Jack's Alive! :)

Good News!  New Jack is Alive!

This morning I called Satellite Advantage to see if they had any King jack antennas in stock and they DID. They had two!  I asked her to hold one for me, I'd be right down.   I think those were the only two left in town.

David and I texted back and forth - and I bribed him with breakfast in town if he'd come right now and get me.  He put the bacon he was cooking in the fridge, jumped in his Jeep and was at my door in minutes.  (Always bribe a man with food, it works!  🤓)

First we drove to Satellite Advantage where I snagged one of their two boxes with the jack inside, the woman opened it and showed us that all the parts were there, I paid and we were on our way.  Whew!  Score!

Next we went to Bad Boy's Cafe again for a delicious breakfast.  Great as usual.  Then a little shopping, and back home to The Palms with the new jack antenna.

Ta Daaaa:

Jack is alive once again!  And I get 24 clear channels.*

 *  This photo is not Photo-shopped.  LOL

The TV is an Axess 12V/110V, 13.3" TV.  I got it on-line at Amazon.com for only $116.67.  It has a stand so I can put it up in my bunk or down by the dinette.  I have 12V plugs in both places, so I can easily move it around.  It will also fit better than the old TV on the swing-arm attachment if I want to screw it into that, up higher by my upper cupboard, but that's too high for comfortable viewing from the couch or dinette, so I'll use the stand it's on instead.  Right now I have it plugged into the 110 outlet, but will use the 12V outlets if I want to move it to the overhead bunk, or if I want it powered directly from the batteries.

Here's David - relaxing on the couch, taking a well earned rest after climbing once again on The Palms' roof in the hot sun.

Thank you, thank you, David!

And finally, this was the sunset last night - another pretty one.

From me and Katie, with a new TV, have a great Monday, everyone!  💗😁📺😁💗

Jack died. : (

Well, shoot!  My King jack antenna died.  

I haven't been getting any TV channels for a while, and I thought it was my location, but when I was in Yuma, I still got no channels.  It had to be the TV, right?  So I bought a new TV and indoor antenna - but they didn't work, either!  (I think the indoor antenna just isn't strong enough here - it's hard to get TV channels in Quartzsite unless you're in the right areas.  And even then, a booster helps.)

I tried the new TV with the new antenna, nothing.  Old TV with new antenna, nothing.  New TV with the old antenna, nothing.  Old TV with the old antenna, nothing.  It was kind of amazing that with two TVs and two antennas, I couldn't get a single channel.  I always get TV in my current campsite.

Then my friend David came over to check it out.  Well, he really came over to visit, but when I mentioned that my TV wasn't working, I knew his brain cells wouldn't rest until he figured it out.  And he DID!  He's a retired engineer and those guys are good at everything! 

With David's help, I found out it's the old jack antenna that isn't working.

Actually, David didn't help, he did the whole diagnosis and repair while I watched.   😉

He tested the wires and there were only 5V coming up through the wire to the antenna, which should have been getting 12V.  The wire and coaxial connectors were fried, so we went to town and checked a bunch of different places, and bought some connectors.

Then we stopped at Satellite Advantage and I bought a new wire with the connections.  The man there was very helpful and offered to crimp one of the antenna wires for me.  Since we didn't have that crimping tool, I gladly accepted his offer.  We drove back to my site, got The Palms and took her in.  It only took him a few minutes to get the connector crimped and we were good to go.

When we got back to my site, David took off the bad wire and put on the new.  Now we had 13.5V coming up.  But the TV still didn't work, and the red light on the bottom of the jack wasn't lit, so apparently the low voltage going up into the antenna fried it.  Now I need a new one.

The man at Satellite Advantage was so nice and helpful, I wanted to list the company info here, in case you need satellite or antenna help.  They specialize in mobile satellite solutions, HDTV and Internet. 

Satellite Advantage
Paul Angerami, Owner
40 E. Main Street
Quartzsite, AZ
Phone:      (928) 927-4422
e-mail:     sales@satelliteadvantage.net
Website:   www.satelliteadvantage.net

We went into town again today to get a new jack, but since it was Sunday, some of the places we needed were closed and the rest - that carry the King jack Antenna - were out of them.  I have one place to call tomorrow and if they are out, too, then I'll order it through Amazon.

David and I have the same weird sense of humor, so it's been quite entertaining the last three days while he's been figuring out what's wrong and fixing things, and we've been chatting and going to town and back a few times looking for different parts and checking out some of the vendors that are still open.

I think I'm worn out from laughing.  😅

Quartzsite had a gorgeous sunset tonight.  Doesn't this look like a painting?  A whole RV window sized painting, right over my couch!

From me and Katie, with no TV!  😟 📺💔  Yet.

Mittry Lake

A week or so ago I traveled down to Paradise Casino in Yuma to meet up with Jeanne, Kim, Nancy and Tom, who drove over from San Diego.  We parked for free in the casino parking lot - it was over Superbowl weekend - and it was very crowded!  Some of us had dental appointments in Los Algodones, Mexico, and Kim and I wanted to check out new glasses at a couple of the Mexican optical shops.

I had an appointment at the main post office in Yuma to apply for a passport - since I've never had one before, I needed an in-person appointment.  A couple of days before, Jeanne and I went to town and I had my passport photos taken at Wal-Mart, I had completed the application on-line and printed it out, and had sent to the California Secretary of State for a certified copy of my birth certificate, which I received.  With all that in hand, Tom and I went to the post office and I turned it all in, answered their questions, paid the fees and now I'm just waiting for my first ever passport to arrive.  All in all, the whole process was easier than I expected.

We visited a lot, took some walks, had dinner together a couple of times, and then we moved on in different directions.

Tom and I drove our motor homes to Mittry Lake.  He's a new RVer, and since he was visiting in the dusty, crowded, dirt parking lot at Paradise Casino with no complaints, I thought it only fair to show him a nicer place to camp for a few days.  Mittry was beautiful, as usual, but VERY crowded.  We were lucky to get a spot right on the lake that was big enough for both our rigs.

Tom had his own spit of land going out into the lake right outside his door, where we put some chairs. The weather was perfect and he even did a little fishing.  There were a few mosquitoes, but not bad, and they didn't arrive until around dark when we were back in our rigs.  As long as we kept the doors and windows screened, there wasn't a problem.  Only three mosquitoes got into my rig, and I squished them all before bedtime. 

These are some photos I took while we were there.  I always see a Great Egret on the other bank and he was here again - one of my favorite water birds:

 Here he is with a couple of American Coots swimming by:

Another American Coot:

Below is a Double-crested Cormorant - a first sighting for me that I've added to my Life List:

And this little guy is another new Life List bird - he's a Pied-billed Grebe.  While breeding, their bill is whitish with a black band (“pied’), but otherwise is yellow-brown.  Very cute little guy:

This was my view out my rear kitchen window:

And below is the view out the dinette window.  There had been a fire and some of the trees were just charred sticks - but there were lots of birds on the ground and in the burned out trees while I was there. The lake came up into this marshy spot with areas  full of water, and in the evening and morning I could hear the ducks talking to each other.  Very cool way to wake up, listening to nearby duck chatter. 😴😮🙂

Beautiful sunset one night:

This was a weird sunset shot when we were at Paradise Casino - I was walking Katie and looked toward the sunset and saw a tunnel of pink coming up through the blue sky.

When the week was nearly up, Tom left to visit his sister in Sun Lakes, and I drove back up to Quartzsite, and was lucky to get my favorite spot again.

From me and Katie, have a great Social Security Wednesday, everyone!  I got mine this morning, and that always makes me a happy camper!   ❤💲🙂💲❤

Quartzsite photos - Big Tent, Bloggerfest, and friends

Below is a Birthday Breakfast photo - we were celebrating Jeanne's birthday at Bad Boy's Cafe.  Best Breakfasts Ever!  :)

Me (Barbara), Nancy, Jeanne, Kim

I had a nice visit with Kim, Sandie and Jim, Dale, and Donna:

Kim, Sandie, Jim, Dale, Donna and Hannah, Donna's Dog

And some pics I took while walking inside and around The Big Tent in Quartzsite:

The woman below was selling Holy Honey - the honey that got me hooked last year.  This time I bought three times as much:  lemon infused, cinnamon infused, and peppermint infused.  So good in coffee and tea, and I'm sure lots of other things.  It tastes like the inside of a See's Candy - a small amount on a spoon is like eating a rich candy filling.

Sunset views of some of the hills I could see through my windows:

Bloggerfest 2017.  I got the feeling many bloggers didn't know about the event this year.  There weren't many of us long-time bloggers present, and the group was far smaller.  I enjoyed hearing about each attendees reason for blogging, how long they had their blogs, etc.  We went around the circle and everyone told their blogging story.  Some interesting stories, and all interesting people. 

My two favorite dog-faced people at BloggerFest 2017.  Both beautiful dogs, and the little girl on the left had the cutest face.  When she sat down, she'd put her butt on her owners shoe, like a bench.  They were darling and very well behaved.  Had to give them a shout-out!

My two partners-in-crime with whom I attended the BloggerFest:  Kim and Diana.  We all had a good time!

Katie just ❤❤  LOVES  ❤❤ Kim!  Notice how she's half sitting on Kim's lap?

Another beautiful Quartzsite sunset - the colors were gorgeous!

Katie and I left Quartzsite last week and drove to Yuma to meet up with Kim, Jeanne, Nancy, and Tom.  I scheduled an appointment to turn in the paperwork for my first Passport - no, I've never had a passport before so I had to appear in person.  I got that done, so now I'll have to wait three to six weeks for it to arrive in the mail.  I may never use it, but...  If the opportunity arises, I'll be ready to fly to Paris - or anywhere else!

The five of us hung out at one of the casinos, crossed the border into Mexico for dental appointments, lunch and general walking around.  We did a lot of visiting, took a lot of walks, had a couple of dinners together, and one by one, left for different locations.  Katie and I will be driving back to Quartzsite in a few days.  

From me and Katie, have a great day, everyone!  😉😎😀

Quartzsite Rocks!

My friend Diana Tolerico and I went to the RTR one morning to see what everyone was up to.  Unfortunately it was really cold and everyone was either at the "Boondocking Seminar" that Bob Wells was giving, or in their rigs.  No one was outside visiting or walking around.  We stopped and listened to the seminar for a while, but since it was mostly for newcomers and we were getting COLD, we decided to head back to the car.

On the way back to our camp, we stopped at the QIA Pow Wow - Gems, Minerals & Jewelry Show.  There were tons of vendors outside, and some beautiful things inside the main building.  Where it was WARM.

Below are a few photos I took - I know nothing about rocks, so I'm not going to identify them.  I just snapped pics of the ones I thought were especially pretty.

This was a pile of rocks we saw on our way out - I'd bet if these were cut and polished, there would be some beautiful shapes and colors inside.

And here's a rock I found on the desert floor yesterday.  I put it under water, and it was really pretty.  Kind of heart-shaped.  I'm saving it for a friend:

The only rocks I was REALLY interested in were the Lace Agates - because of this one I found here in Quartzsite last November:

 It's so beautiful, but I guess not worth much money, so there were very few vendors showing them.  We did find one vendor, but their rocks weren't cracked open to see the inside. 

So now I've found two really pretty rocks - the heart-shaped rock above doesn't look like it's been shaped or polished at all, like the Lace Agate, but maybe rolled in the rains along the desert rocks and sands to smooth it out.

And you know what?  I think the two rocks I found here in Quartzsite are as beautiful as any I saw at the Rock Show.  :) 

From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!   💓💕💗