New Catalytic Heater, new campsite, and a Visitor!

WELCOME to our new Followers, Rick and Kathy Rousseau!  There's no info listed, so I can't plug your blog, but if you get one, let me know!  Welcome aboard, Katie and I are happy to have you along on our adventures.  :)

Katie and I had visitors today - Susan and Angel from Sacramento!  They were visiting family in Arizona, and were driving right by us here in Quartzsite on their way home, so we decided she needed to swing over and see us.  We had a delightful visit.  Susan is hoping to retire and start full-timing in her fiver in January -  she already has applications out for workamping in a couple of nice resorts for summer and over next winter.  She definitely has it together.

Susan and Angel

Her little dog, Angel, is SUCH an angel. I have to admit Katie wasn't a very good hostess.  There were a few growls and some teeth bared, but mostly she just stayed on her pillow and left Angel alone.  They were okay outside, but in The Palms, Katie wasn't so happy.  Here's another picture of Angel - she is so photogenic.

Hi, Angel face

This morning I decided to walk around the area and see if there was a better place for us to camp, since I couldn't get TV, I might as well have a good spot.  I can see my TV programs on HULU on the laptop, so I'll keep up that way.  We walked around and found a really nice place at the edge of this LTVA, closest to the area where the large RV show happens the last week in January.

I was told this area will get really crowded as we get closer to show time, but the rule is you can't park within 15 feet of another RV, and the way this site is situated, I have a road in front, and bushes on either side, and the wash behind me, so I'm pretty sure I won't get anyone too close, and if so, well, that's the way it goes.  I'm pointed right to the West, which is perfect for my solar panels, and I have a nice view out the kitchen window of the bushes behind us.  I really like this spot, and I think I'll do without the TV to be here, at least for now.

This campsite already had a nice rock campfire circle, I cleaned it up a bit, and put a line of rocks behind The Palms, and tomorrow I'm going to gather rocks to lay out our campsite area.  I've always thought that looked so homey, but I've never done it before.  I put out a chair, table, my American flag, and some solar lights.  This is the first time I've really set up a campsite area since last June at Santee Lakes, when I knew I was staying for a month.  On the right side of this photo is a depression in the sand that an RV wouldn't want to park on, on the left are the bushes, behind is the wash with bushes, and where I'm standing in front of The Palms is the road.  So this campsite is kind of delineated by the natural barriers.

A couple of people have invited me to join their circle of RVer friends, one in the South Camping area and one in the Tyson Wash Camping area, but I think I'd rather stay here and visit them sometimes.  I love being invited, though, thank you!  I may change my mind later!!!  :)  But if I stay here, I can walk to the RV show.  I couldn't get any closer.  In January I may eat those words because of crowds and noise and lights, and decide to move.  We'll see...

One of the benefits of pointing west is that we get the morning sun in the window over the couch.  Katie loves it. 

When we had the solar panels installed, Ron and Arron also installed a new catalytic heater for me.  I hate to be cold, and I know the Arizona nights are cool even when the day is warm, and I wanted to be able to use minimal propane, which is accomplished by a catalytic heater.

Some are installed on walls or cupboard doors, etc., if you have room, but I didn't want to do that because it would take up valuable space.  I have enough space, but nothing to spare. Ron said he likes to install these heaters on a tethering hose. There's a small quick connect setting that was placed right under the refrigerator, and the heater is attached to a three foot hose.  I just click the hose end into the quick connect and we're good.  I can point the heater toward the front of The Palms to get the whole living area, or toward the kitchen to warm the kitchen and bathroom quicker.

Wave 3 Catalytic Heater

It's easy to start, and warms immediately.  It's the kind of heater you can stand in front of like a fireplace, and I'll bet Katie will be laying in front of it on cool evenings and mornings.  It's completely quiet, I kept looking back to see if it was still on.  I'm going to have to get used to that.

I've used it a few times now, and it's a pretty nifty setup.  I can keep it connected, it's small enough to not be in the way at all, or I can disconnect it and store it in a cupboard.  During hot weather when I'm not using it at all, I'll put it in a storage area or in the cupboard.  I have to get a cover for it, Ron said the cleaner is stays, the longer it will last.

I'm really happy that I had the heater installed, and that completes the list of things I wanted to do to upgrade The Palms and allow us to boondock for as long as possible.  It's nice to have the Wish List done.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Saturday evening, everyone!  :)

Quartzsite!

We took off this morning from the casino and headed toward Quartzsite.  We crossed over a pretty one lane bridge that was kind of neat:

Commenters have mentioned how brave I am, being a solo female traveler, etc., and it may seem that way, but believe me I'm not.  Most times I'm probably more nervous than the rest of you, but I decided a long time ago that if I let that stop me, I'd literally do nothing.  So, I don't think about it, act as if I know what I'm doing, and  just keep going, and I'm really glad I can do that.  Most times I'm okay, it's just new things that I'm doing that make me a little nervous.  I do all the research I can, and then I hope for the best.  Like going to Quartzsite.

I didn't know how in the world I'd find a place to stay in Quartzsite, it's so big and there are so many areas.  People who have been here know how simple it is, but for those of you who haven't been here, it couldn't be easier.

All along the 95 there are signs like this one below.

Each area has signage, and there were tons of areas I passed before I got here.  Most were BLM lands where you can camp free for 14 days.  Then you have to leave, and move at least 25 miles away, and after 14 days, you can go back, or move to another spot.  That's so the desert can "heal" and won't show the wear and tear of campers.  That sounded kind of interesting, and I may try out some of the BLM camping areas, but I wanted to check out the Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) to see if I wanted to get a season permit that costs $180.  It's good from September 15 through April 15, and you can stay in one spot the entire time, or move from LTVA to LTVA, leave for a while and come back, etc.  So, I passed up the other places and kept going. 

It was very nice desert scenery all along the road, even some Saguaro Cactus, which I didn't expect to see up here.

Once you get here, right before the town of Quartzsite, there are four sections in the La Posa LTVA, two on each side of 95, and all right before the town.  You can stop at any of them (they each have a little brown building right off the road, very visible) and the volunteers will answer any of your questions.  If you buy the permit, it's good at any of the LTVAs in Arizona and California, which are all near the border of the two states.  The volunteers were really helpful.  Of the four areas in La Posa, only one has a dump station and water spigots for fresh water.  That's the first one on the right.  So all the LTVA people go there to dump and get water.  You need your permit to get past the volunteer building to the dump station.  I stopped at the one on the left side of 95 and bought my pass, then went across the street to dump my grey and black tanks and fill up with fresh water.

I asked the volunteers which would be the best area for me, since I wanted to visit the January Quartzsite RV event and I don't have a car. They suggested the second area on the left, which borders the town right where the tents are set up.  They said it will be a nice walk, but not too much.  One of my neighbors here said it's a short walk to the show from here.  I can see the place they sent up the tents from The Palms. So if I stay in this area, I'll be nice and close and I'll be able to easily walk over.

This is the brown building I went to for my LTVA permit

 And... our very nice Volunteers, Lois and Ellen

Here is the RV site I chose - actually you just drive around until you find a spot you like, and park.   I don't get TV here, but I'm not sure if I'll get it anywhere.  I do see some antennas up, though, so tomorrow Katie and I are taking a walk toward the antennas to see if they're picking up the signal.  If so, we're moving!

Facing west toward the setting sun, per solar instructions.

View out the couch window

View out the dinette window

I expect that as the year comes to an end, and into January, this area will fill up.  I should probably find a spot that ensures an open area on at least one side.  Maybe tomorrow I'll do that.  Then if I DO stay here the whole time, I'll be set.  You can leave your place for five days, but then you have to come back or you may lose your spot.  I might check out some other places, but leave a chair and table here.  Then if I find a better place, I can come back and get them.  If I want to leave for a few days just for a change of scenery, I can go to the BLM areas and stay for free for the five days, then come back.

Here are the sunset shots I took tonight:

 After the sun set in the west

 Can you see the glow on the mountains in the east behind the RVs?

That's what I learned today about boondocking at Quartzsite.  It couldn't have been easier - the drive was straight through on the 95 from Yuma, the areas were well marked, the volunteers were helpful, and it was super easy to find a spot.  Probably any spot in any of these areas would be a good one.

Anonymous said in a comment, "You must have way more money than most of us. You have really spent the bucks!"   Well, I don't know, Anonymous, how much money do the rest of you have?  I probably have more than some of you, and less than a lot of you, and a lot less than I did have.  How much money do you have?

From Me and Katie here in Quartzsite, have a nice Friday evening, everyone!  :)

The SOLAR installation

Here are the two Kyocera DK135 solar panels that were installed on Wednesday:

We slept in the covered work area, with two other rigs that had their people in them overnight.  I didn't meet the owners of the rig next to me, they were very quiet and kept to themselves.  I met the other couple, though,  Nancy and John Wayne; they said Ron is a friend, along with his family, and they have been coming here for years. They have been full-timing for more than 20 years, and are on their third rig.

I enjoyed talking to them both, and we had a couple of good conversations.  Here's Nancy feeding Katie a treat. 

Katie with Taz and Stitch and Nancy

Here's Ron, the owner of the shop, he was great to work with.  He's been working on RVs for 30 years, and installing solar for 20 years.

Ron fabricates all the wires, hoses, and connections himself. All his installs are done the same, if someone calls and needs information on what he did, he can always talk them through a repair or warranty on the phone. He's had people call from other countries, and was able to talk them though the fix.

In case you need a good shop for anything at all relating to RVs, I would highly recommend:

Ron Wicklund, Owner
D & R Family R.V.
6344 W. Orangewood #7
Glendale, AZ 85301
623-842-1265    drfamrv@q.com

Ron has a new employee, Arron, who did most of the work on The Palms.  He's been a mechanic for a while, but is new to solar, and he seemed intent on getting everything right.  Ron checked from time to time, made corrections and suggestions, and the final job was perfect. And here's Arron working on the wall panels:

The little black gizmo is the remote, I push the button and the solar is switched on.  The batteries are 91% charged, it was night when I took this, but I hadn't used much.

This is the Inverter and another new generator switch, and 

the in-house water filter I didn't know I had.

Ron got some filters and put one in for me.

Geez, Mom, the house is a mess!

Ron also asked me about how I am going to fill my new batteries.  I didn't realize that because the 6 volt batteries are taller, the other shop took out the sliding tray the old batteries were sitting on, and now I can't fill the cells without removing the batteries.  He took off the cell covers and put on a new cover that's part of a fill kit.  I just have to insert the end of a little hose, put the other end into the gallon jug of distilled water, and pump the little balloon thingie on the hose until it won't pump any more.  All the cells will be full.  I'm really glad he had the fill kit, I sure don't want to be taking out the batteries myself to refill them.

Ron solved some issues I didn't even know I had, but he saw and fixed them for me. I like shops that notice things other than what you specifically came in for.  I'd rather have them taken care of now than have to stop later somewhere else that wasn't recommended. 

At 4:00 all the work was done and paid for, and I asked Ron where would be a good place to do some boondocking that night to test out my systems. He checked with John Wayne and Nancy because they are boondockers, and they suggested a good place to go. Ron came back to the rig and wrote down directions for me, and we headed toward Buckeye Hills Recreational Area -  we blogged about that yesterday.

So, yesterday morning we left Buckeye Hills and headed for Yuma, AZ, looking for some sun:

A little sun in the distance.

Sun coming through, but it didn't get much better than this all day.

Last night we stayed at Paradise Casino in Yuma.  They offer one night free parking in their dirt lot next to the regular parking lot.  There were a lot of RVs here, but the area is so large the RVs each had a lot of space. It's a nice setup for an overnight and very quiet.  I went to their restaurant and ordered the Thanksgiving dinner and an extra salad for around $12.  Quite a deal for a fresh turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

 This church is right up the hill from where we are parked.

There was a beautiful sunset last night. One of the sunsets that have all kinds of colors, red, pink, yellow, gold, it kept changing until the sun was gone.

Today we are heading toward Quartzsite.  I want to see what it looks like and find a free space to park for two weeks to see how the solar does.  Yesterday I did have to run the generator, but today I have had my computer, TV and printer on since I woke up, just using the solar.   There were 4.4 amps coming in at 9:00 am, and now it's 11:00 am and we have10.1 amps coming in.

I'm unsure about the coffee maker and microwave. Yesterday I couldn't use them with the solar, but maybe it was the cloud cover.  Or maybe I'll need to fire up the generator when I use those, which is okay because they get minimal use during the day.  I'm hoping to meet up with other RVers in Quartzsite who have similar set-ups, and maybe they can answer some of my questions.  I could call Ron, of course, but that would be too easy.  :)

On to Quartzsite!  From Me and Katie, have a great Black Friday, everyone!  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

WELCOME to our new Followers!

Cathie, who has been traveling with her husband, Al, in their fiver since July.  His mom, Martha (almost 92) is in a lot of the posts I read, she was she traveling with Al's brother and SIL, what a cutie she is!  Theirs is a new blog, check it out!

Lauren Miller, who is showing no information at all, but I love her Avatar, the rose.  In my rose garden in San Diego, I had that beautiful variety.  I don't know the name of it, but it was beautiful.

Jenny Johnson, who also has no information listed.  Sometimes people don't put their blog names down, or don't have one yet.  If you or Lauren have or start blogs, let me know so I can check them out.

Sheila, who has been showing dogs since 1979.  According to her profile, "My Alaskan Malamute, 'Miles', was the dog 'Indiana' in the 'Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'."  That must have been pretty exciting to be a part of!  Sheila said she loves her motor home and hopes to some day be a full-timer.

First night boondocking

Short blog today - I had solar panels and a catalytic heater and some other things installed yesterday, and Katie and I had our first real boondocking experience last night.  We went to Buckeye Hills Recreational Area.

Beautiful sunset along the way

We got there about dusk, and it was dark when I found somewhere to park.  Not having been in one of those kinds of areas before, I wasn't exactly sure how it's done, where to park, etc.  There were no signs, except this one on the way in:

There wasn't a sign of life, no animals, birds, people or RVs.  We drove two miles down some washboard roads, past the police target range, into the desert, and finally saw what looked like camp sites.

The Palms parked at the end of the site driveway

I parked The Palms and walked to the end of the driveway to see what was up there, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a road and that there weren't any big rocks in the way.  All was clear, so I drove in, turned around so we were facing the road, and we were there.  I was a little apprehensive, since I had no idea where we really were, and it was so "out in the middle of nowhere."   

I was looking forward to waking up in the morning to see where we were.  Here's the area in the morning - sorry the photos are so dark, but it was cloudy and the sun was just peeking out:

 View out the kitchen window - the sun is just rising, but it's cloudy.

 View from the truck cab. 

The Palms at Buckeye Hills Recreation Center.

This is about 7:00 am, still kind of dark.

I decided to pack up and leave and head toward the sun.  No point in having solar panels if there's no sun, but that's seems to be a difficult task today.  This whole area, Highway 8 headed toward Yuma, seems to be under cloud cover for today. Sunshine is expected tomorrow, I think.

This is the area as we are driving out

We don't have any Thanksgiving plans this year, just a turkey frozen dinner that I'm looking forward to.  I won't be with my family, but I called everyone this morning, and I'll be thinking about them.   I want to find a place we can hang out for a few days, or longer, to test out our new equipment.  

This year I am thankful for my two wonderful kids and their spouses, Tom and Trish - and - Kristy and Matt, and all my grandchildren - Kennedy, Drew, Gavin, Lauren and Graydin. There just couldn't be a better bunch of kids.  

I'm thankful that I have good health, without which I couldn't be living this life of full-timing and enjoying it so much.

And I am thankful that this Thanksgiving I have The Palms to take me to new, beautiful, exciting places in complete comfort, and Katie to keep me company on the way.  I couldn't ask for much more, but I do, in fact, have a lot more.

From Me and Katie, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  :)

New TV

WELCOME to our new followers:

Sandy (and her husband Jerry).  I don't see a blog for Sandy, but according to her profile, they bought a 2006 Sunseeker 2200 motor home in July of 2011. "We love it and enjoy going camping at the beach not far from our home in Ventura Ca. We are both retired and next summer hope to travel for a month or so at a time. We have an adorable little 5 lb. deer chihuahua named Lucy. She is a great little traveler."  Wow, almost my story, except the Jerry part.  I love my 2006 Sunseeker 2200, too, and I'm glad you feel the same.  Welcome!

... and Dean.  Dean has a photo, but I can't bring up a profile, so it doesn't look like he has a blog, either. Thanks for following along with Me and Katie on our travels, Dean.  Welcome aboard!
NOTE: I had a comment from Dean with the link to his blog, Dean and Val's Adventures.  You've got to check it out!  His current post from Sunday has photos and an explanation of how they receive their water at their house, they receive "flood irrigation."  I've never heard of that, but it's kind of cool.  And I think they have a GOAT named Buster!  The previous post has photos of their fold down, hard sided travel trailer. Thanks for your comment, Dean.

It rained last night.  This morning is cooler and cloudy.

Since yesterday afternoon I've seen four police cars with red and blue lights blinking, pulling cars into this parking lot and giving them tickets.  I think the street in front of the casino, long and straight, must be a good place to risk speeding.

I also saw a man jump up on the running board of a large, nice looking rig, and pound it's windows and door.  He really beat up that truck, then jumped down and continued on into the casino.

I've seen two couples fighting, one couple on Saturday and another this morning, yelling, calling names and throwing accusations at volumes I could hear even from quite a distance.  The first man was throwing things at the woman - like pebbles.  I had my camera out just in case, but he jumped on his bike and pedaled away.  Interesting what you see when you live in a parking lot. :)

Those things didn't feel scary and I didn't feel threatened.  I was far enough away to be well out of their issues, but kept a watchful eye; just in case someone needed help I would have called 911. Speaking of keeping a watchful eye, sometimes I feel like the nosy old neighbor, you know the type?  Always spying on her neighbors.  But when I hear something or a movement catches the corner of my eye, I look out the window. Whether it's a bird, animal or people.  I'm not really being nosy, it's life.  Well, here's the new "eye in the sky" in our neighborhood:

I'd better keep an eye on that dog!

I copied this from Trish's Facebook page (my daughter-in-law), Gavin will be 7 years old in December:

Gavin:   Mom, where do babies come from?

Me:      long pause....
Gavin:   Mom!!!
Me:      Do you remember where Graydin came from?
Gavin:   Your tummy, but how do they get there?
Me:      Well...mommys and daddys make babies. How do you think babies are made?
Gavin:   God makes them?
Me:      (sigh of relief) Yes!!! God gave us the ability to make babies.
Gavin:   So, if it wasn't for you and daddy I would not be here?
Me:      That's right. Mom and dad decided we wanted you and we made you. Does that make sense?
Gavin:  Yeah... Mom are the sun and moon the same?
Me:      Oh yes, let's move on to universe questions!!! I like those questions. :)

Don't you just love it?

Trish and Tom are celebrating their anniversary at Lake Tahoe, where they were married.  Happy Anniversary!

Beautiful November 2002 Wedding

I walked over to the Casino this morning for breakfast.  The buffet doesn't have a breakfast during the week, so I went into the Willows Restaurant.  It was delicious, and I brought half the eggs and sausage back for breakfast tomorrow.

Little guy walking along outside the restaurant:

Out for a Sunday morning walk.

Saturday afternoon my TV went out. I don't know if its the TV or the converter, but I decided to check today for a new TV at Costco or Best Buy, a recent model that doesn't need a converter.  I'm kind of tired of the old TV with the converter attached with rubber bands and raffia! I Velcro'd it to the bottom of the TV, but it never stays put, and just hangs there looking kind of messy.  So, since I'm already spending a fortune this month I think I'll finally get the TV, too.  I knew I'd have to get a new TV one of these days.

LATER:

Wow, this new TV is GREAT!  I got it at Walmart, it's a Sanyo 18.5" HDTV LDC.  I carried it to The Palms in the parking lot, and changed it out with the old one.  I was surprised how easy it was to take the old one down and install the new one.  The only problem was I couldn't reach some deeply set screws to take off a plastic part that's used with the stand.  Since I am hanging it, I had to take that part out.  My screwdrivers have bits that fit into the screwdriver, making that fitted part wider, and it wouldn't fit down into the hole where the screws were.  I did this in the parking lot, in case it didn't fit I wanted to be able to return it, so I went back in and bought two Phillips screw drivers, less than $1 each.  Then the rest was easy.

It is such a cleaner install, the old TV with the converter had more wires and plugs, I ended up with a lot of connections that I didn't need.  The picture is like the difference between black and white TV and color TV.  I've never had an HDTV, and at first it looked like it was 3D.  Really nice.  So we're back in business.

I also got a new kitchen faucet double swivel spray.  I've been wanting once since I moved in, but I didn't think it would fit. When I saw it at Walmart, I bought it just in case, and when I unscrewed the end of the faucet, the new one screwed right on.  Now I can easily spray the sink from corner to corner.

New faucet sprayer head

So, two new fixes today, easily installed, to make life better.

I took Katie to Petco to have her nails clipped, we usually go to Petsmart for that, but when I saw the Petco, we walked over.  The woman in the dog salon said they can't clip her nails unless they have a file on Katie from previous visits, or we have to bring in proof of a current Rabies shot.  To cut her nails?  I have all her current medical info in The Palms, but didn't feel like walking over to get it and walking back, so we just left.

This felt like a busy day and I'm tired.  Now I'm going to relax and watch my new TV.

From Me and Katie, have a great Monday evening, everyone!  :)