January in Quartzsite, week 2

Wednesday, January 8th

Another gorgeous day but quite windy. I picked up Dianne at 9:30 and we went into Q to find a good place to walk that's relatively flat and a solid surface. We parked at the library and headed out on one of the paved paths. Dianne managed to do .63 of a mile. Her knees are both sore, the one she recently had a knee replacement on at the beginning of October and I guess the other one for doing more work. She needs to build up her stamina but walking here in the desert is especially hard on joints. I sure notice it with my knees and feet. So I think we will be going into town every couple of days to walk.

After we were back Ray told me that he had contacted ICBC regarding our cracked windshield on the coach. They contacted their American counterparts and a glass guy showed up at 11 am to measure for the new windshield. We had a random windshield guy that was driving by have a look last week for a quote and had him fix the rock chips on our car windshield while he was here. Turned out the random dude's name is Rick and Nomad Glass was on "the approved list" and is the supplier they sent here anyways. New windshield should be installed in the next few days. Apparently they just drive their flatbed truck up to the front of the coach and work off of that.

After he left, Ray and I went into town to get some lunch. We decided on the BBQ Food truck by Rice Ranch. His bbq'd beef and pork sandwiches were really good. I also bought some more firewood from the guy across the street so we have our own stash.

My Uncle Ken and Aunt Norma are currently in Mexico for a week. My cousin Gord and his wife Susana, took them. I am very happy for them as they thought that they wouldn't be able to travel anymore due to their health and they have always travelled, a lot of it with my Dad over the years.

Back home Ray sat outside while I stayed inside ... too windy for me. I put on a batch of bread and watched some TV. A quiet evening for the both of us at home. I think everyone else was ready for a quiet day too as there was not a Happy Hour.

Thursday, January 9th

A cloudy start to the morning which seems unusual after so many sunny days. Hopefully Freya's meds come in to Walmart in Parker today. I ordered them on the weekend, they sent the order in on Monday and as of yesterday afternoon they still were not in. Waiting to get confirmation before Dianne and I go up for a day's shopping.

Ray and I headed into town to pick up a few things and then came home for lunch. Put up another sunshade on the First Up Shelter. It was on sale for $10, a great deal. Certainly allows us to sit outside out of the wind and sun when it is too hot. Called Walmart and yes, Freya's meds are finally in so Dianne and I are on for our shopping trip tomorrow.

We went over across the road to Dave and Kate to show them some free camping areas on our Utah Benchmark Map. While over there they showed us their mods to their vintage motorhome. What a great kitchen she has. I managed to trip going down their dog ramp skinning my knee and toes, put a hole in my pants ... what a klutz.

I received a call from Jeff Spencer, from Dometic who is coming to the Big Show, regarding a new range for me. 4 Points Mobile RV Repair is not coming to the show now so he gave me Jeff's number to talk directly to them. Jeff said he has other techs to use here and will be able to "take care of you" at the campsite instead of trying to get into the RV Show grounds with the MH. He will be sending me more details shortly .... we will see how this goes. The new dining light that 4 Points ordered for me has arrived and of course it is in Mesa, and we are here. Don't know how he will get it to us ..... gave him Quiet Times address so we shall see.

Ray received a call from the TransAmerica Insurance company which is ICBC's partner down here, that our new windshield for the MH will be installed tomorrow between 10 and noon. We had a big rock chip before coming down to the USA that Ray meant to have sealed .... but travelling it did not happen. Unfortunately sitting here at Quartzsite with the hot sun during the day and the cold at night it has decided to really crack so must be replaced. We had several other small chips in the windshield anyways over the years, so now it will be brand new. With our glass deductible is should only cost us $283 USD.

Colan texted and our replacement motor for our door awning is in. Don't know when he will install that yet, probably with the new solar panel.

Lots of repairs and maintenance items getting checked off the list. It is nice to be somewhere for a while to take care of all these "irritants". lol We settled in well to Camp Art Gecko. 

Steve and Dianne came over for Happy Hour and I made up some Keto taco appetizers, especially for Dianne. They turned out great. Another great visit.

Friday, Jan 10th.

Up at 6 am and started washing yesterday's dishes. As the windshield is being replaced today, Ray will take the coach over and dump and fill with fresh water so the coach does not have to move for awhile after the window is placed. Need to have it ready to go for 8:30 am before I pick up Dianne. Beautiful full moon setting this morning.

At 8:20 am we left the lot with Ray heading to the sani-dump and I went to get Dianne and their generator. They brought it back home yesterday and it started doing the same thing with surging after being at Yamaha for 3 weeks! Steve and Dianne loaded it up in the back of the car and off we went. First up was dropping off Dianne and Steve's generator at Yamaha. Dianne had her "rant" and they took it back. 

After getting our grocery shopping done it was time for our pedicure at Parker Nail Salon. We were both pleasantly surprised with the great massages of our legs and feet we received and loved our pedicures. A great hour spent for only $23 plus tip. 

Jeff Spencer from Dometic called my while I was shopping and will stop by the coach this afternoon to see what needs to be done in putting in a new range. He informed Ray they would do the install at their building inside the show grounds.  We now have an appointment for 7:30 am Tuesday, Jan 21st. They apparently have a nice lounge for Ray and I with Freya while the work is being done. Estimated to take about 3 hours. Ray and I will probably just take turns walking the show while one of sits with Freya.

Received notification from our alarm company at home that the power was out .... high winds and snow at Lake Cowichan. Here's a picture from our security camera. Yup it snowed!

I was pretty sure it was going to snow as two days earlier it was really frosty there.

Next up was lunch so we decided to try out the casino. Very reasonable prices at the Blue Water Grill. Dianne had the hugest Cobb Salad and I the fish and chips. Both were only $10.50 each.

There was a huge racing event setting up in the casino parking lot, so good thing we were not going to Parker tomorrow as it will be really busy.

After lunch we stopped at Bealls Outlet Store and the final liquor outlet trying to buy some Triple Sec for Ray's margaritas .... difficult to find out of the other three stores I tried. I was successful this time though. Our final stop was back at Yamaha to see if the generator was ready to go ... after 20 minutes or so it was loaded into the car and back to Q we went. Didn't get home until 3:30 pm.... a long shopping day. I bought fried chicken for Ray from Safeway so dinner was done. lol

While I was gone the windshield replacement started on schedule at 10:00 am. Here is the picture of the crack. It was doing a "loopty do", everyday cracking even more.

Here are Ray's install pictures. Pretty cool their back deck is rounded to fit the front of a motorhome and they just drive their flatbed right up and work off of that.

Done in 1 1/4 hours. Fabulous.

Juan at 4 Points Mobile RV Repair is going to send me the dining light via Quiet Times on Monday, so it should be here Tuesday or Wednesday and then we will pay him. Another item to be checked off. :)

Both Ray and I were beat, and tired of being in pain from his back and knee that was giving out on him and my foot from a plantar fasciitis outbreak which my fall did not help. We went to bed at 7:30 pm. Both of us woke up many times through the night but managed to go back to sleep. Imagine our surprise when we did not wake up completely until 6:50 am!!!! Wow. Hopefully this bodes for a better day.

Saturday, Jan 11th

When we finally got up it was a chilly 35F outside. Cranked up the heat and turned on the generator so we were warm in no time. Today will be a quiet day at camp to recover, especially for Ray. It was a long day for him yesterday, setting camp back up after the pump and dump as I was out for the day.

I went into town and picked up two more "on sale" wind curtains for the First Up Shelter, as the first one I bought is working so well. Seems to hold up in the wind so we will replace the nylon wind curtains with that instead.  Once I got back Ray worked on that while I reorganized the freezer and shrink wrapped the new meat I bought yesterday. Otherwise. a well needed relaxing day. The wind stayed up all day but with the new sun shades I was able to stay in my little room outside for the afternoon.

Sunday, Jan 12th

Another gorgeous morning but cool again at 34F. I spent the day prepping for dinner. We invited Steve, Dianne and Jim and Barb for a barbecued Pork Prime Rib. This was the warmest day yet with very little wind, so dinner was set up on our wind shelter.

Everyone arrived around 4 pm and we started out with a campfire. I made a double batch of "Martin's Sneaky Mai Tai's" earlier in the dayt.  I realized this morning that we only have 2 more months before being back in BC, so needed help drinking all of the alcohol we had accumulated .... 35 oz's went into this concoction. lol 

Dinner turned out great, according to the accolades. My pork roast looked fabulous coming off the barbecue. 

Steves picture:

Accompanying this was roast potatoes and gravy, asparagus baked with garlic, cream and cheese, (tried to get Jim to eat vegetables. lol) and I made a loaded mashed cauliflower, for a potato substitution for Dianne. 

Contributing to this feast was Dianne's awesome caesar salad and to finish, Barb's delicious creme brulee. 

After dinner the crew did all the clearing of dishes back into the MH and Ray put the leftover food away. Thanks for the help guys. I will face the dishes tomorrow morning.

We then all waddled back to the campfire for another hour while sampling some port and chocolate before saying goodnight. A wonderful evening, great fun.

And so ends our second week of January here in Quartzsite. Time is going by so fast. It's hard to believe we have been here 2 1/2 weeks already. More people are arriving daily.