Thursday, March 14, 2024

Quartzsite, Phoenix, A Jet Rally and Tombstone

After our week at KOFA following New Years, we headed to Quartzsite for the annual Escapees Boomerville gathering. I have written about this event in the past so won’t say too much about it this time. Suffice to say it was another good year. The weather was much better than last year with only a few days of rain and much warmer temperatures. We did make a couple of trips to Bouse which is a small town about 15 miles east. The attraction here is a restaurant that on Fridays serves all you can eat fish and chips. And they are gooood fish and chips!  We made 2 trips with Boomerville friends during our time here.


A few days before the start of Boomerville. Early arrivals.

One of several stunning sunsets.

Chris serving up her 'famous' Cinnamon Buns for CARE. Always a favorite.


Fish and Chips at Bouse with the Boomers


After Boomerville we stayed in Quartzsite for an extra couple of weeks as we had a visit from Chris’s folks (Marshall and Marilyn or M&M) who had come down at the beginning of February for a couple of weeks. They spent the first part of their stay visiting friends in Yuma before coming up to Quartzsite.

While with us, we took them up to Lake Havasu City as neither one had been there before and wanted to see the London Bridge.




On the 13th, we packed up and headed for Phoenix staying at the Desertscape RV Park for a couple of days. This is an older but nice park just East of Interstate 17. Easy to get to although the sites were a bit on the small side. Also came with the usual city issues such as lots of traffic noise and sirens.

That evening, we met up with our friend Paul, who lives here, and his daughter, Kelly for a nice dinner at an Olive Garden. The next day we took M&M to the Phoenix airport and said our good byes.


The day after that we packed up at Desertscape and moved a short distance up I17 and across to Glendale. We moved over here to the Arizona Model Pilots Society club field for their annual Winter Jet Jam.  This event caters to pilots who fly either Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) jets or true turbine powered aircraft. In my case, I fly both. The event is a Friday, Saturday, Sunday event so we elected to arrive on the Thursday so we had lots of time to get set up and for me to get my aircraft assembled, charged and tested.



Just a few of the many impressive aircraft present.


They had a number of prizes throughout the weekend and a raffle, which, as usual, I had zero luck on. The final prize drawn on Saturday however was the nicest one and guess who won it? No, not me but Chris! Lucky gal.  She has already graciously said that she will let me put it together and fly it for her. 



After packing up Sunday, we headed back to Quartzsite to a different spot just South of town. This area is where we will be attending our 4th Grand Design Quartzsite Rally in the Desert.



Sunrise at the rally. Note the front slide that is not out!

Evening entertainment by The Border Hookups. Also Grand Design full timers.

Recall our last blog where we described a problem we had with one of our front slides in the trailer. We had had it repaired in Quesnel on our way back to Kamloops in September. Well, it seemed to be working OK for most of our trip south but by the time we got to Yuma we were noticing it was starting to show some signs of having more issues. It got a bit worse our first trip to Quartzsite and then when packing up at Desertscape, it really was not happy. We had to rock it back and forth a bit to get it back in. When we packed up after the Jet Jam, it was a real bear to get it in. We practically had to force it.

When we got back to Quartzsite, we decided to not even try and put the slide out and see if we could get a mobile tech to have a look at it.  We did find one, but after checking it out he determined it was beyond his capability and felt the entire slide would have to be removed! Not something to attempt out in the desert. He did recommend a shop in Mesa who could do the work, so we made an appointment for after the rally.

As a result we were stuck with a slide we couldn’t use and a much reduced amount of space in our front room.

A week or so later, lots of rally goers started arriving and a day or so before the rally, the Grand Design mobile techs arrived as well. The primary function of these techs at rallies is to take care of manufacturer recalls, TSB’s and emergency repairs. I wasn’t sure if our slide issue could be classed as an emergency repair but we mentioned it anyway and were told that they would take a look if they had some time.  Chris usually plies them with goodies while we are here and they have done stuff for us in the past so I felt we had a pretty good chance.

Other things going on at the rally included seminars, a pot luck, games, we came 3rd in the Cornhole tourney again, more food, a camp crawl (kinda like a pub crawl but between campers who set up tables with drinks and snacks) and lots of socializing.

On Sunday a couple of the techs showed up at our trailer and proceeded to investigate our slide issue. After fighting with it for a bit, they did manage to get it out but had to go to another call but promised to be back in a couple of hours to finish it off. True to their word they were back just after lunch and spent the next 2 hours working on it. They finally had to remove the entire front mechanism and completely rebuild it which they were able to do without removing the slide itself. The only parts they were able to reuse were the 2 tracks. Everything else was replaced. At the end of all this, we had a working slide again. This time these guys seem to have fixed it properly. They even gave me an extra motor to have as a spare. All of this is done at no charge! One of the benefits of belonging to the Grand Design family and attending a rally.


Jack and Lee. 2 of the GDRV SRT techs at the rally. These are the guys who fixed our slide.


Oh and one other thing, A coupe of months ago, the organizers put out a call for submissions for a design for the official rally t-shirts.  Chris had sketched out a design and submitted it, and wouldn’t you know it? Her design was selected as the winner. What a talented gal!



Monday, after cancelling our appointment in Mesa, we packed up and headed to Benson. Our destination here was an Escapees Co-Op park. We arrived in the early afternoon but were not able to get a full hook up site that day but were able to stay in their dry camping area. We did get a full hook up site the next day though. We basically just chilled for the next day or 2 but did make a trip into Tucson for some shopping.


On Saturday, March 9 we drove to Tombstone which is about 30 minutes SouthEast of Benson. In hindsight, Saturday was probably not the best day to go as it was quite busy. After finding a place to park, we wandered around for a bit. It is nice that they have tried to maintain the Old West look and feel of the town but we both felt that things were way to commercialized. Of course the “Gunfight at the OK Corral” was a feature but it and virtually every attraction in the town came at a price. If we had paid for all the attractions, shows, gunfight re-enactments, museums, etc. it would have easily cost us over $100. Also, so many of the shops were just glorified souvenir shops with little if any attempt to make them period authentic. We did find a place that served a decent BBQ for a reasonable price but honestly, Tombstone wasn’t what we thought it would be. We were much more impressed with the old mining town of Oatman in Arizona. They have really preserved the old west charm without over commercializing it. 




March 12 we left Benson and headed to our next stop which is White Sands in New Mexico. This marks the furthest East we have travelled so far in our travels. The main attraction here, is of course, the White Sands National Park. We arrived and after a very tight access to a public use camping area, we are set up for a few days just outside Holloman Air Force Base.


Set up at Holloman Lake. Note the white caps on the lake and the blowing dust in the background.
It was windy!

More info on White Sands NP, Alamogordo and maybe even the White Sands Missile Range in the next post.


 










Thursday, January 11, 2024

Happy New Year

Well, I guess it’s been a while since we have posted anything. Time for an update.

So shortly after posting that last entry, and with less than 400 Kms on our new truck, we were parked at a bank in Red Deer. While we were inside some $h!thead decided he was in such a hurry that he either forgot to look behind him while backing up or didn’t care as he backed into the back right corner of the truck. He must of hit it pretty hard as in addition to the dented fender, he also managed to twist the bumper!





The estimated damage was somewhere around $6,000 as the bumper had to be replaced along with some sheet metal and the tail light. Fortunately, insurance covered it but as it was a hit and run, we had to foot the deductible of $500. This happened in early June but the body shop couldn’t get one part so the estimated repair wouldn’t happen til late August. End of July we managed to switch to a different body shop closer to our location and got it moved up to early August. I think we let them have it around the 3rd or 4th and they were going to need it for at least a week to 10 days.

By that time however, we were starting to realize that the campground we were at wasn’t the best fit for us. Amongst other things, we were being required to work way more hours than we were led to believe at the start. Around August 10, we had had enough and tendered our resignations.

Luckily, we were able to stay at our site at the campground a few extra days until our friend Mike was able to come and get us with his big Kenworth as our little rented Ram 1500 would not tow the trailer. 

At this point, after contacting Reg at Alberta’s Littlest Airport just east of Camrose, Alberta, we were able to stay there for about a month on and off till about mid-September. 




During that time, we were able to attend an RC airplane event just outside of Edmonton, and then on the way back to BC, we went to a new float fly event hosted by the MOFFA (Mostly Old Float Flyers Association) club at Clear Lake Park, near Barrhead, Alberta.



Over the summer, Rob was noticing that when we brought one of the front slides in, it was coming in a little cockeyed. As I was bringing that slide in before we left Clear Lake, there was a “POP” that Rob heard outside and I heard inside. Well, the slide wouldn’t move much after that. Since the ground where we were parked for the weekend, was quite uneven, the one side (the side with the broken slide) was up a fair bit, so much so, we needed a step to get to the lowest step of the stairs to enter the trailer. 



We brought the rest of the slides in, hooked up the trailer and moved it to a flatter area, and then after about 5 to 10 mins of carefully hitting the slide switch in and out, we were able to get that slide in the majority of the way. The front wouldn’t quite come in all the way leaving about a ½” gap. Now it is trying to figure out where to get it repaired on our travels to Prince George, British Columbia. 


At the end of August, Rob’s cousin Peter had passed away, so as a family, we met up with his mom and brother in Prince George for his Celebration of Life. On our way to Prince George, we overnighted in McBride, BC. Sure enough, a thunderstorm came through and it rained hard overnight. Even with the slide in, Rob noticed the next morning that the rug we have in the front area of the trailer was wet. After leaving Clear Lake, we had not put the broken slide out with worries of not being able to bring it back in. We continued onto Prince George and then when we got to the campground, as I was getting things set up, specifically putting the TV up, the area I needed to get to was the area of the wet rug. Well, it wasn’t just a little bit wet, it was drenched. Had to take the wet socks off. At this point, it was grab all the extra bath towels we had to soak up as much of the water as possible and get a fan going to help dry things out. I was lucky enough to be able to lift the rug up and fold it back in order to mop up the water underneath it (the rug was only held down by a couple pieces of carpet tape and not glued down to the linoleum). At this point, the main thing Rob wanted to get done was to seal the slide up to prevent any further water from getting in. Out came the roll of silver aluminum duct tape, and he sealed the outside of the slide to the trailer to keep out anymore water that may get in with anymore rain. 

And guess what? I ended up doing laundry. Had to do some anyways. 

While we were in Prince George, we were able to secure an appointment at a dealership in Quesnel, BC on our way home after the Celebration of Life. Thank goodness for extended warranty on the trailer, instead of $1200+, we only had to pay the $100 deductible.  After a couple of hours, we were on our way. 

We then spent about a month in Kamloops taking care of appointments for us and Maya. And also visiting with our parents in Vernon. We left Canada on Oct 22 and were in the Yuma area 5 days later. One of our quickest trips down south, but when you are trying to beat the cold weather you go when you can. But on the other side of that, boy oh boy, was it quite hot when we got to Yuma. When you have been used to sub 20C weather and then all of a sudden it is hitting 35C+, its was way too hot. Especially when you are not plugged in to power. Had to get Rob to run the generators for a bit in the evenings so we could run an air conditioner to help cool the trailer down. 

Since being in Yuma, we haven’t done a whole lot. For November and December, we have been at our friends Robin and Michael’s place in the Foothills of Yuma. 




After a quiet Christmas, we left them on January 1, to stay for a week at the KOFA Escapees RV park in Yuma. From there, the trailer was back into the shop to get a grey tank valve changed out on January 8 and then off to Quartzsite for a bit.

After the service work we headed up to Quartzsite and to our usual area just off Plomosa Road for the rest of the month. This is where the Escapees Boomers hold their annual 2 week Boomerville gathering.




Arizona certainly does get some fantastic sunsets!


Thursday, May 11, 2023

Spring 2023 update

Howdy folks.

We figured it was time for another blog post. I know. It has been a long time. Guess that is because over the winter we really didn’t do too much different from previous years. 


Some of the highlights. Unexpected expenses. We wound up having to get 6 brand new tires on the trailer! On the way down, we stopped at a boondocking area just south of Overton, NV where we have stopped before. The day before we were planning to leave, Rob was walking around the trailer just checking it out and discovered we had a tire separating at the back right hand side of the trailer, so he put the spare tire on. The other 5 looked fine and he figured we would be good until we got to Yuma.


Notice the steel cords sticking out!




Fast forward to just west of Quartzsite where we stopped for a lunch break. Rob checked all the tires again and all looked good. Pressures were good and tire temperatures were fine. Also, they physically looked OK to the eye. On we go until about 30 miles north of Yuma; we actually had a blow out on the left rear tire on the trailer. When we say a blow out, it was exactly that! Sounded like a bomb went off and there was tire shrapnel all over the road. We were lucky though. The only damage other than the tire was a small piece of the fender skirt on the left side disappeared as well. 






At this time though, we didn’t have a spare tire for the trailer because we all ready put that on the other side. The left side of our trailer is quite a bit heavier than the right so Rob took the middle tire off from the right side and installed it onto the left and we slowly limped towards Yuma. We made it to the area we were going to spend a few days at before getting to our winter spot without any further issues. Plus, it was a Saturday, and by the time we got to our spot, it was too late to do anything until Monday. On Monday we ordered 6 new Sailun S637 14 ply tires at Big O and they were delivered and installed the next day. 


We spent the majority of the winter in Yuma but did venture up to Quartzsite for the end of January for the Escapee Boomers Boomerville. An event we have attended a few times now and then again for the last week of February for the Grand Design RV Rally. We had a friend from Alberta join us for a few weeks at the end of January and he was also around at the end of February, so the three of made a quick day trip down to Los Algadones. It was the first time for him and I think we all spent too much money!






One other change we made while down south this winter was switch to Starlink for our internet and TV. We had been using Shaw Direct for TV but they have been making a bunch of changes recently by moving channels onto the newer Anik G1 satellite. That is good for subscribers back home but sucks for us as the new satellite doesn't work down south. For internet, we had been using a number of solutions depending on where we were. In Canada we used a Telus Smart Hub at about $85 for 500 GB of Data and in the states an AT&T Mifi on an unlimited plan at about $80US / month. Between the TV and internet our monthly cost was in the neighbourhood of $200. Starlink on the other hand, works in the US and Canada and provides unlimited high speed internet for about $170 /mo. By streaming our TV content over the internet we get about the same service for about the same cost.

We started heading home the last week of March, spent the first night at a rest area just south of Pahranagat Lake in Nevada, then 3 nights in Twin Falls, ID, a night at the Wildhorse Casino parking lot in Pendleton, OR and the last night we spent at the Veterans Memorial Campground in Oroville, WA which is about 10 mins away from the border crossing into Canada and right on the shore of Osoyoos Lake. We were the only ones in the campground that night. 



Osoyoos Lake looking North from Oroville.

We spent 2 weeks in Kamloops to take care of some appointments and to help Rob’s mom celebrate her 103rd birthday. We then headed to Alberta and stayed for a week at Mountain View Farm Campground and then we headed up to Innisfail, AB where we are now for the summer working at the Discovery Wildlife Park Campground. We have been here now for not quite 3 weeks. The park opened May 1 but it’s not overly busy at the moment. The May long weekend will likely be our first taste of busy!





Hopefully I'll get some more and better photos of the locals later this spring.


We have also started the process to become Alberta residents. We now have our drivers’ licences and vehicle insurances switched to Alberta, have an address for the government, and we have applied for Alberta health care which we will get in July 2023. Several reasons for this with the main one being that we seem to be spending a lot more of our summer time in Alberta than BC. Also, no Provincial Sales Tax and much cheaper fuel.


I guess everyone is wondering how the is truck doing? Recall last fall, GM replaced the entire fuel system from the lift pump in the fuel tank all the way forward to another 8 fuel injectors.  Last time we gave you an update, we had had to get a new alternator in Jerome, ID. It ran pretty well over the winter, but when we started towing again in January, we were starting to hear the noises indicating that the issue was coming back. Well, guess what, half way home the check engine light came on again just south of Twin Falls, ID. We took it into the dealership in Twin Falls for a code read and they confirmed it was the same issue starting all over again! Once back in Kamloops we took it back to Zimmer Wheaton. At this point, the GM TAC team that the mechanics have to talk to for repairs, indicated that they wanted a GM Field engineer to look at it. Because we were limited on our time in Kamloops, we couldn’t do that, electing to wait until we got settled in Innisfail. After getting here, we took the truck to the GMC dealer in Red Deer. Wweelllllllllllll, our problem child is no longer our problem. Keep in mind, since COVID, these trucks are very hard to come by and when a dealership gets one, they typically don’t last very long. The dealership in Red Deer just happened to have what must have been, if not the last one in Alberta, close to it. They even gave us a much better trade than we were expecting. Only $10K less than we paid for it 3 years and 55,000 Kms ago even with its issues.

We wound up trading it in for a new 2023 GMC Denali virtually identical to the old one. The only issue is that it is white; Rob doesn’t care for white. We had no other options out there especially since all GM wanted to do on the old one was throw 8 more fuel injectors into it. Go figure. That would have made for 38!  Yes, you read that right. 38 fuel injectors plus a sh!tload of other parts as well since new! 

Therefore, we would like to introduce you to Driving Miss Daisy, or Daisy for short. 

We are not sure if this is to be our long term truck yet or not. We have plans for something else but at least now we will both feel better if or when it comes time to sell this one for the next step.


Out with the old (right), in with the new (left). Notice the Red and White licence plate.






Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Does Christine do a lot of baking in the trailer?

Yes, I do. I know; the next question is going to be how do I do it? Answer is, just like I would in a house.

 

When we got our previous trailer, the Cameo 5th wheel, I was lucky and there was a decent sized oven in the unit, and when we were looking for our full time unit, the main item on my list was a certain size oven and we have one. It is even larger than the one from the Cameo. Well, how big is it?



It’s not a normal sized as in a house but it works. As you can see, I can get a regular 12 cup muffin tin in with lots of space. I even have cookie sheets that fit with just enough room. I can get 2 dozen cookies on that one.

 

As for other baking implements, I have the normal measuring spoons and cups, a hand held mixer, a Kitchen-aid Stand Mixer (it is at least 27 years old and still mixing), whisks, spatulas and other stuff. What can I say, the RV is our house, so I use the kitchen like a house kitchen. I even have a dishwasher, his name is Rob. The only stipulation he has is that if I am baking, I am to do my baking dishes.

 

So, what do I bake? Lots of stuff. Today, I made some raisin muffins. They are quite good. I haven’t made them in awhile, because I couldn’t find the recipe. I have been searching for the recipe book I found it in, but could not find it. I went looking for a picture the other day on my iPad and lo and behold, as I opened my picture gallery, the recipe was staring right at me. When we were getting the house ready for selling, I had photocopied or took pictures of the recipes I liked and used in my recipe books, got rid of the books and had the recipes.   


 

I also baked up some sourdough biscuits that I started the night before.

 


And the other day, I made a loaf of sourdough bread.

 


 I have made lots and lots of cinnamon buns and a few pineapple upside down cakes also.

 



Now you are thinking, sourdough. How is she making all these sourdough recipes?

 

I have tried in the past to make sourdough starter from scratch, but it was a flop. So, I waited for a bit, and this July when we were in Burns Lake, BC, I tried doing it again. And it worked. I followed the recipe and have made a few things with it since. I have made bread, biscuits, a lemon poppy seed cake, chocolate cake and even brownies that are very rich and fudgy. I need to make those again soon, but when there are more people around. The last couple things I made, I had brought my sourdough out from the fridge and feed it for a couple of days and then made the loaf of bread and the biscuits and after feeding it today, in the fridge it went again.

 

Here is the link for the recipe for the sourdough starter: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337

 

And once it was ready, I just did some searching online and found recipes to try.

 

A couple more recipes:

 


 

APPLE DUMPLINGS

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 drops red food coloring
2 tbsp butter or margarine
6 whole apples pared and cored or 3 apples pared and sliced
2 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup margarine
½ cup milk

Combine first 5 ingredients; bring to a boil. Add butter. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in marg. Add milk all at once and stir until moistened. Roll 1.4 inch thick on lightly floured surface; cut with pastry wheel or knife into 6 “ squares. Place apple in center of each square. Sprinkle generously with sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon dot with butter. Fold corners to center and pinch edges together. Bake in a 375°F oven for 35 mins.

 

 

PEANUT BUTTER CRISSCROSSES

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 beaten eggs
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups sifted flour
2 tsp baking soda
dash salt

Thoroughly cream shortening, sugars and vanilla. Add eggs, beat thoroughly. Stir in peanut butter, sift dry ingredients, stir into creamed mixture.

Form into tiny balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press with back of a fork to make crisscross. Dough may also be rolled and cut if desired.

Bake in 375° oven – 10 mins

 


That is about it for now. Hopefully you will try a couple of the recipes. Have a wonderful day.

 

BTW - Currently hanging out in Quartzsite, AZ for a bit before heading over to California and some BLM land at the south entrance to Joshua Tree NP.