Predeparture Update

A picture of our fifth wheel on the lot where we have spent the winter.

We will be leaving Yuma the end of this month and heading back east.  Kirby has been working on all the systems and I have been cleaning, sorting and organizing the cupboards.  We are excited to get out on the road again.

Our semi plan for this year is to return to South Carolina where we started a year ago.  We have a grandson who will be graduating from Clemson University in May.  We plan to arrive there a couple of weeks before in order to enjoy family and friends in the area and also spend some time at one of our favorite places, Buck Hall Recreation Area, which is on the Intracoastal Waterway.  After that we will slowly head north and west and we don’t have any idea of our route.  We plan to finish the season back here in Yuma.  I am so excited!

Kirby has been adjusting the brakes on the rig, installing an antennae for our wifi and modifying all the electric to complement the new solar panels.  He “practices” with the solar panels during the daytime so I guess we are saving electric!  All the storage under the rig has been emptied, cleaned and reorganized.  We will be leaving a few things here in storage.  (We acquired a table and 8 chairs!) 

As I have mentioned before, we take almost daily walks in the desert as it is so handy to us.  This week we went a little later than usual plus the sun is finally coming up a little earlier so we went after the sun crested the hills.  I took my camera a got some panorama pictures of the area.  (I just love it that Arizona does not participate in daylight savings time as it does NOT SAVE any daylight!)

This is not the best but I tried to put three photos together to show the view from the hills back down to the foothills where we are staying.

 

I circled our home.

Long morning shadow.

There really is a lot of vegetation, just not what most people prefer.  I happen to love it!

Solar Panels

In just a little over a month we will be leaving Yuma and heading out on our second season in our 5^th wheel.  We have spent the winter traveling a little and playing a lot.  We recently returned from a long weekend in Ventura, CA where we visited our friend Heather and Jim aboard their 50 ft catamaran.

Now it is time to get serious about repairs and upgrades to our rig.  Kirby is happy – he has projects!  His largest project is the purchase and installation of solar panels.  So many of the places we want to go do not have electricity available.  Last season we purchased a generator which we used daily while we were at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument last month.  But a generator uses fuel and is noisy.  Solar panels are quiet!

After much research we hit the road for Phoenix where we purchased two- 250 watt panels, loaded them into the back of the truck, made a stop at Home Depot for some tie downs and returned back to Yuma.  It was an easy trip of about three hours each way and we got to see some new country.

Here is Kirby standing next to one of the panels so you can see how big they are - and they are very heavy.

Someone had to go up on the roof and it wasn't going to be me!  A couple of the guys came over to give Kirby a hand at getting them up there.

Here they are all mounted and ready to go.

Life in the Desert

We have been in Yuma, Arizona for three months now and are almost feeling like locals.  When you move around as often as we did last year three months staying put is a long time.  We have found our favorite grocery stores; we frequent Sam’s Club and we know what stores are at the mall.  We have made friends, been to parties, taken lots and lots of bike rides (there are no hills in Yuma!) and are getting to know the desert.

Our day to day life here is very easy and fun.  I really do love our bike rides.  We go for an hour or so and just wander all around the residential streets.  At first there was very little traffic but now we have noticed that at the height of the winter season, the streets are busy all the time.  I read that Yuma’s population doubles in the winter.  Many visitors come just for a couple of months or so.  January and February are probably the busiest.

Kirby and I enjoy each others company and often will sit around the fire and enjoy the evening together.

We have visited the Flea Markets a few times.  Some places would call them Swap Meets.  Whatever they are called, they are mostly stuff we don’t need but it is fun to go and look.  Last week we found a wonderful produce stand.  Yuma calls itself the winter agricultural center of the US with acres and acres of produce growing in the winter.  So we were pleased to find some reasonably price high quality fresh veggies.  And as a bonus, on the weekends they sell fresh local made tamales!  We picked up half a dozen last weekend and they were great!

And speaking of tamales, a few weeks ago I was able to go to the Somerton Tamale Festival.  Kirby had a cold and didn’t feel up to going so I went with my sister and her husband (who live just down the street).  It was awesome!  If you like tamales, you would be in heaven at this place. There were 40 tamale vender booths.  So – that means to try them all you would have to eat at least 40 tamales!  I tried two or three, found a winner and bought some to bring home.  It is really an event not to be missed if you are in the Yuma area in December.

Remember back when we were in Utah and had that blow-out?  We finally had our repair work completed and don’t have to feel embarrassed by the way we look.  CJ’s in Yuma did a great, efficient job in not much time at all.  We were there about eight in the morning and dropped off our “home”.  Then we spent the day having a great breakfast a Mimi’s Café, visiting some Yuma parks, walking along the Colorado River and doing some shopping.  Around three we picked up our “home” and went home!  It didn’t even hurt too much.

The Colorado River

Winter seems to be the best season of all for sunrises and sunsets.  I am still in awe the desert sky.  Most days we have pure sunshine but sometimes at sunrise or sunset there are just enough clouds to give a gift of color.  And the stars at night!  Ah!  This has to be the best place of all to spend the winter!

Alignment

Remember the blowout we had a few days ago?  It really messed things up so yesterday we stopped at Red Rock Garage in St. George, UT and got both axles aligned.  He said they were in pretty bad shape and it was good that we did that as we would have ruined our beautiful new tires.  But, oh, that damage.  Isn't it awful?  Every time I am on that side of the rig and see that my heart skips a beat.  My poor home.  We are talking to the insurance company and hope to get it fixed soon.  

It is morning in Mesquite, NV and we will be on our way later to Las Vegas.  The time change got us up early this morning!

Success Lake Campground

We are really enjoying our visit to Success Lake (COE Campground) near Porterville, CA.  We continue to be the only campers on this side of the park.  There are about 4 or five on the other side which is newer and has more highway noise.  We are in Site 94 which is a pull-thru with plenty of space, a picnic table and a fire ring.  The showers are nearby and I used one yesterday because it looked so nice.  I was not wrong!  It was the best shower I have had since I left my house behind the first of December.  I will be heading up there in just a few minutes to enjoy it once again.  Lots and lots of hot water in a very clean and private space.

This is the view out our window.  We spend each afternoon sitting in the shade of the pear tree.  There was a hose and sprinkler going when we arrived.  No one came to move it or turn it off so we moved it around to green up our little area.  It ran all night too.  Finally someone took it away.

Just look at that long shadow.  I took a walk with Jake when the sun was just coming up.  Awesome time here!

This is the view across the lake.  There are boaters out all the time fishing mostly.  I love all the vistas! And we haven't had much wind which seemed to have plagued us the past couple of months.  I guess the windy season has passed.

At each stop it seems that Kirby has to fix something.  This time it was the hitch.  Brand new this past October.  I personally believe that the problem was a result of all the bad roads we have traveled that just shake the livin' bejeebers out of everything.  Fortunately for me and for Kirby and Jake, Kirby is very capable of fixing things.  But that doesn't mean that is how he wants to spend his time.  But just think if we had had to try to find someone to repair this before we could leave.  We might have been literally pushed out of our space as there is someone coming in the day we leave!  I guess this is the way RV life is but I sure hope all of our bad luck ends soon.

Nothing Broke!

I guess I did a good job with my preping to travel as when we returned Myrt to her home space and inspected the cupboard, nothing was broken and only a couple of things even showed any evidence of having moved.  Yea!  That was the best part of the day!

We left here on Monday morning, with me following Kirby in the car so I could go on to work after we checked our rig in at Camping World for repairs.  I don't know why the whole thing stressed me like it did, but I was really, really stressed by the time I got to the office!  I kept telling myself that I have comfortably traveled the oceans in a 35 foot sailboat and never felt like this.  Is it that it is all so new?  Probably.

We had packed bags for two nights max.  Packed clothes, pillows, dog bed, wine, slippers, vitamins....all the little things we need to be comfortable.  Then, the service rep at Camping World told us it may be a week.  I freaked over that one and went back to work panicked over what we would do. And - made plans not to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Friday being my last day.

What really happened is that they did some work and said we could come get her on Tuesday morning, which we did!  Hooray!  Not so bad after all!  But we will need to return next week when they get the parts in for the rest of the repairs.

At this point I could write a book about the day we had, all the newer looking rigs getting repaired,  my frustrations with the whole process.  All of this is so new to us!!

We were there to get Myrt by 9:15, trying to be nice and remain calm!  Then we headed back to Oak Plantation Campground with 'our girl'.

Oh, what fun it is to be new to all of this.  Sailing just came natural but I am sure there was a learning curve in there somewhere, I just don't remember it.  It took us two tries to get the rig where it needed to be, get it leveled and all hooked up again with water, power and sewer.  By the time we finished the rain was beginning....we got it done just in time.  Hopefully the next trip won't be so nerve wracking on me!

First Repairs

I am trying to keep this blog like journal for myself.  So, I need to say things like - We have to take our brand new rig in for repairs this week!  I am not a happy camper right now as I pack a bag because we can't stay with her while they work on her.

There is something wrong with our slides.  A technician came out on Thursday and took a look but then they decided that they need the rig at Camping World for 2 days for MORE diagnostics.  I thought that was why he came out but I guess I was wrong.  So, the first time we go someplace with our rig it is to the repair garage.  And this is just diagnosis.  Next week when the parts come, we will have to do it again.  Good practice I guess. I can find out what is going to break and what rattles too much!

The silver lining is that we are going to stay with our daughter and her family!  We need more time together before leaving.  I will miss her so much because she is my best friend.  So, this is the good part about having to have repairs made to a brand new rig!

Slide Awning Install

Yesterday we had new awnings installed on all four of our slides.  Our new model didn't come with them and as the days and the weeks passed we realized the value in having them - especially when you are parked in a campground with loads of trees that are losing their leaves!  The top of the slides were filling up with dead brown leaves and making a mess.  And they were not protected from rain either.  So, we hired a couple of local guys (Coastal RV Center) who do a lot of work on other rigs here at Oak Plantation. Julian and Jesse were awesome.  Kirby watched them and said they "did it just the way I would have!".