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| Photograph by naturen-ar-fantastisk.blogspot.com |
Baby Common Goldeneye Ducks leaving the nest - flying for the first time.
From me and Katie, have a great Wednesday, everyone! :)
Full-timing in our 24-foot 2006 Forest River Sunseeker 2200 as of June 1, 2011, I've added solar panels and a catalytic heater so that we can camp off-grid comfortably. My dog, Katie, is great company. We traveled a bit in the Western States our first year, and visited the deserts of Arizona and most of the New Mexico State Parks the next four. This year - 2016 - I'm hoping to find a park model to buy so we will have a home base, but we'll continue to travel, too. What a life! :)
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Quartzsite LTVAs and the government shutdown
Early Saturday morning, we drove the rest of the way into town. I checked out two of the LTVA areas. They looked open and there were camp hosts stationed at each of the four LTVAs (Long Term Visitor Areas - $180 for the season, September 15 through April 15, with water and dump provided free).
I drove in, past the little brown camp host office buildings, and then I saw the sign in the middle of the road that barred passage. It stated the area was CLOSED. There were a few RVs in the LTVA areas that I could see, but found out later that those were people who got there and purchased their permits before the shutdown, and so they were allowed to stay. They are truly few and far between.
I then drove to one of the 14-day limit BLM campground areas. I was happy to see some RVs parked there, drove in and got a campsite for me and Katie. We'll be in the 14-day BLM camping areas for the duration of the shutdown. I'm going to use this time to check out some of the 14-day areas.
The situation, as of today, is that the BLM 14-day areas are OPEN. At the end of this post is a map showing which are the LTVAs and which areas are BLM 14-day limit areas, since you probably won't be able to find one on our government's BLM websites.
For now the camp hosts at the 14-day areas are here, but not working. They are not giving out slips to campers with their in/out dates. There are no American flags flying at the entrance of the camping areas. I was told that when the flags are flying again, normalcy has returned and Quartzsite LTVA areas are again open for business.
But for now, the 14-days areas are OPEN and you can come-on-down! Water and dumping is available in town.
The weather is perfect. Monday and Tuesday the temps will be around 92 degrees F and next Sunday and Monday will be low 90's. From then on, we'll have 80's and 70's. Perfect. It's dry here, so yesterday, even though it was 93 inside The Palms, we were very comfortable. I turned on a fan, opened the Fantastic Fan on the ceiling and my kitchen ceiling vent, put on cooler clothes, and didn't notice the heat for the rest of the day.
It's really empty here - this is the beginning of the busy time for Quartzsite and the town needs the business. They will really be hurt if the shutdown continues and people stay away, so don't let the government hurt more people.
Here's where we are now:
You can see how empty the area is.
We picked a site a ways in, away from the road, and have a nice site near a wash, with a beautiful, large rock campfire pit.
I've got all my solar lights laid out by the front tire - charging them up with the free solar. It looks like I might be here a little while, so I might as well put out the lights and my American Flag. I only seem to do that at Quartzsite, I guess because I can stay longer than two weeks. Otherwise it's not worth the effort to me.
Below is the first critter I saw. He was on this rock in our campsite. I saw a few lizards yesterday, but nothing else. I put out my hummer feeder and a plate of seed for the squirrels and Gambel's Quail, so hopefully we'll have some company today looking for a meal.
On our way here, this truck was in front of us on the highway. I don't know if this sheep was tied up in the back of the truck, but you'd think the driver would at least have the tailgate attached.
What is it with Dinosaurs in Arizona? Huge fake dinosaurs are all over the place, my Grandkids would love it. I finally broke down and took a photo of these two:
I always get a picture of the state entrance signs if I see them soon enough.
As promised, below is a map of the BLM and LTVA areas in Quartzsite. I tried to copy the map from the government website for you, but it appears, in an effort to deter American Citizens from accessing the websites that we pay for with our tax dollars, that the Quartzsite LTVA maps are not accessible during the shutdown. @$%&$**#! and also *%#@^**($%! (Real words deleted to protect the blog author.) Aren't you happy that our government doesn't own Google? Or Wal-Mart?!?
I've gotten permission from Mello Mike to use his LTVA map from his website.
Thanks, Mello Mike, great map! It's from his recent post, "Quartzsite Boondocking primer." Check it out. :)
And here is our first, beautiful sunset in Quartzsite, AZ last night - I'm sure it's a familiar sight to many of you:
Don't let the shutdown keep you away. I know it's early in the season, I've never been here this early before, but there are lots of fabulous campsites ready for the taking.
From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone! :)
Friday, October 4, 2013
RV Engine Mod - to keep the rodents OUT!
When I realized there had been mice and a squirrel in my engine compartment at El Malpais' Ed Skeen Campground, Andy Baird e-mailed me a photo of the lit up engine of his friends who had also experienced rodent visitors - but they had quite a bit of damage. They installed LED lights around their engine to keep the little critters away. Andy and I decided we were going to order those LEDs, too, and put them in our engine compartments.
Last week, when we had both received our LED light reels in the mail from Amazon.com, we set up a time to get together and get them installed. Andy had all the parts and tools we needed for the job. First we did his Lazy Daze motor home, and when his was done and he liked the way it worked, we went up to The Palms and did the same thing to my motor home.
Andy supplied the parts, tools, knowledge and labor, and I helped with ideas and, ummm, well, ideas and company.
Andy soldered the wires on one end of 12v plug to another length of wire he had on hand so we would have enough wire length between the 12v plug/receptacle in the dash and the LEd lights in the engine compartment. Before it reached the LEDs in the engine, the wire had to go from the inside of the cab, through the door jamb, behind the fender and out into the engine, where it was soldered to one end of the LEDs.
When he had the wires soldered together, he shrunk the plastic tubing so it would stay over the soldered area, keeping everything neat and protected.
Below is Andy's butane soldering tool. The tip is used for the soldering, and the heat coming from the red-hot openings was used to shrink the tubing.
He took the dash cover off so we could thread the wire behind the cover from the right side by the 12v receptacle to the other end by the door. See the green and yellow wire?
Feeding the wire into the door jamb and through the area behind the fender.
Using a "grabbing" tool to grab hold of the wire and pull it through the fender area and out into the engine.
Once the wires were out, they had to be soldered to one end of the LED light wires. Hazel dropped by after her day of volunteering at the Visitor's Center, and found us working on this project, and she stepped up to help so I could get some photos.
Soldering the wire onto the LED light wire:
Next we draped the line of LEDs around the engine, making sure to drop some into the now empty rodent nest area (photo to follow) in front of the headlight in an empty, flat area. We were careful to keep the lights around the edge of the engine - away from any moving parts or areas where the heat would be too high. When we were happy with the way the lights were laid out, we zip tied them in place. Then Andy put shrink tubing around the other two ends of the LED wires to keep them from touching, and we were done.
Fleur and Power needed their walk, so Hazel took them around the campground with Katie keeping her company in the car. Since I was still busy with the LED project, I stayed home to keep working. (Wow, look at that shiny car.) Katie LOVES Hazel, this "play date" wasn't with Fleur and Power, it was definitely with Hazel.
So, every night when it starts getting dark, I plug the 12v plug into the dash receptacle and the lights go on. In the morning, I unplug it. I have a sticky note attached to my computer so I won't forget in the morning. The lights take up a very small amount of energy, so I don't have to worry about them draining the truck's battery. I am starting the engine every four or five days, though, just to make sure.
And this is what it looks like at night when the LEDs are lit. When the hood is closed, you can see lights coming from the engine underneath, so hopefully, that will deter the critters. If they DO get in anyway, either the bright lights or the Fresh Cab should drive them out. See the little white packets strewn about? I really only need one packet in this small space, but I didn't realize that, so I put six, all over the place. Since they are there, I will keep using them all. When they are no longer doing their job, I'll replace them with just one. (I have a sticky note by my steering wheel to remind me to remove them when I start the engine.)
And that's how Andy, with my help and company, rigged up a reel of LED lights into a rodent deterrent in my engine (and his).
The photo below is of the area right behind the driver's side front light. There is a flat area there that's apparently perfect for a rodent's nest, because I found this in mine, a pretty big nest, and when we later checked Andy's engine area, he had a nest in the same spot. I had no idea it was there, but Hazel kept telling me I had to have a nest somewhere because of all the little mice I was finding a few months ago. I was lucky that the mice brought in all the nesting material and didn't take anything from my engine wires, etc., to build their nest. If you park your motor home where rodents are, check this area in your engine, too. You might be surprised what you find.
I put on a face mask and latex gloves, put my arm down there and pulled the material out. (If you do find a nest, make sure you use a mask and gloves, just in case. You don't want to be exposed to the Hantavirus which is spread by infected rodents through their dried urine, saliva, and feces. I keep some of these masks on hand for smokey areas, and luckily had them available to use.)
I reached down three or four times and got most of it out, putting the material into a baggie each time. My arm went down easily, but it was hard to pull it back out. I scraped my arm and got some scratches, so as soon as I got as much as I could out, I sealed the baggie and went in and washed my arm with soap and hot water, and later put alcohol on the scratches, as suggested by Hazel and Andy.
I am still putting my Fresh Cab into the engine when I'm parked and every night I've plugged in the LEDs. I'm pretty confident that I won't have any more critters in the engine. And so far, the cabin has been rodent-free, too, since Hazel and I plugged up all the holes a while ago.
It was a pretty easy mod, but without Andy's knowledge and tools and materials, I couldn't have done it. When I ordered the LEDs, I thought they would come with a 12v plug on one end. I was pretty surprised when they arrived with just wires at both ends. Thanks, Andy! I appreciate that you were so generous helping me get this done. I couldn't have done it without you.
Today we are heading southwest, toward Quartzsite. Yeaaaaaaa! We're leaving late morning, so I don't know how far we'll get, but it's getting too cold here at night, so it's time to move on.
From me and Katie in our mouse-free house, have a great Friday, everyone! :)
Last week, when we had both received our LED light reels in the mail from Amazon.com, we set up a time to get together and get them installed. Andy had all the parts and tools we needed for the job. First we did his Lazy Daze motor home, and when his was done and he liked the way it worked, we went up to The Palms and did the same thing to my motor home.
Andy supplied the parts, tools, knowledge and labor, and I helped with ideas and, ummm, well, ideas and company.
 |
| LED Strip light, Waterproof LED Flexible Light Strip 12V at night |
 |
| It comes with the LED lights on a reel, with wires at both ends. |
Andy soldered the wires on one end of 12v plug to another length of wire he had on hand so we would have enough wire length between the 12v plug/receptacle in the dash and the LEd lights in the engine compartment. Before it reached the LEDs in the engine, the wire had to go from the inside of the cab, through the door jamb, behind the fender and out into the engine, where it was soldered to one end of the LEDs.
 |
When he had the wires soldered together, he shrunk the plastic tubing so it would stay over the soldered area, keeping everything neat and protected.
Below is Andy's butane soldering tool. The tip is used for the soldering, and the heat coming from the red-hot openings was used to shrink the tubing.
He took the dash cover off so we could thread the wire behind the cover from the right side by the 12v receptacle to the other end by the door. See the green and yellow wire?
Feeding the wire into the door jamb and through the area behind the fender.
Using a "grabbing" tool to grab hold of the wire and pull it through the fender area and out into the engine.
Once the wires were out, they had to be soldered to one end of the LED light wires. Hazel dropped by after her day of volunteering at the Visitor's Center, and found us working on this project, and she stepped up to help so I could get some photos.
 |
| Joking around - do you think Andy has been to Mardi Gras? |
Soldering the wire onto the LED light wire:
Next we draped the line of LEDs around the engine, making sure to drop some into the now empty rodent nest area (photo to follow) in front of the headlight in an empty, flat area. We were careful to keep the lights around the edge of the engine - away from any moving parts or areas where the heat would be too high. When we were happy with the way the lights were laid out, we zip tied them in place. Then Andy put shrink tubing around the other two ends of the LED wires to keep them from touching, and we were done.
Fleur and Power needed their walk, so Hazel took them around the campground with Katie keeping her company in the car. Since I was still busy with the LED project, I stayed home to keep working. (Wow, look at that shiny car.) Katie LOVES Hazel, this "play date" wasn't with Fleur and Power, it was definitely with Hazel.
So, every night when it starts getting dark, I plug the 12v plug into the dash receptacle and the lights go on. In the morning, I unplug it. I have a sticky note attached to my computer so I won't forget in the morning. The lights take up a very small amount of energy, so I don't have to worry about them draining the truck's battery. I am starting the engine every four or five days, though, just to make sure.
And this is what it looks like at night when the LEDs are lit. When the hood is closed, you can see lights coming from the engine underneath, so hopefully, that will deter the critters. If they DO get in anyway, either the bright lights or the Fresh Cab should drive them out. See the little white packets strewn about? I really only need one packet in this small space, but I didn't realize that, so I put six, all over the place. Since they are there, I will keep using them all. When they are no longer doing their job, I'll replace them with just one. (I have a sticky note by my steering wheel to remind me to remove them when I start the engine.)
 |
| Whose little ears are those, sticking up in the windshield over the hood? |
And that's how Andy, with my help and company, rigged up a reel of LED lights into a rodent deterrent in my engine (and his).
The photo below is of the area right behind the driver's side front light. There is a flat area there that's apparently perfect for a rodent's nest, because I found this in mine, a pretty big nest, and when we later checked Andy's engine area, he had a nest in the same spot. I had no idea it was there, but Hazel kept telling me I had to have a nest somewhere because of all the little mice I was finding a few months ago. I was lucky that the mice brought in all the nesting material and didn't take anything from my engine wires, etc., to build their nest. If you park your motor home where rodents are, check this area in your engine, too. You might be surprised what you find.
 |
| This photo was taken standing in front of the headlight, looking down. See all the "stuff" there? That's a rodent nest. |
I put on a face mask and latex gloves, put my arm down there and pulled the material out. (If you do find a nest, make sure you use a mask and gloves, just in case. You don't want to be exposed to the Hantavirus which is spread by infected rodents through their dried urine, saliva, and feces. I keep some of these masks on hand for smokey areas, and luckily had them available to use.)
I reached down three or four times and got most of it out, putting the material into a baggie each time. My arm went down easily, but it was hard to pull it back out. I scraped my arm and got some scratches, so as soon as I got as much as I could out, I sealed the baggie and went in and washed my arm with soap and hot water, and later put alcohol on the scratches, as suggested by Hazel and Andy.
 |
| This is the baggie full of nesting material. It went directly into a dumpster along with my mask and gloves. |
I am still putting my Fresh Cab into the engine when I'm parked and every night I've plugged in the LEDs. I'm pretty confident that I won't have any more critters in the engine. And so far, the cabin has been rodent-free, too, since Hazel and I plugged up all the holes a while ago.
It was a pretty easy mod, but without Andy's knowledge and tools and materials, I couldn't have done it. When I ordered the LEDs, I thought they would come with a 12v plug on one end. I was pretty surprised when they arrived with just wires at both ends. Thanks, Andy! I appreciate that you were so generous helping me get this done. I couldn't have done it without you.
Today we are heading southwest, toward Quartzsite. Yeaaaaaaa! We're leaving late morning, so I don't know how far we'll get, but it's getting too cold here at night, so it's time to move on.
From me and Katie in our mouse-free house, have a great Friday, everyone! :)
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Sunday, September 29, 2013
We have a winner!
We have a winner in our Follower Giveaway for a FREE copy of My Memories Suite Version 4 Digital Scrapbooking Software. This morning I took all the names of interested people who left comments and printed them on pieces of paper, folded them and put them into a bag. I asked my friend Hazel to pull out one piece of paper. She did - and our Winner is: (drum roll please...)
Thank you to everyone who left comments to enter our Giveaway. And thank you to My Memories! Pam, I hope you enjoy your new My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Program. :)
I have a birthday card to make for my Dad - 91 years old on November 10! - and I'll make it with my new My Memories Digital Scrapbooking Software. When it's done, I'll post it to give you another view of what you can do with this program. The more I use it, the more fun I'm having with it. Pam (and anyone who might purchase the software in the future), remember that there are Forum and Tutorial tabs at the top of their web page that lead you to useful information and many YouTube instruction videos. These will give you the easiest, quickest, best way to do things with your software. I'm willing to spend all day making a greeting card if I need to (because I love doing it), but if I can find a faster, easier way to do it, I'll take it. And you might also see things you can do that you didn't know about. That's what I found when I was going through some of the Forum files and Tutorial YouTube videos.
That's all for today - but next time, I'll show you a new engine mod that Andy Baird and I both did to keep rodents out of our engines, and nests that we found while working on the mod. Ick! Ick! Ick! You will probably want to check that area in YOUR engines to see if you've been invaded, too.
Here are a few critters I snapped on my walk to Andy's rig yesterday morning.
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| There are lots of butterflies flittering from plant to plant all over the campground. |
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| This guy has an orange head and rear, with an orange spiky tail and iridescent markings on his body. He was about four inches long. Moving right down the road. I wasn't sure if he was really pretty or really ugly. |
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| Robber Fly (thank you heyduke50) on a large rock. This is a CLOSE-UP, cropped to see him even closer. |
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| Here's another one; he caught some lunch for himself. I didn't see the green bug until I enlarged the photo. What big eyes you have, Grandma! |
Again, congratulations to Pam - and from me and Katie, have a great Sunday evening, everyone! :)
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