Friday, January 25, 2019

Quartzsite

Where Are We Today
Quartzsite Arizona 

Quartzsite, a must see if you are a RVer, and that's where we have been since January 14th after escaping the rain in Borrego Springs Ca.
If you have been following Pat'sblog, you know what we have been up to day to day, but she has left a few things for me to write about. So in a coconut shell, here they are.

Starting to paint

Before we left Yuma, I bought a plastic model kit to keep my hands busy. Starting with painting it, which some of that I have done along with some assembly, there is a lot more to do. And I would like to buy a couple of more colors of paint when we get back to Yuma next month. Not going to say what it is yet, you will have to wait until it is done.
One of those chores that has to be taken care of while dry camping is, the dumping of waste tanks and taking on fresh water. There are a couple of different options to do this, one being to hook up and drive to the dump and fresh water stations or two, use a blue boy for the waste and a water bladder for the fresh water, we use the second method.  
Top left - using our macerater to pump into the blue boy in the back of the truck.
Bottom Right - Rob filling our fresh water tank from his water bladder


Rob and I worked together, as I have the blue boy (honey wagon) and we each have water bladders. While emptying our waste tanks, then Rob and Pat's, he used their water bladder to fill ours and theirs, fresh water tanks.  A couple of trips each and a couple of hours and were good to go for a while again.



Our Blue Flame heater wasn't burning even, so I had to take it apart to clean it. I found that across the burner tube there are slots where the gas comes out and burns. The end slots had a high flame, while the middle slots would burn with a low flame. After using an exacto blade to clean the middle slots, the flame burns clean and even across the burner tube.


Burner with slots all cleaned

When the Blood Moon or eclipse was happening, I did try to get some pictures of it.



Some of the pics that I took.The ones with the orange glow in the sky, where looking to the east. There are shots looking across the desert towards the town of Quartzsite and two  of our trailer with the solar lights that we have out around it.

For those that follow, I have mentioned that I fly radio controlled air planes. There is a club here in Quartzsite, Quartzsite Desert Flyers, with a flying field on the edge of town, provided by the town, who put in a paved runway, fencing, porta pots and a covered shelter. I was told that I could come and fly anytime, so next year, I will have to bring one of my planes with me. They also told me, that on Thursday evenings, they fly with lights on their planes, come on out and watch. So this past Thursday, Rob, Ken ( a fellow RVer camped next to us) and I went to see what it was like. What a fun night, got some great advice on what led lights they were using and that one of my planes back home would be perfect for doing this. So, you know what I'll be doing before we come back.


Fun to watch, can't wait to try it.


There you have it, my coconut shell, thanks for taking the time to follow along. More to come on the plastic model and a hint of another model I bought and have to pick up on our way home.
Until the next time, take care, be safe and leave a comment if you like.


Thursday, January 10, 2019

Getting Ready to Move On

Where Are We Today 
Pilot Knob RV Park

I thought I should write something, before my blog disappears off the bottom of all my followers side bar.
We have been here at Pilot Knob for a month, tomorrow we are pulling up stakes and moving on. So today, I spent the better part of it, getting ready to go.
First thing was to dump our holding tanks and give them a good back flush. In the morning we will have showers and do a quick dump to make sure they are empty, as we will be boon docking for the next three weeks.
Dumping the black tank and back flushing

Next on the list was to check the tire pressure and torque the lug nuts on the trailer and the truck. 
Using my Viair air compressor that I got in Quartzsite last year. 

Checking the trailer lug nuts torque. All good!

Two of the trailer wheels needed a little
 air added and one of the truck tires needed some. The truck tire was the inside dual wheel on the driver's side. The last time the wheels were off, the outside wheel was put on without lining up the whole in the rims, so I couldn't get the pressure gauge or the air nozzle on the valve stem.  To solve that problem, I had to get the never used jack out to jack up the truck, remove the outer wheel, add air and then replace the outer wheel, lining it up so the inner valve stem is accessible.
When done, all tires were at 65 psi.

Outer wheel removed.

With those big jobs out of the way, I still had the weather station to get off the roof, put away the satellite dish, fold up our mat, fold up Pat's bike and stow it in the back of the truck and take down the flag pole.
Pat's bike folded down and in it's bag

Both bikes put away in the back of the truck

 A couple of weeks ago in a strong wind, the flag pole snap at the top bracket that holds it up. The other day I bought a piece of 1 3/8 dowel to repair it with, so I got that done also. Cutting the dowel to length, mixing up some 30 minute epoxy, I slipped the dowel in both ends and let dry. We will see at our next destination how it holds up.
Broken

Epoxied and slid together

Wrapped with masking tape until dried

One last thing, just after I started to write this, I remembered that I hadn't filled the fresh water tank. A quick trip outside to get that started and now it is done.
That's it for now, thanks for not giving up on me. Until the next time, take care and travel safe. Comment if you wish, always like to read them.

Good night from Pilot Knob. Borrowed the picture from Patsy.