Big Tent day in Quartzsite, Arizona

 I definitely felt sore this morning after all the crawling around under the RV yesterday.  Woke at 8 o'clock and read blogs and answered comments till around 9 and then Yuma and I took our morning walk.  It's sunny with a slight breeze as we look forward to a nice 70 degree day 😊

Had a full three course breakfast this morning and laid around.  As I was finishing breakfast I decided to take a quick look at the Big Buddy heater to see why it didn't work the other night.  Opened up the propane panel where the propane line was connected to a quick connect.

Oh my! 😱  My quick connect had somehow become quick disconnected!  Boy did I feel stupid.  Another quick and easy project completed 😁 Love these easy fixes 😍

Nick wanted the top down on the Jeep so we did that and headed out at 1 o'clock.

Nick was in heaven as we drove toward Quartzsite on hwy 95 listening to Gretchen Wilson on my country CD.  I'm turning him into a country boy 😁  Twenty minutes later we were there.

Drove down Kuehn Street slowly with the line of cars till we got to the free parking area on the west side and we were lucky!  Someone was pulling out in front of us and we pulled right in 😃

We walked everywhere.  We had a couple things on our list to get while there.  Nick wanted to get his necklace clasp repaired.  I wanted to find a turquoise ring to replace the one that Dolly bought for me here years ago.  Turquoise pieces are falling out of the old one.  And I wanted a walking stick to replace the one I lost in Yuma.  Yuma just wanted to meet friends 🐶🐶

We all managed to meet our goals.

She has sunglasses on

What a little cutie😍

Nick at the Big Tent

Nick jewelry hunting

Street musicians

Saying goodbye to the Big Tent as the sun is setting.

Got home at 4:30.  The weather was perfect and we had the best time strolling through the area!  Oh! I forgot to mention I picked up another hat 😊

We relaxed and I strolled around taking a few pictures till dinner time at 5:30.

That's much better than the 9 o'clock late dinners we've been having.  Had NY strip, potatoes and corn.  Yummy dinner!😋  Finished up just as the sun was setting.  

Now it's after 8 o'clock and I'm finishing my post for the night.  Time for some pudding and Cool Whip plus three Oreos dipped in Cool Whip too 😋😋 Hopefully, I get a good night's sleep because we've got a busy day planned for tomorrow.

Just a note:  Some of you that use Blogger may notice your fonts are sometimes different sizes.  To correct, just highlight your completed post and then change the font size to another size and then back to the size you want.  Then all the letters will have the same sized font.

Thanks for stopping by.

No games but more repairs

 Didn't sleep well last night thinking of projects that need immediate attention on the White Lion.  Got up a little after nine.  I usually get my best sleep from 6 to 9 in the morning.

Took Yuma for his walk.  It is bright and sunny with a high of around 70 today and very little wind.  Perfect day ahead.  

The plan was for Nick to go into town and watch football after breakfast while I stayed home with Yuma and investigated the leaking air bags.  The games didn't start till 1 o'clock so I decided to run into town to find a hose clamp I needed for an idea I had for fixing the air leak.

It was 1 o'clock before I returned so Nick decided to just help me with my fix it or break it project.  I say that because I have no idea what I'm doing 😀  I was worried about driving 20 miles to Quartzsite with no air in my rear airbags, so wanted to assess the situation more closely before doing that. 

I climbed under the MH at the location of the air tank and as I was looking, I could see there was a problem I hadn't seen before.  

When I backed into the dirt mound on the other side of the road I had pushed the rock guard into a large expandable air pipe similar to the exhaust pipe used for a clothes dryer except much larger.  That pushed into the back of the air tank that raises the MH to driving height.

I used the Jeep with a rope to pull the metal bar holding the rock guard out to its original position and then I could move the air pipe away from the air tank.  And what did I find back there?  

An air valve on the rear of the air tank that was being pressed and letting air escape from the system.  No damage.  Once the air pipe was no longer putting pressure on the valve no air leaked.  No real damage and an easy no parts required fix 😀😀😀

It was now after 3 o'clock so Nick decided to just stay home and keep up with the scores, so we laid out in the sun and just boondocked 😃

Before dark I wanted to accomplish one last small project.  I wanted to strengthen the flag/antenna pole so it wouldn't sway so much in the wind.  Had the PCV piping on hand so Nick and I tackled that simple project quickly.

No sway

Before fixing dinner I had some questions about my solar power setup so called my son Jim, the solar man and had a chat.  

Unfortunately I'm kind of dense so we were on the phone for a good hour before I could understand a little more of how electricity runs in a motorhome with generators, engines and solar panels all making and delivering power.  Very complicated to me 😬

Finally got dinner done about 9 o'clock and it was cheeseburgers again.  I was too tired to cook a big dinner.  Tomorrow night for sure 😋  Got to get done here and hit the sack.  Almost 11 o'clock and it has been a very tiring day!

Thanks for stopping by.

Football day almost

 Even though I took Yuma out before bed he still got up around 2:30 to go out.  Darn dog!  Does it just to irritate me I bet.  Got up around 9 o'clock and it was mostly cloudy and breezy out.  Didn't care since I planned on watching football somewhere dry and warm.

I was working on why my batteries drop so fast after I run the generator for a number of hours.  Got on the phone with my son Jim and we ended up discussing and texting pictures and when I got off the phone it was ten after one and I realized I missed the Bloggerfest.  Just as well, it was windy, cloudy and spitting rain.  I can't believe I'm getting so forgetful!

It rained most of the afternoon but mostly very lightly producing low clouds and fog.  Had to run the generator all afternoon to keep my batteries up 😖 Hate it when that happens!

I worked after that at attempting to get ready for the football game at 2:30.  I got all the PVC piping I had and ran the TV antenna and the Internet booster as high as I could.  About 25 feet high.

I tried getting CBS on TV and I could but it was so broken it was really not good enough to enjoy the game.  Then I played around with streaming using the CBS app and my Dish account and it worked great.  By the time I got this working, the game had already started but it worked perfectly.  I was so proud of myself.

Watched the first half of the game and made a big mistake.  I logged out to charge my phone during the half time.  I could never get a good stream connection ever again.  Missed the last half trying over and over and by the half time of the second game I gave up.  More streamers than available streams the error message said.

Before fixing dinner consisting of cheese burgers I decided to put some heat in the room.  Brought out the Big Buddy that I hadn't used for several weeks and tried to light it and it would never light.  Must have a clog in the long gas line but I can't get on the internet to Google how to unclog it.  How did I ever get so dependent on the internet?😕

Why does everything go wrong on a cloudy windy rainy day?  I came out to the southwest so I would at least have sunny warm days when everything goes to pot.  At least it is less depressing then.

Dinner went well and I got a text from Dolly saying the 49ers beat the Packers in the Packer's own stadium😲  What a shocker.  Dolly has the 49ers in the family pool so she is moving on.  The rest of the world is shocked😱

Since I had nothing else to do before bed I washed the full sink of dirty dishes.  I can't remember when I did them last but I know I was running out of clean ones.  That made me feel better to have a nice clean kitchen to wake up to tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow there are three games so I may be sitting in a bar in Quartzsite tomorrow with Nick while poor Yuma stays home.

Been working on this short post forever.  Glad there are only three pictures.  Watching them upload was like watching paint dry.  It's nearly 11:30 and I'm done with this day.  Tomorrow has got to be better.

Thanks for stopping by and forgive my bitchy mood😫

Queen Canyon to Skull Rock

 After all the pizza I ate last night, I felt very tired when we got home and I was in bed by 8 o'clock.  Yuma woke me up again in the middle of the night so I'm going to be sure to take him out before going to bed at night.

After getting back in bed I checked the news since the Internet works much faster at 4 in the morning.  I was shocked to learn one of my favorite musician's died - Meatloaf 😭  He was very popular starting in the late 70s.  

Woke up at 9 o'clock but didn't get out of bed till 10.  Still felt tired for some reason.  I'll blame the pizza 😋  Also, it got down into the upper 30s last night so waiting longer it was 45 by the time I got up and with sunny clear skies and very little wind, it was perfect on the south side of the White Lion.

We had a full breakfast outside in our loungers, but by 11 the sun was so strong I had to put up a sunscreen to keep cool.  Nick is young and still wants that perfect tan so he continued to lay in the sun.

Last night I mentioned my son made a video of how to make a simple and inexpensive stand for a solar panel but I forgot to include a link to it.  

I decided today would be the day to venture into Queen Canyon just north of Palm Canyon.  We left around 1 o'clock. It's five miles of winding and very bumpy road to the canyon and another three miles in the canyon before the road ends.  I'm sure this is the last trip there for me.  My body can't take the jerking around anymore.

Nick venturing into the cholla cactus

Starting into the canyon

Made it to Skull Rock

Inside looking out

Nick had to scout around

It is 3 o'clock and time to head back down

Taking a break

Finally out of the canyon heading for the valley

Hazy valley and home is down there

Beautiful sunset

We got the Dish up and running for Gold Rush and watched for an hour and then had dinner.  We are tired so we went with the always good hotdogs 😋 Now it is time to rest and finish this blog and go to bed.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Silly Al's Pizza with friends

 Yuma woke me in the middle of the night again wanting to go out and look for varmints.  I always put him on a leash at night just in case there is one around.  

It was 9 before we got up again for a walk to clear blue skies with a little northern breeze that got stronger during the day.  It was warm on the south side of the White Lion where I laid in the lounger soaking up sun for awhile before going inside.  Yuma loves the morning sun and lies on the door mat.

I made an appointment for Monday to have someone look at the MH to determine why the rear airbags won't rise.  I may try some things of my own before then 😊.  Never know!

I quickly got the old solar panel wire repaired and I'm very happy with the output of the panels and the batteries.  Ready for TV if I could ever get local channels.  But I do have Dish for Gold Rush.

Afternoon, I had to bring down the flag because of all the flapping it was making.  Couldn't lay there and enjoy the quiet and solitude of the desert with all the noise.

We just enjoyed the beautiful weather  until time to head into Silly Al's Pizza for our 4:30 dinner date.  The place is famous for pizza but this is the first time I have gone in all the years I have been coming to Quartzsite.  

There were plans for seven of us but three had to bow out because of feeling ill.  So it was Bill and Patsy and me and Nick.  We ordered two large pizzas and they were large.

Nick gulped his down before I was half done.  In fact, I brought two pieces home for Yuma it was so big.  We enjoyed the atmosphere and talking with each other about anything that came to mind.  It was after 6 o'clock when we arrived home to a very excited Yuma.

I think I ate too much and it has made me feel sleepy, so as soon as I finish this blog and have dessert, I'm going to call it a night.

Thanks for stopping by.

Solar work and visiting friends in Quartzsite

 I was up at 9 this morning and the weather was perfect.  Sunny with a little breeze and temperature already in the 50s with a high of 70 today.

Had a quick breakfast and at 11 o'clock I headed into Quartzsite to visit Solar Bill.  Not really him but the store.  

I brought two 10 watt panels with me from home to use for supplemental power and recently when I tried using them neither of them seemed to work.  I wanted a 20 amp controller and another 100 watt solar panel and they had them.  Quickly picked them up and I also dropped off the 2000 watt inverter for them to check and see if it could be fixed.

On the way home I pulled into La Posa South to find where Patsy, Bill, Tom, Deb and Nancy were parked.  That place is huge.  I wandered around looking for Tom and Deb's distinctive black and yellow Stinger "B" and could not find it.  Finally, I texted them hoping they were home.  Sure enough, they were and guided me in for a perfect landing.

We all got together at Bill and Patsy's place and chatted for a good hour.  Yuma and Gibbs got along great!

I'm staying about 20 minutes south of them.  Got home at 2:30.

I moved the White Lion so the door side is facing the south so we get sunshine all day while laying outside in the sun.

While it was running I took a look under it because after our little run-in with the ditch yesterday, the rear of my rig is not rising up with the airbags as they should.  The front does but not the rear.  

It appears that I tore an air pressure line and not getting the lift I need.  Nancy, at the visit today, gave me the name of a big rig repair shop right here in Quartzsite that may be able to replace the torn line.  Sure hope so!  I'll call in the morning.

Then I got out my new solar toys and hooked my old panel to the new controller and still didn't get any amps coming from the panel to the batteries.  Then I tried the new panel and I did get amps coming in.

Confused, I called my son Jim who is fast becoming a solar wizard and chatted with him to find out what could go wrong with a perfectly good solar panel.

There are a two wires coming from a box on the panel, one negative and one positive.  Jim said maybe one of the wires got pulled too hard and is disconnected inside the box.  Sounded logical to me.

I had Nick help me to disconnect the latches to the back of the box and what do I see.  One of the wires is disconnected from the screw holding it in place.  That will be an easy fix tomorrow.  By this time the sun was almost gone and time to fix dinner.  Got a call from Solar Bill on the inverter and he told me it is toast.  Bummer 😩

We had pulled two 1 lb Rib Eyes out of the freezer this morning.  Last time I let Nick buy the steaks on my credit card.  These babies are $11.50 a piece 😨  With fried potatoes and French Beans it was delicious.  I ate the whole thing!

We have had enough for one day.  We have no local channels so will have to find a friend watching the games this weekend and be invited over.  Yuma stays home.  Hint hint 😀  There's always a bar.

Thanks for stopping by.

Move to Palm Canyon in the Kofa Mountains

 Another day, another move.  But before we could move we needed to stock up on food.  Anxious to go, I was up at 8:30 and after taking Yuma for his walk, we had a full breakfast and at 11 o'clock I headed in to the Walmart store with a list of items from Nick, Yuma and me.

It was hard.  But two hours later and $200 lighter I headed back to the VFW.

We quickly loaded everything into the White Lion and put everything up and we were on our way to Palm Canyon.

We had to stop at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground before we left the area.

Then we headed down the road for about a mile and stopped to view the old war tanks and big guns no longer in use.

Then off we went north on hwy 95 towards Palm Canyon road about 20 miles south of Quartzsite.

Went by the blimp keeping an eye out for unauthorized people walking through the desert in this area.   It's tethered to the ground and no one is onboard.  Just surveillance equipment.

Had to take a picture of Stone Cabin on hwy 95 just north of our destination.

About 10 years ago, Dolly and I were at the Stone Cabin in that fallen down covered patio in the back having burgers and a Coke with Fergie in tow.  A gentleman was trying to make a business here even though there is no water.  It all had to be trucked in.  The next year, the place was closed.  Not a good location, I guess.

Made it to our destination at 4:30 and the very first site we attempted to pull into gave us problems.  I had Nick outside watching to make sure we didn't scrape bottom on the mound of dirt alongside the road.

It was close so I decided to back up and take another angle.  Backing up was a mistake.  Nick was looking at the underside and I didn't turn sharp enough on backing up and ran into the deep ditch on the other side of the road. 😱  When will I ever learn how long this RV is?

Couldn't move and I was blocking Palm Canyon Road.  Luckily, the couple behind us had a 3/4 ton pickup loaded with stuff and he had straps.  I hooked the strap to the frame and he gave me a tug and we were out of their in a flash.  So thankful there are helpful boondockers always willing to give a helping hand. 😀

Went on down the road looking for a easier place to pull in.  Ended up at the pipeline road in a site I have been in before.  Finally, we were in our site and parked for a week or so.

First thing we did was to put up our antenna pole and I had bought the necessary hooks to properly place our flag on the pole so I can raise and lower it easily.

We watched the sunset and then had dinner and I'm finishing this blog.  Downloading pictures is slow so it is already 10 o'clock and time to call it a night.

Thanks for stopping by.