Stormy days!

It's just this kind of day:

As soon as I pick up the camera, Katie opens her eyes. It's really hard to get a shot of her asleep.

I had such a scare yesterday morning.  I turned on my computer and my desktop screen was exactly the way it was when brand new, my documents, photos, the Internet connections, all my notes and programs, everything was missing.  Scared the heck out of me.  I turned my computer off at midnight the night before, and it seemed fine, normal. First thing yesterday morning, nada.  I thought I had been hacked or had a virus or something that wiped everything out.

Then, I calmed down, prayed a lot, and pulled up my blog on my phone.  It was there, and the photos were still in the posts, so I knew they were also somewhere on my computer.  I remembered that in Windows 7 there is a function that allows you to "restore" your computer to a previous set point that has been established, usually when something new was installed. I had installed updates to some Apple programs the day before, iTunes and a couple of others, and there must have been a conflict.  The "restore" worked, and everything is back.  Boy, was I holding my breath. :)

Like I don't have enough going on already!

Windy, rainy, stormy yesterday and today.  The smell of rain was so nice, and I knew about the wind alerts, so I was expecting another day or two of high winds and sand creeping in everywhere.  But - with the rain, the wind isn't blowing the sand around, so this is kind of like a regular storm.  It rained so much last night, I woke up and started thinking, "Okay, I'm right next to a wash, but they told me I'm on high ground here.  I wonder what's going on outside?"  So I got my flashlight and shined it out the windows to see if there was any water creeping over the wash, but everything looked okay.  Then I went back to sleep.

Today is cloudy, intermittent rain, sunshine, and windy.  Possible thunderstorms. Tomorrow will be a bit better, and the rest of the week the forecast is for sun and temps in the 70's and 80's.  That will be nice. :)

I didn't hear from the Utah RV shop, so I guess he's just not going to answer me.  My friend here told me there's a 2-year warranty on my converter, so I went to their website to get the information on what I should do.  It says the shop you bought it from needs to send it in for warranty, so I e-mailed them and told them the seller won't respond to me, and can I send it in myself or use a local shop to handle the warranty, because I'm in a different state now. The only problem is that the receipt he gave me lists the converter as a 60 Amp, and the one he installed is an 80 Amp, so I don't know if the company will even honor a warranty, since I can't prove I bought the 80 Amp.  So now I'm waiting to hear from them before I go after the Utah guy.  If they will fix the converter or send me a new/refurbished one, I'll take that cost off the bill he owes me.  What a mess.

I was so tired of dealing with all the converter issues, when I woke up yesterday morning, after I figured out the computer "restore" thing, I tore into The Palms, stripped the bed and re-made it, vacuumed every inch of space I could find.  Dusted and re-organized some stuff, visited for a while with a fellow camper, and all of a sudden the day was over.  And no dust, sand or dog hair in sight.  It turned out to be a good day. 

Today is just quiet inside, noisy outside.  Katie is sleeping and I've read blogs all day.  I think I'll see if there are any good TV shows I've missed on Hulu.

Oh yeah, I wanted to show you the latest thing in RVs that I saw at the Post Office last week.  An RV with a back porch:

   Can't you  just see yourself sitting back there on a hot day, brew in hand?

From me and Katie, see you next time!  :)

Here we are again... in more ways than one - or - The good, the bad, and the ugly.

First, a big WELCOME to our newest Follower, sierrasusieq!  She doesn't show a blog, but she is from Truckee, CA, which is a place I love.  You live in a great area, for sure, sierrasusieq!  Thanks for following along with me and Katie, we are happy to have you aboard!

First the good:

We are back in our old site, the original Quartzsite one that I loved so much.  Unfortunately, Hazel and Carrie left on Thursday.  When I was in San Diego for medical stuff, Carrie went to Australia, and she moved her rig into my vacated site next to Hazel so it would be looked after.  When they left yesterday, I moved back into it.  I was happy where I was, but this site has more birds and critters and just has better views out of every window.  So I'm really happy to be here again, and I wish Hazel and Carrie happy travels!  :)

 Goodbye photo of Hazel, Fleur and Val.  We miss you!

Here are a few photos from the new/old site:

 Here we are again - I love this site!

 My old friend

And we seem to have two other kinds of squirrels this time around:

 Lots of birds

 And rabbits!

According to Carol, there have also been rattle snakes and sidewinder sightings.  I don't know what a sidewinder is, but Katie and I are watching where we walk, and staying away from bushes. 

It's been beautiful here in Quartzsite the last few days, with a little intermittent wind today:

Windy enough for you?

 

We're expecting high winds tomorrow, so rather than have my camp chairs blowing down, and maybe away, I folded them up this afternoon and put them near The Palms.

Second, the bad:

I've sent the RV service shop in Utah two e-mails requesting a response by today, and haven't received a reply.   I just sent another one off to him, letting him know the steps I'm going to take if I don't hear from him by noon tomorrow.  

I am going to order my own converter tomorrow and have it installed.  One of the guys here wanted to look at the converter.  It was already unplugged, so he took off the wires, or whatever you do to get them out.  He wanted to test the plug it was plugged into, which was fine, and then he wanted try it in his rig to make sure it was bad.  When he lifted it up, it rattled.  Not a good sign.  He took it with him, but he said he'd never plug it in with the rattling noise.  This is what he e-mailed me: "This converter is definitely bad.  That noise inside is an electrolytic capacitor that is broken loose from the circuit board.  When did you purchase it?  It really doesn't look like a new unit to me.  I suspect that you were sold a defective unit."  

Funny thing is, the Utah shop didn't have the 60 Amp converter my rig needs, so he went to another rig, a Class A, that was in his lot for repairs and since they weren't going to be back for a while, he said he had one in that unit he could take out and put in mine.  It was an 80 Amp.  I assumed it was a NEW converter that he was planning to install in the Class A.  Now I'm thinking he took the converter that was sitting there, cut the hard wiring and re-wired a plug onto it, and installed it in The Palms.  That's one of the things I asked him in my second e-mail. :(   I don't want to slander him, just asking...

But now I KNOW this converter is definitely what has been making my life miserable all this time, and once I have a new one installed, everything should be fine and my electrical/generator/converter issues should be over. Please cross your fingers for me.   

Third, the ugly:

Well, folks, if I don't get satisfaction from the Utah shop, it is definitely going to get ugly.  I am compiling lists of addresses and e-mail addresses of every entity I can think of so that I can 1) report this guy, 2) ask for their help to collect damages from him and 3) warn other RVers about his business practices. 

If I can take him to Small Claims Court, I will.  If I have to park in the street in front of his business with signs in my window, I will.  I will do everything that is legally in my power to do to collect damages from him.  I've spent over $1,300 on parts that failed and the labor to replace them because of his shoddy practices, and I want my money back!  And that doesn't even take into account all the worry and inconvenience this has caused me, and the discomfort I've experienced and the fear I had every time I turned something on.  I was so sure it was faulty wiring, then the generator, then again the generator... if only we had removed the new converter, when it rattled we would have known.   

I'll let you know what happens. 

Let's end this post with a good thought and a beautiful photo:

A man is rich in the proportion of the number of things he can do without.  Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes.  --Henry David Thoreau

 Quartzsite sunset

From me and Katie, good night, everyone!  :)

Various animal/bird photos from last week

WELCOME to kcgaz, our newest Follower!  kcgaz is a management consultant who lives in Scottsdale, AZ, and has an RV that he and his wife enjoy. His is a new blog this year, check it out.  Thanks for following me and Katie, kcgaz, we're happy to have you along!  :)

I've been taking miscellaneous photos the last few days, and they were too much for previous blogs, so today I'm going to be lazy and put them all together here.

I've seen a roadrunner coming through my campsite every few days, and one day when I was outside talking to Roger, he came up right behind Roger's car and continued through slowly.  He'd stop, look around, raise his tail, and walk on, stop, look around, raise his tail and continue, until he was all the way across to the ditch dividing my site from my western neighbors.  He hopped across and continued on to their sites, going under their rigs.  It was so much fun to watch him, but - I didn't have my camera in hand, so I didn't get photos. Then a few days later, I saw him again outside my window, and I was able to get some good shots.

I'm on the lookout for Roadrunners all the time.  I think they are such interesting birds.

The picture below was taken on another day, the roadrunner walked back the other way into the wash with something large in his mouth, maybe a lizard?  I couldn't see what it was.  It hung from both sides of his beak. "Roadrunners are relatively large birds. They mainly eat meat, meaning lizards, mice, other birds, snakes and bugs. They supplement their diet with vegetation."  I got that information on-line, I was interested in what they eat, and what this "thing" he was carrying might be.

Bringing dinner home.

This little guy kept standing up by the bushes.

I wonder if he was eating the leaves?

It's hard getting photos of these rabbits!

There are three camp cats that roam free.

These guys were watching me from the little wash.

Below is Carol's cat, Dora.  She was stalking the doves, who didn't seem to mind that there was a cat nearby.  It took so long for her to move, I finally walked on.  Carol said she hasn't caught one yet, except the one that flew into their motor home.  Dora caught it and then put it down, and Carol checked it and saw that it was okay, so she put the dove outside and it flew away.

Dora stalking a couple of Doves.  

She thinks they can't see her hiding behind the water dish.

These doves have pretty markings.

I went to Bob's Generator yesterday morning, and I think he diagnosed the problem.  It's not the part he put in, the voltage regulator, but another part I had installed in another state that failed, probably right when it was installed due to something the technician did at the shop.

Anyway, I have a lengthy e-mail I'm sending to the owner of the shop asking him to send me a new part as well as partial reimbursement for the parts and labor I've spent in repairing blown parts because of their mistake.  I don't want to name the place right now; first I want to give him a chance to step up and do the right thing.  I'll let you know what happens.

I'm not trying to present a cliff hanger here, but wanted you to know the problem seems to have been finally diagnosed correctly, and if the shop owner doesn't come through for me, I'll FOR SURE let you know.

I have no problem with a shop that makes a mistake, we all do.  And when they admit they made a mistake and take care of their customer, then they get an A+ from me.  But if they are not willing to admit and correct the error, then I have a BIG issue with them.  I'm hoping these people are honest.  If he doesn't cooperate, I plan to take steps to recoup all the money I've spent.  I'm hoping he'll agree with my request so I'll be done.  If he doesn't, I'll order the part and installation through Bob's Generator and then decide what steps I'll take and how far I want to go with the other shop.

Full moon shot for March

From Me and Katie, have a great day, everybody!  :)

A little sightseeing in the desert

I've moved The Palms around a few times within my site, and I think we're finally situated.  There are two campfires in this site, right next to each other.  I can't imagine why, but the smaller one wasn't intact and had lots of nails in and round the burning pit.  For those who are not boondocking:  what people do - in this area anyway - is go to companies that have left over pallets that are free for the taking, they load up their trucks, bring them back to camp, dismantle them and cut the large boards and waaaaa-la, free firewood.  The problem is that all the nails holding the pallets together end up in the fire pit.  Later, when another camper takes the large rocks forming the campfire ring to use elsewhere, the nails are left.

Two campfires - one for breakfast and one for dinner?

So,  I raked the yard, sifted through the sand/dirt/ashes in the fire pit and got as many nails out as I could, and re-made the fire pit because I know there are more nails in that dirt that I didn't get.  I sure don't want any being kicked around, or blown in the high winds, and end up driving over them.

This will do it for now.

The other day Hazel and Carol and I drove down Old Yuma Road, which goes through this Long Term Visitor Area.  We went out further in the desert where they showed me the original site of the town of Quartzsite.  Hazel said they came to mine the area, set up a town, and then were flooded out, so they moved to the current site where the town of Quartzsite is located.

Below are some of the photos I took in that area.  We parked next to this cave in the rocky hill.

We had Hazel's two Greyhounds, Val and Fleur, and Carol's Dumbledore with us, and they were off leash and ran a little.

 Dumbledore - Running like mad trying to catch the Greyhounds.  

His ears were FLYING!

 Dumbledore back in Basset Hound mode.

It's hard to see in this photo, but we are on top of the rocky hill with the cave on one side, and petroglyphs on another, overlooking a large, sheltered area with a floor of small gravel where the first town of Quartzsite was located.

 Val and Fleur on the rocky hilltop with five grindstone holes.

 This is the deepest, all five were different depths.

If you click on the photo, you can see all five.
One is very shallow, right above the deepest.

 Close-up of the deepest grinding hole.

 Petroglyphs on the side of the rocks.

 Because of the angle of the sun, it was hard to see some of the 

Petroglyphs which are fading after thousands of years.

 Fleur and Val

Val, the larger male, and Fleur, the female.

There's a lot of history around here, and the Dingbats have been coming here for many years, so they have done some exploring.  A commenter asked  me who the Dingbats are.  They are RVers who come to this same spot every year, some come in September and stay until May, others come for various periods of time during the seven-month season.  If you camp in this area, you're a Dingbat, so I guess I'm a Dingbat.  They have a social hour every afternoon and a campfire almost every evening, and various other activities from time to time. Everything is very comfortable, if you want to walk over for a social hour or campfire, you're welcomed by whoever is there.  If you'd rather not, that's okay, too.  No pressure, which is why I like the group.  I don't want to feel like I have to do the social things.   I don't have a car, but they all do, and have been very generous offering rides into town, to the library, up to Parker to the Walmart, etc. 

The origin of the name, "Dingbats," comes from one year in the winter when it was raining, they were all sitting around the campfire with their umbrellas, and someone drove by and said, "What are those dingbats doing out in the rain?"  From then on, they've been the Dingbats.  Most are solo RVers, but some couples are members, too. 

Electrical Issue Update

David and Roger came over a few times this week to continue troubleshooting my electrical system.  My microwave starting clicking again, the GFI in the bathroom was doing it's low humming/clicking, and so they basically took off covers, checked connections, and figured out what electricians and electrical engineers figure out. 

At the end of the day, David tightened some screws that had not been tightened enough when some of my units were installed - this didn't cause any problems, just sloppy work by techs that could have caused issues down the road.

They also said that my water heater was on "electric" rather than "gas," so that when my generator was turned on, both the water heater and microwave were drawing energy to start up, competing for the available power, and pretty much maxing out what was coming in.  That might have been causing the clicking, as the microwave was trying to turn on, but not getting quite enough power.

Each time I turned on the generator I was heating water I didn't need heated.  So Roger changed the switch outside to "gas," and now I'll push the interior button in my "Convenience Center" when I want the water heated.  That will light the pilot light and start heating the water, probably like the rest of you who are boondockers do.  I wondered why I always had hot water and other people had to turn something on.  :)  Changing that setting will reduce the amount of power used when I start the generator.

The other thing they found is that my solar digital regulator was set wrong.  It was set for AGI batteries and I have wet batteries.  It makes a difference in they way the solar regulator works, so now it's set correctly for my batteries.

They have been so helpful - they checked all the electrical systems, volts, amps, what was coming in and from which source, and where it went.  They checked all the connections, wires, loads – my brain was in overload, but I tried to take in everything I could.   They checked the batteries, generator, the two transfer switches, inverter, converter, solar digital regulator, inverter remote switch, A.C. plugs, anything that they could find that would help them  diagnose the problem. They took covers off everything, looked at every manual and receipt, and processed all the information; as David said, they were looking a the "big picture."

Can you imagine what that would have cost for labor in a shop?

So... after all that, the microwave was quiet when I turned the generator on the other night, but the GFI started humming.  I checked my plugged in A.C. Volt meter, and it was reading off the chart - over 134 volts.  This is the Volt Meter I got at the hardware store.

When plugged into the wall AC outlet, the reading should be in the green area.

This voltage spiking is intermittent, so it’s hard to diagnose because no one is here when it happens.  I turned off the generator right away, and sent an e-mail to David.  He said the only thing that would cause a spike like that is a bad voltage regulator in the generator, and Roger added that a loose connection could also cause spiking.  When they were here today, David got a reading of 139 volts on my A.C. plug - way too high.  Roger read the Onan Generator on-line manual and it said it shouldn't go over 126 volts. (He also re-set the altitude dial on the generator, which was set a 10,000 feet - we are under 1,000 feet here.)

So, with the tweaks they made, I’m hoping the final issue is the voltage regulator, which I had replaced here in town in December at Bob’s Generator.   David said to bring it back and have Bob look at it and fix it, or replace it.  It's under warranty, so it shouldn't cost me.  I have an appointment Monday morning, we'll see what happens.

From me and Katie - see you next time!  :)

Big wind storm!

WOW, was it windy yesterday!  I've been in windy areas before, but yesterday had the sand really blowing.  Now I understand why bloggers write about deep cleaning their rigs after they leave the desert.  Even with everything closed up, there was a fine grit on every surface, the floor, the window sills, the table and counters.

Yesterday

Today - this isn't the same shot, but you get the idea.

Yesterday

Today

It was very interesting and exciting, I've never been in a wind/sand storm like this before.  After a while it got kind of tiresome, because I knew the grit was getting all over the inside of The Palms, Katie and I couldn't take our walks, and Katie gets a little nervous when we have lots of wind.  Poor thing was in bed by 7 pm, totally worn out. 

The sand made a pretty sunset, though.  The sky around the sun was darker than usual, kind of shadowy, and very pretty.

Sandstorm sunset

Today is "sunny and windy" according to weather app, but nothing like yesterday.  So far, anyway.  These winds I can handle, but I think we'll stay inside most of the day until things are calm again.

For you Garmin people, there's an updated Garmin map. I bought the lifetime updates, and they let me know when a new one is available, so it's doing it's downloading right now.  Takes a long time, but I guess there's a lot of information in an update of  the US and Canada.  It's version 2012.30, in case any of you have the lifetime updates and don't have that one yet.  The lifetime update purchase was a really good deal. I can access it as long as I keep my current Garmin, and you can bet I will!

Quiet day in Quartzsite for Katie and me.  :)