Sunday, March 11, 2007

Day 68: Casa Grande to Quartzsite

Hmmmm…..I was out of bed earlier than usual……many thoughts running through my aging brain……: draining tanks, complete stowing away small bouncy items, lower tv antenna, take down the cell phone antenna, put bikes in truck bed and lock securely, retract slides, etc., etc., etc. It is a routine that I have done soooo many times, however, there is usually something or body to interrupt me when I am doing it….and then, I might forget an important step and be very sorry later.

The 1st Lady was up early also, and she assisted in doing the interior things that had not yet been completed. I began to drain the grey bath water, the kitchen galley grey water and prepared to dump the sewage from the tanks. WELL…..there seemed to be a problem with the sewage, of all things….it didn’t seem to be draining out and through the sewage hose to the in-ground drain. Sooooo, after at least 30 minutes of working with it….and some help from the neighbors……I removed the drain hose and put a 5 gallon bucket under it….and voila!! It did drain…….the magic yellow bucket did the trick….it just coaxed the crap out and down into the in-ground dump!!!! YEAH!!!! Soooo, before long I was back on track with my routine.

Finishing all of the unhooking of the umbilical cords and then hitching TheHowserHouse to the truck……I went over to Mac and Gail’s where the 1st Lady was having tea…and we sat, had some incredibly delicious coffee cake of Chef Gail’s Kitchen…..and then it was time to hit the road. A big hug all around….and we pulled out of the Sunscape RV Park…..five weeks after we had arrived.

We head south for 4 miles on I-10.…and then turned west onto I-8 and when we reached Hwy 85.…we turned north for 30 miles and then rejoined I-10 towards Los Angles. I wanted to bypass Phoenix and the horrific traffic there….and this did the trick. We arrived at Quartzsite around 1pm…….found the first BLM area and found a good place to put TheHowserHouse there in the desert. This is dry camping…..boondocking…..no hookups, just battery power and my gennie when I turn it on. We have a 50 gallon fresh water tank almost filled and so,……we are in the desert, along with quite a few other rver’s……A LOT LESS than I expected, but most of the almost one million rver’s who camp here in Jan and Feb have already pulled out and are off on their nomadic journeys around the North America continent!!!

We went into town in the truck and drove around for a bit….and then we stopped at the first row of stalls/tent/shops where some of the HUGE flea market had been. Still several shops/stalls, but the vast majority were gone. We spent a half hour there….and then drove over to the main drag of town where we parked and walked through many other stalls/shops. Purchased a t-shirt, some new sun glass clip-ons for the 1st Lady….and then an ice cream cone. NOT going to do that again…..the smallest damn scoop of ice cream I have ever seen……and at $2.50 a cone!!!

Drove around more after that…got some gas: $2.59 a gallon…the cheapest in town is at Chevron on the east side. The truck stops are $2.81 a gallon!!!! Then we stopped at a huge rock place……a place that was selling many tons of rocks of all kinds…..rough at $10 a pound……polished at $20 a pound!!!!!! We didn’t buy any…….hmmmm…..can’t understand why not??? HAHA.

Returned to TheHowserHouse out in the desert…..and I took out a lounge chair and sat in the sun/shade for an hour while the 1st Lady sat inside and read. Later we took a walk through a very small part of the BLM desert land. It is all FREE to camp here for up to 14 days….and then all you have to do is move to another BLM site. There are several LARGE areas of BLM around Quartzsite……..and you can stay for months if you wish. There is a slight charge for that length of time, though….

And so……the gennie is running……and we are watching the Amazing Race sitting here in the dark in the Sonora Desert. I want to finish this before the show is finished so we can turn off the gennie…….soooooo, it has been a good day…….and

Life is Great…..and I hope it is for all

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