Trailer For Sale

This looks like a homemade trailer.

The wheels and tires are too small and it sets too low to the ground.

Surely it must drag the ground in places.

Kitchen area is within the fold up rear deck lid.

Something to consider if it is windy or raining.

Price is $2800.

I think the owner will be dragging it back to Texas with him.

Good-bye Awning

Fortunately one of the camp areas has a large dumpster.  Rather than drive two miles to the land fill on the highway with the awning sticking out over a foot on either side from where I had strapped in down on the rear bike carrier, I went to the dumpster driving the dirt roads.

 This meant I would have to heft the awning up into the dumpster instead of being able to toss it into a big crater in the ground at the land fill.  I was able to stand it up on end, push it up some so that it teeter-tottered on the edge, climb up the ladder on the right of the dumpster and then drag it on the rest of the way inside the container.

And there it rested against the side.

Good-bye awning.

There were no tears; just a big smile to be rid of the troublesome device.

The Things People Get Rid Of.

My camping friend Jo found this on a give-away table.  

It looks like it had never been used!  

She likes to do wood carving so it was a great find for her.  

A nice addition to her other wood working tools.

On a Wing and a Prayer

I had to go into town to fill up with propane.  

This was parked nearby.

The guy towing it with a large diesel tractor said he only had a mile and a half to go.

He was going to go for it.

A mile and half north is the local landfill and I assume that was his destination.

Rain!

Yes, it rains in the desert.

We were trapped inside for the better part of the day yesterday.

The road by our camp.

Out our side door.

Behind us.

Beans' hunting grounds.

She wasn't too happy.

Where Have You Been?

Some people like to buy these stickers and put them all over their RV.  I'm not one of them.  I have my collectables inside on the walls of the RV.  Most are postcards or bookmarks from various places.  At any rate, I sat in there trying to see how many I could identify.

Olympic National Park, Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, Yosemite NP, Joshua Tree NP, Bryce Canyon NP,  Organ Pipe National Monument and Mt. Rushmore only because I zoomed in the photo and could make out the four Presidents.  I couldn't come up with the rest although I most likely have been there.  AZ might just be Arizona.  Can't think what CR, CC National Parks are without looking them up.  No fair cheating now. 

Salad Season

Come spring and summer I am more into eating salads that I am during the winter.  Here is my first salad for 2019: Couscous, purple onion, red and green bell pepper, apple, Mandarin orange slices, tomato, lemon juice and red wine vinaigrette. 

Yes, it was VERY good.

Gone With the Wind

It was a calm peaceful afternoon while I sat inside working on a blog post when a sudden gust of wind rolled through.  It caught the awning and before I could get outside, flipped the awning up over on top of the roof.  I admit I was in a bit of panic mode as I climbed up top to survey the damage so didn't get a picture of it folded up on top.  I was worried about damage to the solar panels.  They were okay thank goodness.  The awning was not.  In this photo once I got it off the roof, you can see how the case it rolls into has been ripped from its mounting and tilted downward.  I had to tie ropes onto each end, loosen the bolts and gently ease the heavy unit to the ground.

Here if you look closely at the upper arm to the right end it has been torqued out of shape.  That arm would need to be replaced along with the three bent mounting brackets along the right hand edge.  As I thought about it I slowly began to be at peace with the accident.  The awning has always been somewhat a pain in the keister for as long as I have had it.  It never rolls up all the way straight into the case; when extended it hampers the opening of the door and I have to squeeze by; I've lost track how many times I banged my head into the support arms when it is in position and lastly I always had to be aware of the WIND.  As I always do, when something bad happens I try to see the good side out of it and in this case I am rid of the nuisance awning and won't be tempted to use it in the future.

Most of the time I always park setting up camp with the door on the north side and benefit from the shade provided by the RV.  I have the shade screen (see above) that keeps the harsh desert sun from the side which the refrigerator is on and that helps a lot.  So it is okay and don't feel bad for us.  Just be thankful the solar panels are okay and that I didn't do more damage to the RV  (or me) getting the beast off and down to the ground.

Stinky Pete's Demise

It was back in October when I first showed Stinky Pete's (not his real name - I think it is Gordon) "junkyard" and how he was being shut-down by the town fire marshal after over twenty years of doing business in Quartzsite.  Soon thereafter a FOR SALE sign appeared out front and within days a SALE PENDING sign was added.  Now at the first of March the gates are locked...for good.

  

It may not look it but A LOT of "valuable merchandise" is gone.  There was much more stuff in the front than there is now.  In the far back a bus, cargo truck and a enclosed trailer container full of who-knows-what are now gone.  They probably had sat there for the better part of those twenty years.  It is a wonder how they were moved out.  Surely the tires had to have been rotten to the core.  The framework of his tarp and canvas shelter still stands to the left.  The last time I talked with Stinky Pete (the wind was in my favor and I smelled nothing) he said he would be walking away leaving much behind.  "It'll cost them $20,000 dollars to load up and haul it all away. Ha!" 

 I guess he felt he was sticking it to them in his own way.

I'll be here to the end of March and hope to see the end result of this before I leave.  It would be interesting to watch it all being loaded up into a huge container by a bulldozer.

What will be standing here when we return in October?

Dumpster Diving

Oh the things people throw away.  Many times items are discarded as RVers are always making changes and improvements on what they already have.  So a lot of the discards are reusable; many being something someone doesn't already have and could us.  Many times good stuff like that is set aside the dumpsters rather than inside so they don't get thrown away.  Well the other day on my walk to the dumpster I found these inside...brand new...not even opened!

Why?  Online prices were from $9 to $13 each.

I had a piece of foiled lined Styrofoam board cut to fit for my vents.

These will work much better.

Cornbread Cookin'

Perfection.

February Was Nice in the Desert

Yes, it was an unseasonably cold winter here this year yet nowhere's like elsewhere in the U.S.

But that is all behind us now and this was the temperature one day this week at sundown.

That's 27.2 C. 

The winds have all died down. I dug out the Dutch Oven and baked up seven small potatoes which I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

Beans is loving it as the lizards are back out scurrying about.

This is one happy cat loving life on the road.

We will remain here on through March then move on come April

No plans on where we will be going this year...yet.

Randy's Burgers

We went to the place where I got that great hamburger awhile back.  After 4 pm Randy sells his burgers with grilled onions for only a dollar.  He does this so he hasn't a bunch of left over hamburger and starts each new day with fresh meat.  Since we were getting such a great deal on the burgers we ordered some curly fries to make our meal complete.  They come in about an 8 inch square block! 

This is the best we could do with the fries. 

 There will be some eggs and potatoes to be had for breakfast the next morning.

Randy is from Everett, Washington and comes down here to Quartzsite, Arizona each winter selling his burgers, corndogs, fries, etc.  He must do pretty good for these six months or he wouldn't have been returning for the past 36 years.

Spring is Near

But you wouldn't know it by the weather a couple days before you see this post.  The cold wind is blowing hard and rain is on its way later with wetness all day the next day and no let up in the wind.  I think about those out here living in tents and am thankful we have the Little House on the Highway for shelter.  Temperatures are barely in the 50's (10 C) during the day and near freezing at night.  The good news is that come March 1 and onward it will be in the 70's (21 C).  Locals who live here year round are saying this is an unreasonably cold winter for the area.

I hiked up into the foothills near camp one day. 

 Camp is right about center in the photo...somewhere.

Up here on the slopes I found ocotillo growing.  

It isn't all that common on the valley floor.

It is one of my favorite desert plants.  

These buds will open out into beautiful bright red blossoms which the hummingbirds and bees enjoy. 

Regarding bees, I went back down from the slopes following a narrow steep-walled canyon wash.  Every so often I would come across a small pool of water setting among the rocks and each one was filled with those dang bees seeking the moisture.  These bees were the very same ones that unprovokingly attacked me at the mine.  The narrowness of the wash gave me little room to get pass them and you can imagine the fear I experienced at each watering hole.  "Please, please, let me get by real fast and not get attacked!"  I escaped unharmed.  Normally I don't fear bees but these guys are a whole different animal.

Stone Cabin

I came across this old miner's cabin during a hike in the foothills at our new location.

A lot of work went into building this home.

Imagine mixing mortar and fitting all these rocks together.

The entrance.

Cement floor.

At the threshold was a date of construction.

I don't find that very often in homesteads I find so this was nice to see. 

It is '54' not '34'.

There was a lot of detail in the making of the fireplace with choice rocks placed in around the mantle.

Someone wanted a nice home they could admire to live in.

Up on the missing roof must have been a rain catchment system and tank.  The water pipe ran down through the wall then up out the elbow to a missing faucet.  Below must have been a sink.

A little nook to place a bar of soap perhaps?

Shaving kit too maybe?

Outside the remains of a outdoor kitchen and cooking facility.

I imagine the roof extended out over this area.

A shame a lot of the original structure is missing not to mention the vandalizing and paint graffiti.

Old Trailer

One day during one of my walkabouts I came across this old trailer, 

"caravan" to my followers across the pond.

I enjoy seeing the old travel equipment well cared for and still doing the job.

Nearby was this rock art which I could not make out what it was supposed to be.

A few days later during another walkabout I went by the trailer once again and their owners were home.  Nicole and John were a young couple from Wisconsin.  No question as to why they were here in Arizona at this time of the year!  Nicole said the trailer was a 1989 model.  They had a kitty too.  A gray part Maine Coon cat what was two years old.  I wish I had thought of taking a picture of her.

The BIG One

Late in the afternoon when the sun is low on the horizon the angle of light is good to cast a reflection off anything shiny out from camp.  Many of the reflections are false coming off of plain white quartz but still every once in awhile one proves to be a crystal.  That is how I located those crystals on the previous post.  A couple days after finding the small crystals I walked out to investigate a shine.

I was shocked when I saw the size of this crystal mixed in with the other rock.  

It is in the center of the photo.

The little ones and this big one I call champagne quartz crystals due to their off-color, 

not totally clear like glass, very much the color of champagne. 

I was asked about what I plan to do with these finds.  I have been trying to think of a way to display them in the motor home or at least some sort of suitable container.  I saw on eBay these divided compartment jewelry boxes with a glass lid.  Something like that might work.

I doubt I will ever find a crystal this big again.  After all, I've been looking for years and years.

Happy Valentines Day

My sweet Beans.

Crystal Camp

That is the name for our new camp. 

 I found the three crystals to the right in and near camp in the first few days. 

Size: half an inch for the three on the right, three quarters an inch for the left one.

The jagged crystal has a black/grey tint to it and is called a smokey quartz crystal and rare to find.

Amazingly I found it right in our old camp the day we were preparing to move.

And to think we had been walking over and around it for the past four months.

Now we walk around all the time with our eyes to the ground.

The late afternoon is the best time to find them as the sun lights them up for us to see.

Another crystal I found a few weeks ago on the dirt road near camp.  Cars, trucks, RVs, ATVs had been driving over it for who knows how long.  People go for their walks on this dirt road as do I.
 But there it was.  You never find your fortune by looking into the sky.
Size: one inch long.

Tried to get a better picture of the smokey quartz crystal.