Quartzsite After the Crowd Left

Monday: (02/01) We walked over to the Bad Boys Cafe for breakfast. We shared a ham and eggs breakfast and a stack of buttermilk pancakes all very good. We stopped at the RV Special Things tent on the walk home. They had some LED lamp replacements, almost. They were out of stock for what we need but should get more by 1pm today. We'll return. We also stopped at the gamblers RV Parts store. i had prepared a shopping list of things needed for the RV and had dimensions and etc. We confirmed they had some of what we needed butt since we were walking we didn't get anything.

When we got back I recovered my cell phone and had missed a call from RV Specialties regarding a part for our table I wanted to order. I called them back and ordered the parts which may be here in  couple of days.

Lou had prepared a list as well. materials for her doll making and other items. We completed her list then stopped by Gran'Mas Apple Pie for a slice and some tea. As was true the other day we stayed and chatted for an hour or so. I then stopped next door at RV Special Things and got a couple of LED lamp replacements for a couple of bad lamps in the RV. They use so much less power and work so well every RV should have some. In our two lamp fixtures one is LED, the second lamp is not. the first click turns on the LED, the second brings on the regular lamp as well. The key for regular use is to only use the first lamp and only use the second lamp when more light is needed.

Next stop was at the Gamblers again. I got a couple of replacement struts for the compartment doors. The two that are the weakest as the most used, including the utility access compartment door. We also got a new wire grill for our range top. the old one is looking pretty bad and rather melted. We also got some replacement dinette cushions. They are too wide for our dinette but match the color pretty well and at $50, cheaper than just some of the cost of foam replacement. Lou will reworkthem to fit.

Our neighbors have been busy sawing metal and welding the past couple of days. Today the fruit of their labor was revealed. They erected a wind turbine on a mast that is anchored under one of the RV's wheels. None of them are electricians and they were having difficulty wiring it up but when I pointed out a problem in the wiring, they ignored my suggestion. The error wont damage the turbine but it wont work. They should have the fun of discovering it in time. Listening to them I think they are over optimistic as to the output the turbine will provide but they did make me have a renewed interest it a wind turbine. Maybe they could provide sufficient output to justify the cost. They cost about as much as a single solar panel and work better at night. They are more trouble setting up though so are only good for extended stays.

I got the door struts installed, the  LED lamps installed, and the new range grill installed. Enough work. I fixed spaghetti for dinner. Lou and I enjoyed another TV-less evening listening to KBUX radio, the local Quartzsite radio station. They play a very nice mix of all types of music.

Tuesday: (02/02) Lou fixed eggs, sausage and English muffins for breakfast.

Lou spent the morning working on the dinette cushion adjustments. The new cushions are wider than then should be so Lou worked on cutting them down to size. That required a knife that was good at cutting foam. She stopped by the thrift store and picked up a few and found a good one. A visit to the fabric store found some matching thread.

I spent the morning removing the drivers seat to tighten the framework. Getting it tightened went smoothly but it took the rest of the morning to get it reinstalled with all adjustment functions working.

About noon we returned to Gran'mas for an apple pie lunch. That included a long visit with Jeannie, aka Gran'ma of Gran'ma's Appl Pie.

When we returned home about 3:30 we took the motorhome down to La Posa South to empty the holding tanks and get water. Dinner was leftover spaghetti and some coleslaw.

In the evening we went over to the QIA (Quartzsite Improvement Association). They have entertainment many evenings. This evening it was the "Call Of The West" which consisted of Jeanne and Jerome, cowboy musicians. The show cost only $5 each for a total of 11.25 after we had an ice cream and some popcorn during intermission. Quite a bargain especially since the group was very good. Lou and Dawn went to a show last year but this was my first.

Wednesday: (02/03) Lou was in a cooking mood this morning, She fixed spam hash with eggs for breakfast. She also cooked up some gelitin with fruit for tonight's desert.

Today was laundry day. We thought, with it being mid week and early in the day, no problem. Wrong. The three laundromats were very crowded. We didn't check the tiny launtromat nor the one in the semi trailer. We needed to go to Blythe anyway so we took the laundry on a little road trip.They have a really nice one there that we've used before and it wasn't crowded.

I stopped by the Ace Hardware while the clothes tumbled to get a matching nut for the driver seat repair. I broke one and couldn't find one in Quartzsite.

After the work, we stopped at the Steak and Cakes Cafe for lunch. We'd seen it on the way into town. The parking lot was over full so it was likely good. We parked out back in the dirt lot. When we went inside it wasn't crowded. It turns out they have a large meeting room in back and they were having some meeting there. Lou had a steak and shrimp. it came with a dinner salad that would put most chef's salads to shame. I had the country fried steak and had soup. It was the expected homemade soup and excellent as well.

I had forgotten my cell phone and it had a message from RV Lifestyles saying the table brackets we ordered were in so I picked them up. When I got back, the neighbors Air Breeze wind turbine was spinning in the light breeze. I remembered my little clamp on meter could read the DC current without bothering the wiring so we went over and asked if I could see what it was doing. They don't have a meter on it. It was putting out about 1.5 amps (36 watts) in the average breeze. I measured 2.5 amps (50 watts) when the breeze perked up for a moment and 1.1 amps (27 watts) when it died away but seemed to be averaging 1.5. It's setup for a 24 volt system on the modified bus. If the turbine turns about 12 hours out of the 24 hour day it should produce only about 18 ampere hours. We use about 110 ampere hours a day and our 400 watts of solar panels charge them fully if the sun shines for 5 hours a day. The measurement today is similar to my previous experience with wind power. Not too much power provided unless the wind is blowing really hard, steadily. But it can work at night and on cloudy days where solar can't and in an area like this, with some good wind, it may produce some additional power. It is a bit of work to setup so wouldn't be good for short stops. At the price of a 130 watt solar panel plus the additional cost of a tower to mount it on and only providing about 1/2 the power of the solar panel, it doesn't seem really practical yet. Still checking the idea. there are enough of these around, Am I missing something? Clouds and wind do go together?

We stayed and chatted with them for a while until the sun was down it was getting rather cool outside. Dinner was leftover spaghetti and jello for desert.

Thursday: (02/04) Breakfast was leftover spam hash. I spent some time trying my new antenna out to receive over the air TV in Quartzsite. No luck. Seems like nothing is here.

Lou fixed super nachos for lunch. I worked on the computer most of the day. Lou worked on the dinette cushions.


Friday: (02/05) I started the day with a hike to the top of Q mountain. It's really more of a hill, but a nice walk. It provides some nice views of all of Quartzsite.


We have a lot of neighbors as seen from Q Mountain. On the right, a closer view of our campsite.

We went down to Rice Ranch to a "restaurant' space A21 for breakfast. I had the pancake breakfast eggs and bacon. Lou had biscuits and gravy. We then walked on to the Post Office to pickup our mail. We browsed our way home.

By the time we got home it was lunch time. Lou fixed  a chef's salad.

Lou worked all afternoon on the dinette cushions cutting them down to the correct size for our dinette. She completed that task and they look great. I worked on setting up a new website.

Lou fixed steak and a salad for dinner.

Saturday: (02/06) Steak and eggs for breakfast. Lou was off to the craft show at the QIA and then back over to Tyson Wells. I walked over to Rice Ranch to the RV Special Things shop to see if they had gotten in any more of the LED lamps I want. They hadn't yet, possibly before they or we leave.

The rain returned today getting really heavy in the afternoon and evening.

We went to an early prime rib dinner at the Mountain Quail Restaurant. Very good and even better since they knew how to serve mine medium well without making it tough. Most places it's rare no matter what you asked for. We had a good dinner and left with enough leftovers for another meal.

After dinner we took a drive around town, in the rain, mostly East of Center.

I spent the evening getting rid of a few bugs with a new website.


For some reason the sunrises (left) have been better than the sunsets (right).

Sunday: (02/07) A late breakfast at the Mountain Quail. Country fried steak and eggs. We took another driving tour, this time around the neighborhoods off Moon Mountain Road coming back from the restaurant. We also drove around Q mountain Vista Estates, an own your own little RV lot neighborhood near the Q mountain. I dropped Lou off at Tyson Wells Craft Show and drove home.

I worked on modifying my solar panel mounts to allow raising and lowering the panels in pairs to solve the shadowing problems I've always had. One set was rather straight forward, attach the two panels with a bracket on each end. The second set was a bit more complex since they are offset to avoid roof obstacles. I obtained a couple of used aluminum U channels from a junk vendor here and attached the two panels to the rails. The wind was picking up and the clouds threatening rain before I got off the roof for dinner. Tomorrow I'll go get some better bolts and finish the job but it looks like this will work better than before. It's put together with sheet metal screws now so could blow away if I don't install some good locking bolts. I also have to replace one of the cables and reroute it.

In the evening while I played on the computer, Lou was busy sewing doll clothes for a doll she's putting together.

Lou fixed leftover prime rib, leftover potato and some fresh broccoli for dinner.

Monday: (02/08) Lou baked biscuits and made sausage gravy for our breakfast.

We then went off to do some shopping. First stop Herb's Hardware. I needed some bolts for the solar panels to replace some sheet metal screws I used yesterday. I don't want the panels to fly away. Lou got some reflective bubble wrap insulation. She's going to make a cozy for our pressure cooker to try to do some slow cooking. Just bring it to a boil then wrap it up and let it cook all day. The trick will be to keep the plastic from melting.

I walked my way home while Lou drove doing her todo list. She returned the knives she got from the thrift store back to the thrift store. She just needed one to cut the foam and got a half dozen for $2, used the best to cut the foam  seat cushions and now they get them back. Sort of like tool rental. She also stoped by the market and who knows where else. I stopped by the Gamblers RV surplus store and bought another table leg like on our dinette table. Lou wants to be able to adjust the height of the table lower for typing and sewing.  Haven't fully figured out how to do the leg yet but if al else fails we'll just have two folding legs a long and a short. If the outside one folds at an angle it would avoid the shorter leg set inside it. We still looking for the right stuff to make the existing leg a telescoping leg. We'll find the right stuff eventually.

Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich and some embellished soup. Lou started with some tomato soup from a box and added some  fried onions, peppers and hard tofu.


When I got back to the RV I went up on the roof again and drilled out the sheet metal screw holes for the bolts and installed them. Much nicer. I also made some longer brace arms, probably too long, and installed them to elevate the panels at a higher angle. I used our friendly palo verde tree as my anvil, a very sturdy tree it is.

I knew we were pretty tall now but the neighbor reminded me so I measured it. Fortunately, our RV is short, only 9.5 feet so the 4 feet height of the raised panels only puts us at the 13.5 feet limit for the street. I don't intend to drive with them that high except to the dump station about 3 miles South and back every week. The high angle makes them much more efficient this time of year.

Dinner was fried trout, mixed vegetables, and rice pilaf by our evening campfire.

Tuesday: (02/09) A nice sunny day. More biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

We walked through the the Prospectors Panorama and Tyson Wells Center. Quite different now that there are only a handful of vendors left. Only the street front has vendors now.

Lunch? Rhubarb Pie and tea at the Sweet Shop next door to The bad Boys Cafe. Then by Trina's for deep fried mushrooms.As we headed home a ittle after noon the clouds were coming. We're supposed to have rain this afternoon.

Chili sizes for dinner, one of my favorite meals. Lou was busy making doll clothes while I played at the keyboard of the computer.

When we got back to camp we packed away the chairs tables and mats since it might rain. We'll be leaving here tomorrow morning heading to Lake Havasu for a few days of fireworks then returning here Sunday.