Tucson Trials Continue

So it continues.

After taking Nessie to Freedom RV in Tucson for service on Thursday, the 11th of February, we decided to take a day for fun. Friday we went with Ted and Phyllis to a BBQ lunch at a local RV dealer. The purpose, of course, was to get us to look at new rv's, but we just enjoyed the lunch and called it a day. The lunch was also a BBQ cook off, so we had the chance to sample a dozen or so different approaches to BBQ. Some did chicken, some beef, and of course, the sausage and pork were excellent as well.

Saturday we went to the Festival de Tubac. Tubac is a small artist's village some 20 odd miles south of Tucson, and they host an annual festival showcasing the work of artists from around the world. Paintings, metal work, wood carvings and floral handiwork were on display.

We found several things that intrigued us, but the prices were a bit high, so we decided to wait until our "ship comes in". Tubac is an old Spanish settlement, and has maintained a close connection to the past. It's a wonderful place to wander and shop.

The next few days were spent shopping and continuing with maintenance on Nessie. However, Wednesday, we were fortunate to enjoy an afternoon at the Gaslight Theater in north Tucson. The production this time was "The Cisco Kid", and was a hilarious spoof of old western movies. The characters included the expected evil wealthy landowner, Rosita, the young heiress, the corrupt governor, and a variety of ne'er-do-wells loosely grouped as banditos. With a great deal of overacting ("Oh, Pancho!…….Oh, Cisco!), and a wondrous re-wording of many '60s songs ("Viva, Banditos", to the tune of Viva, Las Vegas), we had an uproariously good time.

To the right of the stage, the theater band resides, playing the appropriate songs just as in the days of the silent pictures…Great fun! The piano player, Linda Ackerman, is the theater music director, and is one of the most talented pianists and singers we've had the pleasure of seeing. Her virtuosity on the ivories is amazing!

Thursday, the 18th, we had the dubious pleasure of spending the day at the local WW Williams truck repair facility. Unusual tire wear prompted us to have the chassis air ride system checked and the front end aligned. Good people, reasonable prices, and good service, but all day in the lounge gets a bit difficult. Then Friday we had another appointment at Freedom RV to have the ordered furnace part installed. The part had been delivered several days prior, but had gotten lost in the parts department somehow, but we got on the list to have it installed asap. During that process, it was noticed that the fluid that is the heart of the hydronic heating system had become discolored due to causes unknown and needed to be flushed and the system refilled. Oh well, we didn't need that $500 anyway…..Pronounced ready to go, we drove home and crashed into bed with only a cold dinner for company. Early this morning, we got up expecting to take a hot shower and be off for the day….but no hot water. A bit of detective work established that the tech had not purged all the air from the closed loop system, and the air bubble prevented the system from working properly. After a little fiddling, the system appears to be working fine, but the fluid level is now below the minimum level, so we're off to get more fluid tomorrow, and then back to the service department on Monday to share our thoughts with the service manager. If it's not one thing, it's thirty…

Midday today we needed a break from the fussin' and went to the Tanque Verde Swap Meet. This is the areas largest flea market, and was advertised to have hundreds of vendors and many eating establishments. Not so much. It was mostly empty, but we walked for an hour or so checking out the "stuff". Only one vendor caught our eye….

We chose not to venture into the black hole of McGarys….

So we continue our Tucson saga, hoping that we can escape with our skins at the end of next week. Hopefully next week will be a "funner" week as the local news anchors are fond of saying….

Tucson, part II

Whew! we're approaching the end of our second week in Tucson, and are seeing the "relaxing" part of the stay getting closer. Of, course, I posted last time about how cold it was, and how busy we had been cleaning the motorhome. The weather has changed dramatically, but we're still at the "work" part of things.

We had started on the GPS antenna replacement job last week, and fought that for days. The antenna is on the roof, with the wire snaking across the roof through the framing and insulation, down the side of the windshield, through the firewall, back into the dash, and then to the GPS unit. We finally got it completed today! Six days, off and on, many bruised knuckles, and a whole lotta luck got it done. The other major problem had to do with the adjustment on the full wall slide. It had gone completely bonkers, with huge gaps and strange noises, so we made an appointment at the local Newmar dealer, Freedom RV for yesterday, the 10th. We jockeyed Nessie through rush hour traffic and left her for the day while we did some errands, had a nice lunch, and a late afternoon cup of coffee. She was all done when we returned, but we were informed that they ordered a part that won't be delivered until next week. Again with the rush hour next week….. At least the list of repairs is getting shorter!

While we were waiting for Nessie, we had lunch at BK Carne Asada & Hotdogs on 12th Street. Since this has been one of the stops on Food Networks' Triple D, and since Yelp gave it 4 stars, we had to try it!

We each ordered a plate of three different tacos, chicken, pork and beef. Styled in the street truck method, they were delicious!

We also ordered a Sonoran Hotdog. We didn't quite get the Sonoran angle, but it was good nevertheless, with all the fix in's, like a chicago dog with a grilled pepper on the side!

Today, later in the morning, we went to one of the 40'some venues of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. Held every year, the show is going on literally all over town. The venue we chose was at the Kino Sports Complex, where spring training baseball was held a few years ago. The teams have moved closer to Phoenix, and Mexican, Cuban, and Japanese teams now practice there. The show encompassed a half dozen tents, with everything from jewelry, woven baskets, carvings and wood work, to mass produced, made in China, beads and necklaces.

Several of the tents displayed gems and gemstones in either raw of polished form from all over the world. Many fossils, crystals, and geodes were being sold by the kg.

In another tent, a craftsman was displaying a number of lamps made from natural materials. Using manzanita, redwood, and juniper, along with either paper, copper, or cowhide shades, he has made some beautiful pieces.

A late lunch was next on the "menu", so we stopped at one of the many Mariscos Chihuahua locations and enjoyed seafood in the mexican style. Donna ordered bacon wrapped shrimp.

And I was fortunate to enjoy several fish filets marinated in Chipotle sauce and sautéed with onions and vegetables. I complete forgot to take a picture, because I was so hungry!

Tomorrow we hope to attend a BBQ Cookoff at one of the local RV dealers. Some neighbors have told us about it and promised to provide details in the morning. The way Nessie is acting, we just may come home with a new rig! Not!

Tucson, 2016, Week One

Betcha' thought we got lost, huh?

Sunday evening, January 31st, we hunkered down in Quartzsite with 40-50 mph wind gusts and rain. We brought in the slides on the motorhome to minimize our exposure and settled in to watch the lightning show, complete with thunder! Sasha wasn't too keen on going outside, but she managed a quick trip just before bed. While she was nosing around, I checked the creeks on two sides of us. Oh, Boy! Wrong thing to do! We were surrounded by fast moving water just about to break over the banks of the creeks! Needless to say, sleep was a precious commodity that night!

Next morning, Sasha and I went out to explore, hoping that we could still depart the premises later that morning. Lo, and behold, the creeks were dry and the ground looked as if it hadn't rained in years! That's the desert for you.

Some 260 odds miles southeast of Quartzsite lies Tucson.  We pulled in about 5 pm, set up, and collapsed. Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear with high temps in the low 50's. We immediately set about doing a complete top to bottom cleaning of the motorhome, getting ready for this years trip. Both Tuesday and Wednesday we stayed "home" and worked. Along with cleaning, there were several repairs to be made to Nessie, and we started on those. One of the most time consuming items was threading the cable for a new GPS antenna through the roof framing, down the side of the windshield, and into the dash. That job has been going on steadily for two days, and we're still not finished. Donna has cleaned and polished every bit of the interior of this rig, and will soon finish up with a good floor scrubbing, while I wash the outside. Nice!

On Friday last, we met our friends Ted and Phyllis, who winter in Tucson each year. We last saw them in the fall of '15 as we passed through, but it's good to have a bit of time to see them again. We had lunch at the Union Public House, with fish and chips being the favorite order. Yum! In the afternoon we took the long way home, passing through Tucson Mountain Park, which is just a few miles west of Tucson.

In the distance, the city is just visible through the haze.

On Saturday, Ted and Phyllis took us on a tour of the San Xavier Mission. Founded in the 1700's it is still in use today. Notice the unfinished right tower. It was, for some reason, never completed, and has been left in its original state through several renovations.

The interior is very ornate, and even though renovated, remains exactly as it was constructed 250 years or so ago. It's amazing to think that indigenous peoples along with visiting priests could fabricate such a beautiful building out of very little in the way of local materials.

We left the mission with Ted and Phyllis happy that we had an opportunity to visit.

Our last stop of the day was at Mama Louisa's Italian Restaurant! Can't go very long without eating! Great spaghetti with meatballs, and the baked Ziti was delicious!

Sunday was spent working on the GPS antenna again, as was the entire day today, Monday. I think we're making progress, though, and should wrap it up tomorrow. Sunday evening was spent with Rich and Gladys, our neighbors from Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks. Nice people, and again with the eating…..

Wednesday we're scheduled to take Nessie into the local Newmar dealer for some adjustments that are totally beyond my abilities, so by next weekend we should be able to finally enjoy our stay in Tucson!

Hope so!

Stay with us, we'll be back in a few days….

KofA POI's

South and East of Quartzsite lies the KofA Wildlife Refuge. Some 665,000 acres of wilderness originally set aside in 1939 to protect BigHorn Sheep, the mission statement has expanded to protect all plant life and animals, from Eagles to Hummingbirds; Tortoise, Fox, and Mountain Lions.

The name KofA (pronounced as it is spelled) originated from the King of Arizona Mine that scoured the countryside hereabouts for minerals from 1897 to 1910. The jagged mountains in this area are also named the KofA mountains. Friday, the 29th, Donna and I ventured into one of the areas most visited sites, Palm Canyon.

The road to Palm Canyon is eighteen miles south of Q, and seven miles via dirt road east.

Palm Canyon is a rugged, almost barren, gouge out of the surrounding mountains, but upon closer inspection, it is teeming with life.

The hike into the canyon is about 1/2 mile one way, but it is a rigorous trek, with many elevation changes. Donna was a trooper, using her walking sticks to good advantage while Sasha and I hoofed along.

We were rewarded with a few of a narrow cleft in the canyon wall with a dozen or so California Fan Palms. These are the only know native species of palm in the state, and these specimens are thought to have migrated into the canyon thousands of years ago as their subtropical environment gradually turned to desert. The idea of a tree migrating into the canyon and climbing the steep walls provides a great visual, but we get the idea!

We were so pleased with ourselves….

That we ran into town and treated ourselves to a southwest cheeseburger at the Quartzsite Yacht Club, known as the worlds largest (in terms of number of members) yacht club.  Yeah….

Today we ventured into the second of the KofA Wildlife Reserves intriguing areas, Crystal Hill. This area is, for some geologic reason, littered with quartz formations. Among the rocks, clear crystals have been found over the span of many years. Most of the crystals have been long since found, but now and again a small one will surface, much to the delight of its "prospector". The area is just eight or so miles south of Q, and again about seven miles east on a dirt road (in sad repair, I might add), so the one way trip took us about an hour and a half in the Jeep (thank you, four-wheel drive!). We hiked the hill a bit, but declined to spend much time prospecting since the wind was picking up ahead of a front moving in and the conditions were miserable.

We did, however, see some interesting rock formations, and a lonely cactus reaching for the sky.

The wind is beginning to blow the predicted 15-20 mph, and we've returned to the motorhome and hunkered down for the evening. Rain and high wind are predicted for the next few days, so we're a little concerned about leaving the desert on Monday, hoping that we don't get Nessie stuck somewhere along the 1/4 mile road to the paved highway. Ya gotta love the adventure!

Next stop, Tucson! With full hookups, long showers, and laundry!

"What a Terrible Way…."

We've had an awful busy week in Quartzsite, AZ. Last Monday we drove into Blythe, CA, to check out the town. That took about 15 minutes, so we drove out to the Cali side of the Colorado River to see a couple of RV parks that we had heard about. The drive to the parks took longer than the drive through them! Both the county park, the Mayflower, and the private park that we visited were just a bit too rustic for us. They are both set up for water sports on the river, but with gravel pads and close quarters, coupled with medium to high fees, we probably won't be staying there.
We did have a great lunch in Blythe at the local "Steaks and Cakes" restaurant. A local place that serves breakfast and dinner all day, the service was good and the food was filling. A stop at Starbucks for fuel for the ride home and we were on our way back to Q for an early evening.

Tuesday we were notified that one of the parts that we were waiting for had arrived, but had been returned by the post office due to "insufficient address". A trip into the PO told us that we had provided a physical address for delivery, not the PO Box normally used for this business. The business is a private mail drop, with rental PO Boxes, UPS and FedEx services, taxes and notary. The normal office stuff. Seems like the post office would be able to figure it all out, but no……So we made arrangements for reshipment (at additional expense, of course). We'll see what happens this time.

Wednesday was a complete stay-at-home day. A few walks and a couple of "honey-do's" took up our time, but today, Thursday, we made an excursion to Parker, AZ, to see Parker Dam, which holds Colorado River water in Lake Havasu. The dam is of an unusual design, and is quite striking.

Generating millions of kilowatts of electricity, the dam provides power as well as drinking water to the southwest (read Los Angeles).

A view of the lake from one of the boat launch areas provides just a hint of the huge size of the lake.

We were able to take Sasha on a long walk around a section of the lake, and ventured out onto a concrete fishing dock to get a close look at the water, where we chatted with a fisherman. He wasn't having much luck, but was enjoying a beautiful day. We learned that he and his wife spend winter in Arizona, and summer in Oregon. His comment was "What a terrible way to spend our lives!' I couldn't agree more.

This photo doesn't do justice to the brilliant emerald green colors near the shore.

Our goal for lunch today was to be the Big Belly Deli in Parker. We've eaten there in the past and found it to be one of our favorite sandwich shops. To our dismay, the building where is was located is now for lease. We struck about for another restaurant in the downtown metropolitan area of Parker, and settled for Serape, a Mexican food restaurant. With only mediocre reviews, we were a bit skeptical, but the food was outstanding, in fact it was some of the best we've ever had. The service was a bit off, with a nagging feeling that us gringos were invading a private space, but after all, we were there for the food, no?

As we left the restaurant, what should we see just across the street? Of course. The Big Belly Deli in it's new location. Next time, I promise!

Everything is For Sale Here!

Leaving Ehrenberg, AZ, Friday morning, we stopped at exit 5 on I10 for fuel at $1.92 a gallon. That's high for some parts of the country, but very reasonable compared to California where in places, diesel fuel approaches $3.50 a gallon! The ride to Quartzsite was short, only about 20 miles, and we found a nice place in the desert that is easily accessible by large rv's. We're about 6 miles south of Q on hwy 95, and it's nice and quiet out here. Donna and I love the desert and this is perfect, not unlike our favorite place in the Mojave Desert in SoCal.

The sunset was awesome! What a greeting to the desert!

You get a feeling of how many other people are camping in the area. Thousands, I expect.

Friday afternoon after setting up camp, we ventured into town to see the "Big RV Show". There is a huge tent in the middle of the exposition area with numerous vendors inside selling everything from mops to engine parts. Outside, surrounding the tent, were hundreds of additional vendors with even more goodies!

Saturday, our second day in Q was also devoted to the rv show. One of the vendors in the tent was the manufacturer of our tow-bar, the one that required service. Well, wonder of wonders, they offered to service the unit free of charge, replacing the worn parts, cleaning and lubricating as appropriate, and returned it to us as good as new. Way to go, Roadmaster! We managed to find a few other things that we couldn't live without, and so paid the rent for the "free" BLM land we're camped on!

Our second sunset was even more gorgeous than the first:

Sunday afternoon we returned to the rv show for the required junk food, in this case corn dogs smothered with mustard and jalapeños!

The rest of the week we'll relax, because the rv show is over.  The rock and gem show will begin, so we'll probably visit a time or two, and we'll take a couple of short drives around and about. For awhile, it's coffee on the "patio" in the am, followed by a full day of nuthin…I probably won't post much this week due to a very poor cell connection, and there won't be anything to say! Stay with us, 'cause it's going to be fun at our next stop!

Summer Vacation Starts Early!

We ran away from home a little bit early this year, January instead of May, and we've already had an exciting journey! Our plans are to visit the "Third Coast", also known as the Gulf Coast, along the states of Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida, and then head north into the middle east coast. But first…

We've been busy around the house during the holiday season since our return home in early November.  A quick trip to the desert to enjoy the dune buggies, a bit of carpentry work for friends and family along with a block retaining wall project that has been lurking in the background for almost 14 years (!) and washing and waxing the motorhome, all stuffed in between El Nino's conveyor belt of storms into Northern California has kept us hopping. Fill in the gaps with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, and all the things that happen then and you begin to see what I mean. We're beginning to anticipate a few relaxing months on the road!

We spent the last night at home with our best friends, Steve and Suzi. They invited us for dinner and delicious it was!

Sourdough bread bowls and chicken pot pie filling was extraordinary! We ate and ate, and talked late into the evening! D and I had a bunch of things to do to get ready to leave the next day, so we were up until the wee hours, but it was worth every second to spend our last hours at home with our friends!

Leaving the next morning, we headed south toward the Los Angeles area to visit my Mom and Sister. On the way the GPS in the motorhome quit working and the tow bar attached to "Gus", our tow car decided to spit out a few spacers, allowing the car to sway violently from side to side every time we crossed the slightest off camber bump! A few phone calls later, the various pieces and parts are being shipped and hopefully all will be well.

Three days with the fam, catching up on all the latest, was very enjoyable. Mom is about to reach her 96th birthday, and continues to be full of energy. Monday is wash day for her, and cooking is her passion, with a bit of gardening for the free time she has. She likes to have an afternoon nap, but after all, who doesn't?

Today we left SoCal heading east.

We expect to stay awhile in Quartzsite, AZ, for the annual RV festivities, and will arrive tomorrow for a week and a half of glorious dry-camping in the windy, dusty, Arizona desert. Hmmm. We have stopped tonight in Ehrenberg, AZ, just across the Colorado River from California. There are a number of RV parks along the river catering to snowbirds and we were fortunate to score a spot for the night. We hope to load up with water in the morning, dump all our waste tanks, and do laundry before we leave. Arizona Oasis RV Resort is where we're staying, and it is quite comfortable. Site 12 is a pull-through just long enough for us without disconnecting the "toad", and it will be easy to get out tomorrow. While the spaces are rather close together, the staff is extremely friendly and helpful, and that goes a long way toward making our brief stay a happy one.

Stay with us as we explore this summer. We will be meeting friends and acquaintances, and hopefully making new friends. We would love to share our experiences with you!