First Two Weeks at Quartzsite

Once again time has flown by.  We have already been here two weeks, and our winter sojourn is already half over!  One of the few things that is not as good as could be out here is the Virgin Mobile broadband service, it is just too slow to do many things other than check email, and read a few blogs.  I have been trying to use it exclusively to save bandwidth usage on the Verizon Mi-Fi, as it is limited to 5G with our current plan.  Today Ann decided that since she would probably go over the 5 G limit, she may as well up the plan to the 10 G one, so I am now using the Mi-Fi connection, and hopefully can post some pics.  The blog is just not the same without pics.

Here is a pic I tried posting before.  This is the first three couples to arrive at Quartzsite having dinner at Silly Al's Pizza.  From the left it is me(Paul), then Marilyn whose husband Dave is next to Ann, then Bob, and his wife Laura.

Here is the line up of the first rigs at the rally.  The rig in the foreground belongs to a couple who dropped off their coach and went to their home in Goodyear, Arizona for a couple of days.  Then is the coach of Bob and Laura, then ours, and the camper of Dave and Marilyn.

Here is a pic of the first sunset in Quartzsite.

Then a couple of days later pic of the full moon rising, a pic similar to the one I took when we were in Del Rio, Texas.  The pic is at the bottom of the blog.

And then a pic of our dinner for the evening; steak with tinfoil potatoes, with onions and green peppers.

Over the next few days, the place really started to fill up.  Most of the day was spent greeting, and visiting with the new arrivals, and posting the list of new arrivals on RVForum.net.

Here is the group assembling for Happy Hour on January 21.  The group is growing!

 And here is the full moon going down with the sun shining on the mountains to the west, as it is about to break over the mountains in the east.

 

As the days went by the area filled in nicely, with a total of 37 rigs being here at one time or another.  

While people were arriving I decided I had better get to work on my solar project that I had been planning, and acquiring parts for since last summer.   So with a trip into Quartzsite to pick up some brackets to attach to the solar panels, and then brackets to attach to the motorhome, and some  tilt bars to raise the panels with, I began in earnest.  First job was to locate the panels on the roof so they wouldnt be shaded if I didnt tilt them, but still be close enough together to maintain a short of run of wire as possible  Once this was done, I cleaned the spots on the roof where the brackets would go, then carefully set them in the 3M 5200 adhesive to let them cure.  One thing we(Ann) didnt want to do was to put holes in the roof, that is why I chose the 3M adhesive, but because there is a slight arch to the roof, the panel brackets wanted to slide downhill.  I am glad I didnt just leave them to cure on their own, as I would not have been happy to go up on the roof the next morning to see the brackets up against the rain gutter on the edge of the roof! So we decided that I should put one screw in each bracket to hold it in place till the adhesive set up. Once I did this the installation of the panels looked good.

To back up a bit, one of the obstacles to overcome was to be able to get the panels themselves up on the roof.  As the panels are about 37" x 65" and weigh 40 lbs, this was no easy challenge.  My solution was to take the strap part of the tire tie downs, attach one end to the panel, and use the straps as a rope.  Dave came over with a ladder and with his help, getting the panels on the roof was quite simple.  Thanks Dave!

That was enough work for that day.

The next day I worked on where to mount the charge controller, and where to run the wires from the roof to the controller.  The easiest was is to go down the refrigerator vent, behind the refrigerator, and on down to the compartment below.  It was no problem at all, and was easily accomplished in a day.  :)

The last issue to be solved was to go from the controller to the battery.  So it was off to Quartzsite again to a solar dealer to get two five foot pieces of #4 wire with ends on, plus a 60 amp fuse and fuse holder to be put downstream of the controller.  Once back home these were fairly easy to install.  Then it was the moment of truth!  I connected the two panels together on the roof, then determined which wire coming from the panels was the "hot" wire as both wires were black, and I hadnt marked them.  Once this was determined, and I got them hooked up with no spark or fires, I went into the motorhome to check my amp meter, and it was showing an input of about four amp hours, despite being relatively late in the day!  WooooHooooo!  Success!

I dont have a lot of pics of the installation process, as once I got going I didnt want to stop and take pics.  Here is one of the panels installed and operating.

One of the high lights of the week was during Happy Hour one night was Betty, who put herself in charge of entertainment, came up with the idea of the "Twelve Days of Quartzsite", a take off on the "Twelve Days of Christmas".  Each day of Quartzsite was represented by something you might buy while here.  Ann got to be the Fourth Day of Quartzsite I bought four funnel cakes, even though she only bought two, and intended to cut them into, but decided she then wouldnt be able to hold them all.

It was a fun event, and was filmed for posterity, and is on RVfoum.net, though I am not sure where.  If you would like to see more of the activities, and comments about our fun here, then checkout RVForum.net, and look through all the threads about Quartzsite.  You may have to sign up and login to see all the pics and videos that are posted. 

On Thursday four of us went to a golf course in Blythe, California, which is about 30 minute from here.  As we had a 7:00AM tee time it was decided to leave here about 6:00AM  to be sure and be on time.  When we arrived about 6:30, there was no one to be seen.  It didnt take us long to realize that California is on Pacific time, and Arizona is on Mountain time!  So we got there an hour early, but it was a beautiful morning.  The round of golf was interesting; the other three guys play pretty regular, and it showed, I havent played in a few years, and it showed as well.  But all in all is was a great being outside in such beautiful weather.

During Happy Hour on Thursday Betty organized a take off the Kentucky Derby, women decorated hats, and there were four teems of "horses" and "riders".  Ann teamed up with another guy and called themselves Bling, Bling.  The idea was that the "horse" was blindfoled, and the "rider" had to guide the "horse around the course that was marked with beer cans filled with sand.  I had the "duty" to provide the empty beer cans.  Everyone needed to contribute, and I gladly did my part!

It was pretty silly, but still fun, as Ann and her partner Rolf won the race!  I didnt get any pics of the "Derby", but I am sure there are some on the forum.

Here is a link to the  horserace on youtube.

On Friday I went into town to get our mail that has been forwarded from Iowa.  The line at the Post Office was short, relatively speaking, as last year it wound around the inside of the office and out the door. 

I cant imagine what it must be like working there, going from a small town to a town of over a half million people for a few weeks a year.  Then it was off to get a haircut before returning "home".  The price of a haircut was only $11.00, one of the few bargains you can get this time of year here.

Saturday was the grand finale with a buffet meal at 3:00PM, preceded with a group picture at 2:00.  Ann made a wonderful dish of orange chicken, and fried rice.  As usual at a buffet there was more food than we could eat, but Ann's chicken was one of the best dishes!  She has to quit cooking like that, or I will expect her to cook more often.  :)

After everyone had eaten more than they should have, Ann and three of the guys who are musicians, gave an impromptu concert after only practicing only 30 minutes and never even had met each other before the rally.  The sound quality is not good, but the singing and playing was.

On Sunday morning many of the group left, and headed for Death Valley, others went there own way, and a few of us are still here.  We plan on staying till the thirteenth, and then head toward Phoenix, as Ann has to go to Baltimore either the week of the fourteenth or the next week, and we are planning on meeting up with a friend from home who will be visiting in the Casa Grande area for a few days.

The first two weeks here have been fun, relaxing, and satisfying, and I expect the next two weeks here will be the same!

I will keep you posted, hopefully, more often than I have in the last two weeks.

Paul