A chore day..

 

Our Location:

Road Runner BLM, Quartzsite, Arizona 

I watched a cute sunrise this morning as my feet took me out for a stroll. I stopped here and there to take pics but was home within the hour getting my 6000 steps in two days in a row. 

The first ray breaking over the Kofa Mountains.

This morning was taken up with chores. After changing the linens, we piled the backseat of the Dogsled full with dirty laundry and headed into Q. I think we used a whole row of machines to wash everything. It was two and a half hours later before everything was washed, dried, folded and back in the truck. We managed a drop in at a few stores for a couple of quick purchases before heading back home. Little did we realize but we forgot the drinking water jugs and a propane tank until we noticed the water filling station. I can see another trip to town tomorrow.

The dried out pulp of a saguaro.

There are many dead and dying saguaros here.

Back home we emptied the truck, put away the laundry and managed a light snack before happy hour. We gathered in the shade beside the Igloo, Deb and Tom ( Celebrating the Dance ), Ken and Kim (journey with Ken & Kim) and Lorne and Sue (A place called away)and myself. Riley opted out of happy hour. We chatted and laughed the afternoon away, darkness and the desert chill finally drove us all home. 

Our neighbourhood this morning.

The Ocotillos are not showing any green yet.

Back in the desert washes again.

A view during my stroll.

Thanks for stopping by and checking our day here in the desert.

Until next time….

Take care, be safe,

Deb

Errands, chores and friends arrive.....

 

Our Location: 

North of MM 4, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, California

 

This morning Riley and I had errands and chores to accomplish. We loaded ourselves, the laundry, propane tank, gas can, etc into the Dogsled and headed off around 8:30 am MST. Our first stop was diesel and gas (for the generator) at the Arco Station at Exit 2. Diesel was down to $4.49 per gallon. We managed to fill both the truck and gas can and get rid of some garbage all at one place. A good start to the long list. 

 

Our second stop was for propane at U-Haul. Here I was informed it will be the last fill of this tank as it expires at the end of the month. Looks like we may be using smaller tanks until we get back to Ontario to exchange this one again, since it left Ontario as an exchange. What a pain in the ...  On the plus side, it was cheaper to fill this tank than last time. Less than $30.00 USD for a 30lb tank from flat. 

 

Our third stop was the laundromat. We managed to snag 4 big washers and within two hours had our laundry all completed and back in the truck. We also managed to find a post box for some mail back home. Two  more things off the list. 

 

The last stop was at Walmart on S. Pacific Ave for groceries and drinking water. We managed to find everything we needed, fill up the remaining 4 drinking jugs and put a jug of Def Fluid in the Big Dog. Wow, we were finished and heading home around 12:30 MST. 

 

We pulled in as Doug was pulling out, he came back for a quick chat and then scooted off to town. Riley and I managed to get everything put away and sitting down to lunch within the hour. We were happy to have this long list behind us. 

 

Around 3 pm MST the Stinger B and family pulled in. We went out to greet them and then came back inside while they did their parking and setting up. We had a quick happy hour and soon the cold and rain had us all heading inside. All is well in the neighbourhood. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

Until next time.....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

Helping a friend...

Our Location: Saddle Mountain BLM, Tonopah, AZ

 

 

A couple of days since my last post, I believe it was the day we moved, which was Monday. A lot has happened since then, not exactly for us but for our friend Doug. He has taken possession of a new to him Class A Safari Motorhome. A monster at just under 42' long. A big change from his Miss Adventure Class C at about 30'.  You can read all about his adventure at Miss Adventure Travels.

 

 

 First we had to go to Blythe, CA.

 

 

Yesterday morning Doug and I headed for Quartzsite, leaving Riley and Yuma to hold down the fort.  We left around 9:30 am and hustled along just making it to RV Lifestyles at his appointed time of 11 am. Long story short, it was a bit of a confused state for various reasons but it was around the 5 pm mark by the time we were leaving the place. 

 

 

 

 We went here to use the Notary  for some paperwork.

 

 

A long day with no time for lunch or even more than a few minutes break from the stress of this big event. We made a trip to Blythe, CA with Stuart  to a notary for some paperwork, back to Q for a short break while they fixed the power cable and checked on a number of things. A walk thru with Suzie but in all honesty, we didn't take notes as she really didn't have much information to give Doug that he didn't already know. An interesting waste of money, I guess.  One of the mechanics (tech guy I guess I should call him) John, was the most helpful to us. He managed to figure out how to do a few things and was knowledgeable about a number of things. 

 

Look at all the arms on this Saguaro.

 

 

Doug was stressed and excited, tired and hungry on top of that as the day was dragging on. We were both at the point of just wanting to get out of the place and go home as we knew they weren't going to be able to assist us any further.

 

 

 It's a resident in the yard at RV Lifestyles.

 

 

Doug moved the White Lion before we hooked up the jeep, it wasn't long until we were motoring along. A very nice ride, high up, big windows, a very nice view. The White Lion is a beautiful rig with a lot of wonderful features and I'm sure Doug will enjoy it a great deal once he gets used to it. It's a big change from his little Miss Adventure. 

 

 

 Doug is aware that is a White Tiger but since he is a Leo, he likes the White Lion and since it's his rig, White Lion it is.

 

 

We managed to find our way in the dark, as the headlights weren't very bright, it was like driving with candles in front of us. Only a couple of ripples and one bit of excitement as we took a corner VERY, VERY WIDE, but Doug managed to keep it on the pavement. 

 

 

 Just a bit under 42' in length. She's a big 'un.

 

 

We were both tired climbed in the Dogsled with Riley before we headed to Tonopah for some food. Doug generously picked up the tab. The food wasn't great but it was filling, and hot, our server was a charmer. 

 

 

 Doug went back to get the jeep so we could get hooked up and out of there.

 

 

This morning after a chat with Doug about plans for today ( we will be helping him with the transition from rig to rig)  and it was decided that he would venture out on his own with the White Lion to give it a bit more of a test run as well as get himself more used it. Riley and I headed off to Buckeye with a few errands we needed to accomplish. 

 

 Doug hooking up the jeep for the first time to the White Lion.

 

 

Desert Laundry on Monroe isn't as clean as it was in the past but we still managed to get all of our laundry caught up, managed to dispose of our trash, get some water and some groceries. We even managed to spot the White Lion with Yuma in the driver's seat at Walmart but failed to find Doug. 

 

 

This was the only sunset photo I managed yesterday as we were heading back to Tonopah. If you look closely you can see my reflection. All photos were taken with my phone.

 

 

From Walmart it was home and time to put away the groceries and laundry.  Have some food and just kind of relax. Doug and I did a short run to check out another location but definitely knew it wouldn't work and after chatting with a fella that had gotten his 38' Class A stuck it was a definite 'no go'.

 

So far the flies aren't too bad but I think they will be increasing in number as the heat returns. We are planning on finding a different location if that happens. We shall see how it goes.  A quick trip tonight and we found a spot that we think Doug will like better, flat, easy road access and big enough for both of his rigs and the jeep. A spot for us too but we will wait to check on the flies.

 

So that's it, my quick catch up. I hope you enjoyed your day, thanks for stopping by. 

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

Sunsets....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

 

Cool over night, I pulled my duvet up to keep me warm. We even used the heater off and on today. 

 

 Sunset, Sunday Dec 29, 2019

 Pretty spectacular, don't you think?

 I'm always amazed at the light show in the skies out here in the desert.

 

We headed off this morning to do some laundry and get a second propane tank filled. We accomplished half of our errand. Nope, we aren't running around nekkid, so as you can tell, it's the propane fill that didn't happen. 

 

Sunday, Dec 29th sunset. Fire in the sky. 

Starting to fade now. 

 And from here it faded quickly. 

 

Laundry was a quick painless couple of hours and for $20 our laundry was completed, washed and dried. We even managed to find a post office for another little side errand. 

 

While grocery shopping on Sunday we noticed this rig in the parking lot. 

 

 

We have been using U-Haul in this area to fill our propane tank and today they refused to fill it due to the 'rattling' in the tank, which the attendant seemed to think is sand and the 'layers' of paint. Considering this is an exchanged tank that has passed inspections before it was filled I'm not sure how those things could be a factor but oh well, we've figured out that we don't really need that tank right now anyway. We'll take it elsewhere and see if they have the same issues. 

 

 

 Sunset tonight, Monday, Dec 30, 2019.

 A chat with my dad tonight to see how things are going. Some rain, ice pellets, freezing rain and a bit warmer weather in his neighbourhood today. It seems they are hovering close to both sides of the freezing mark. Side roads and town roads are icy, highways are good.

 

 I changed lenses to take this photo and the remaining photos as well. A much closer view.

 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a wonderful day where ever you may be and doing whatever you may be doing.

   

Until next time....take care, be safe, 

Deb

 

Busy day....

Our Location: Las Cienegas Grasslands, Sonoita, Arizona

 

Rain, rain, rain and yet more rain last night and today. We however had things to do today and so between rain drops packed up the Dogsled and headed off to Sierra Vista to do our chores. 

 

These Pronghorns numbering about a half dozen grazed lazily by the roadside.

 

A bit curious but they weren't too worried about us.

 

We haven't been able to see the mountain tops around us for two days now, they have been covered in clouds and fogs and although some times we fancy we can see the outlines we really haven't. Today's pictures will show what we finally managed to see on all the mountain tops around us except the one out our windows, we still haven't been able to see it. Tomorrow hopefully we will be get a view and a few photos. 

 

This fella just kind of posed for us.

 

The prongs aren't big on these two so these aren't the same ones we seen at our first sighting.

 

We had to float the Dogsled past the big water puddle I showed you days ago when we moved from one to spot to another. The 'then' little water puddle is now a lake with docks, water skiers and jet skis. No, not really but it is big. We then proceeded to follow BLM 6900 out past the Ranch House headquarters toward AZ 83 where there was no water in any of the dips. On our way we once again noted the herd of Pronghorns grazing by the roadside. We managed to get a few good photos. 

 

They finally decided to stop the photo session and causally walked across the road way.

 

These guys moved at a trot to keep up with the first guy.

 

From AZ 83 we turned left onto AZ 82, past Quail Ridge Campground and a right on to US 90 S toward Huachuca City and Sierra Vista. Our first stop was Walmart to dump our garbage. From there we headed out to Best Buy to return the computer charge cord that was too big. It seems I'll have to order one from on line as my laptop is too old for them to carry a cord in stock. No problem. 

 

Hey guys, wait for me, don't leave me behind.

 

They seem to realize the rest of the herd has crossed the road and don't want to be left.

 

 

From there we headed off to Sierra Wash & Dry laundry on Wilcox Ave. We had to do some laundry or the neighbours would start talking. The first inside impression isn't the greatest but the machines were clean and the attendant was helpful and often out and about checking, cleaning, sweeping, etc. You can't judge a book by it's cover I guess. A few hours there had us having washed, dried and folded two baskets and two duffels of laundry. 

  

Snow up there on those peaks.

From the laundry we headed off to Walmart again, but this time to shop. We spent a good hour there shopping. We like Walmart Colby Cheese and they didn't have the two pound bricks just the smaller one pound bricks. I tracked down a fellow to ask him if they had any in the back and long story short, the hand held scanner was wrong, there wasn't 8 on shelf and none could be found in the back either, so guess what he did? He discounted the smaller bricks and gave me a savings of $1.20 on top of the discount to be the same price as a 2 lb brick because they had none at all. How sweet is that? 

 

You can see the clouds still shrouding the mountain tops.

 

From Walmart we had a couple of other things to do. I decided to skip the oil change as I'm still a thousand miles from my next one but I did check into having the tires re-torqued since I had them rotated in Buckeye. However the fella assured me that if they were put on with an impact wrench it wasn't needed. So I didn't do that either. However we still needed to top off the Big Dog's water bowl and so pulled into a Circle K for 10 gallons of fuel at $2.80 per gallon. I'm happy with that and now when we head out in the next few days we'll have a full tank of fuel to start the day. 

 

Just amazing to see these views in Sierra Vista.

 

From the fuel up we stopped to fill our water jugs in Huachuca City at the car wash which also has a water dispensing machine. One more stop before we headed home was to head out US 90 past AZ 82 until we found the propane fill up station (sorry can't recall the name) and for $17.50  we filled up our 7 gallon tank. Yeah us, all the things necessary had been stroked off the chore list. 

So stark and beautiful.

 

We had been gone most of the day, not arriving back home until around 3:30 pm which made it a full day as we left home right around 9 am. So take an hour for off driving, and the rest of the time was spent doing errands. We put away the groceries, grabbed some lunch and fell into our chairs. It's been a long day. 

 

So pretty to look at but brrrr wouldn't want to be any closer.

 

It appears the sun will be out tomorrow as it was when we arrived back home and I think we have a plan or two but I'll leave that for tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a wonderful day!! 

 

It is just so pretty. The shadows cast by the clouds and the bright patches of sunlight topped off with snow.

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

 

We are once again back on Las Cienegas BLM heading for the Cienequita camping area.

 

 

Deb