Friday, February 23, 2018

Dead battery and washed clothes

Friday, February 23, 2018 – Location:  Saddle Mountain near Tonopah, Arizona

Had an emergency dead battery problem last night.  The battery for my laptop mouse went dead!  It was horrible.  Trying to edit my pictures and writing my post without a mouse was excruciatingly slow and difficult.  I am so glad I didn’t have a large one to do.

This morning, I knew I had to go into Tonopah in search of some AA batteries.  if I have too, I’ll drive all the way to Buckeye for one.  All 30 miles.  Never again will I do a post without a mouse!

This morning started out partly cloudy with a cool breeze.  I had breakfast and drank some coffee waiting for it to warm up.  But, there were enough puffy clouds covering the sun that it stayed cool all day. 

The other day, I purchased an online mapping app for $12 named US TOPO MAPS.  With it I can see the terrain and pinpoint the mountains around me.  Maybe I’ll be a little more accurate in the future with the names of the mountains I see.  Sadly, many times I have named them wrong.

As in these two mountains.  I called them by the wrong name a few days ago.  The one on the left is Big Horn Peak and the one on the right is Burnt Mountain.  They are both in the Big Horn Mountain Wilderness area north of me.

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Way off to the northeast closer to Phoenix are the Belmont Mountains.  If not, it is still a neat photo.

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Did this most of the morning waiting for the cool breeze to die down, but it didn’t.   Cannot beat this scenery!

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IMG_1595There’s my faithful guy watching and guarding our home. 

Around noon, I gave up on having a warm day, so Yuma and I piled into the Jeep and headed into Tonopah.  Just in case they had a laundromat I took my basket of clothes.  And of course my one bag of trash.  Always got to be on the lookout for a free trash bin in these parts.

We went the 11 miles to Tonopah and found there is no town.  Just three service stations and an eating place.  Here is an old motel.  I thought the office was a neat looking building, but the string of motel rooms were run down.  No one seemed to be staying there, but it was open for business.

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IMG_1609They do have a post office though.  These small towns seem to always have nice, well kept post offices.

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I stopped in the Shell service station and was going to buy gas.  The sign said $2.49 but the fine print said “for cash customers”.    $2.59 for credit card.  Upset me they were sneaky like that so I left my bag of trash in their trash can and parked at the door to see if they had batteries.  No gas.  Will have to wait till I get to Buckeye on Monday.

Luckily, the service station thrift store had batteries.  For $7.37 I now have four Duracell AA batteries.  Enough for a lifetime if I don’t lose them.  I think they’re made of gold based on the price.  But had to have them.  Gas I can do without, but not those precious little batteries.

As I was driving to Tonopah, I saw a sign saying “RV Dump” along side of the road at the entrance to Saddle Vista Ranch, so on the way home I stopped in to see how much. 

The owner, Dave was busy selling chickens to a customer so we waited and walked around taking pictures of stuff. He has chickens, turkeys and peacocks for sale. 

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When he finished, I asked how much to dump.  He said $10 for dump and $5 for water.  Too much, but since I didn’t have my RV with me I said nothing.  

We chatted a little and he said he had two RV sites and along with it a clothes washer and dryer for them and paying customers to use.  Asked how much.  $3 for wash and dry.  I had my clothes with me and for $3 and no one around to bother me, it was a deal!. Just one washer and one dryer in a half finished building, but having no competition I was sold.

Not quite the finished look but Dave is working on it.  He owns and does all the work trying to keep his ranch.  Times are hard and he can’t afford a handyman.  He was telling me his wife left him last year because of their tight money situation and other reasons I’m sure.  Dave wasn’t wanting to quit the ranch, but she had enough and moved into town with the kids.

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IMG_1641Got clothes washed and dried and we were home by 3 o’clock.  While waiting for the clothes to dry, we had a few rain drops.  Not much.  When we got home it was chilly in the MH so turned on the Wave 6 and had some lunch.

Rested awhile and then it was time to set-up my Dish for tonight’s Gold Rush.  Being right up against the mountain face I was worried it would block my access to the satellites, but it didn’t. 

The mountain is just a little southeast of my position so had a perfect view of the south.  Hit the sweet spot and within ten minutes, I had the TV up and running with plenty of time to spare.

Now to finish my blog, eat dinner and watch Gold Rush.  It doesn’t get any better than this!

See you later.

19 comments:

  1. Really beautiful pictures of the mountains around you. For that price, those batteries must recharge themselves! I'm glad you had a day of relaxing and no hiking. Maybe you should have got a peacock? Have a good night. ❤

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    1. Thanks Dolly. I feel much better after a good days rest. Stayed on flat ground πŸ˜‹.

      Don't think a peacock would fit in a MH.

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  2. Tonopah also has a hot spring spa just down the road west of the restaurant.The restaurant has a taco day, pretty good as I remember.

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    1. I drove into the entrance of the Hot Springs but didn't get out. Interesting looking place but didn't go in. I saw the big we serve Mexican food at the restaurant too. Hard to miss anything in a town that small.
      Didn't see the Dollar Store though. Probably could have gotten my batteries cheaper there.

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  3. Tonopah is just as I remember it and the motel looks the same. We spent two months at the Saddle Mountain RV park a couple of years ago.
    The cool breeze never calmed down here today either.
    Great picture of the mountains in the distance with the Saguaros in the front.

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    1. Thanks Deb. Hopefully, the stay inside kind of cool days are over with one. Beginning to want the 80 degree days back.

      Two weeks in Tonopah. I'm sure you two know that town well. Did you ever got to the hot springs? Interesting looking place.

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  4. Who knew Tonopah was the place to go if you want to buy a Peacock while you do your laundry ? And, batteries are like ice cream - when you need it, you need it. 😳

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    1. You're right Moonfly. Dave would sell about anything to keep his ranch going. We talked quite a bit and I could tell he's had a hard time these last few years. I think once he got two RV sites going his luck is starting to change. He wants to add more. Those are profitable. Peacocks, not so muchπŸ˜‚.

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  5. Nice that you got out and about laundry done and mouse batteries. Some things you just can't live without.

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    1. First time I'd been off the mountain since I got here. One leg was starting to get shorter than the other hiking on mountainsides πŸ˜‚.

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  6. You have not been to SoCal in a while, gas here is sitting at $3.59 gal - $2.59 sounds like a bargain to me! Great pics of your desert home.

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    1. You're right Jeff. Prices are relative. Guess you have to make the big California salaries to buy gas there πŸ™‚.

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  7. Love to know the names of the mountains. I may buy that program myself.

    You should have come by, I have a whole pack of batteries, for just such occasions. I would have only charged you $7.00. Hahaha...

    I could have also told you that Tonopah isn't much of a town. Cute what there is of it though. I didn't know about the hot springs. I'll have to remember that for next year.

    I noticed the RV dump sign a few days ago and was going to check it out. It seems Dave charges the same as Loves for a dump but the water at Love's is free, or so I was told. If I were staying in this area I'd probably use his place as he's closer than Love's and for the few dollars extra I'd support a local business. He'd probably let you dump your trash for a couple of bucks too or for free if you used the dump station. That may be a solution for the future as well. Thanks for the information.

    I was going to pop over and see if you wanted to do some laundry in Buckeye but since you're all spiffed up, I guess I don't have any need to do that.

    Great pictures, glad you had a day on flat ground too.

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    1. Thanks Deb. You're right about his price being good in that he is close by. If I needed to dump while staying here, it would be the place to go.

      I thought about stopping by and asking about batteries. If they didn't have them in Tonopah I would have.

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  8. You could fool me anytime with the mountain names and I'd be none the wiser!
    Glad you got your laundry done for a good price. Yuma probably wouldn't like to share your attention with a peacock!
    The wind was cool here too and we long for the 84F again too!
    Enjoyed your pictures!

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    1. Thanks Patsy. Cool and cloudy is not a good mixture.

      You're right about the mountain names. Most don't really care or forget quickly anyway.

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  9. Great pictures Doug..Your story about the computer and mouse is so cute. I used a mouse all the time with my PC when I worked an at home..but never could get used to it with a laptop. Wow..Tonopah is an interesting little place..Sad story about Dave and his wife and kids..hope he gets it all up and finished one day.

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  10. Thanks Shirley. I wish him well too. Maybe next year he will have 10 RV sites and be rolling in the dough.

    Tom and Deb stayed at an RV Ranch nearby. They know Tonopah well.

    I don't know how someone can use apps on a laptop without a mouse. I sure can't.

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  11. Oh Doug! Your battery story had me laughing! That does sound very patience testing to try and do a blog without one. Good job on that! I’m glad you got your laundry done in peace and had a nice relaxing night of Gold Rush! Love you!

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