Racin', Smuggling and The Ranch, as in John Wayne RV Ranch

I have said before, time is flying by!  One of the first things we did when we got settled in at the KOFA KO-OP was to order a couple of items.  The battery in my Fujitusu laptop has reached it's end of life.  I really like this computer, but this will be the second time I have replaced the battery in the two years that I have owned it.  I found the best price for my battery at Intelligent Batteries a company located in Canada.  Another item we ordered is another inverter that will allow us to make better use of our batteries.  We have been using the 600 watt inverter for the entertainment center to run everything we use when on battery power.  The problem with it is that it is quite a ways from the batteries, and the wiring is too light, so there is excessive voltage and current loss when we load it up with our computers, lights, in addition to the TV, DVD player, and Directv receiver.  The new Xantrex 1000 watt Pro Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter is located close to the batteries so there will virtually no line loss. 

 Here is the inverter installed.  This compartment is getting pretty crowded!  I know that some will say I shouldnt put the inverter, and the solar charge controller in the same compartment as a battery, but this is the starter battery, and the compartment is pretty large, and open, so I dont expect that what little gases the starter battery puts off will be a problem.  I have yet to run the wires to connect it to the 120 volt system.

 On Friday February 10th, we went the Cocopah Speedway to some good racin'.   The weather was great and with a great track and lots of cars, there was lots of action.  There were even five cars from Iowa, including one from our home town of Panora.  I cant believe I didnt know him.  Our hometown is not that big.  We were not disappointed with the racing, but some of the competitors were disappointed how there night turned out.  This car is owned by an Iowan who let some friends take it to Arizona.  Tough phone call back to the owner after this.

Here is some of the damage he did to the wall.  He broke off about four feet of the end of the wall.

Here is some more of the damage he did to the wall.

Also, the car owner maybe calling The Subway for more sponsorship.  :)  Ali, if you see Alice, you can show her this pic, so she can see where her money went.  :)

The Saturday night racing was equally good, but the weather was much colder, and the wind was right in our face, and it was dusty as well, but a bad night at the races is better that the best night of watching reality shows on TV!

 On Monday we hoped that at least one of our purchases would arrive, a hopefully we would have both of them before we left on Wednesday.  Nothing in the mail on Monday.

Tuesday was Valentine's Day.  We didnt do much special, and instead of fighting traffic on the road, and in the restaurants, we stayed home, and made a delicious dinner of steak, lobster tail with lemon and melted butter, deviled eggs, asparagus, and our favorite adult beverage.  Better than any meal we would expect to get even in a good restaurant!

After dinner I checked the tracking number on the laptop battery, and saw that is was "delivered" to the RV Park about 5:30PM.  The park office closes at 4:30, so it was delivered to the office managers rv, and I will get it in the morning before we leave.  I wished the inverter had arrived as well, but we will have to make plans to come back here when it arrives to pick it up.  I tried contacting UPS, and have them leave it in their distribution center in Yuma, but they were not allowed to do that!  Some customer service!

The next order of business was to find a place to move to on Wednesday that wasnt too far away.  While staying at the Cocopah Casino before moving to the KOFA KO-OP one day we found a flyer on our motorhome windshield advertising for three free nights of camping at an RV park just west of Yuma in California.  The only catch was that you had to listen to a presentation trying to sell you a membership in a camping club. So the decision was made to go to Pilot Knob RV Park just west of Winterhaven, CA.

So on Wednesday we picked up the laptop battery at the office, and verified with them that they would hold the inverter that would be delivered late on Wednesday for us to pick on Thursday.  It was a short drive into California, and the RV park, but at the exit just before the park there is a California Inspection Station.  The guy was nice, and asked us if we had animals or plants to which I answered "no".  Then he asked if we had any fruits or vegetables, and I told him we had a grapefruit.  At that point he asked if he could come into the motorhome and check.  Of course we allowed him in, and he confiscated our grapefruit, but didnt say anything out the lemon sitting next to it.  I should have known you cant bring smuggle citrus into California.  I am glad we got the grapefruit for free while we were in Quartzsite.  He then gave us an "inspection document" that he said would be good for our travels in California.

The park was not all that great; the office was not well organized as they said we should go to lot 233, but it was full, so we had to call them to tell them, so they said to go to lot 235, which we told them was vacant.  They wouldnt let us check out the sites in advance. Also, the park was a former trailer park, so the hook ups were not that convenient.  I am glad we had an extra long 50 amp cord.  Otherwise, it was not a bad site as it had a cement patio.  When we checked in we made an appointment for the sales meeting for Thursday.

On Thursday we had to reschedule our time as Ann had a work call at the scheduled time.  The whole meeting was a waste.  The presentation was below par, and we could not see how joining Western Horizons Resorts  would be any benefit to us.  The clincher was when the salesman said we could make this our "home" park.  No, thanks, and no thanks.  It wasnt a total loss as we had three nights of full hookups for free!  Here is a pic I took on Friday morning just after the sun came up.

During our stay at Pilot Knob Ann had been checking out bicycles on craigslist in Phoenix.  She found a really nice that was in her price range, so we decided that when we leave on Saturday, we would go to John Wayne RV Ranch south of Maricopa, Az, a place we had stayed a couple of times last year, and use that as a home base the following week so Ann could get her bike, and maybe I could get the new inverter installed, as the following week we plan to dry camp at the Phoenix International Raceway and take in the NASCAR races on Saturday and Sunday March 3 and 4.

On Saturday morning before leaving the Yuma area we filled up with food and fuel at Barney's Flying J.  As you can see, gas aint cheap here!

The trip up to John Wayne RV Ranch was uneventful, just the way we like it!  We just relaxed Saturday afternoon, and then enjoyed watching Kyle Busch drive the wheels off his car to win the NASCAR Bud Shootout!   What a race!

On Sunday we made a big loop around the Phoenix metro area as Ann had made an appointment to meet the lady who owned the bike she wanted to buy.  We both got to the parking lot at the same time.  Ann loved the bike and they made the deal.  Her new to her bike is a Specialized Brand, the same brand as her riding helmet.  Will make for a nice coordinated outfit when she rides on RAGBRAI next summer.  So far she has ridden her new bike about 30 miles, including to her hair appointment on Friday.

From there we went to Fry's Electronics to see if they had a 25' RJ-12 cable to hook the new inverter to our battery monitor panel for a remote off and on switch.  They had what we wanted, so we were in and out of there in short order.

 Then it is was down to Phoenix International Raceway to see if any ticket sellers were there yet.  We drove by where the ticket sellers were last year, and the spaces were empty, so we will wait a few days then try again.

Then to a bike shop so Ann could get some new pedals and a lock for her new bike.  They had the pedals she wanted, and they even installed them.  The new lock looks pretty hefty, and should do the job.

Then it was back to the RV park.  All in all it was a nice 120 mile drive.

As Sunday was my birthday, Ann took me to The Raceway Bar and Grill  which is between the RV park and Maricopa for a nice birthday dinner.  The places claim to fame is that last year when we were here, the guys from the TV show American Pickers were there and recorded an episode called Airstream Dream, which aired last June, but is available from Amazon.

Monday was a work holiday so first we went into Maricopa for some shopping.  While at the Dairy Queen getting our ice cream fix, I noticed this seemingly outdated sign on the bar next door.

Maricopa is no longer a small rural community, but has grown a lot in the last few years.  After we got done shopping, and came back to the RV park,  Ann went back into town to get a couple of things we didnt get on the first trip.

Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, so for dinner we had scallops and crab meat sauteed  in butter and spices over linguini with a fresh garden salad with our favorite salad dressings.  Very delicious!  Way better than you would get in most restaurants!

The rest of the week has been pretty much dedicated to watching NASCAR racing on TV.  Practice and the Gatorade Duels on Thursday.  More practice, Camping World Truck qualifying, and race on Friday.  A pretty boring race except for the big wreck at the end.  Then on Saturday more practice, and the Nationwide Series race.  The race was a lot better than the truck race, but still ended up with a couple of big wrecks toward the end.  I hope tomorrow's Daytona 500 is a much better race, with a lot less wrecks, but I am not all that optimistic!

Let's go racing!  Till next time...

Paul

Our Winter Travels Are Over Half Over

I cant believe how fast our time at Quartzsite went!  There seems to be a conundrum with blogging.  When you are having a good time, you are too busy to blog, and when there is nothing going on, you dont feel you have anything to blog about.

As mentioned before, one of the daily happenings in Q is our daily 10:00 AM two mile walk.  the number of people varies from day to day, but usually there it at least a half dozen.

Here is a pic of some of the walkers mentally preparing for the grueling walk.  Usually after about a half mile of walking the group splits up into smaller groups, each going at their own pace.

Another favorite daily routine is the 4:00PM Happy Hour, and campfire.  Here is a pic of one of our campfires.  I thought it was an interesting pic.

Speaking of Happy Hour, one day the theme for Happy Hour was Hawaiian Luau, here is Ann with our friends Dave and Marilyn in costume.

Most Happy Hours are followed by gorgeous sunsets, such as this one.

At Quartzsite you are likely to see a wide variety of RVs, but this one was parked close to us.  It is home made, and the guy wants a half million dollars for it, despite the fact it doesnt have a bathroom or a shower!

Here is a link for more information about it.  Deco Liner and Jay Leno's Garage.  An internet search for "Deco Liner" will provide a lot more information.  One of the guys in our group has an I-Phone app, and did this to the Deco Liner. Poor Decoliner!

Here is a video by the same guy, Mike, showing a close call for Ann and Liza.

But as I used to tell my kids when they were growing up, "Enough Silliness!"

On Wednesday after morning coffee, Ann and I headed back to Algodonnes, Mexico to check on her glasses, and see if I could get mine like I needed them.  The trip was uneventful and productive.  After the lack of information on Ann's glasses(no one would return calls), and the misinformation( your glasses will be ready in two weeks), dealing in person was the thing to do.  Her glasses fit, and the prescription was ok, and NOW they would sent out to have the anti-glare put on, and promised that they would be done on Friday, February 3.  My glasses needed new lenses made, as I didnt understand that when you add bifocals to regular prescription glasses the correction is compounded, which is why they wouldnt focus that the proper distance.  The optician was slightly annoyed at my ignorance, but went ahead and had new lenses made.  I could have waited a few hours to get them, but since we had to come back to get Ann's glasses the following week, we decided to just wait and get mine then too.

Thursday evening we went out to dinner with our friends Dave and Marilyn to the Quartzsite Yacht Club for dinner and karaoake.  Dave and Marilyn wanted to hear Ann sing.  When you ask people at the club why they named it as they did, they will tell that when California falls into the ocean, western Arizona with be beach front property!


Here is photographic evidence we were there.

Since the line is so long to sing, Ann only got to sing one song in two hours, so there was no need to stay around to sing a second song.

Saturday was the RVFoum Pot Luck Dinner, and as per most pot lucks there is usually enough food for at least two meals per person.

The Spread.

The Line

Ann in her new prescription sun glasses waiting to get in line.

Chowing down

And Liza cleaning up.

Sunday was for routine chores, such as dumping our gray and black tanks, filling up the fresh water tank, and then refilling our 20 lb. propane cylinders that we use to run our Kozy World Propane Heater, and our Webber Q 200 gas grill.

On Sunday the crowd starting dwindling, and each night at Happy Hour there were a few less chairs every afternoon, and evening, but you can always take more pictures.

I like this silhouette of Gary in his baseball cap, and Joe in his Tom Mix hat.

Then there are the scenes of the sun still shining on the mountains in the east, after it has gone down for us.

The last few days we were in Q were pretty relaxed, but we didnt find time to take Bob Buchanan, and Lou Schneider out to dinner at Sweet Darlene's before we left town.  Bob is pretty much in charge of keeping track is who coming to the rally, and who arrives, as well as maintaining a webpage with directions and picture.  Lou is one of the most knowledgeable people I know when it comes to electricity and RVs.

On my last trip in to Quartzsite before heading down the road, I took a picture of the "welcome to Quartzsite" sign, and a picture of a few of the vendors in the area.  If there is one vendor in Quartzsite, there are a thousand!  Hopefully, they all do well!

On Friday we left Quartzsite and headed back to the Cocopah Casino for a few days, as our glasses were ready in Algodonnes.  We have stayed the casino each of the last two years, and in the first part of January when we came from Tucson.  The sign in was easy, and we were good to go for three nights for $5.00.  We were lucky to get the last available RV space as there was a boxing match Saturday night outside featuring George Foreman III.

Our trip to Algodonnes was again uneventful, but we did have a short wait because Ann's prescription sunglasses needed some adjustment.  This gave us an opportunity to get something to eat, and when we were finished, the glasses were done as well.  Then it was time to head back to the good ol' USA.  In the early afternoon the lines get long, and instead of waiting about an hour, we took the bicycle taxi back across.  For $5.00 per person you ride in this bicycle powered carriage, and you get to go to the head of the car line.  It only took us about ten minutes to get back across.  The best $10.00 we have spent in quite some time!

Knowing that we wouldnt be able to stay at the casino very long, we started looking for other places. I had hear about a couple of places not too far from Yuma.  One place is called Fortuna Pond , and the other was Mittry Lake, so we decided to take  a road to see if either or both of these places would work for us.  They were not too far from Yuma, so it didnt take to long.  Fortuna Pond looked like a nice quite place to stay, but seemed a little crowded.

Mittry Lake was much larger, but the camping spots we basically limited to very small areas around part of the lake.  They didnt seem to inviting to me.

I forgot to take the camera with us when we went to these spots, the first time, so went back later and got these pics, including a couple of fields of some unknown crop we saw along the way.

On the way back when I took these pics, I stopped at Wal*Mart for a couple of things; a percolator coffee pot, and a camp toaster you can use on the propane stovetop.

A couple of weeks ago we had purchased a new sauce pan, as the other one was scratched and old.  Evidently, it is not quite the same size as the previous one, because, I swear I put the same amount of pop corn in this pan, as I used to put in the other, but this was the result the first time I used the new pan!

On Tuesday we thought we had better start looking for a place to go in Wednesday, but were not too concerned as there are lots of places to stay down here in or near Yuma.

In the afternoon on Tuesday we heard a lot of pounding noise.  It sounded like someone was building a tin building with a hammer.  After an hour so so of hearing this, I set out to investigate, and found that two of our neighbors to the north were IMCA teams from Iowa.  Of course being a huge race fan, and remembering when the IMCA started back in 1979, it was really cool to see these guys.  the first team I talked to was from Garden City, Kansas, but one of the crew members was from Iowa, as well as the driver.  I was awesome to talk to someone in Yuma, Arizona who knew many of the old time racers from back in the midwest!  Here is there car.

The real surprise was when I saw the second car!  It's number was 3, and it was sponsored by Wetherell Manufacturing.  Back in the my hey day of going to stock car races in Alta, Iowa there was a number 3, sponsored by Wetherell Manufacturing!  In talking to the owner he is the son of the man who owned the number 3 car back in the 70s!  Small world!  Here is the number 3 car in the process of having the body panels repaired for this weekends racing here at the Cocopah Speedway.

One of the questions we have been asking ourselves since we have stayed here, is these people can afford to gamble enough to stay here much more than four days(first three days $5.00, then 200 points on players club card).  Well, on Monday we talked to a couple from North Dakota who gave us some good information. On Sunday, Monday and Thursday, if you play enough to earn five points and you are over 55, they will give you an additional 250 points, so over the course of a week a couple where both are over 55, they could earn 750 points each, so it is easier to see how these couples can stay longer.  Duly noted for future reference. Since I already missed Sunday, I went over on Monday, and got my 250 bonus points, and used 200 for another nights stay.  The lady at the counter actually gave us two days!  Thank you, very much!  We had also been told that if the husband registers the first time, then when there time is up, the wife can go register for another three days.  Sounded good, but when Ann went to register on Wednesday for another three days, the lady remembered her from the first time we checked in and would let her register in her name, so we had to find another place.  The place we chose was KOFA KO-OP Retreat, a place we had stayed before going to Quartzsite.  This time the place is full except for dry camping for $5.00 per day.  With our solar set up and plenty of water, we can easily dry camp for a minimum of ten days.  You can only stay a week at a time in dry camp, so come next Wednesday or sooner we will be moving.

One thing that has really worked out well on this trip is getting our mail sent to us, but this time I messed up and gave our local post office the wrong zip code of the town we wanted it sent to.  So for the last couple of days we have been checking with the post office in Somerton, where we wanted it to go, the main post office in Yuma, where the zip code on it is, and the RV park we are in, just in case the post office in Yuma recognized the zip+four on the mail.  Good news!  Today it arrived at the main post office in Yuma, and Ann picked it up while in town shopping.

As a side note, one of the things we have noticed here in Arizona we dont recall seeing a lot of in other places is people just leaving their grocery carts in the middle of the store parking lots.  I can see doing it in Iowa in the middle of winter, or if you have young children with you that need your attention, but for abled bodied adults on nice days, I see no reason not to put the carts in the cart corals!  Just a pet peeve of ours.

I dont really like to end the blog on a rant, but that is how it is today.

Till next time!

Paul