Site photos, etc.

WELCOME to our newest follower, Gary!  Gary and his wife and dog have a new 1997 Fleetwood Storm  Model 34S that they purchased in February and named the Sand Castle.   I think they are beach people, which is where they went on their first excursion.  They've made a few mods and seem to be enjoying their new motor home.  Gary is also a pilot, so he's very familiar and comfortable with checklists, which we all use, too.  Check out his blog, it's easy reading, and I enjoyed going back to the beginning.  Thanks for following along with me and Katie, and Welcome Aboard, Gary!  :)

Not really much to report today.   Katie and I are enjoying our stay here at Distant Drums RV Park.  I've taken a few photos of some of the wildlife.  I don't think I'm going to be snapping pics of burros or coyotes here.  Katie and I have been walking a lot more because it's so easy and safe for us to be anywhere in the park.  Of course, there's a lot of interest and entertainment when we have the bigger guys in the area, but for now I'm relaxing and not looking for snakes, burros or coyotes on our walks, and that's nice, too. 

This is our site - each site has either a double patio, a longer one for the rig and a shorter one for the car and patio area, or like mine, a small rock area for the rig to park on and the concrete pad is for the car/patio.  Not having a car, the patio I have is a nice size.

When I came in on Sunday, the park was pretty full, but Monday morning some rigs pulled out, leaving a much more spacious feeling.

 The Palms and an empty site next to us - Monday at dusk.

That large L-shaped concrete pad is the site across from us.  There was a big rig there that pulled out early Monday morning.  As of this morning the three sites across from us were vacant, and we had a very open feeling with no one across from us or on our passenger side.

Each time I've walked down the little road to the laundry/shower/dog park area, this little guy has run from under a rock, across the street, and waited till we passed before moving on.  He's tiny, and very pretty, I think.

 Oriole, Kingbird, or Kingfinch?  I'll try for a closer, clear photo.

Katie with her ball.  I'm re-training her to fetch and return the ball.

She used to love that, but being on the leash for the last year, 

she seems to have forgotten or lost interest in the ball game.

Sunset on Sunday, warm, calm and clear.

Sun in the Western sky with clouds Monday.

The clouds were nice, and we had a nice breeze.  Still pretty warm, though.

The weather is a bit cooler today, but still warm.   The weather forecast is predicting some rain later in the week - that will be a nice change.

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

I'm not going to win the Frugal Boondocker award this month!

Well, once we arrived at this RV park, Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde, AZ,  and I looked around and checked out the facilities, I decided I was going to stay longer.  This park gets an A++and I'd highly recommend it if you are in the area.

The Good Sam rate for one night is $30, and a month is $561. That's for a smaller back-in site, I'll post a photo tomorrow of my site.  It's not really small, just smaller than some of the others, and there are some REALLY nice, big RVs here.  The $561 seemed like a bargain - especially in this heat, when the A/C will be going all day.  I felt a little guilty making this decision after just spending a month at Santee Lakes in Jan/Feb, and I have to admit I'm going through boondocking withdrawal, but I'm glad we're here for a month.

 Check-in, office

 Small store with ice, drinks, some RV needs and pet needs.

Also free coffee all day.

It’s a really “posh” place – I think.  They have full hook-ups, free wi-fi and cable TV (I just ordered a 19" TV on-line from Costco which should be here by the end of the week), a library with used books you can take, 

a meeting room and  kitchen I can use if I don’t want to use my RV oven in this heat, 
 

a pool and spa,

a small work-out room, 

 a little fenced dog park where I can play ball with Katie, 

and propane on site that I’ll get when I leave.

They even have a community computer for guests, free of charge.  And they pick up any trash bags left out before 8:00 am so you don’t have to walk to the dumpsters!  

After you check in, a volunteer comes by in his golf cart and leads you to your site, then stands there and guides you in until you’re perfectly positioned.  I’ve never had that service before.

They have five private showers.  They are full bathrooms, you go to the office to get the key, and when you’re done you bring the key back and they go clean the bathroom - after each use.  That’s really nice!

 Notice the fancy paper towel?

That's what happens when you forget your towel. :)

They also have a laundry with six washers and dryers.  They are $1.50 each, and don’t accept coins, you pay at the office and they give you a card that goes into the machine when you use it.  I did my laundry this morning, and while the wash was going,  I walked down the hall to the shower, and when I was done the washing machines were just finishing and I put the wet clothes into the dryer.  It worked out nicely.  Everything here is spotless.

Notice the TV, iron and ironing board.

This park doesn't charge extra for electricity or pets; my A/C has been on for two days now, and it hasn't cost me extra.  The Palms is finally cool.

I spent this morning cleaning and vacuuming The Palms, then did the laundry and took my looong shower, and this evening I put out my rugs, chairs, American flag and solar lights, so I'm all set up and ready to relax.  I think the weather forecast says the temps are going to be going down, but if we have some hot days in the next month, I might even try out the pool.   I've heard the hot tub is really nice on cool evenings, too.

The RVers here seem to be upper middle aged to older (like me).  I haven't seen any kids yet, and the whole park is very neat, quiet, and friendly.

I’m really going to enjoy this month, then I'll drive to Indio for my f/u blood tests and then head to New Mexico for the rest of the summer.  I’ll be back in boondocking mode by then, and I'm sure I'll be raring to go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRAYDIN AND DREW!

Saturday was my youngest grandson, Graydin's, birthday.  He is now 3!  I called to wish him a Happy Birthday.  They were having a busy day with his older brother's Little League game, then the family was going out to a place that has pizza and games.  I was there for Kennedy's 9th birthday, and Graydin loved playing the games where you sit in the "car seat" or "motorcycle seat" and drive.  The road is on the screen in front of you and he loved that.  He was turning the steering wheel like a pro.  I'm sure he had a great time on Saturday.

Sunday was my middle grandson, Drew's, birthday.  I called to wish Drew a Happy Birthday and he told me what he got for his birthday presents.   We talked for a bit, then as we were hanging up, he said, “Thanks for calling.”  So cute - he's 7 now.  Such good manners!  

I haven't gotten any photos yet so couldn't put any in this post, but I'm sure they both had great Birthdays!

That's it for now - I hope you all had a nice Monday.  :)

Wickenburg BLM and Cliff Castle Casino, AZ

WELCOME to our newest follower, Jeannie.  Jeannie and Eldy are traveling full time in a 40 ft. Tiffin Phaeton motor home. She has two blogs, one is her RV blog, Were's Eldo?  (Judy, if you don't follow that blog, you've got to check it out. She has photos of Sand Hill Crane babies, just beautiful.).  Her other blog is Millie's Girls. I only follow RV blogs, but I like crafty things and Millie's Girls will be interesting to follow - for me - because I like digital scrapbooking and it looks like she might cover that.  I haven't checked either blog out much yet but I will.  Jeannie, we're happy to have you traveling along with us as we go down the road - Welcome Aboard!  :)

We stayed in a beautiful site Friday. This Wickenburg BLM is a year-round campground with the usual 14-day limit.  I missed the road the first time I passed it, not sure exactly where the campground was, and when I turned around, I totally didn't see the parking lot from the road going back and had to turn around again.  Once you find it, you won't miss it again.  Here are the directions, in case you're in the area and want a nice place to stay with great hiking and beautiful desert plants all around you. I've added a couple of landmarks to the directions I had.

The road is immediately before the Safeway store (1999 W. Wickenburg Way) traveling north.  Turn right at Vulture Road, right before the Safeway.  Good paved road all the way. Go six (6) miles on Vulture Road.  You'll pass Syndicate Wash and Mile Marker 20.  After the memorial sign for the Fire Chief  on the left, there is a 25 MPH sign.  The road will curve right, and right there on the left (the road is hard to spot) there will be a parking lot for a trail. Turn left into the parking lot, drive through the lot to dirt roads on right and left.  Take either, campsites are along the road, most are pull-through with rock fire rings.  There was a vault toilet, but I didn't see it up close.  I saw some hikers park their vehicles by the toilet when they took off for their hike.

The area is beautiful, probably the prettiest I've seen yet, with lots of cactus and trees.  These are the views out the windows of The Palms:

 

We were in a very large site, you could fit a long RV with a boat or toad easily in this site, or 3 or 4 smaller RVs.  There was a nice rock fire ring to our right, and behind The Palms was this large campfire pit made from rocks and ashes that looked like they had been wet and formed to make it larger.

Beautiful sunset

The campsites are pretty private - I was a little worried that we were alone except for an RV I could barely see, but when we drove out, there were others there, they were just blocked from view by the gorgeous trees and cactus.   It's a small camping area, I think around 20 sites.  I definitely would have stayed the 14 days, but it was still really hot there, and I wanted to keep driving north.

As were were driving north along the freeway yesterday, there was a large load coming toward us with police cars before and aft with their lights flashing.  I moved over to the right, but the police apparently didn't think I was over enough and made a swerve almost in front of me, forcing me to quickly move further into the shoulder.  Kind of scared me, I was over enough already.  As you can see, the large load wasn't into our lane very much, and I couldn't completely drive in the shoulder, it wasn't wide enough.  But it was an exciting group to see coming at us.

So, we continued on and stopped yesterday afternoon at Camp Verde, AZ.  Cliff Castle Casino has a large parking lot on the street below the casino that is okay to use for one night.  The sign says if you want to stay longer, call the casino, and the number is on the sign.

They have a courtesy van that comes through the parking lot frequently in case you want to go to the casino up the hill.  I thought I might do that and have a meal as a thank you for the overnight parking, but it was too hot to leave Katie. 

There is an RV park across the freeway (recommended on the casino parking lot signs) that looked nice on-line, so I have a reservation for tonight ($30 with Good Sam discount - ouch!), but they have showers and a laundry, and I need both right now, and I need to dump the tanks and get more fresh water and all of that will also be accomplished.  I can see why boondockers occasionally stay at an RV park.  There are things we need to do, and if I can stay every couple of weeks at a park and get them all done, I think that will be a good plan.  Two weeks at BLM, one night at RV park.

When I was at the Quartzsite LTVA area, I didn't understand why boondockers would spend the money at an RV park every week or two, but the LTVA has dumpsters, a dump site and free fresh water, so you have everything you need.  It wasn't until I moved to the BLM 14-day areas with no services that I realized it's a problem getting rid of the garbage bags and taking showers. 

Today is supposed to be the end of the heat spell Arizona has been having, and with the electrical hookup at the RV park, Katie and I will be cooler with the A/C running as long as I want.  I've found if I turn the large vent in the ceiling off, the cool air is disbursed throughout the ceiling vents, and I don't get blasted with cold air.  (Can you tell I haven't used the A/C much until now?)

I'm looking forward to getting the laundry done and taking a long shower.  All you boondockers know what I mean! :)

The plan is to continue driving north tomorrow toward cooler weather.

From me and Katie, have a great day, everyone!  :)

Goodbye Quartzsite, and miscellaneous photos

We've left Quartzsite.  Thank you all for your concern about us in this heat.  Yesterday late morning I decided we'd better move - it was right after I posted yesterday's blog.  What finally made up my mind was that I was going to take Katie to the local vet, who only takes walk-ins.  She's about due for her shots, and needs a Rabies shot so I can renew her license.  I wanted to ask the vet about her nose, and the way it dries out and turns brown in little spots in this heat, and if there is something I can put on it to protect her nose.  Unfortunately the vet is only open from Monday through Thursday, four hours a day.  After thinking about the temps over the weekend I decided to get to a cooler location and drive north a ways.

By the way, I DO have A/C and I did run it a few times during the day, but unless it was running continuously it didn't do much good.  It cooled the air temps down to the point that I almost needed my sweatshirt, then went right back up when I turned it off.  The breezes coming through the windows did a better job overall.

There are still many RVs there in the different BLM lots, not a LOT, there were maybe a dozen or so where I was, with others coming for a day or two then moving on.  Most people didn't have their generators running much during the day.   I assume the other BLM areas were the same.

So we drove north, and when we got to Wickenburg it seemed cooler here and I knew there were a couple of good places, one BLM in particular,  to park.  I hoped we could stay longer, we have a fantastic site!!, but it's still a bit too hot for us, so we're going to drive north a little more until we find cooler weather.

Here are the extra photos that I liked, but didn't get into the previous blogs in Quail Hill and Hi Jolly.


This is the beautiful water in the canal near Imperial Dam.  When you are camping in the desert, it sure is nice to have something like this nearby.

 Katie liked it, too.

When we were in Yuma to get our escrow docs notarized, I stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch.  It's the first time I've eaten at that restaurant, although I've read a lot of raves by bloggers.  I ordered a fish dish with tarter sauce and cornbread muffins and three sides, coleslaw, baked apples and sweet potato casserole:

I didn't bring my camera into the restaurant, but it took TWO to-go packages to bring back what I didn't eat, and it was enough for two more full lunches.  REALLY A LOT OF FOOD, AND GOOD!!!  And my lunch was less than $10.  :)

Katie was very interested in the burros when they came by.  I said to her, "Do you hear burros?," and this was her response.  So cute!

Shortly after we got to Quail Hill, there was a fire over the ridge - it worried me a little, but the smoke was gone in the morning.

I always sit in the dinette bench seat facing front, but the way The Palms was positioned,  I wanted to see the water across the road, and had to change sides to get that view.  Katie was NOT happy with the change.  Her bed is always in the corner of the other seat, where these storage books are in the photo below, and I was sitting next to them.  I put her bed on the other bench seat and she wouldn't get in it.  She was kind of at loose ends, didn't seem to know where she wanted to be be, and finally found the edge of the seat back and slept with her nose in the corner, behind me.  Poor baby, don't you feel sorry for her?

I have to admit I wasn't as comfortable in my new seat, either, and when I moved to Quartzsite, I went back to my usual seat.  Here's Katie, happily back in her usual spot, too.  :)

These are some of the quail here in Hi Jolly BLM.  They were under my window eating the seed, but two of the males were pretty protective of the same spot and had a little tussle:

This is a quail in the tree next to our site.  They were flying into the tree and eating the tiny yellow flowers.  These are the same flowers the burros were eating at Quail Hill.  This guy did a little flight thing to get this flower and I caught him just right with it in his beak.

I liked this photo of the squirrel.  It was late afternoon and he was searching for food when we went outside and Katie made a short (leashed) dash in his direction.  He ran like lightning across the wash and screeched really loud for along time.  He was MAD!  I sat in my chair and read for a while, then he slowly, carefully came back over the wash and climbed a dead tree stump and looked around to see if he was safe. 

I put out some seed in a plastic bowl I found by the wash.  The squirrels were having a seed fest, but the quail seem to like the seed thrown on the ground better.

And finally, when I switched back to the "new" blogger, I got this message at the top of my screen.  I switched before and liked the new format, but this message worried me and I switched back.  I guess I'm stuck with the new format now, but I have this message each time I go into my "Design" area.  The suggestion that I switch to Chrome doesn't work, as I get the same message in Chrome. 

You'll probably have to click on the message to read it.  Are any of you getting this message?  I don't see that I'm missing any parts of Blogger, and so far am having no problems.  It seems to work the same as the old format.

That's it for today.  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!  :)

Scorching Quartzsite

You know that old saying, "If you have something to do, give it to a busy person?"  It's so true.  When I have days with nothing to do, I REALLY want to do nothing, including not posting.  I'm sorry if some of you were worried, but Katie and I are fine, just Hot, Hot, Hot, and we're just being lazy and enjoying our days in the desert.

We left Quail Hill on the 15th, the final day our season LTVA permit was good, and I wanted to spend some time at a camping area I've read about, but I just couldn't find it.  Drove down dirt/rock roads here and there along canals and saw some interesting things.  This boat was in a dry wash on one of the dirt roads - bummer for the owner.  It looked like a good boat:

I kept going, and ended up at a dead end - with this truck parked right at the end of the road.  I looked at it, and my chest and shoulders got very tight - instant stress reaction.  It looked like a nice truck, but was covered with mud and dried rain drippings (the dirt doesn't show in this photo).  It looked like it had been there for a while, had a camo backpack thrown on the hood, both the passenger side doors were open, and there was a bunch of stuff in the truck bed.  Fishing gear, etc.  No one was around and I don't think anyone would leave the doors open like that and walk off very far.

I thought either a weirdo was in the area, or someone had done something to the driver and left the area.  It wasn't a wide road, but I got The Palms turned around, watching the area carefully for movement as I got it turned, and as I drove away I saw jeans and boots in the bed of the truck with bare foam cushions under and over the person.  He didn't move as I was driving off, I don't know if he was dead or alive, but I wasn't checking.

I drove into that area at ten mph because of the condition of the road, but I drove out at 20 and was glad to hit the main road!  I decided to drive up to Quartzsite and spend some time at the 14-day BLM land areas.

These are the final photos of birds from the Quail Hill campground area:

Beautiful bird with lots of bright yellow on it's chest and body.

I love shots of birds on a wire.

There were three of these big birds who perched on this wire,

then flew in the winds that came up in the afternoon.

They were beautiful soaring in the winds.

I kept trying for a close-up, clear photo. This is the best one I have.

They swooped down right overhead - just beautiful.

The last few days at Quail Hill were REALLY windy.   The hummingbirds that came by the feeder were buffeted all over, sometimes they couldn't make it to the feeder and flew away. One of the birds was looking like he was sick, his feathers were all weird looking, I couldn't tell if he was sick, or if it was just the wind.

Late Sunday morning I drove into the Quartzsite Hi Jolly BLM area, and parked.  I took Katie outside for a walk and the woman parked nearest to us came over to warn me about the 10-foot snake they have seen twice right next to her rig.  I was hoping to see it and get a photo, but I've kept my eyes open for six days and no picture yet.

I saw a woman walking toward us, and it was Debbie - one of the Dingbats.  She was the last Dingbat to leave the LTVA area and is here until the end of the week.  She came late to Quartzsite this year and I left for my surgery shortly after she got here.  We haven't had a chance to get to know each other very well, but we've been sitting out in the shade every afternoon talking and trying to stay cool.  She's been great company and it's been nice getting to know her.  She plans to leave Sunday, heading north.

 Our Hi Jolly Campground site - they are all starting to look alike, aren't they ?  :)

It has been blazing hot here.  In the 90's, which means high 90's in The Palms.  The forecast is for 101 Saturday and 105 on Sunday and 101 Monday, which is  the hottest weather I've ever been in.  The rest of the month and beginning of May should be a few days in the 80s and the rest in the 90s until I plan to leave.

I've been covering the windows with windshield sun covers and lowering the window covers every afternoon, but it was still a pretty constant 98 degrees inside yesterday afternoon, until the sun went down, then I opened everything up again.  You pretty much have to leave some windows uncovered and open so the breezes can come through, which cools things a little.  Today I'm covering the windows early - I set my alarm to remind me.  I get busy and forget, and all of a sudden I look at the thermometer and it's 94 degrees.  At that point, it's too late.  Hopefully I'll do better today.  I'm learning....

I could leave and drive east or north, but I have a follow-up blood test in a month and need to drive back to California for that, so I'd like to stay in the area until then, if I can stand it.  Then I might head over to New Mexico - that's my new plan - where they have an annual State Park pass non-residents can purchase for $225.  It's good for a year from the date of purchase, and allows camping at sites with electric and/or sewage hookups for $4 each, water is free when available, and primitive no-hookup sites are free.  If I get to New Mexico and buy buy my pass in May, I'll be able to go back next year when Arizona gets too hot, and finish up the pass before driving north again.  Gas prices are definitely going to determine where I go and how long I stay, but that's fine with me.  I have no problem driving less and staying longer as long as I'm enjoying the area.

The sunsets have been especially beautiful this week.

I haven't been to New Mexico yet, and might spend the whole summer there where they have many State Parks and the weather is cooler.  Then when I'm ready, I can come back to Arizona and purchase the LTVA permit again for the winter.  I really enjoyed staying in the desert and can see doing that from year to year as long as I'm full-timing.   $180 for seven months which includes dump site and water is such a good bargain.

I have some photos that didn't fit anywhere in the last few weeks, and I'm going to post them tomorrow just to get them out of my "Blog Photo File."  So tomorrow's post will be a mishmash of unrelated photos then I can start again with new stuff.  :)

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

PS - My condo isn't closing today. :(  We have too many non-owner occupied units, so the borrower's lender wouldn't complete his loan.  My Realtor has a couple of lenders who, hopefully, will take his loan, so we're hoping that will work out.  I'm guessing there are a lot of condos with this problem right now. So  many are being bought up at reduced prices to use as rentals, and that upsets the balance that you want in this kind of housing.  My buyer is also purchasing as an investment unit; the longer this goes on, the more rentals we will have.  When I purchased seven years ago, we were almost all owner-occupied, things have really changed.  UPDATE  Good news - my Realtor just called and my HOA had the numbers wrong, and the rentals to occupied owner units is within guidelines, so my buyer's loan is going through.  It will put us back a few days, and we should close next Wednesday or Thursday. (I have the WORST HOA in the world of condos - the very worst.)