fuel in Quartzsite varies by gas station but the cheapest right now is about $2.79 for regular and $3.79 for diesel. We have had sunny days and bright blue skies almost every day since arriving and the wind has been quite normal. There is almost always a wind in the desert. Daytime temperatures in the high 60’s to mid 70’s and lows at night in the 50’s and some dipping into the high 40’s. Temperatures are in Fahrenheit. You Canadians will have to do the math.

So after travelling many miles and having stopped to visit friends and family along the way (and meeting many new people in the process) we are now here, and the desert will be home for a few months. At some point in the not too distant future we will head down to the Yuma area and boondock near there. A trip to Mexico will be planned soon for shopping and eating at our favourite places.

So again, you’re caught up (I think).

———so the name … Lorne Green—- figure it out yet …….. think of an old TV western…… yeah, you probably all knew right away…..

After leaving Mabank on Monday morning we drove towards Houston. We looked at various options to get through or around Houston and decided to go completely around it on the west side. We stayed on 2 lane roads for the most part and stopped at a Walmart in Sealy, Texas for the night. On Tuesday Nov. 7, we made a relatively short drive to Magnolia Beach. The sky was blue and water was almost calm and just a slight offshore breeze. Picture perfect. We parked right on the beach with the front windows facing the water. The beach here is extra hard packed and made of crushed seashells. You can boondock on the beach for up to 14 days for free. We settled in for what we hoped would be several days. Wednesday was also a nice day with a few more clouds but the forecast was for rain on Thursday. Thursday started out somewhat nice; no rain but overcast skies, but soon the rain began. We had noticed that people were starting to pull out that morning. I found a Harvest Host spot for us for the night still in Magnolia Beach area but away from the water. The nice thing was that we would have full hookups. Our solar power was not keeping our batteries charged with cloudy skies and rain, so we would be able to get a full charge being hooked up. So we packed up and headed to the Magnolia Beach RV Park for the night. It was good that we moved because that night we had a real heavy rain storm with high winds.

I had called around to a few RV Service people in the area to see if I could find someone to fix the generator and got some replies. Two of them wouldn’t be able to come out until Monday which didn’t help us. One of them suggested a guy in Victoria about a 1/2 hour away.

So Friday morning it was still a little rainy but we got ready to leave quickly and were on the road by about 8:30. We headed in to Victoria to see Larry at Victoria Welder Repair and Generator. The rain had stopped on the way and we hoped it would hold off long enough for Larry to have a look. The Motorhome would be outside so I didn’t imagine he would be working on it in the rain. Fortunately the weather cooperated but the generator didn’t. Larry was pretty thorough and after eliminating a number of possible causes he concluded that it was the convertor on the generator that was the problem. The bad news was that in order to get to that part the generator would have to be removed and that was something he couldn’t do himself. So….. for now the generator will not be in use. Kim and I had already talked about this scenario and had planned to buy a portable generator to serve us this season and armed with some recommendations from Larry we drove off to find us a generator.

We found a Harbor Freight store and decided upon a small 2000 watt inverter/generator and bought it. It certainly won’t handle as much power as our onboard generator, (5500 watts), but we mainly need it to keep our batteries charged. We’ll see over the course of the next weeks how much load it will handle. So aside from the large extra expenditure we’re good to go now for power. We then found a Walmart to spend the night. It happened to be just down the street from the Harbor Freight.

Saturday Morning we were back on the road headed to San Antonio and arrived just before noon at a Bass Pro Store which would be our stop for the night. But there was an extra reason for coming to San Antonio. Some of you know that I have been involved in genealogy research for quite a few years. Well a few years ago I stumbled across a guy on Ancestry who was a fairly close DNA match to me on the Wilson side of my family. I had no idea how he was connected to me but I knew my family tree was pretty complete and accurate. Anyway, I made contact with Joe through Ancestry and through various messages back and forth I was able to figure out the connection. Without going into a lot of detail, Joe had been adopted when we was born and didn’t know who his biological father was. Joe is a second cousin of mine and I had planned that, if I had the opportunity, I would like to meet in person. So that afternoon, cousin Joe and his wife Mary met us in the Bass Pro parking lot and we had a very nice visit in the motorhome. We sat and chatted about many things including our families, and I shared some of the stories of the Wilson family with them. It was a great afternoon.

The next morning (Sunday) we travelled along I-10 from San Antonio and stopped over night in a Walmart in Fort Stockton, Texas. By the time it was dark there were quite a number of RV’s parked around us. It was a rainy evening and night. Fort Stockton is convenient spot for travellers going east or west as it is close to halfway between San Antonio and El Paso. Monday afternoon we arrived in El Paso, Texas and our journey across Texas was soon to come to an end. We stayed at a ____ overnight in Horizon City which is a suburb of El Paso. We stocked up on a few things at the ____ since we wouldn’t be stopping at a ____ for a few days.

Tuesday we were underway again and we had a choice to make about our route. We could drive on I-10 through the city and beyond or find a way around the city. We’ve done the drive through the city and it can be pretty crazy. If we had to go though the city we could go that way. A second option was to go around the city. That gave me a couple more choices. There is a bypass that we could take that would eventually lead us to a mountain pass at the end and then back on I-10 north of the city. A variation would take us on the bypass and exit before the mountain pass part and then follow secondary roads around the north of the mountain and then back to I-10. I decided to go on the bypass and determined that if the trucks continued on to the mountain I would follow. Well as we got to the mountain I had passed some of the trucks and I looked behind me to see trucks turning off and it was too late, I was past the last exit. Wow…… That was a steeeep… climb. And it just kept going and going. But we made it. There were a couple trucks on the pass but it was pretty much all cars. We did it but we won’t do it again.

We continued on into New Mexica and then into Arizona all the way to Huachuca City and stopped for a couple nights at Quail Ridge RV Resort. We had spent the last 5 days in cloudy skies and rain and it was nice to finally be in the sun and warmth.

…. oh and in case you didn’t figure it out ……

____ ….it’s Walmart

Tuesday’s drive was much shorter and we arrived at Mabank, Texas shortly after lunch and got set up at the municipal campground. We had hydro, water and sewer connections which is always nice. After lunch we drove a few miles to Wes’ house and spent the afternoon visiting. Wes has a great place in a mostly bush property in the country outside of Mabank. Wes served up some street tacos for supper which were very good. We stayed into the evening and then back to the Motorhome.

Wednesday morning Kim had some journalling to do and I set about to fix our coffeemaker. We have a under the counter type coffeemaker that is original to the Motorhome and it has worked great until it didn’t. This one is so convenient for us that we would rather not have to replace it with one that takes up room on the counter. Well I like to fix things (well most things) so I set out to do just that. My first problem was that the case was held together with security torx screws. For those who don’t know, a torx security screw is a torx screw with a small post in the middle that won’t allow a regular torx screwdriver to fit into it. It requires a very special tool to remove. I found a work around for those who might run into this some time. I used a small flat screwdriver that you would find in a miniature screwdriver set and was able to insert it beside the post and removed the screw. I know that’s too much information for most people so, if you like, you can just pretend that you didn’t read it. Anyway, I did get the case off and began testing everything. I finally discovered that one of the connections had become dirty or corroded and just needed a little cleaning, and voila, it worked. I’m always quite pleased when I can repair something instead of just throwing it out. Sometimes I like the challenge.

I called around to a few Mobile RV service people in the Mabank area to see if I could find someone who could fix my propane generator on the Motorhome. I didn’t get any responses to my inquiries that day. Later in the day we headed back to Wes’ for Happy Hour and jammed a little on guitar.

Thursday morning we met Wes at his place at 9:30 and headed off to 1st Monday. The show/sale runs for 4 days. The show starts on the Thursday before the first Monday of every month. It’s basically a huge flea market. Actually, it’s the largest flea market in the USA. It has been in operation since 1851. And this place is HUGE……. For a Thursday it was very busy too…I can only imagine how busy it is on the weekend. We spent probably 5 hours walking around and only made a dent in it. Wes was after horseshoes and railroad spikes and Kim was after things to do with stationary and writing. Both were successful in their searches.

Friday morning I went and got some groceries and I took the car in to get an oil change. In the afternoon we stayed at the RV. I mentioned that I tried to find an RV tech… well, of the 3 I contacted, only one responded. He called me while were at the trade show; we talked for a bit and he said he would stop by on Friday at 3:00. That was the main reason we stayed around the RV for the day on the off chance he might arrive early. Nope…. he didn’t show. He didn’t call to let us know he couldn’t make….nothing. I tried calling him a couple times but no response. I was hoping to get this taken care of but not this time. We decided to just crash for the rest of the day at the RV.



On Saturday Kim and I headed into Dallas. I wanted to get 2 new batteries for the house part of the Motorhome. I was successful at the first store we tried. Next was to find a new sewer hose. After an unsuccessful search at a couple RV Stores we ended up buying one at ….Walmart….. Next stop was lunch and we already had planned where that would be Lockhart Barbq in the Bishop Arts district close to downtown Dallas. Wes brought us here the first year we visited him in 2019. It was excellent then and it was excellent now. This is the best Barbq brisket I have ever had. I like to think I make a pretty good brisket but there is no comparison. It’s not cheap though, but it was worth extra money this once. Downtown Dallas is not a fun place to drive. I would be totally lost with GPS. We went to Wes’ for Happy Hour later in the afternoon and stayed early into the evening.

Sunday was the last full day to spend here in Mabank. We went to Wes’ after lunch for some football and he cooked a Sunday roast beef dinner for us for supper, just like our parents made Sunday roast for after church back in the day . It was excellent… just like Aunt Ruth (Wes’ Mom) used to make… In the evening Wes’ neighbour, Steve, stopped by for a visit. It was a nice comfortable evening on the porch.

We struck out from Mabank on Monday morning and headed toward Magnolia Beach on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.



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Well, much time has passed since last I posted a blog. Many things have changed in that time for all of us. We have been looking forward to a return to the US south for the winter for some time and now we have finally begun our journey. We had some last minute repairs done on the Motorhome before we left home and we have one issue remaining that we hope to have taken care of while we are in the South. We left home on October 24th. Our first planned stop was going to be at a Meijers in New Baltimore, Michigan but once we got across the border at Port Huron we just decided to keep going to our first overnight stop and pick up any groceries we needed. Our stop at the border was quite easy. Sometimes there can be many questions to answer but this time was simply a matter of showing our passports and a question about fruits and vegetables. Our first night’s stay was at a Walmart in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

In the morning we drove on to Noblesville, Indiana. We met up with my cousin Beth Mollet and her husband John for lunch. I hadn’t seen Beth in many years but we had reconnected in the last couple of years over the internet. It was a great visit, just chatting and reminiscing about old family tales and news. We visited for a couple hours and then got back on the road and headed to Bowling Green, Kentucky. We overnighted at a Cabela’s there. We had a nice spot on the edge of the parking lot with a big open green space and nice trees. In the morning we took some time to look around the store.

Back on the road, and this time the destination is Nashville. We had booked 3 nights at the Nashville Cabins and RV Resort. It wasn’t cheap but it is never cheap to stay in Nashville. Our first choice was to stay at Two Rivers RV Resort but it was booked up. We’ve stayed at Two Rivers before and it’s a great park. Nashville Cabins and RV Resort was very nice as well but a little pricier. Our first night in Nashville was Thursday. Friday morning we drove our car into downtown Nashville. Parking can be hard to find sometimes and expensive but I found a parking garage at the Nashville City Center for $10 for 5 hours and lots of spaces available. We strolled around downtown taking in the sights and stopped for lunch at Jack’s Barbq. The Barbq brisket is excellent and we did quite enjoy it. We have been to Nashville a couple times before so we’ve done a lot of the touristy things, but it is nice just walking around and listening to the bands playing in all the bars. We’re not really into the Nightclub/bar scene so we didn’t need to stay downtown into the evening. After a few hours of walking we headed back to the car.

Next stop was the Belmont Mansion. This house was built in the mid 1800’s before the Civil War. At the time it was the largest home in the Nashville area. It has been restored and is open to visitors. It’s a very impressive house. This is one of those places that’s worth seeing if you’re in the area.

Saturday morning we got in the car and took a drive. Our first stop was the top of a hill called Circle Drive which is supposed to be the highest point in Nashville. The roads are very narrow on the way to the top but upon reaching the summit it was a little disappointing. The actual center of the top, which is surrounded by Circle Dr. is fenced off and there is nowhere to stop on the circle. The view was obstructed by trees mostly. Ok then, off we go to the next stop. We drove down Belle Meade Boulevard to the end. Belle Meade is a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Nashville that is home to many very large homes. At the end of the street is a impressive set of stone stairs that lead up from the street. We decided to climb them and soon realized they were much longer and steeper than we anticipated. We pushed on and made it to the top. Then we decided we could go for a walk on the trail system that meanders through the hills. We eventually reached a very nice lookout at the summit that overlooked the city albeit quite a distance from the skyline. Since our plan was only to climb the stairs we didn’t bring any water with us and it was quite warm. The trip back down was much easier, of course, so we were fine. We had a little picnic lunch on a bench in the shade by the entrance and then off again.

We decided to travel a few miles on the Natchez Trace from the north end. We probably went 20 miles or so and then exited and headed towards Franklin. The Trace is beautiful and runs from just south west of Nashville down to Natchez, Mississippi for a total of 440 miles. There is controlled access to the parkway but there are many places to get on and off. The speed limit is 50 mph and no commercial vehicles are allowed, (all RVs all allowed on). The road just winds its way along following a route that was used by American Indians, settlers, slave traders and soldiers. Back in March of 2019 we travelled from Jackson, Mississippi to Nashville on our way home.

Our last “non” stop was Franklin as we discovered that there was a pumpkin fest happening and it was crazy crowded. We just passed on through and drove back to the park.

Monday morning we were back on the road and headed to Birmingham, Alabama. Overnight stop just north of the city at a Walmart. I sent off a text to my cousin Wes in Texas to let him know that we were planning to stop at his place soon but we weren’t sure exactly when at that point. He told us that the 1st Monday Trade Show would be starting on the coming Thursday and wondered if we might be interested. Well, that was a yes and so we changed our plans to arrive at Wes’ earlier. Our original plan was to head down to the Gulfport area of Mississippi for a few days but we decided to forego that and do 1st Monday instead. So Tuesday we started a long day’s drive (for us) to Shreveport, Louisiana. We stayed overnight on the north side of the city at Walmart.

This is the first installment of catching you all up on our travels….. more to come

Well it has been a long time since I posted last. I can’t seem to find any good excuses for that. So I guess I’ll just bring you up to date with what we’ve been doing. So much time has gone by and much has happened in those 2 months. This post will be a catch-up and I’ll just cover the main things. My last post was way back near the beginning of March. We’re still in Yuma getting ready to head to Lake Havasu.

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We spent about 5 days in an area just north of Lake Havasu called Lone Tree BLM. It’s another free camping area. Keith was boondocking here, and although it was a little crowded, we managed to find a spot. We did a little shopping while here and we took a day with the gang, Bill and Patsy, Bob and Jo-Anne, and Keith to visit London Bridge in Lake Havasu and then took the water taxi to the new Casino. We had lunch at the Casino while we were there. It was a beautiful sunny day and quite warm. On another day Bill and Patsy and Kim and I went to visit George and Rose who have a home in Lake Havasu.

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Our next stop was Ridgeview RV Resort in Bullhead City. We stayed there for 7 days. Bill and Patsy were staying at another RV park about 5 miles away called Silver View RV Resort. Keith stayed there as well. Both Parks are membership parks but Bill and Patsy were able to get Keith into the park as their guests and couldn’t do that at the park we stayed at. For those of you unfamiliar with how membership parks and affiliations work it’s a little complicated. Each camping membership has its own set of rules and so it’s a learning curve to fully take advantage of what each one offers. When we arrived Dave and Cheryl were just a few sites away from us. They were heading out the next morning so we spent one last happy hour with them for this season.

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While here in Bullhead City the weather was kind of mixed. We had some nice days and a few kinda crummy days. We managed to take in a few of the sites. There’s a nice River Walk by the Casinos in Laughlin on the west side of the Colorado River. The River is the dividing line between Arizona and Nevada in this area.

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We took a day with Bill and Patsy and Keith to drive up to Oatman. We were there last year but this was Keith’s first time. We arrived in the morning just about the time the town was coming to life. It was a little on the cool side but warmed as the day went on. Actually on this trip there were 7 of us in two vehicles. Keith was with Kim and I, and Bill and Patsy had Jim and Sharon with them. We met Jim and Sharon earlier in Yuma. Oatman is a great little touristy town high in a mountain pass. After Oatman we drove on to Kingman Arizona and stopped in to a little retro diner called Mr D’z. It was a fairly full day and a lot of fun.

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While we were in Bullhead City Keith and Kim and I went to check out a boondocking spot just north of Laughlin on the west side of the river. Jim had told us about this spot and said it was great. The access road was very long and a little rugged. What a great spot this was. You can camp right along the river. The area was very level and there were only a few other campers down there. We were in the car for this trip, but I think depending on the conditions of this access road I would be able to get the Motorhome down there. What a beautiful spot. As it turned out, the next couple days we had a lot of rain and I was thinking that the access road had probably become impassable. That would certainly be a concern if we ever decide to stay there some time.

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We left Bullhead City on Saturday March 21. We were a convoy of 3 vehicles. Bill and Patsy, Keith and us. We headed east toward Kingman and then got on I-40 to begin our journey home. Once outside Bullhead City there is a long hill to climb. I was actually a little concerned about this one. It’s a 13 mile climb on a 6% grade. I had done many climbs that were this steep but not this long and not pulling a car. I was concerned about overheating. It was a little nerve-racking but I just kept downshifting to keep the revs up and everything was fine. By the time we got to the top we were probably only doing about 25 mph but we made it and that was the important thing. We were headed to Williams, Arizona and we were going to see the Grand Canyon. We planned to boondock on one of the fireroads just outside Grand Canyon National park. As it turned out there had been too much rain there in the previous days and the areas were just too mucky. We did drive down one of the fire roads and ended up backing up to the main road as there was no place to turn around.

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We left 2 vehicles in a spot at the end of the fire road and the 5 of us travelled the rest of the way to the Grand Canyon in our Motorhome. The Grand Canyon is AWESOME. It was a little chilly and it rained a little while we were there, but it was still amazing. When you see pictures of the Grand Canyon it looks impressive but seeing it in person is fantastic. I took lots of pictures and I think I got a few good ones. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend there and we knew that before we went but it was worth it just for the short time we were here. We’ll definitely be back. The problem for us travelling in this area in March is that the top of the canyon is at a very high elevation so at that time of year it is usually quite cool. Last year the temperature was well below freezing. But it was great to be there in spite of the weather. We stayed in Williams for the night at a Loves’ truck stop. By the time we got stopped it was cold and blustery and it was cold overnight.

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Sunday we got on the road fairly early but only made it as far as the freeway entrance and Bill and Patsy were pulling over. It turned out that a clamp had broken on the Turbocharger on their truck. Between Bill and Keith they managed to make a quick fix, although temporary, and we were back on the road. We were on our way to Winslow, Arizona. Does that ring any bells?. This place is on my bucket list. I read about it a few years ago when we started dreaming of travelling around in our retirement. There is a street in Winslow that is quite the tourist attraction. Actually it’s a corner, and you can stand there…. Figured it out yet? And there’s this flat-bed Ford truck there….. ?? And there’s a girl in the truck…. Anyway it was a great day nice and warm and a really nice stop. We were there for an hour and a bit and while there people were coming and going. Most only staying for a few minutes… time to take a few pictures and maybe check out the souvenir shops. Figure it out yet?

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“I was standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona. Such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl my Lord in a flat-bed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”

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After having a quick lunch in Winslow we were back on the road headed for Gallup, New Mexico. We stayed the night in the Walmart. It was quite busy. Quite a few transports and RVs. This day was our first experience of the emptying of the stores as the panic buying of the early days of the Coronavirus began. I didn’t go in the Walmart but Keith was in to get some milk and came out and said the shelves were empty. Kim and Patsy went in to have a look and they were shocked.

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The next morning we headed out and Keith headed off on his own. Keith had decided he was just going to start heading straight home. Our plan was to take our time and spend a few days here and there on our way. Keith was just going to continue on and his plan was to be home by Saturday at that point. Our destination for the day was Albuquerque, New Mexico area. It was a good days driving and we arrived at Hidden Valley RV Resort near Tijeras, New Mexico in the afternoon. Bill was having to take it easy on the hills since his Turbo wasn’t repaired yet. That afternoon though, Bill was able to take the truck in to a Ford dealer in Albuquerque and it was was fixed that afternoon. That sure was a relief for the 2 of them. Our plan was to spend a couple days in the area and explore old Albuquerque, but the next morning Bill told us that they were headed for home. They had gotten quite concerned over the Coronavirus situation and just wanted to get home to Ontario. Well Kim and I decided that we would do the same and so we got ready to go and we were on the road within a short time.

So the plans we had for our trip home were set aside and we made a dash for Ontario. We left Albuquerque on Tuesday morning and were at home in Ingersoll in the early evening on Friday. We covered 2700 kms in 4 days. Tuesday we drove to Elk City, Oklahoma. We did make a stop in the morning on Tuesday at the Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, Texas. Back in the 1970’s, 10 Cadillac cars were buried nose first into the ground as an art piece. Since that time it has become folk art. When you visit it you are encouraged to add your own artistic flair with spray paint.

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Wednesday we made it to Joplin, Missouri. Thursday to Terra Haute, Indiana. Long driving days stopping only for fuel and lunch. We did get together with Bill and Patsy at the end of each day to relax a little and chat. As we got closer to home the weather got a little cooler but we were fortunate that there happened to be a warming trend as we approached Ontario. We had one day of driving in the rain. We encountered some really bad roads and some good ones. We saw lots of Rver’s heading north and many that were headed for Ontario. When we crossed the border at Port Huron back in to Canada there were a lot of transport trucks crossing, but we were the only vehicle at customs on the passenger vehicle side. It was a little eerie. A few questions at the border and we were on our way with instructions to quarantine ourselves for 14 days. They closed the border later that evening to non-essential travel between Canada and the USA.

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So the last 7 plus weeks we have been home. the first 2 weeks we went nowhere. Our son Josh picked up some groceries for us soon after we got home. We did have a few other friends drop things off for us as we needed. Things are certainly different these days. They are just beginning to allow things to reopen here in Ontario. In the last couple weeks we have been out to see some friends and we’ve done a little shopping as we’ve needed but mostly we’re stuck at home.

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I have had something on the go that kept me occupied for the last couple weeks. I am building an RC airplane kit. This is a first for me and once it’s finished I’ll learn how to fly this thing. Bill and Keith are both into RC airplanes and so I’ve been getting lots of help from them both. We are very anxious to get back to doing things and going places so we’ll see how everything progresses over the next little while. I hope you all have been well and coping with what’s been happening as of late. We’re looking forward to better times and warmer weather.

Thanks for your patience with regard to my tardy blogging. Enjoy your summer!!!

Well we’ve spent a month back in Yuma at Pilot Knob RV Resort.  Bill and Patsy Richards are here for the month and Keith Schneider is here as well.  It’s been mostly a time for relaxing.  I’ve been playing bocce ball and poker a couple times a week.  As the month progressed the temperatures continued to rise with highs during the day near the end of month reaching high 70’s – low 80’s F (25-27°C).  

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I won’t go into a lot of detail as to what we did each day but I’ll tell you about some of the highlights.  We arrived at Pilot knob on the 29th of January which was a Friday.  Fridays and Mondays are poker nights so I was usually in attendance.  Friday at suppertime is 5$ burger night at the clubhouse so we went to a few of those.  Monday and Thursday mornings are bocce ball, and I usually played.

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Every other Saturday is Karaoke at the clubhouse.  I went to listen back in December when we were here.  There’s a couple here in the park who volunteer with many of the activites;   Gordon and Barb.  Gordon runs poker and both of them run the Bocce Ball games.  Barb is also the organizer of the Karaoke Nights and she had asked me to sing.  So I decided to go down for Karaoke on Saturday.  Barb almost met me at the door to ask me to sing.  After some arm twisting I agreed.  So I made my public Karaoke debut.  I sang an Elton John song and a James Taylor song. It was a little later in the evening and crowd had dwindled down a lot.  But it went over well.  So I sang again at Karaoke night on the 15th.  I did 7 songs that night.  Gordon and Barb convinced me to go with them on Wednesday to the Palms Resort to the big Karaoke competition.  This runs for 12 weeks I think beginning in December.  Every Wednesday.  Anyone can enter, and each night a singer is chosen to compete in the finals at the end of February.  I went on the last night before the Semi-Finals. Barb warned me that the winners were chosen by the crowd vote and she said it was more of a popularity contest with most of the winners being people from the Palms since the crowd was mostly Palms people.  I decided to sing anyway.  I sang Elton John’s ‘Your Song’.  I thought I did quite well but I was an unknown and I’m sure I didn’t get a lot of votes.  Oh well, it was fun.  I sang again at Karaoke the last weekend at Pilot knob and tried a few more new songs.   

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Sunday February 2nd was Super Bowl so even though Bill isn’t a football fan, he knew that Keith and I are so he invited us to come over to watch the game on his big screen.  Well as it turned out we had a Super Bowl party.  Lots of snack foods and drinks during the game and Chili at halftime.  What an exciting game to watch.  And the company was equally as good.  Thanks Bill and Patsy for putting this all together….. it was fantastic.

On Tuesday we headed into Mexico for some shopping and breakfast. This was not to be our last trip to Mexico;  we ended up going twice more before the end of February.  On Thursday we went the Arizona Marketplace.  I’ve described this place in previous blogs.  We managed to find a few deals.  

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On Tuesday the 11th Bill and Keith and I decided to drive to San Diego to tour the USS Midway.  The Midway is a retired US Aircraft Carrier.  It was a long drive, about 3 hours from the campground to the dock in San Diego.  But it was so worth it.  We left at 7am planning to arrive when it opened at 10am.  We forgot the time change from Mountain time to Pacific time so we arrived a 9am instead.  We walked around the waterfront area for a while waiting for the gates to open.  There is a nice park on the waterfront with a nice walking path along the water.  We took the time to take some pictures. We were right near the front of the line for the ticket booth.  At 10am the booth opened and we were on our way aboard the ship.  The first stop is the hangar level.  I was surprised at how large the hanger was; it was almost as long as the ship and as wide.  It must have been been close to 40′ high.  They had several aircraft on display in the hangar as well a theatre and food area.  Up on the flight deck there were many more aircraft on display and there were many information lectures and demonstrations where you could learn about the various activities happening during a typical day on the carrier.  Things like landing, takeoff, armaments etc.  Very interesting stuff.  Without telling about the whole tour which would take a lot of words, I’ll just say the tour is a self guided audio tour of almost the entire ship.  You see the living quarters, the various messes, the engine room, the officer’s quarters, the brig, the bridge etc.  Pretty much everything of interest onboard the ship.  Along the way there are many volunteers to answer any and all questions you might have.  I think all the volunteers are ex-servicemen.  Many were Navy veterans who served on the ships as well as Navy pilots who would have flown off carriers like the Midway.  I think we were onboard close to 5 hours.  This was without a doubt the best museum tour I have ever been on.  If you’re ever in or close to San Diego this is an absolute must see.

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Our new friend Doug Laning, who we met at Quartzsite, arrived at Pilot Knob around the middle of the month with his new to him Safari Serengeti Motorhome.  Doug had a C class motorhome and decided to upgrade to a diesel pusher A class.  It’s a very nice coach and much longer than his C class.  He had a few issues to work through at first and now he has a bit of a learning curve to learn all the new features of his Class A.  Doug stayed for a week in the park and then moved out to the BLM area behind the park.  Doug joined us most days for happy hour.  Speaking of happy hour, we usually got together with Bill and Patsy and Keith for happy hour at 3pm.  We took turns hosting.  We had different people join us depending who happened to be around. It was always a good way to catch up with each other.

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On Thursday the 20th Ken and Shirley Kay arrived in the BLM behind Pilot Knob for a couple nights  They joined us for Happy Hour.  Nice to see them again.  They were just passing trough on their way east.

On Saturday the 22nd Bill and I went to the Yuma RC Club Air show.  The morning didn’t look promising and it rained on our way to the field but then the sun came out and after a short delay the show went on as planned.  I came to the show last year and this year’s show was almost as good. It might be that last year’s was a new experience for me.  I do enjoy the jets.  They go screaming by at 200+ miles per hour.  Remember these are remote control aircraft.  Pretty impressive.

On Sunday the 23rd Keith headed out bound for Quartzsite for a couple of days and then further north to Emerald Cove resort near Parker.  We’ll meet up with him again in March in Lake Havasu. Patsy and Bill left on February 29th, and we’ll also catch up to them in Lake Havasu.

That’s kinda the highlights of the month.  We did make a couple more trips to Mexico and many more mini shopping trips to the Yuma Palms Mall.  Kim’s favorite was Marshall’s and mine was Hobby Lobby.  I’ve built a couple plastic model kits in my relaxing time.  Also a favorite of Kim’s is Goodwill, so we’ve made a “few” trips there as well.  

I did a couple upgrades to the motorhome while here in the park.  I ordered a new tv antenna head and installed that.  Now we get good over-the-air TV reception when we happen to be in area with TV towers nearby.  I also replaced the propane detector inside.  I replaced the handle on the side of the front passenger seat that allows the seat to move forward and backward.

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It was nice spending more time here in the park this year.  We got to know a lot more people and made some good friends.  Looking forward to coming back next winter.  

So now you’re caught up again.  We’ve headed off for Lake Havasu and we’ll stay there until the weekend and then head up to Bullhead City for a week.  After that we’ll start to slowly make our way east back to Ontario.

So long for now….

Well it’s been more than a few days since my last post.  So we’ve been at Quartzsite now for almost 3 weeks.  We arrived on Saturday Jan 11.  Our travel from Holtville took us back through Yuma and then up US 95 north to Quartzsite.  We passed La Posa South LTVA, which is our destination, and went right into town.  We stopped for fuel at the Arco station on the east side of town cause it’s an easy in and out for the Motorhome with the car dolly in tow.  Also they seem to always have the cheapest fuel.  Next we filled up our propane at the 76 station in the centre of town, also an easy in and out.  Afterwards we headed back out of town and arrived at La Posa South about 3:30 pm.  For those of you unfamiliar with boondocking in the desert, I’ll explain a couple of terms.  We are camping on BLM land which is federally owned land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Much of the Arizona desert is BLM and there are many places to park with an RV and camp (boondock) for free.  Boondocking is camping without any amenities, including no washroom facilities.  LTVA stands for Long Term Visitor Area.  These are areas in the BLM system which have some facilities.  No water or electrical hookups, but they may contain dump stations and water fill-up stations and a garbage facility.  LTVAs charge a fee for either a short term permit at $40 for 14 days or long term permit of $180 for 6 months.  If you buy a permit at one LTVA’s it can also be used at another of the associated LTVAs.  You can see by the cost of the 6 month permit that it is easy very economical way to boondock in the desert even with some facilities.  So we’re at La Posa South LTVA just south from Quartzsite about 4 miles and we’re camped in the middle of the desert.  This LTVA has all the facilities I mentioned above and there are also pit toilets spread out in the area.  Fortunately for us and many of the RVers out here, we’re mostly self contained.  We have solar power and a generator.  We really have all the comforts of home.  Our only concern is conserving our power and water. No long showers, using minimal amounts of water to do dishes, that kind of thing.  We can spend 12 days boondocking without having to dump our holding tanks and get fresh water depending on how we conserve. So that’s your brief explanation of boondocking in Arizona.

Sunday, Jan 12 was kind of a relaxing day.  I did go into Quartzsite to an RV service and parts store called RV Lifestyles to get a few replacement gas struts for our outside compartment doors.  I bought a few last January when we were here.  They have the best prices I’ve seen so far.  So I got those and installed them when I got back to the motorhome.  Monday was also a relaxing day.  When we came in on Saturday we planned to park in the same area we had been in last year.  We discovered that area already occupied.  So we drove around a bit in the LTVA and found another spot that would accomodate several RVs.  We wanted a spot large enough to accomodate 5+ RV’s.  We had a bit of a dilemma.  You see in BLM boondocking there are no campsites per se, you just find a spot.  We tried to make as big a footprint as we could so that no other RV’s would park in “our” area.  We parked our motorhome in the middle and parked the car a little distance away.  Most campers try to keep some distance away from each other out of courtesy.  This seemed to work but it also meant that if we drove off in the car, our area was unprotected from intrusion.  Anyway, we really didn’t have any place to be so we just relaxed and enjoyed the outdoors.  Our plan worked well and in the end we had room for all who came.

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On Tuesday our first friends, Tom and Deb, arrived.  Actually Deb arrived first in their tow car to find us and she waited with us while Tom went to town for propane etc. much the same as we did when we arrived.  Once Tom arrived we discussed how we wanted to arrange our RVs and they found a nice spot and set up camp.  We also moved our Motorhome to better accomodate others who would arrive later.  It was great to see Tom and Deb.  We last saw them in the Quartzsite area in March of last year.  We spent time catching and enjoyed happy hour together that afternoon. 

Wednesday morning we learned that our good friend George Yates had passed away.  George and Suzie had become such good friends in a very short time.  We met them both in May of 2018 at Rock Glen RV park.  Kim had started following George’s blog a couple years before when we started thinking thinking about retiring with our RV.  They have been fulltime RVers for many years and gladly shared so much information with us.  We always looked forward to seeing them whenever we happened to be in the same area.  George always had a big smile on his face and I’m (we’re) lucky to have known him.  George welcomed us into the group of people we now call our friends last year, right here in Quartzsite.

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Today also saw the arrival of another group.  Bill and Patsy, and Bob and Jo-Anne, travelled up from Pilot Knob.  Everybody found a spot and got set up.  Our group has grown.  So we gathered together in Quartzsite for the upcoming RV Show that began on Jan 18th and runs for 8 days.  This area is the Southwest RV mecca for that week.  I described it last year in my blog in detail I think.  So briefly, there are thousands of RVs here.  Some estimates are as high a 100,000 RVs gather in the Quartzsite area for show week.  There are over 50 RV parks in the town of Quartzsite and the surrounding desert is full of RVs.  It really is something you have to experience to fully understand.  After the show is over most people move on to other locations.  But during the show the town is bustling.  Crowds of people and traffic jams.  Along side the main show there are many vendors who setup their wares in the area around the show.  

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Thursday Kim and I travelled in to Quartzsite to check out some of the vendors in an area near the show grounds known as Tyson Wells.  There were many vendors already open with more to come.  We thought we would wander around before the crowds show up. A couple small purchases were made but we knew we would be back again.

On Friday Keith, whom we met at Pilot Knob arrived with his RV and we had a spot for him too.  Keith is from Tillsonburg, Ontario.  Friday is also the day when many RVs arrive to the area.  There are several groups who get together in La Posa South.  There is a Wanderlodge group (Wanderlodge is a brand of Motorhome made by Bluebird),  There’s a Monaco group (also an RV Brand), and there’s also the Rainbow RVers group.  There are other various groups as well.  One more notable group is the Entegra group.  Entegra is a brand of very high end motorhomes.  They had a very large group and because of the size of their motorhomes they could only take certain paths through the desert to get to their meeting area.  Their route happened to go right past our group area.  So Friday was what we began to call the Entergra parade.  We enjoyed watching all these expensive Motorhomes drive past.  It was like having our own RV show.  These coaches start in the neighbourhood of $450K US and go to in excess of $750K US.  Yikes!!!.  It was fun just the same to watch them drive pass.

So Saturday was the start of the really big shoo.  We wanted to be there when the gates opened.  The whole gang of us arrived at the show at about 8:15 and waited for the gates to open at 9:00.  It was a bit of a chilly start to the day but we tried to stand in the sun to stay warmer.  Once the gates opened there was a flood of people and off we went.  The main attraction is the Big Tent which contains many RV related vendors.  RV parks are represented and there are many aftermarket RV accessory companies.  Outside around the big tent are more vendors and food booths.  Next to this area there are RV dealers and they have many RVs on hand, new and used, that you can view.  The thing about opening day is that many of the vendors have free stuff to give out.  It’s all promotional stuff and many offered the same types of things.  The most popular being drink coozies and lip balms it seemed.  So we all made our way around the aisles gathering all our goodies in our promotional bags.  We had quite the haul.  We sat around at happy hour that afternoon talking about our “treasures”.  It was actually quite fun.  After we made our first pass through the tent I went back to talk to some vendors about Tire Pressure Monitor Systems (TPMS).  I had done my research ahead of time so I knew what I was looking for.  I talked to several vendors and got prices etc. but didn’t buy anything.  Kim and I were home by lunchtime or thereabouts.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

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Sunday morning I headed back in to the show before it got too busy to buy one of the TPMS.  I bought an EEzRV Tire monitor system.  The price was good and it has a very high rating from any reviews that I could find online. I had some issues getting the system running properly but in the end I’m quite satisfied with it.  I’ll have to wait to see how it performs down the road.  Also on Sunday was the surprise arrival of our friends Ken and Shirley from Nevada.  We had hoped to see them this winter but it seemed they weren’t going to made it to Quartzsite while we were all here.  Their stay was going to be a short one as they had to get back homes for some appointments.  But it was great to see them.  So we all had a very enjoyable long happy hour together.  I haven’t been mentioning happy hours much in this post, but it’s a given out here.  Any time friends gather together they are sure to be having happy hour together. In the evening we had a campfire together with wood that Bob had been gathering on his trip.  Campfires are rare for us out in Arizona because there are no trees to speak of in the desert and buying firewood is quite expensive.

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On Monday a group of 15 of us went for pizza at Silly Al’s Pizza in town.  We went at 3:30 hoping to beat the rush but the place was packed.  So we waited for quite a long time to get a table for all of us but eventually had to break up into 2 groups.  Silly Al’s Pizza is excellent and worth the wait.  George Yates was the one who introduced us all to Silly Al’s so we gathered there for pizza while we all were in Quartzsite as kind of a tribute to him.

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Tuesday a few of us went back in to the RV show and toured around Tyson Wells in the morning.  

On Wednesday morning Kim and I went into town to tour some of the Motorhomes at RV Country.  They had quite a few of the Entegra coaches I mentioned earlier on display.  As is usually the case we didn’t see any we really liked.  Phew,  that saved me a lot of money.  We really don’t like a lot of the new Motorhomes.   They just don’t have floorplans that we like.  And most have cheap leather furniture.  In the afternoon we had guests at our happy hour.  Dave and Cheryl are staying up in Parker and drove down for the show and then dropped by.  We began our happy hour with Bill saying a few words in remembrance of George and champagne was poured and we all raised our glasses to George and a life well lived.

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I’m not sure who I borrowed this last picture of George from, but I hope you don’t mind my using it here. It just seemed fitting

Thursday morning we started up the motorhome and headed down to the dump station to empty tanks and fill up our water tank.  During show week there is always a long line of RVs doing the same thing, so we waited in line for 1 3/4 hrs.  Oh well it’s got to be done.  While we waited, Kim got some computer work done so that’s good.   After arriving back at our spot Ken and Shirley were getting ready to head out on the way back home.  We all said our good-byes and off they went.  We may still see them another time before we head home.  Another new guest to happy hour was Doug Laning.  He’s a fellow RV blogger from Illinois, who other members of the group know, but whom Kim and I met for the first time.  Doug’s blog is Miss Adventure Travels. Bill and Keith left happy hour early to go into the Quartzsite RC Club airfield to do some flying.  I followed later before sunset to take some pictures.  The club gathers on Thursday evening to fly planes with lights on them.  It makes for an interesting show at dusk and on into darkness.  Got some nice pictures but its hard to get good crisp shots in low light when the planes are moving as well.

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 Friday morning Bob and Jo-Anne headed out on their way to the Indio, California area to visit some of Bob’s relatives.  We’ll probably see them again in a few weeks back in Yuma.  Kim and I went back into Quartzsite to another RV place called Mesa RV.  They actually had a few Motorhomes we liked.  There was a new Winnebago Horizon that was nice (and expensive).  Also they had a 2011 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 43ft.  That was very nice but still out of our price range.  We’re quite happy with our Journey but we always like looking.

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Saturday we went to the Bloggerfest.  Its a get-together of blogging friends who happen to be in Quartzsite.  There were about 9 of there.  We all introduced ourselves and our blogs and then chatting together about blogging and such.  It’s mostly just an informal gathering and we didn’t stay a long time.  Happy hour again with the usual group.

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Sunday morning I headed back into the airfield to take a few more pictures of Bill and Keith flying their planes.  It was a beautiful blue sky and little wind and I did get a few good shots.

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Monday morning Kim and I headed out for a day trip to Joshua Tree National Park.  This is another place on my list of places to see.  We entered the park from the south entrance and there was lots of great scenery.  But the best in my mind was once we got about halfway into the park we began to see Joshua Trees.  The terrain is rugged and each area is slightly different.  Once you get into the Joshua Tree area they are everywhere.  I didn’t discover until almost the end of our trip that I had our SLR camera settings messed up so most of those pictures were pretty washed out.  I did get some good ones.  Kim got some good shots with her iphone so that’s good. We continued all the way north through the park and exited into the town of Joshua Tree.  We then headed back to camp on the north side, outside of the park.  The road east was flat and straight and you could see for miles.  It was a long day on the road, but it was worth the drive.  I’d go back again anytime.  We left Quartzsite about 9:30 in the morning and didn’t get back until after 5:30.  Most of that was driving and stopping to take pictures here and there along the road.

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Tuesday morning, Tom and Deb pulled out and headed down the road to meet up with some other friends for a few days and Wednesday morning Bill and Patsy and Keith headed out on their way to Pilot Knob, back near Yuma.  Kim is doing some work now, Wednesday afternoon, and I’m trying to write this blog.  We have a couple more nights here at La Posa and then we will head down to Pilot Knob on Friday for a couple weeks.  Today is chillier that the last few days and the wind has picked up.  We’ve had some really nice sunny days here in the last 2 weeks+.  Highs in the upper teens and lower 20’s for you Celsius people, and 60’s and 70’s for you Fahrenheit people.  Well now to edit some photos for the blog and do some proofreading and the blog will be done.  And now you’re caught up!!

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and now for your sunset viewing pleasure…

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The first post for 2020.  We’ve moved on from Pilot Knob RV Park.  We’re now down the road to the west at Holtville Hotspring LVTA  (Long Term Visitors Area).  This is BLM land but there is a fee of $40 for 14 days of camping. I’ll get back to that later.  So it’s time to bring you up to date with us over the past week and a bit.

We had our traditional Bar-b-q for supper on New Year’s Eve.  We picked up some bacon wrapped beef tenderloins on sale at Fry’s which were perfect for a Bar-b-q.  We had that along with Baked Potatoes.  It sure was nicer Barb-q-ing in the desert than at home in the cold and snow.  I remember some pretty cold New Year’s Eves standing outside cooking up some filet mignon.  We celebrated the evening with Bill and Patsy. We played some card games and a couple games of Bananagrams.  We watched the ball drop in New York city at 10 pm Arizona time.  We were back to the RV shortly after 11:30 I think.  Interestingly Yuma has quite a big New Year’s Eve celebration of their own, although we didn’t attend.  They have an iceberg lettuce drop to coincide with the New York ball drop and then do it again at midnight Mountain time (Arizona time).  They also have live music.  It’s a regular party in downtown Old Yuma.

On Thursday Tom and Deb pulled out and headed west to a boondocking area just down the road.  We also played some Bocce Ball in the morning.  Not too big of a group that morning.  The weather was almost perfect too.  

Friday we went with Bill and Patsy to the burger night at the park clubhouse.  I played some poker Friday evening.

Sunday morning we left Pilot Knob and came out to Holtville.  We want to use this as a jumping off point to explore further into California.  We found a very nice spot close to the main “road” through the camping area.  A few clumps of bushes around us give a little bit of privacy.   Not that its necessary out here since everyone is spread out pretty well.  

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On Monday we headed out for a drive with a destination of Borrego Springs.  We have heard many of our friends talk about the area so we thought we would check it out.  We got away fairly early.  A little cool as we started out but it didn’t take long for it to warm up.  We headed northwest through Holtville and then north towards the Salton Sea.  The Salton Sea is a dying or dead lake.  There used to be many Tilapia in it that were introduced to the lake because of its salt water.  The salinity of the water has increased over the years to the point where almost all of the fish have died.  The surface of the lake is 237 ft. below sea level.  The history of the Salton Sea is quite interesting, you might google it if you’re interested.

We skirted around the southwest edge of the lake and then headed NW through the Anza-Borrego State Park towards Borrego Springs. 

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Our goal was to see the large metal sculptures that we have heard about, out in the desert surrounding the town.  Our Google maps lead us to the area of the sculptures and we spent an hour or so taking photos of the various sculpture.  Quite an accomplishment for one person. 

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We then drove around to find the business area of the town.  We passed through a residential area near the Golf Club which had some very nice houses in it.  But away from there the property was a little run-down.  We did manage to find the “downtown”.  It was quite small but did have a few stores and a small plaza.  We ate lunch at Carmelita’s Cantina.  It was a Mexican restaurant mostly.  I had a Burrito and a Taco and Kim had a Burrito and an Enchilada.  The food was very good.  Kim says better than the places we go to in Los Algodones, Mexico.

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After lunch we decided to head up into the mountains to Julian.  It was quite the drive.  Lots of twists and turns.  Probably even more than the road we travelled last year up to Oatman in Arizona.  This road to Julian passes through the Anza- Borrego Park as well.  The scenery was stunning.  The road had some steep drop offs.  This is not a road to travel in an RV.  Anyway once in Julian we found it rather interesting.  Lots of shops.  The normal boutique type shops you would see in a tourist stop.  The one thing Julian seems to be known for though, is the Julian Pie Company.  The location in Julian is where the business started and where they have their store/restaurant.  They make 2000 pies a day at their shop, high in the mountains, in Santa Ysabel.  Santa Ysabel is just 10 minutes away.  They will ship pies all over the USA from their Santa Ysabel location.  I got a piece of Dutch Apple pie and Kim got a couple muffins (an apple walnut and a pumpkin) to take back the RV with us.  I had the pie later in the evening and it was great. Kim said the apple walnut was her favorite.

The tempertaure this day was about 73F (23C) in Borrego Springs, but once we got up into the mountains the temperature fell drastically and it was very windy.  It was in the in the low 50’s F (low teens in Celsius).  After Julian we began our 2 hour drive back to Holtville.  This was also a nice drive back down through another canyon.   We arrived back at the RV around 4 PM Pacific time.  Home in time to see a nice sunset and then to have some supper.  It was a long day so neither of us stayed up too late that night.

We considered taking Tuesday off from sightseeing, but once we were up and rested in the morning we decided to head out again.  This time our destination was Salvation Mountain and possibly Slab City.  And then take a drive around the Salton Sea and back to camp.  Again we got a relatively early start and drove north to the village of Niland and then out to Slab City.  On the road into Slab City, you can’t miss seeing Salvation Mountain sitting off to the right from the roadway.  This was our stop so we got out and wandered around for a bit.  We were allowed to climb on the mountain up the yellow brick road.  The entire “mountain” is a kind of paper mache.  The mountain is built on an existing mound of dirt and rock.  Straw was then used to cover the ground and adobe covers the straw.  The entire structure is covered with vivid paint.  There are some parts of the structure that are damaged but it is constantly being repaired.  The weather takes a toll on the mountain.  It is a very unique thing to see.

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We then decided to take a drive into Slab City.  It’s an interesting place.  It’s somewhat like other boondocking locations but the RV’s and other structures are in all different states of disrepair.  Many of the residents are long term but there are some who are obviously transient.  You see decrepit old trailers as well a modern Motorhome.  We didn’t stop to walk around and talk to people, we just kinda took a tour.  

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We continued to make our way around the eastern side of the Salton Sea.  We stopped for a brief lunch along the side of the road.  Another few miles and we came upon a couple of State Campgrounds.  Each was somewhat close to the Lake.  The first one was basically a boondocking spot with pit toilets.  It was $10 a night.  The second campground had hookups and was $20 dollars a night.  This campground had a camp host and we stopped and chatted with him for quite a while.  He was very knowledgeable about the area and the Salton Sea.  We continued around north of the lake and discovered many Date farms.  There was a much higher concentration of Date farms here than we’ve seen any where else here in the southwest. 

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At this point we were only about 40 miles from Palm Springs, so we decided to continue on to there.  We didn’t have a lot of time to spend there so we located a neighbourhood called Ruth Hardy Park and toured around for a bit to see all the up-scale residences.  This is the area known as the Movie Colony.  Many of the West Coast celebrities had homes in this area.  People like Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and the like.  Kim got a few photos as we drove around.  So just a quick tour and then back on the road to Holtville and our RV.  

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We got back to the RV around 4:30 and relaxed a bit before supper.  Another nice sunset and a relaxing evening.  

So now its Wednesday and this will be our “at the RV” day.  I’ve used the day to write this blog and Kim has spent the better part of today doing some work.  Its a nice warm afternoon and its now about 2:00 pm.  So I’m going to stop working on the blog until later.  I’ll add some photos and get Kim to do some proofreading and editing.  I should have this post up this evening.

I’ll post again after we get to Quartzsite in a few days or so.