Thursday, December 19, 2019

Busy couple of days......




Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA
 
I missed posting yesterday, I was too lazy. So I'll just combine the posts now. How do ya like that? Two for one. A two fer. 
 

 This was the sunset on Monday night.

 The sky was yellow and then orange.


It's been a bit coolish and more windy than not the last couple of days. It's not awning ripping winds but awning shaking winds. However we have tried the pool noodles under the big slide awning and it seems to help a great deal.  I think we need another noodle or two to actually make it stop all together. 
 
 
 So orange with wisps of yellow here and there. 


And much later it finally calmed until on the faintest line of orange was left. 
 
 
Lots of sun the last few days. An amazing sunset last night, the light show was jaw dropping as you can see in the photos below. Yesterday our errand was to haul over to the Chevron to dump our tanks. We had debated about doing on Thursday but since we had to be at an appointment for 9:30 AM I thought it wise to leisurely dump the afternoon before, and we simply stayed hooked up over night. Much easier start to the morning with no worries of getting behind someone else at the dump station. 
 
 These two came flying by, quite low and certainly grabbed everyone's attention.


A closer look at the one in the lead. They weren't in a big hurry and I'm guessing they weren't much higher than the black hills over by American Girl Mine Road. 
 
The Chevron fuel station at Sidewinder Road has changed their pricing policy for dumping. Last year it went by the length of your rig, this year it was a flat fee. In fact for us it didn't matter the price was the same but they didn't ask for length this year, and they also asked for ID to be left to ensure one returned the key. For future reference for myself they also sell firewood. This is a quick and easy dump station only a few miles from our spot and so we were back home with the feet down within the hour. We simply left the outdoor stuff sitting on our mat while we were away. Saved our spot and made less work for us. Chatted with my dad last night for a half hour or so, just catching up on the news. Wind, snow and cold seems to be the news of the day. Hopefully it's not as tough a winter as last year but it's starting out like it.
 
 
Earlier in the day the sun was peeking through the cloud cover and the clouds looked quite dark, but not threatening, almost like they were back lit. 

 
 Off to the south of us the sky was interesting.
 
This morning we had an appointment at 9:30 AM way out in the Foothills at CJ's Repair on Tiffany Lane. We went there last year as well, I was happy with everything except the fact that they didn't seem interested in my issue because I didn't have their 'brand' of system. However interestingly enough, Jason remember me or us, and was interested in the fact that it hasn't really been fixed yet and suggested that perhaps if we had more time they could look at it. I said I'd keep that in mind. He remembered a number of things about us including the fact that Riley travels with me and that we dry camp most of the time.  Good memory!

The clouds are getting more yellow at the edges. You can see a line of haze or something behind the dunes but in front of those far blue mountains.

The sky was full of pink clouds, long billowy lines, soft, curvy row upon row upon row.


Dan was our tech guy today. We added two more batteries to our system, giving us 4 now. He rearranged the other two battery boxes as well, giving us a lot more space in our front compartment. A very nice fellow, seemed to know what he was doing, answered any questions I asked and took his time. Shop time is $105 US per hour. While Dan was over the hour we were only charged for 1 hour labour. We were heading home around 11:30 AM. 
 
 Looking east toward Pilot Knob area.
 
 Looking north toward the mountains.
 
 
Back at our spot we were starting to get things ready to unhook and set up but no power. Nothing, nada, zip, zero. No landing gear, no slides, no lights, nothing. Hmmmmm... I called CJ's and explained. I spoke with Jason and assured him there were no loose wires, something simply not connected and asked for a mobile tech to be sent out. It was working when we left, it should be working now. About 45 minutes later, Jason himself pulls up to the roadway where I've been waiting to direct him to us. Within 5 minutes he figured out the problem and within 15 minutes he was pulling. One of the connector wires was completely taped over and the end was the wrong colour. It simply didn't complete the circuit, no damage, no foul. Jason changed the end to the proper colour, hooked it to the right position and bang we have power. It's all good. Big sigh of relief!!! 
 
 
 Now how can one not be awed by this sight?
 
 The sky was ablaze in pink, deep pink, light pink, crisp pink and fiery pink.
 
 
Within a half hour we were all set up again, and starting to entertain thoughts of lunch. A nice left over roast pork sandwich (from yesterday's lunch of roast pork, baked potatoes and a veggie mix -mushrooms, asparagus, carrots, celery) hit the spot. After which I spent some time reading, and writing this blog post. 
 
 

 
 
So now you are up todate with the happenings here at the Igloo. A busy few days for us, going, going, going. I think we'll take tomorrow off from any 'town' stuff and perhaps find a nice place to take a bit of a hike. I'm looking forward to that. 
 
The sky is huge out here in the desert and you can see it's filled with pink clouds.


So beautiful. 
 
So on that note, thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the photos. They are of sunsets taken over the last few days.  
 
 You can see some of the pink is starting to fade now.



Darkness is coming.....
 
Until next time... take care, be safe, 
 
And we fade to black......
 
 
Deb
 
 
 
 
 
 

14 comments:

  1. Glad they got everything working properly for you. We also use Four Batteries and find it adequate.
    Be Safe and Enjoy your hike.

    It's about time.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Rick. We have been discussing 4 batteries for a while now and decided it was time to go forward with it. It was an honest mistake and they didn't hesitate to fix it so I have no complaints.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  2. We drove up Sidewinder, then the dirt road over to American Girl. The dirt road was very soft, different from last year. We had to use four wheel drive. That area is so different from PK. I waved at every white pick up but I don't know if you were even there. Lots of people. Beautiful pictures.

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    1. Thanks Elva. I appreciate the compliment. I found Sidewinder Road too sandy in a few places as well and used four wheel drive but was happy to get back onto Ogilby Road. To find us is very easy. Take Ogilby Road from I-8, past the pay area, over the tracks, past Sidewinder Road (entrance on Ogilby by the tracks), past American Girl Mine Road, past the small sign that says Gold Rock 4 1/2 miles ahead, past the white '4' mileage marker, SLOW DOWN now and look for the road past the Palo Verde tree that sticks out close to the road, turn right at the 'limited day use' sign and we are back a bit. (there is no road number here) You can't miss us on this road. We are back on the right with the window side to the road and the Dogsled will be parked in front of the Igloo facing Ogilby Road. The ground where we are parked is whitish sand, it's a big spot.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  3. That was scary. No power at all. Thankfully you had just had work done and you had someone to call right away. Very pretty pink skies with just the right amount of clouds. Enjoy your hike.

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    Replies
    1. My heart did a little stutter and pitter patter for a second or two. Haha. I knew it had to be something with the batteries and like I said, Jason had it figured out really quickly. Made me smile!
      The sky was amazing to be sure.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  4. I really miss those big open skies of the Southwest.

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    1. I believe you do Al. Every time I step out at night I think of you. I know you enjoy looking at the night skies out here. There just seems to be so many stars and almost close enough to touch. The vast expanse of blue in the day time is beyond words.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  5. I hate it when stuff like that happens. Glad you were able to get it fixed and nice he came right out. Don't you just LOVE those desert skies!!!

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    1. I can honestly say I've never witnessed anything close to the desert skies. Day or night or hours in between they are amazing.
      I was happy they fixed my problem quickly and I was also sure they would come right away, after all I had only left less than hour before my call. If I had to haul back to their shop they were going to be giving me a refund of some kind. Haha. It was however an honest mistake and as we all know sh*t happens.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  6. I'm glad they were able to come out and get it fixed right away. Beautiful pictures again! Of course you have beautiful scenery to work with!

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    1. Thanks Shirley. You are right, it's hard to mess up with such a wonderful view.
      I too am happy they came out right away to fix us up, but I expected nothing less from them either. They didn't hesitate to come immediately.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  7. What a relief that Jason was able to come to your rescue. That would have been a bit frightening indeed.
    The pictures are lovely, how can we go wrong with such gorgeous skies, eh?

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    1. I was very relieved but truly I didn't expect anything less of him. You'd have to meet him to understand why I think that way about certain areas of their repair/install business. He's a nice fella.
      The skies are truly amazing out here, and you are correct, we just can't go wrong in those photos.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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