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NOVEMBER 1 TUESDAY 

 Yes... we are in Quartzsite and found a great site right inside the La Posa LTVA... the first BLM gate south of Q on the left side when heading south from Q on US 95.
We liked the idea of still being next to the paved road inside the LTVA and NO dust and still within easy biking to town. You can go back for miles and find a real remote location but we are where no one is close and we can still turn up the stereo if we want. The 5ers door side is facing north so we have shade all day and get the most sun for the solar cells to charge our AGM batteries. And we have shade with a tree during the day. Don't have to put down the canopy and put it back up at night every day. We have driven around town to see what has changed from last year. (more about the changes later) NO road construction, so things are looking up. Terry made a beeline for the rock shop to see if they were open. Not a lot of people here yet so the Quartzsite Roadrunners Rock and Gem Club is just getting in gear and should be up to speed in a few days for him to play all day with lapidary and silversmithing stuff. This post was late but we were just having so much fun getting settled. Last night (fist night ) we lit the Tiki patio torches and had a small campfire and brought out the stereo and listened to some great classic rock. This is boondocking heaven! This is like the best camping weekend you ever experienced and IT lasts for months. We are trying to pace oursleves. Don't want to overdose right away...

Getting close to sunset Monday (our fist day on Q doondocking) 
The short paved road into the LTVA is just off to the right (it plays out and turns into a dust and gravel/dirt road) in this pic so we get to people watch as they come and go.
The 5er in the right background is the compground host at the entrance station. 
Like I said we could have gone miles back in, but this just seemed like a good place to land. If it rains like it did last year you could be stuck for a day or so, untill things dry out. We opted to stay close to the good road and not have to cross any washes.

More about Q and pics in the next few days.

Friday Nov. 4
One of our readers wrote to us with the following question:
“Enjoy your site. Maps and photos are great. I do not understand the role of a campground host. If you are boondocking why is a host needed? Also what is the function of an entrance station? I believe that the host and the station must be associated with each other but I am unsure as to each responsibility they have. Terrific site! Good details of the goings on in the areas you travel. Thanks!” 

     A little background information.  We are currently outside of Quartzsite in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) La Posa Long Term Visitor Area, North entrance, where we are dry camping (boondocking, no hookups, no elctricity).   Services provided by the BLM at the La Posa LTVA include Pay Phones, Trash collection, Dump stations, Drinking Water and Rest Rooms. 

    The Entrance station to the La Posa LTVA is provided by the BLM as a pay station for the annual or short term permit.  The Entrance station is staffed by a camp ground host during the day from 8am to 4 pm. The Blm charges $140.00 dollars to camp for the season, Sept 15th to  April 15th.  A short term permit for 14 days is also available $30.00.   There is additional free short term dry camping for 14 days available in the Quartzsite area.  There are no services of any kind at the short term free camping.

      The La Posa LTVA is divided into four divisions, South, North, West and Tyson Wash.  The dump stations, and wells are located in La Posa South, and this division seems to be the most popular. 
       The La Posa North division abuts the Rice Ranch area with the entrance being about ½ mile out of Quartzsite. There is trash dumpsters, phones, and rest rooms, but no water or dump stations.
        La Posa West also has their entrance ½ mile north of town, and abuts to Tyson Wells and the RV show grounds.  This area seems to be very popular due to its location within walking distance to the RV show.  The only services at West are phone, trash and rest rooms.
       Tyson wash is the final division to the La Posa LTVA, the entrance located across for La Posa South.  The services at Tyson are Phone, rest rooms and trash.

        Each of the Divisions have their following, with many groups returning annually to nest in the same approximate area. 

         In Addition to the La  Posa LTVA, the BLM maintains one other LTVA in southern AZ just north of Yuma, the Imperial Dam LTVA, and 5 LTVA’s in SW California: Hot Springs, Tamarisk, Pilot Knob, All in extreme south east Ca. along the Mexican border.  Mule Mtn. and Midland are the other two areas and are in the Blythe Ca. area.  The LTVA Permit is good at any of the above areas, and a person may move about.
For much more about BLM lands and boondocking check out this  Boondocking Guide by Adrian Waters
and the other links we have in our Resource Section on our main site. HithcItch.com

Another email asks:

“A couple of questions, me being a newbie wannabe, when you go to dump your tanks and get more water, what will keep someone from taking your place? Also what will keep someone from parking next to you? Is there boondocking etiquette?
Enjoy your site, keep writing!”

     Under normal campground conditions, one should not take a site that is clearly occupied.  To be occupied does not necessarily mean there is a large rv parked in the site.  It may be as simple as putting a folding chair in the site with a note saying the site is occupied. 

     Camping in the LTVA is on a first come basis, and there is nothing to prevent someone from camping next to you.  That said the rules prevent someone from setting up within 15 feet of you.  By selecting your site with care you can also guarantee some privacy.  Trees, bushes, roads and washes are all barriers that can be used to guarantee no one will be near you.  That said I really do not see much of a problem.  The RVes that you see huddled together are there because their owners want to be together.  Those people wanting more space will choose their sites accordingly, and those wanting true solitude will be as far from the raod as possible.

     We do not take the trailer to the dump station so would not be overly paranoid about loosing our site.  There are several options when handling grey and black water.  The old stand by is the “blue boy”. 

All I can say about it is that it will work, but that it is messy, has limited capacity, and has to be drug behind the truck to the dump station.
By the way this blue boy is for sale... so if you're in Q and need one. "SOLD"
  We  purchased a macerator pump (below) and have a 50 gal. tank rigged up to dump.  We are hoping that with the capacity of the tank and the ability to haul it in the box of the truck rather then drag it behind we can haul the waste water more efficiently.

The 12 volt pump chops up the waste from the 3 inch hose and pumps it into the smaller hose.
Feed the 1 inch hose into the tank. (below) We have a quick disconnect on the 1 inch hose so the pump can be stored in a plastic tool box.

On the left bottom (above) is the 3 inch drain hose connection as in the pic below.
Has a drain pull handle just like on the 5ers drain system.

We also have a couple of 20 gal tanks for getting fresh water back to the RV site and a small pump  empty them into our our freash water holding tank in the 5er.
Our holding tanks in the 5er are 80 gal fresh, 50 gal black, 50 gal gray (shower, bathroom sink) and 30 gal kitchen gray.
So we can go a week without having to do anything if we don't waste water.
To balance our tanks we will take the dish water and poor it down the stool. We could never fill  a 50 gal black water tank as fast as we could the front kitchen tank (30 gal). Just to balance things out and to add more liquid in the black tank the better. So as an example we got here Monday and it is now Friday night and the freah tank sez over 2/3 full and the kit gray sez E to 1/3 and the bathroom gray sez 1/3 and of course the black tank reads full but then it does that ALL the time.  (Black tank sensors never seem to read right... has to do with the content of the tank) We don't worry about it as we can only produce so much! Some say we are fuller then that.
So there you have it "Water and Boondocking 101" Class dismissed. Any other questions raise your hand.
After a day trip to Blythe, CA yesterday we picked up a few more plants to kill. A Cherry tomato plant and a hanging basket. And since we had a hummingbird fly around the other day we got a feeder to see if they will came back. Looks like we are settling in big time. 

Tuesday Nov. 8
The other night while sitting out by the campfire and the glow of the Tiki torches and looking at the vast sky got to thinking about an old post a did on RVNET.com forum.... It was:
"Started out with a couple of pup-ups and then a small 17 ft 5er which we pulled with a Ford Ranger and then a little larger non slide Jayco (pulled with a Chevy 2500)and had a great time on trips out west in back of the way forest service campgrounds and loved it on vacations. BUT now that we have a 35 ft 3 slide 5er (see sig) and fulltime in it, can't get to those campgrounds anymore and miss JUST camping. Now with the 5er size we spend most of the time in RV parks and that is NOT camping. 
That is what I wished I would have known before we went fulltime in a big 5er. We don't go camping anymore, but live in it. Not bad, but different, and miss the camping aspect of this lifestyle. Not ready to risk pulling our home up a wash board road for 50 miles back into forest service areas anymore. We love this life but do miss a few things we used to be able to enjoy in a smaller unit." 
Well... I don't feel that way anymore with being here in the great southwest at Quartzsite boondocking out on BLM lands. This is just great... and I had to pinch myself as this was going to last for more then just a weekend but for several months! Also as you read the above travel posts to get here we were able to camp in out of the way spots without to much trouble. It sure helps to have solar and a big string of batteries and a gen if needed to live like this. 
We went for fresh water yesterday and filled our three 15 gal water jugs (see below) but we only needed to add 25 gal into our 5er tank. We only used 25 gal in the last week. WOW Think were're getting the hang of this boondocking stuff.
We do buy 5 gal at a time filtered wated in town for drinking and tea and such, but still... think I need to start taking longer showeres. Level sensers say kit gray 1/2 bathroom gray 1/3 so still doing good. We do plan to play with the mecerater pump tomarrow and clean out the tanks as we want to try it out.

We found a supply of old pallets (and I am not telling our source) but for $1 each not a bad deal for fire wood in the desert.
Add a little bit of the wax fireplace logs we brought and a great campfire can be had.

The black tubs were in the truck bed ahead of the hitch. We haul freah water in the blue jugs. (they were Dr Pepper syrup jugs 15 gal each)
Terry just go back from the rock club and he is now the instructor for silver casting (lost wax casting). OK you ask what is that? 
He sez this is where you melt silver and pour it into a mold and it winds up as a pice of jewlery. Lost OK, so am I but he likes it. 
Saturday Nov. 12
This week we decided to max. out the solar system and get another panel for the roof. A 120 watt just like the one on the other side on the front. Got it a AZRVLifestyles ($595) in Q. Solar Discount where we had everything installed last year didn't have this unit in yet and said it would be a week or so for their shipment of this unit and it would cost more then what we could get it for now.  We are now up to 490 watts with 4 units with output of about 23 amps in full sun. The Solar Boost 2000e works at max. converting all this power. 
We added the back right panel. Starting to have long shadows as it was late in the day before the installation was done.
We are aware that at no time should there be a shadow on any of the panels as it will degrade the entire system. We think we have it set up at good angles to give us the max power for most of the day. May want to lower the left panels later in the season as the sun gets lower in the southern sky. We have seen some units that have off their panels on swivel mounts so they can move them with the sun. COOL. We are not there yet where we need to move the 5er several times a day. Now by mid day the red blinking diode sez we are fully charged. We do see some trailers that have their panels facing east and would not get anything during most of the day. It takes all types out here in the great southwest desert. It does take an RV desert village to raise a fulltimer. Or was that politician that said it takes a village to raise a kid. Aren't we all kids just playing the the sun and sand? Need a helping hand just stop by.
More and more venders are setting up shop in town. It is like back when we were in high school and scooped the loop or drove the avenues (Yes... you know you did that too.) to see what is going on. At least once a day we have to drive the looop to see what has changed.
Went out Friday night for fish and chips. Tried Grubstake Chuckwagon and Waterin' Hole (on the north end of town on 95) Could not believe the size of the plate of all you could eat fish and at least two lbs. of fries for $8.50. A pint of beer was only $2. A friendly cool fun place with specials everyday. A corrugated metal building, and even the bar is made out of corrugated metal. The guy who runs it is named Darrin, and he’s from somewhere in England. 
They have an Old ‘96er. 2 pounds of hamburger served with a pile of fries, a big bowl of coleslaw, and a large pitcher of soda. And… if you eat all of that in one hour, it’s Free! 

Wednesday Nov. 16
Terry is now a casting instructor and now a beginning faceting instructor at the rock club. He has to write reports for the Thursday meetings on how the classes are going.   He loves it. So be it. 
I got delivery of my new CampingWorld Recliner. The Quartzsite camber Of Commerce agreed to take delivery for me for UPS since we are in the the BLM and have no address. Nice of them.

We will see if Terry can get a pic of me in it. 
Afer I got the chair went over to the Quartzsite Libary to take back a couple of books and drop off a bag of books for donation I have been buying and reading. They were happy to receive them. They have a great libary. 
It is just one of the reasones why people love to live and winter here.
We can relax and read to our hearts content. Every day IS a weekend here. 

Saturday Nov. 19
Been working on a web site proposal for the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Club.
The largest gem and mineral club in the nation. See what I have been up with creating this new site. 
It is also another fantastic day... going to stop right now and go outside and watch the sunset.  Later..

Wednesday Nov. 23
Look at us, have not been posting much latly... Shame Shame.
Life slows down when you land here. You find time to relax and do hobbies and read a good book.
Terry practicaly lives at the rock club now both morning and afternoons. Today he worked in the silver shop making pendents for Christmas presents. 
The current buzz in the BLM is that they propose to raise the usage rates. They have announced a 30 day comment period. The increase would go from $140 for the season to $180 and 14 day from $30 to $40. Longtime users are upset, but in my book it is still a great bargain.  website  www.blm.gov/az/yfo/index.htm 
A email from a reader asked us what it costs to have a mobile unit come out to the BLM area and empty your holding tanks. I called Ol'Blue Septic and their recording sez. If you have them come every week it is $15 and if every two weeks $40. Guess you have to sign up and use them on an ongoing basis. So that's $60 for once a week and $80 for twice a month. I'm not sure I understand this rate schedule. What am I missing...  Sure twice as much stuff to pump out every week BUT... 
We do see a couple of different services driving around. Don't know if they would stop if you flagged them down or not. Might want a lot for that since you were not signed up with them...  Will do some more checking.  We of course don't need that as we empty our own and take it to the dumping station on BLM land. (story above) Many motor homes just drive into town to a couple of places for that and fill up on water and propane at the same time. Motor home propane tanks don't come off so need to drive to fill or have mobile service.  One place is $3 a fill (fresh water) and $5 to dump. You see many people carrying around large barrels in the back of their pu trucks coming back with water from the BLM distribution site.
A new Radio Shack opened in Quartzsite. Is this place growing or what... Anyway got excited about the police scanners they had. I had one years ago and loved it. Went back and researched them on the web and had to run in a get the Radio Shack "Pro-97 1,000 Channel Triple Trunking Hand Held Scanner". Is that a mouthful. WOW... it really pulls in the channels. Now I know what is happening all around the valley and western and northwest AZ. 
One fun big boy toy (as they say) and it was on sale $70 off.
Think we will go up to Parker in Turkey day and hit the Blue River Casino buffet. Not another buffet... this will have be it for awhile as we are eating too much.  Have an excuse for going to Parker... to Bank of America for the ATM. The local stores in Q don't seem to like giving cash back with a debit perchase. Can't blame them. And pick up a few things at the grocery store (Safeway) that we just can't find here. I must say we do like the General Store here in Q with their well known meat market with good prices. The new Dollar Store has bargains many this for out from a large city are not a accustomed to.
So it will be an outing and to browse in a huge market. We won't have to worry about going in hungry and buy on impulse I hope after filling up at the casino buffet. (Like they say never go to a grocery store hungry.)
Have a Happy Thanksgiving... 

Our tomato plant is just growing like a weed. We got it about three weeks ago in a 7 inch pot and look at it now.
First pic after transplanting it. Second pic today. See the pea sized cherry tomato forming... 

Isn't it swell we have this much time to dewll on a growing tomato!
We are loving the veggies  at Lamm's produce stand... 
We go toFriendy people who have had this stand for many many years.( We are into romane lettuce with ceasre dressing and paramasan grated cheese. Can't seem to get enough of it.  Melons... honeydew, cantalope, and a small  watermelon with a very thin rind, more like a peal. And these all are only about $1 each. You CAN eat fresh, healthy, and cheap IF you want to down here. Now bring on that Friday night fish fry. Oh.. No.. Pop another Zocor pill.
I shouldn't tell you this but it has been cloudy yesterday and today. Even a few sprinkles today.
You will be able to hear the faint (or loud as the case may be) hum of generators all over the BLM tonight.
Weather sez clearing and sunny on Turkey day. 

This rainbow view just a couple of minutes ago after a brief sprinkle and the pop of the sunset under the clouds.
A reader wrote this to us a few days ago:
Enjoy those sunsets and the "Purple Mtn. Majesties"...that's not a view you
get from an RV park!!!   Thanks Jan and Larry from Kansas
Friday Dec. 2
Wow it is December already. And it has been awhile since last post and have been catching it from readers wondering what is going on.
We are still doing the loop checking on all the new venders setting up. Got a rock chip fixed by the Quartzsite window rapier man. Boy he had stories to tell bout how bad the fly by night window chip people are that come into town just for the season. And how hot it was last summer. He gets the business from one or more of the big RV dealers that set up shop so he is kept busy. He also has vender spaces to rent out. 
Here is a view of some of the stuff Terry has been working on. Since we got this in an email:
"let's see some pics of the rock polish you smearin on them stones. 
Will have to do better at keeping site updated. 
But I need to read the great book selections from the libary I check out also.

The www.quartzsitegemandmineralclub.org web site was announced at the general meeting on Thursday and it was received warmly.  Gems and Minerals are a BIG deal down here and this site should bring attention to the area and what it has to offer. 
After all this club is the largest in the nation.
Now for the weather... Ok any of you up north getting snow and cold in one of the first storms this winter.  Well we have to suffer down here also. We have had FROST two nights in a row. Covered the tomato plant first night but it still got hit a little on the bottom. Boy did I throw a hissy fit. From then on it stayed inside with us alone with the rest of the plants. Today warmer but cloudy. Should be nice for the weekend. 
Like Tim the Tool man sez Oh Oh Oh POWER! can't have to much power and so 400 watts of solar and 6 AGM bats are not doing as well as I thought with the colder nights. And trying to run this computer and a 25 inch TV. We don't use the forced air funace hardly at all during the night. May crank it up in the moring for a spell but that is all. It all was doing much better even when it was cold in Utah last month so I am thinking we need to learn more about the equalizing procedure as it sez should be done when showing symptoms of capacity loss. The battery manual sez to do it for 8 hrs when batteries are at full charge and the Solar Booster 2000E sez to do it for only 2 hrs. And a little debate as if AGMs can handle this procedure. One source sez to do it once a month and the other sez once a year (sorta like sex me thinks). Who to listen to? But one of these days I am going to raise the battery voltage and fry the hell out of these suckers and see if it helps. 
In the mean time I have been going net window shopping for new a 27 - 30 inch LCD HDTV set. The Sunday Arizona republic doesn't include the Sunday adds out in the boons as there are no big box stores near. So have to surf the web. Any dumb reason to reduce the wattage usage of the TV. Don't Ya think. I read the cnet.com buyers guide to HDTV to get some idea what I'm getting into. Need to balance the low end units with the high end and come to a compromise of want is good and still in my mind a good price. In this case Tim is wrong less power is better!
Getting out of control... Terry rode the bike into town late today to the General Store and someone stopped him in the parking lot and sez "I know you... Your from Hitchitch"   And people wonder why they don't see my picture on the the site. We did put up little flyers with those pull tabs things with the site URL on them around town on the bulletin boards so people could read the adventures of others on the main site. If this keeps up may have to move further out in the BLM. But can always be found on the datastormusers location site 
along with other datastorm users. Can't hide with GPS built into your internet satellite system. Ok... I know showing your location is an optional thing. Nice try... Might be busy tomorrow heading on down to Yuma (80 miles) looking at HDTV sets. Wish us luck we don't find anything, and save the bucks not buying a new TV.  We don't find much on anymore to watch even with east and west coast feeds.
And don't get me started with HBO "the never a new movie" channel.
Oh No... Researching the web I seem to come up with large LCD HDTVs don't use any less power but more then tube TVs. Tell me it's not so!! 

Next up... we are thinking about  moving and turning the 5th wheel around and have the side entrance face south. We are not sun people but with it getting cooler it might be nice to open the door to the sun. More windows on that side also. Watching people drive by has lost its luster as time goes on. One drawback is the sun is low enough that even with the canopy extended it will not block the sun if you don't want to sit right in it if we would move the RV. Oh the trials and tribulations of winter boondocking. Don't anyone send pictures of a snow shovel I DO remember what they look like!!

Sunday Dec. 11
(by Terry and edited and the last part added by Ron) 
Yesterday was moving day for us at Hitchitch.  We had arrived in Quartzsite late in October and have been in our perfect site.  Since then we have noted a few disadvantages in our site, so yesterday we packed everything and moved.  Turning the trailer 180 deg. And moving about 5 feet to the south.  Big move, but we now have the trailer door facing south away from the road, and into the warmth of the winter sun, perfect for those winter afternoons of lounging in the warmth and sunshine. The warm sun just flows in through the greater window area on the door side of the 5er and is much nicer. It will also melt the winter snow off the step---Don’t Ya Think. Send all the nasty email (I'm stuck up north in the cold and you're down there) you want. We love em... 

Old view from the south...  below new view from the south.

(ok that's me Ron in the doorway hidden nicely don't ya think)
The move also entailed gathering up our firewood pile and moving it around back, along with the tiki torches and the water tanks.  Our tool boxes can now serve double duty as plant stands and chairs.  Of course the solar panel family had to be realigned and cleaned so we can continue to allow Mr. Generator to sleep.  (Terry wrote that…  thinks he’s on the Tioga George team or something). Stop it. Sorry George I’ll make him stop that talk.
We were very motivated yesterday in addition to reconfiguring our campsite, we persuaded Mr. black water pump to empty out our holding tanks into Mr. transport tank and dumped the grey and black water that had accumulated in the last two weeks.
Then while Ron and Mr. vacuum cleaned the carpets in the trailer, and while Ron later washed windows I went into Quartzsite and did five loads of laundry.  I got the best of that deal as I hate to vacuum, and I don’t do windows. (Glad I read this before posting, this Mr. Stuff will STOP. Ron) 

Was busy last week, having to help teach a class in opal cutting at the Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Club, along with the weekly silver casting class on Friday. Between the two classes, and nursing my cold on Monday and Tuesday that pretty much took care of the week.
Yah he gave it to me... Ron

Our tomato plant is also doing nicely, now that we take it inside each night to keep it warm.  There are a number of tomatoes approaching eating size, 
(we are talking cherry tomatoes here) hopefully they will be ripening soon. Notice the tomato plant just over the top of the truck hood above.

One last note we have all this romaine lettuce at great prices at Lamm's Produce stand which we just love but the grocery stores have run out of Caesar Salad dressing. I don't think we can look up a recipe on the web and do justice to it.  Have to go into Blythe next week to get mail and will have to wait till then. See.. you knew there were disadvantages to living off the grid in the BLM. Now you know of ONE... lack of Caesar Salad dressing.

Oh! No!  a thought coming on... (Ron here.. I did just have a beverage of choice) I can't tell you many times I used to daydream at work, on quick breaks standing outside the office working late, as others were heading home, waithing for a late installer to call in for testing (high speed digital stuff), about a life away from all that. So I planned and low and behold it did happen. I lived on the net for years searching out this lifestyle and reading the adventures of others.  Started (HitchIthc.com) to share the adventures I found).  Now we are doing our own adventures, but it's not just that anymore, it is really a next life, doing things at a slower pace and not in a vacation mode but a new life mode. People always say they did this and that in a former life, well now we are in this current life and it does take some getting used to but it is good. Kind of like watching the rest of the rat race go by and wonder why do they do that, and why did we do that also! Hopefully now tuned to just enjoy life as we know it each day! An early baby boomer, ahead of the curve at age 58.

Monday Dec. 12
Been cloudy today and now at 4:30 PM the clouds go away and the sun comes out. Great but just a little late for much solar charging.
A couple of rigs form Canada and move in down the way the from us. Rigs are all dirty. Bet they had to drive through some bad weather to get here. Things are picking up as many stayed home till after Thanksgiving and now made a run for it in-between storms to get out of town and head south.
Snaped this picture of a couple of venders in Rice Ranch. There are flags everywhere there are venders. 

Ok here it is the famous Quartzsite Pebble (Beach) Golf Course.

A couple miles northwest of town.

Watch out the rough can get ya.. One happy caddy! Terry smile.

No cup but if you get into the 10 foot circle you can count it as a hole in one.

And lets not forget the his and her clubhouses... bring your own stool seat, or looks like one left off on the ground to the side can be had.
Last year they had a tournament in January. Will let you know the entrance fees and prizes when they are announced.
Hurry on down and pick your tee times.

Tuesday Dec. 13

Terry has been baking again. Bread from Carl's 1847 Oregon Trail  Sourdough  starter. This is his second loaf this week. 
Don't Ya like the links to things you never wanted to know about. I hate to tell him his cooking is good. JUST hate to admit he can cook!

This is the place to buy your produce while in Q. Lamm's Produce jsut south of I10 on HW 95

And the General Store on East Main in Q is the place to buy your groceries and they have an old fashioned meat counter with good prices. 
No need to go to Blythe for meat and pay inflated prices.  Albertson's is the only food store in Blythe and know it. 

Say Hi to the meat counter workers. Terry didn't get their names.
I told him to get me pictures of places and people so we can show off the town when he is driving around after his trips to the rock club.

They don't sell liquor, just beer and wine so if you need that, go down the street to the Roadrunner Market.
But their meat market is what stands them apart! And they do have the best prices on cigs if you need that.
Ask are we having fun yet... YES...

Going to Blythe on Wednesday to get our mail (our vehicle plate stickers for 2006) should be here (MyHomeAddressInc.com went to the SD courthouse and got them for us) and to send off a Christmas package. Don't want to stand in line in Q all day and last year they lost some of our mail so this year we are going to Blythe to get General Delivery mail. With so much mail this time of year, with thousands of snowbirds, the local Q post office workers can get overwhelmed. They are great but what can you do with such workloads and long lines.

Saturday Dec. 17
Got my mail without standing in line at Blythe.  But got a suprise when I opened the forwarding package. Along with the tags for our truck and trailer was a letter from the Clerk of Court, Hanson County, SD  Ya it was a JURY DUTY SUMMONS.  It had been sent on Nov. 3 and stated I needed to respond by Nov. 15 and here it was Dec. 15.  I called the Clerk and explained my story and was told not to worry, just send back the questionnaire. She thought the judge  had already excused me.  Whew... It was for the full year of duty on and off. I am learning that fulltimers who don't get regular mail and don't know from day to day where they will be at, may at times be excused. And why not... the paper sez Hanson county is the fastest growing county in SD for population growth. Wonder why... a small rural county. Think of the revenue funds that that county must get without having to provide any services to all us fulltimers who have them as our domicile. A good deal for both parties. (The above off the record thought can not be copied or used in any form). Like the Escapees in Livingston, TX when in the area fulltimers should stop by and volunteer for duty as a pay back for their understanding in our lifestyle situation.

Well another hurdle crossed... Now back to life in Q. It has been COLD and not all that sunny. Like today it is now 20 min. till 5 PM and the sun is breaking through for a great sunset but did it charge up the thousands of batteries in the valley RV's being overcast most of the day? It was 32 at 11 pm last night. OK so it's  colder where your'e at...   The Rock club had a pancake breakfast this morning and Terry was promoted from coffee, juice server to pancake cooker. He's not sure if it was a promotion or a punishment.  Kidding aside he loves it. They had a large turnout as more and more people are now in town. I told him it was because of the ad on the rock club web site I did. He did say the other day six people came in and signed up to join the club and they said they found out about what the club had to offer by finding the clubs site on the web.  WOW...
Can not have a post with a picture... 

Dustyfoot.com is in town again and has standalone travel internet dishes for sale.  He is (just ask anyone) about the best in his service 
and the equipment and manuals on how to do this internet from anywhere thing. Highly respected and follow-up support always.
Of course I am sitting here while I do this post listening to Garrison Keillor streaming on the web, what could be better...
Just got a sunset beam coming through the window and hitting the computer screen so I can hardly see what I am typing.
The sunset is going to be a great one (when there are clouds that the sun can set under and make them glow.  Wish you were here RIGHT NOW.
I would clink my beverage of choice plastic cup (no glasses allowed) with you as I listen to the last half of A Prairie Home Companion. 
Oh and the potato rolls are about to go into the oven and for supper beef stroganoff. 

The generator has us all charged up again (who needs the sun)? These 6 AGM's charge up quick. 
Now will just let the gen run to power us and let the bats rest for later, to run the furnace fan.
I remember in a past vacation type 5th wheel (it was a non slide Jayco) when we only had one or two bats, 
the furnace fan could drain them in one or two nights of use. 
NOT anymore with this setup. 
We try to set the temp to around 50 - 52 and put on extra blankets. When Terry gets up in the AM he turns it up to 60 - 65. 
Grew up on a farm in Iowa where it was flannel sheets that kept us warm. Don't have them now but remember them well. 
I wore sweat pants t-shirt and socks to bed last night.

Saturday Dec. 24
Well look here Christmas eve and the weather has taken a turn for the BEST. Warm 80 and sunny for the next several days. It is nice in south AZ for the holidays or what? First off a couple of thoughts: Wishing you, your family, and loved ones all the best that this time of year can bring! May you enjoy this time in the spirit it was meant. Simply, without the pressures that try to derail us from what we want this season to mean to us. Who sez the economy has to live or die on how much we spend for presents. A hug to a friend in need might just be the best gift you give and they receive this year. 
If you are alone or lonley in this time of your life we reach out and wish you well. Been there done that. 

Now said... I did get a little somthing and gave it to Terry early. 
The high intensity halogen light (clamped to the table) so he can see to work on his silversmithing.
(12 volt 20 w and very bright, so low power).

We are having a mustard crusted pork roast, garlic mashed potatos, sage dressing, 5 cup salad, 
homemade potato rolls, and now just out of the oven bannana bread. Now does that sound good or what? 
I have several new books from the Q library and Terry has his silversmithing projects. 
We will watch some TV tonight and just relax. Live on the web and in the forums and enjoy being alive. 
That's what it's about after all...

Here is a post I did on RV.net forum last night.... in the topic "RV Owner's Gadget Wish List: Here's Mine" 
I have this problem... I don't want or need anything.
We in this society just go out and buy whatever we want whenever we want it. I remember when as a kid we waited all year for a present. And some years it was slim pickens at that. (grew up on a farm in Iowa) But as I browse the vendor stalls in Quartzsite I'm sure I'll find SOMETHING I just can't live without. By the way the weather here right now is fantastic. What's more to ask for? 

Oh..  and the tomato plant is about to take over... we have to water it twice a day or it wilts and it is using all the water and sun it can get to make gobs of little cherry tomatoes. Not ripe yet but soon. Sort of hpdroponic in a 5 gal bucket. 
Just think what miracle grow and water will produce. (new pic soon) 

Wednesday Dec. 28 

Pictures of Christmas dinner.. mustard crusted pork roast, garlic mashed potatos, sage dressing, 5 cup salad, 
homemade potato rolls.

This this is getting out of site. 
But I now have a question... and have submitted it to several web sites and to a couple state extension services.
At night when we bring it in the leaves curl up in a ball. I thought it was just reacting to no sunlight to protect itself at night, but one day when up early 6 am and it was still dark inside the leaves were all un curled. Does this thing have an internal clock to know when to curl and uncurl its leaves.

We have both been under the weather with bad chest colds or the crud as they say. We were getting over it and then it came back with a vengeance.  Terry has even not been going to the rock club everyday so you know he is Sick. 

On another note people and vendors have been pulling in like crazy now that Christmas is over. By after the 1 st of the year this place will be wall to wall with every RV type you could imagine camped in the BLM. And so many venders selling everything under the sun. And they all think they have come up with the perfect products, that everyone will want to beat down their stall for. We just stand back and wonder how it all plays out, as we just don't understand how they can all make it selling their wares. All we can say is they keep coming back year after year so they must be doing something right.
Thursday Dec. 29
Shared a few thoughts on the forums today so thought I would add them here.

Is there anything special, any festivities going on at Quartzite for New Years?
We were here last year but don't remember a lot about special going on in Q for new years ever or day.
The BIG bar Silver Buckle closed when the RV dealer bought it and the land around it.
Some other places I'm sure will be hoppen will be the Yacht Club bar, Grubstake Chuckwagon and Waterin Hole, and Silly Al's. The one thing we learned you don't want to go out late and expect to find food service. Silly Al's and Grubstake would be open later but a lot of the restaurants close at 7 or 8 pm. The sun goes down at 5:30 and is dark by 6 and the town goes to sleep not much later. Might stay open later when the BIG crowds get here.
How does everyone get around such a big area?
No shuttle that we have ever seen. That is why many stay in the first two BLM LTVA LA Posa North and West so they can walk or ride a bike. There is lots of parking if you come early in am or later in the afternoon. AND the best advice is just don't try to go to the big show on the first or second day. We couldn't even get in the tent for the mob. Later in the week in mid afternoon you can see it all without all the people. There are some back streets in Q that people know about which will get you access town and out of the main street gridlock. 
Just today on the police radio the officer was complaining about the traffic already at the Flying J station. He said and I quote "I have never seen it backed up this bad before ever." and this is just Dec. 29 He said people were out of their cars yelling at each other. Thats not normal for friendly Q. Must have been people getting of I 10 to get gas backing things up. It's like any other big event like going to a fair or football game take your time and enjoy... only here it's every day and lasts for weeks. 
If you went to Sturgus for the bike rally would you complain about the traffic... Hell No Just Enjoy it all. It's woodstock for the older set.

Friday Dec. 30 
Well we went to Blythe, CA this afternoon feeling sick with the crud and all. USA Today sez it is widespread in the southwest.
Went to Rite Aid drug store (Albertsons) to get an inhaler perspiration refilled that I got last year when I had the same thing. Was rudely told it would by more than 2 hours. I told them to give the refill back to me and I will go away as that was not acceptable. Last year they told me it would be a minimum of 4 hours to get the original prescription filled. I will call it in before the next time we have to go to Blythe to get our mail.  Next stop was Super Kmart to return a Christmas present I gave terry. (sweat pant outfit) While crossing the parking lost a lady came up to us and showed us a stack of 5 beer bottle cases. She said some kids just came out of Kmart and opened all the 20 each bottles in each case and poured it all into coolers and left the bottles in the parking lot. She wondered if we would want them to take them back for refund. 10 cents each = $10 Hell yes...
So I ask in the store where to return them and CA does not let you take them back to the stores but must go to central return centers. So off we go to the only one in Blythe. Oh.. what a suprise cars and pu's lined up with huge bags of cans and bottles to return. And the line was NOT moving. We would have been there till mid night. an and they had a sign that said they closed in 30 min. So we gave them to the car behind us in line. The older driver spoke no english but the young boy did and they were VERY happy to take them off our hands.
Later at Albertsons food store and in line at the checkout I told an older nurse (from the local hospital) in front of us about our story of returning the bottles and how do they put up with such poor service. She said they just gave up returning cans and bottles and throw them away. 
And now for a little fun...

One of the big RV dealers has this out front on their lot.... LOOKS LIKE A RV SALESPERSON TO ME!