We didnt go to "the tent" on Saturday as we figured it would be very busy, and Ann went with the others to the Desert Bar. Here are some pics Ann took.
On Sunday January 19th we did go to "the tent" primarily to have our Xantrex ProWatt 1000 checked out. I had talked to a Xantrex repair place in Gilbert, AZ, and they told me that they would have a booth and a tech at "the tent". We brought our inverter with us, and had no problem finding the booth, but the tech told us, not only, that he had no way of testing our inverter, but also, he didnt have any new ones! Ok, that was a waste of time. We wandered around the rest of "the tent" in search of anything else we might need or want, and came away empty handed. It seems every year there is less RV stuff, and more stuff you would see at a state fair.
Shortly after returning to the RV my sister Terry and her husband Walt arrived from Colorado to join us at the RV Forum Rally . The first order of business was food, so it was a trip into Quartzsite to Silly Al's Pizza, a place we go to often when we are in the area. Terry, Walt, and Ann in front of Silly Al's.
While taking the first pic, I noticed these cell towers in the background. I can only imagine how much traffic they handle this time of year. I read that during this time of year Quartzsite becomes the third largest city in Arizona.
We made it back to the rally in time for Happy Hour. Here is Walt and the Big Larry discussing the days events.
And here is Terry explaining to Walt where he went wrong. :)
On Monday Morning January 20 Walt, Terry and I went to "the tent" so they could find stuff they needed, and I went along to make sure I didnt miss anything that I needed on my trip on Sunday. None of us found anything we needed except food. Then it was back to the RVs for some relaxing and enjoying the Arizona sunshine. After Happy Hour we decide to go to The Quartzsite Yacht Club for dinner. Like many of the restaurants in Quartzsite this time of year they are swamped during dinner time. The service was pretty slow, but the servers were busy. Walt ordered clam chowder, but never did get it because by time they prepared more, we were done eating, so, of course, they didnt charge him for the chowder, but they gave all of us our drinks for free. All in all not a bad meal. Once it gets dark out here in the desert, it seems to be later than you think, so turning in for the night about 8:30 PM becomes normal.
Tuesday January 21st was just another average day around here, with some pics of the sunrise I took while walking Brian's dog.
And here is one looking west just after the sun came up.
At Happy Happy all those wanted to participate in the "Great Toilet Paper Test" were told bring a sample of the toilet paper they used to the campfire area tomorrow morning to be included in the test. Could be interesting.
Although, it was mostly cloudy to the east, I did get some pics of the sun shining on the mountains to the east as the sun was going down.
For dinner we grilled some Buffalo brats, cheeseburgers, and also had baked beans and some spicy vegetable soup that Terry had made.
Most of Wednesday January 22 was just another relaxing day until Happy Hour when we were greeted with this setup at the fire ring. Several people had brought sample of the toilet paper they used for the test. This was very scientific and I am told it will be published in a scientific journal.
As the tp had been sitting in water and all the sample had been stirred equally the winners and losers were then decided. Here is a link to the official results. Official Toilet Paper Test Results.
Also, at Happy Hour here is Marcia explaining how the "Open House" tomorrow will work. Basically, if you want to open your RV to others, you put a sign on the front, and people will start at one RV and work their way around to all the others.
And then, of course, you have the "solving the worlds problems" discussions at every Happy Hour. Here is my sister Terry explaining her solution to one of the worlds problems to her husband Walt, and my brother Brian.
After Happy Hour it was off to Silly Al's Pizza for pizza, karaoke and waiting for my brother Jim to arrive, who was on his way to Q from West Scaremento, CA.
The pizza, as usual, was very good. We ordered the Goliath size tonight, and this was what was left before Jim arrived, who then reduced the left overs to two pieces. We were disappointed in the $15.00 cost of the small vegetarian pizza that Terry ordered, but it was tasty as well.
As we were sitting around waiting for karaoke to get started, here is what people do these days when they are waiting. Gotta check the cell phones. lol
Thursday January 23rd started out with the tour of the rigs here at the RVForum Rally. Ann had to work, and I chose not to go, but I guess they had a pretty good turnout, and rumor was that instead of going from one coach to another, people just went to the coaches they wanted to see. You can do that when this group only has three rules, and they are; 1) Wear your name badge. 2) Where your damned name badge. 3) No fur babies at food events. Brian was going to open his coach to show his whiskey dispenser, but as he had to work all day, he was unable to do so. Perhaps, another time.
In the after noon Jim and Ann gathered rocks to make a nice fire pit. We put it to good use later in the evening.
For dinner Ann and Terry made some delicious soft shell tacos. Here they are working hard to prepare the meal.
While the guys are sitting around BSing while waiting patiently for dinner.
After diner we enjoyed our new fire ring, until it was time to call it a night.
Friday January 24th started out with the annual RVForum Rally 4-Wheel Drive trip. Brian got to try out some offroading in his Jeep. Walt went along for the ride. Here is a pic of the two of them going up hill.
Thanks to Brian for this pic, I took it from his Facebook page.
Saturday January 24th was a combination work and fun day. It started out with Walt and I changing out our converter/charger. The stock one is only a two stage charger, and the new Progressive Dynamics 9260 is a three stage charger. It was a fairly easy job, as we were able to access both ends of the converter/charger. One end by removing a drawer, and the other by removing our walkie-talkie radio holder. Here is the back end of the old inverter.
The new one ready to go in, along with necessary tools.
Back side view of the new one installed. Notice the large cooling fins.
And a view of the front of the new one with assorted wires in the way.
It was a fairly straight forward and easy install for Walt who had done this before.
Here is a pic of Brian's RV in front of ours.
And here is a pic of Walt and Terry's across the circle from us.
And finally the circle is completed with my brother Jim's RV.
From there we headed over to the Love's Truckstop to pick up the Xantrex Pro Watt 1000 inverter, that I had ordered, and tracking showed it was delivered the previous day, but when I asked if it was there, again the clerk said he didnt see it, but would check in the office. It wasnt there either. We then bought some Chester's Fried Chicken for the afternoon potluck, and then we went back to the RV, where I called UPS, and they told me, yes it was delivered yesterday, and even game me the name of the person who signed for it. I then called Love's and spoke with the manager who said she would track it down. A few minutes later she called and said she had found it. The employee who signed for it thought it was for them, and opened it, but it was still there. So it was to Love's to pick it up. another problem solved.
While we were in town, we bought two more Trojan T-105 6 volt deep cycle batteries which I installed along with the new inverter. A lot of projects for one day!
About 2:00PM we headed over to the fire ring for the Official Rally Picture. Thanks, Ray.
The picture was followed by the annual RVForum potluck. It was just Terry, Walt, Ann and I, as Brian and Jim had headed to Phoenix earlier in the day to meet with other family members who live there, and others who were flying in later in the day.
As usual the potluck was awesome with plenty of great food and great conversation. After a little afternoon siesta, and taking Brian's dog for a walk, Walt and I did some checking on Brian's generator, which had quit working a few weeks before. We were not able to solve the problem.
A little later in the afternoon, I went back to the fire ring to get our table that was used for the potluck, and bring our log turner over to the fire. When I got there those that were there we having a flag burning ceremony. Last year some of the forum members had hiked up Q Mountain, and placed as American flad, and a MIA flag at the peak. The other day when they hiked up there again, the MIA flag was gone, and the American flag was tattered, so the replaced the flags with new ones, and were going to retire the tattered American flag. Here is a pic of Q Mountain as seen from the roof of our motorhome, and a pic of the Flag Burning Ceremony. Thanks to The Big Larry for the photo of the Flag Burning.
The evening was a quite one for me, but Ann went into town to do laundry as we are going to Phoenix on Saturday.
On Sunday January 26th we didnt get around to early and headed to Phoenix early in the afternoon. After checking into the hotel, we headed down to the pool to visit with family members who had flown in from Iowa, and Colorado for a few days. When it started to cool off, we headed over to my sister Mary's house where we had soft shell tacos with green chili, and tiramisu. Good stuff! While eating we watched the Pro Bowl. What a joke it is, but I guess it is pretty cheap entertainment.
After the game we headed back to the hotel, and called a night about 8:30.
Ann had Monday January 27th off so we didnt get up too early, and when we did, we went down to the lobby for breakfast and continue our visiting with family. Then it was over to my brother Kevin's house in Sun City for a quick visit, then we went to a local restaurant called Mercers for lunch. Next we went to a Fry's for some grocery shopping.(Ann wanted to go to a "real" grocery store). Then it was back to the hotel to say goodby to the siblings from Iowa and Colorado. Here is a pic of 8 of the 9 of us who got together.
The trip back to the RV was uneventful except while on the way we met a couple of pickups with Met Life trailers behind them, and a little bit later we spotted a Met Life blimp cruising along in the sky.
Once back at the RV we waited for Terry to return from Phoenix, and when she arrived, after admitting she had trouble finding the RV in the dark, She, Walt, Ann and I went to a place in Quartzsite called Jerry's Wings and Things for dinner. It was 7:30, and it was getting close to closing time, so we didnt get the best service, but the pizza and wings were good, and filling, not leaving us any room for ice cream.
After our relative long day we called it a night when we got back to the RV about 8:30.
Tuesday January 28th started out with walking Brian's dog, as he and Jim had stayed in Phoenix one more night. Early mornings out here in the desert a pretty cool, at least compared to the daytime highs, but nothing like what most of the rest of the country is dealing with. I was reading about icy roads south of New Orleans, and snow at many NASCAR tracks in the Southeast.
One of the things we purchased at the Fry's in Phoenix was a 5 gallon water jug to go with the water pump I bought last year. This may make it a little easier to get drinking water.
Later in the afternoon my sister Mary brought brothers Jim and Brian back from their extended weekend in Phoenix. Soon after their arrival it was time for dinner where Terry made some delicious spaghetti, and Ann made some delicious meatballs and a salad. The seven of us had our tv trays and ate in Terry and Walt's RV after which we started a fire, and sat around and visited until the fire was about out around 9:00PM. Another early night for all, as Ann, and Brian have to work in the morning, and Mary has to drive back to Phoenix to babysit her grand daughter.
Wednesday January 29th was another great day in the desert with Mary leaving pretty early to get back to Phoenix by 10:00. Brian was back, so I didnt have to walk his dog this morning. Walking the dog is interesting and good exercise, but going out at O dark thirty is not so much.
I started working on a new blog post yesterday, and am continuing working on it today. Before noon today, Terry, Walt, and Jim headed into Quartzsite to look at RVs. At La Mesa they got free chili dogs, while they looked around. My brother Jim actually got serious about a 2013 Berkshire Forest River 39 foot diesel pusher, but the deal was not to be. The price was right for the new one, but they tried to low ball him on his trade in. Well, there are lots of RVs and lots of good deals out there, so he will keep on looking.
After Ann finished up her work for the day, she decided to go into to town to do some shopping, not necessarily to buy anything in particular, but just to look around and mainly get out of the house. She was able to find a few things to buy, and of course some quality junk food for snacks.
Then we all sat around discussing the RV shopping experience, and the sales techniques that are used. We all have had interesting experiences buying vehicles, and we were able to laugh about most of them.
It is now about 7:15 here, and we are going to go to Jim's RV for dinner of left overs, and then sit around this campfire until we call it a day.
Until next time, take care all!
Paul
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