My Trails

Nice temperatured here.

For the last 5 days I have camped in the Prescott National Forest, five miles southwest of the city of Prescott. The campgrounds is at 6000′ of elevation, providing much cooler temperatures than the blazing heat in Yuma. It has been mid 70’s each day – just about perfect!

You can’t have beautiful sunsets every day in Arizona. Sometimes they are just normal.

The limit for camping here is 7 days. I will be moving on tomorrow, but the reason to move is not entirely based on coming up on the stay limit, it is mainly because a cold front is coming and bringing with it temperatures in the 50’s during the day and close to freezing at night.

I rode into Prescott twice since I’ve been here. One time was to Walmart and one time was to check out a free dump at the waste treatment plant. It is nice to have the convenience of a large city close by for supplies but the traffic and congestion was not pleasant to drive in. I’m not sure why the traffic was so bad but I hope my move tomorrow will be easier as I travel through town.

Other than short walks each day, I have hung out near camp most of the time, enjoying the weather, and healing a hole in my mouth where I had a tooth extracted. Even though I haven’t done anything exciting in the last few days, I wanted to post to cronicle this spot for future reference.

I have been testing my batteries with information I accumulated from the meter I got from Richard. I have kept track of amps, volts, and state of charge when fully charged, and then again after using them in the evening and overnight. By comparing battery capacity and use overnight, and analyzing percentages and voltages in the morning, it is apparent I have lost about 20% of my batteries life.

Richard and I have discussed several causes that contribute to early battery failure. Lead acid batteries don’t like to go long time-periods without being fully charged. They also don’t like to be mixed with different types and sizes. I’m afraid I’m guilty of both those infractions. But even the abuse of batteries doesn’t explain why batteries that Donna, Richard, and I, all bought at Costco, have failed early.

The good news is that Richard told me the dealer where he bought his lithium batteries is looking at importing batteries from a new supplier. That should lower the cost.

Richard and Dianna

An early heat wave has come to the southwest. After weeks of wet and cold, the temperature turned from 60’s to upper 90’s in the span of a few days. Richard and Dianna gave up and moved over to the RV park on the Army Base where they can plug in. Richard says it will be cheaper than running his generator to power the AC for six hours a day. I have to be here for another day for a dentist appointment then I’m planning to head for higher ground.

I’m surprised how many RVs there are still here at the LTVA. I drove through the main section on my way back from town today and only a very few have left. Even the ones still here are not running air conditioners – most had their doors open when I drove by.
I guess the people still here don’t have any other options. When you pay for the season, it is hard to justify leaving here early to pay somewhere else. Richard found a statistic that the average temperature for this time of year is 78 degrees. That would be about perfect.

Last weekend Richard and Dianna took me with them to the air show in El Centro. We planned our arrival so that we could catch the Blue Angels perform and limit the time we were in the brutal heat and searing sun. It worked out good. It took a long time to get on the base but we were in a cool car so the traffic was tolerable. We even watched a Mig and an F86 put on a mock dogfight as we waited for parking. When we finally parked and walked to the flight line, the Blue Angels were just taxying out to take off. We found a parking lot outside the base and watched the show in the shade of a tree.

The Blue Angels didn’t disappoint. Every since I was a kid I have always enjoyed watching the Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration, and I try to attend their shows whenever I can. After an exciting performance we went on into the flight line to look at all the planes on display. We figured it would give the parking lot time to clear out a little. Even after spending an hour looking at the planes, the traffic getting out was stop and go for another hour.

On the way home we stopped to eat at my favorite restaurant – Cracker Barrel. It was a fun day! Thanks R&D for taking me along!

I thought this was odd.

During the second week of January, I moved from the LTVA over to the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous gathering. Every year, like-minded nomads gather in Quartzsite to share experiences, learn new things about living and traveling on the road, and see friends – old and new.

Most of the seminars at the RTR are geared for people just starting out in this lifestyle, so after doing this for the last five years, I didn’t learn a lot that was new to me. Many travelers new to this way of full-time mobile living – especially solo women – find comfort and safety in traveling with a group of like-minded individuals. It is normal – and I guess healthy – to have a little apprehension in this world of ours, and to join with other people and travel with them is a good way to start this adventure.

The main objective of the meeting is not so much to learn how to live on the road as it is to just make friends. Everyone’s lifestyle is so unique that the only way to figure out how to do this is to just go do it. You can get tips from those that have been full-timing for years, but how they do things may be completely different from what is important to you. I went to the rally to say hi to several people I have met during my travels the last few years.

Each year the RTR gets bigger. There were estimates of 500 people there this year – more than double the number that showed up last year. I don’t enjoy large crowds. It seemed to me that the people were different and not as easy to meet this year. I guess the bigger the crowd the easier it is to stay by yourself. It probably is more me than them. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are 1000 people that show up here next year. I will not be one of them.

With so many people gathered together there are bound to be disagreements. On the second day there was a disagreement over playing music in the evening. Some wanted to play loud music around their camps and others didn’t want to hear it. The music players were consequently bannished to the DMZ (Designated Music Zone) two washes over. There were other squabbles about picking up dog poop, smoking, and toilet paper in the washes from those that came in tents unprepared for taking care of their waste. But mostly everyone got along well.

Raw, unfiltered honey

On one warm, sunny afternoon, my friend Todd and I went to town to browse the booths that crowd the streets of Quartzsite this time of year. It’s all the same from year to year but it is kind of fun to wander the shops a time or two. I bought a large spoon with holes in it that I will use to strain pasta, a jar of raw honey, and a new outdoor rug for the front of Minnie. Just a warning for those coming to Q. They have increased their police force and are handing out more tickets. They probably figure they need money from all the tourist in town as much as the shops do.

Porch

I’m now back at the LTVA waiting out a stretch of rainy weather. Donna is planning on joining me in a few days. We will try to visit some of the bloggers she has met online and then go to the Big Tent extravaganza. Richard and Dianna are driving up from Yuma to join us. Then we are planning to drive to Yuma to camp with Richard and Dianna and make a trip to Mexico for dental and drugs. Let’s hope we can get out of Mexico before we sever all trade across the border.

They need a sign like this over in the “Clothing Optional” area.

I traveled back to Quartzsite on New Year’s Day 2017. Richard and Dianna went southwest to Yuma the same day, planning to spend several weeks at Imperial Dam LTVA. I will move down to join them soon. While I have been here I have stopped to see Barb and meet some of her friends she camps with, and exchanged texts with Todd, a friend I first met at last year’s RTR. You may recall that Donna and I ran into Todd and Cathy in Flagstaff last year and traveled north to the Grand Canyon with them. Todd is coming to the RTR and we made plans to meet there.

I had quite a few projects that I wanted to tackle this season while in Quartzsite. Every time you do any remodeling on your RV there are always parts you need that you didn’t contemplate. I knew the flee markets and RV parts stores in Quartzsite would have everything I needed.

I installed two more batteries under the seat in my rig and cut a hole to vent them out the side. I covered the hole with a vent cover and screen so no bugs can get in. I moved the AGM batteries under the table and installed a switch so I can cut them in and out of the bank. With all the batteries in one place and close to the solar charger, inverter, and converter, it was easy to connect and efficient as well.

Free Juice.

With more battery power I knew I would need more solar so the next project was adding another panel to the roof. I like the idea of having some of my solar panels that I can set out beside my RV. Besides being able to tilt the panels, I can move them around in a way I like to call, “chasing the sun.” But panels on the roof are easier to live with. You don’t need a place to store them while traveling and they charge even while driving and parked at Walmart.

Vent

Charging and battery profiles are sometimes complicated and I have attended many intelligence briefings in the form of WhatsApp texts with my brother in Yuma. I would like to have one of those expensive meter electronic systems that would give me better information about my charging but that will have to wait for my ship to come in.

That’s about it. It has been cold for much riding and walking. When I would travel to town to get parts I always got sidetracked looking at all the junk for sale, but I haven’t made the trip yet with the express purpose of browsing. I guess I’m afraid I will buy something I don’t need.

Even cold in Arizona!

This is a quick note to chronicle the last two weeks. Several days before I had planned to return to Tempe for Christmas, Mom had a serious reaction to a new medication she was taking. During the night caregivers at her apartment noticed she was severely bleeding and called the ambulance to take her to the hospital.

One of the bad side effects from this new blood-thinner medicine she was on is gastrointestinal bleeding. Several people have died from it. As you can imagine we were very concerned for a few days as she continued to bleed. Finally, the bleeding stopped. The GI Dr. did a scope procedure on her and decided not to do any further treatment. Sometimes anesthesia for elderly people can be more life- threatening than the problem itself.

Mom is back in her apartment now. She is still very weak and sometimes confused. We have discussed several times whether she needs to live somewhere where she gets more consistent care, but being in her own place is comforting to her and to move her to a nursing home would be stressful. It will be a hard decision to make but one that needs to be made soon.

I’m camped in Bulldog Canyon again. It is only a short drive from Mom’s apartment so quite handy for me. When she was in the hospital I camped the other side of Phoenix at Buckeye Recreation area. Even though it was closer to the hospital it was still a long ride to go see her. I actually stayed one night in the parking lot of the hospital.

After Christmas I will return to the Quartzsite/Yuma area. I have met a lot of people over the years that will congregate around Q in January and I’m hoping to see some of them again. Then I will travel to Yuma and spend some time with Richard and Dianna. I still have some dental work planned while I’m there but that’s as far ahead as my plans go. And even those plans could change.