Saturday
Nov. 1st
by your roving reporter
Terry
We have arrived in Quartzsite,
more correctly we arrived yesterday at 11:48 AM and went directly to Discount
Solar. We were followed into the lot by a friend from the Gem and
Mineral Club. Later while we were waiting for the Install to be completed
Larry the campground host from LaPosa North drove in to welcome us to town.
We had our two existing solar
panels and one new panel installed on our roof by Discount Solar, While
talking to our installer we found out that he and his wife are just down
the road from us in LaPosa North. Quartzsite is turning into a very
small and close community.
The install was finished
at 3:00pm and we headed to the desert, outfitted for several months of
boondocking. Now all I have to get done is set up the DirecTV Slimline
dish. Not quite as easy as a regular dish as this needs to find 4 satellites
at the same time. Get our picnic table and awning and from
storage and get it all set up. Then we will begin the little upgrades
to the trailer, a hole drilled in a cabinet here to route computer
wires, a few extra 12 volt plug ins to run fans, radios, ect.
Rearrange all of our stuff and get settled in for the season.
Our neighbor working on
the Installation of the solar panels and the solar boost controller.
Our boondocking site for
the winter. took several tries to get the trailer in and in just
the right place, with everything leveled up and setting just as it is supposed
to be. (also a bit of "discussion" about our backing skills.)
Now to get the canopy and
green grass down to make it home in the desert.
Fred, the Datastorm unit
and the three solar panels. Now we are ready to live off the grid. As in
being GREEN.
A final picture just for
fun, a bit of AZ.
There will be further updates
this afternoon.
Went for a drive after Terry
returned from the Rock Club and low and behold the Q police must be on
strike or all laid off. Here is someone camped out in the city park.
Had to get our fix and get
a few things at K & B which is just setting up.
We next went over and visited
Cheryl at Holiday Palms RV park where she is the manager.
We had stored our canopy
and picnic table etc over the summer with her. Now we have to get it all
set up. That will wait for Sunday as it is to be much cooler. We hope.
For late today it is time to get the HD DirecTV dish aligned and working.
Terry is off to borrow a compass as of course when you need one you can't
find one.
After all it is Saturday
night and Starz adn HBO have new movies on and in HD. We may be hanging
out in the desert off the grid but life does go one and we are spoiled
as if you couldn't tell.
Oh and I do have our 3000
Honda generator running and the AC running full blast and the gen. is holding
it all in econo mode also with the TV, surround stero and computer on.
NuWa puts a 97% effiecient solar wrap around their 5ers and it really does
make a huge difference as it keeps out the heat. Before I turned on the
AC the insdie temp was still 10 to 15 deg. cooler than outside. Cool it
down and it holds the cool and at night the inside heat does not radiate
out at night. In the desert as soon as the sun goes down it gets cool and
in January it gets darn cold at night. This winter we should use much less
propane than last. Propane is $2.59 and with tazes $2.80.
Update: On first
try Terry got the DirecTV dish to pick up all 4 satellites and now I'm
watching HD.
He has gone to town as the
General Store have pork roasts on sale for $1.59. Thanks to Judy who stopped
by and told us about the meat special.
Monday Nov. 3
About
time for me Ron to spew some thoughts. I did improve the above posts
with inserts. Terry is off to a board meeting at the rock club. He cleaned
up well and looks nice with his straw hat with his rock club badges pined
on the side. They as rock cub people are into that.
Time to get the sun shade
installed Slide one. The roof poles are getting connected.
Slide two.. Now don't
blink as it can come together before your eyes. The frame is up ready for
more.
Look out it is springing
from the desert floor. If you haven't noticed that is me Ron sitting in
the shade directing the whole building project. The grass is down and we
have shade. We had a fun time getting the roof tarp up in the breeze and
right side UP.
So here it is almost finished.
While we were doing all this
a little Met Life blimp passed over. It was bobbing in the breeze
up and down. I would not have liked to be in it. If people were under it
they would have had to look out for barf. (sic)
 
We needed an extra 12 volt
connection to reach the picnic table from the 5er basement so Terry built
this one using one of my prescription bottles. Not bad.
Busy... yes were were after
getting supplies at K & B we stopped at our source for firewood (pallets)
and brought back some and dumped them next to our site. Now we are ready
for some great campfires.
The sort of finished campsite
with sunscreen. A campsire for the winter is never done just adding and
tweeking each day till time to tear it down in the spring.
Terry just called and is
done with his meeting and I sent him off for fast food. Carl Jr.
and French Fries here we come...
Take care... Now on to the
election tomorrow... our generator will be working overtime after dark
on Tuesday. We hope the results are good for the this country and
we all move forward in life.
Thursday Nov. 6
What
a last few days have been. You have to understand we are from Iowa
and the campaigns started there two years ago. If each of the canidates
don't call you by your first name they just aren't viable. We take this
stuff very serious as alter all we get to make the early picks to get rid
of the rif-raff. Since Obama came out of 97% white Iowa a winner
we knew he had a chance to go all the way. And he did.
We
went through three bottles of Champagne. Let me tell you Terry is a sloppy
drunk. (He sez happy drunk....
He
doesn't drink much so it doesn't take much.
This map about sez it all.
We wish him and all Americans well and hope we as a country can and will
work together. It is a change for this country to break from the past eight
years which have been a nightmare here and around the world. After all
both sides ran on not more BUSH.
We are in red AZ so no wonder
some are upset with the outcome, but some are going overboard flying The
US flag updisde down. How UnAmericain is that. Our close by neighbor
who had said he thought Obama was a Muslim and that he (Obama ) wants to
take his guns away. Came over to congratulate us that Obama won.
He is open to the future and not upset with how it turned out. We assured
him the country would survive. He was not happy with the last eight years,
just not ready to go for a Democrat.
On a personal level... I
am looking forward to the promise of no federal income tax on the first
$50,000 of income when I start to collect Social Security next year.
And Health Ins since next few years is the last we can count on my old
employer to provide it cost effective. The union has already said they
are not going to push for retiree health ins. for the next contract.
I now have to pay regular
(imputed) income tax on the value of Terry's Health Ins. He is my dependent
from the company I retired from. (I get a W2). $7000 a year.
We are very grateful but soon I hope that will not be taxed. Last winter
he went to the ER and had a operation and the bill was $15 thousand and
we paid $150. Not anymore, not even next year. It is going up to
$150 a month and 90% co-insurance up to $1000 each. Still very good by
any standard we feel. But in 2010 all bets are for up front monthly costs.
Depends on how much was spent overall on all retirees.
Today got mail forwarding
and then had to hit the phone to straighten many things out. New
5er SD lic came screwed up. Had wrong sales date and they charged late
fees to lic it. And didn't send the title. Then had to call
the Iowa Hospital and my Health Ins as one of the claims is still not correct.
Got he 5ers Ins. but no bill so had to call and get that paid over the
phone. Only went up $138 till next June 30. $942 for a year. About $200
more than our old policy on a 5 year old unit.
And after five calls to DirecTV
who have no clue about anything got them to get our Distance Network
Service for Mobile HD turned on at last.
Oh and got Newsstand Reader
to get USA Today to download so I can get the exact copy of the paper to
read. Even got it for 50 cents per day. So I did get I think
much accomplished today. Terry had a rock club meeting and
now home making meatballs and spaghetti for supper.
With calls back to Iowa found
it is going to be cold and snow on Friday. So Sad. They all felt sorry
for us calling from Sunny AZ.
Looking forward to the weekend
in Q Where Every Day as they say is a Weekend... Promise
to take the camera along on our drives.
Sunday Nov. 9th
by your roving reporter
Terry
We are off to a slow start
this morning, no reason why, just because we can, so there.
Went for a Sunday newspaper first thing this morning, they only get
a few in, and often sell out. Hate the idea of paying $2.50 for a
buck and a half newspaper, but since the AZ Republic no longer sees fit
to distribute their paper in the western 1/4 of the state someone has to
pay for the distribution. We only get the Sunday paper any more:
There is not enough content in the daily version of the AZ Republic to
justify spending a dollar a day.
Ron has compensated for the
lack of a daily newspaper by finding a web browser that will support the
downloads from USA Today: Ron gets to spend the morning reading the
paper and I get to run off to the rock club to play; Play time at
the club this week will entail removing two commercial garage doors and
openers from the annex building and framing in the openings that are left.
The club can then get the buildings wired and sheet rocked. I have
a very warped sense of what constitutes play time.
Saturday was spent on chores.
I had to drain the waste water tanks and haul the waste water to the dump
station.
We also had to figure out
why the refrigerator would keep beeping at us, and in general was not working
properly, Finally found that one of the propane tanks was empty and
for some reason or other was causing problems; Ron concluded that
the last gas bottle was not properly installed by me, but that's his take
on things. we also needed RO water and generator gas.
In the afternoon we went
into town for the propane, water and gas, and ended up having a very late
lunch at Taco Mio. We have not been there for a few years and were
pleasantly suprised. Had very good service and food. I had
a beef burrito and Ron had a beef tostado, the tostado looked like a taco
salad without the taco shell bowl and my burrito was very good. We
still like the other Mexican restaurant La Casa Del Rancho better and hope
that La Casa will be having their usual Thanksgiving Meal (a feast-all
home cooked, generous portions and modestly priced) We have had Thanksgiving
at LA Casa twice and love the place. We hope that La Casa Del Rancho
will have thanksgiving dinner again this year.
When we got to Taco Mio there
was another group ahead of us, notice the ATV's parked in front,
We met them on Main street when we drove to the west end of town,
they were heading to lunch. I would hate to have their lunch tab,
Margaritas, two dollar bowls of chips and full dinners, they were
having a party.
In our travels about town
we drove past the Hi Jolly Cemetery, and stopped to take a picture of the
monument the state of AZ erected on the grave site of Hi Jolly; Hadji
Ali (Hi Jolly) was a Syrian camel driver that came to the US to be part
of the US Calvary's camel corps in 1857 and remained in the Quartzsite
area as a packer and prospector until his death in 1903.
The informational sign at
the cemetery details some of Hi Jolly's story along with a map of early
Quartzsite.
In front ot the cemetery
and fronting on main street we sited the Whole Hog or None BBQ, supposedly
the worlds largest self propelled BBQ pit. They are set up for the
winter, and hale out of Wasilla AK.; No I am not going into any comments
on AL or Wasilla, we need to heal the political rifts that divided us during
the election and my comments would be unseemly.
I will have to get
fresh water later this morning, if I can keep the water barrels from
blowing away, we have a nice breeze blowing from the south west,
along with temps in the low 70's. No snow here!
Later today I have to make
up a 12 volt extension cord so we can power a small inverter for the direct
TV control box; When we shut of the inverter or switch the generator
off some times we loose the memory in the direct tv controller, if
it is on the batteries that will no longer happen, an excuse to run
off to the K&B tent a couple of times for electrical supplies;
I have been told that a typical project of mine takes at least two
trips to the hdwe store, but that's just Ron grousing; He should
be grateful, I am working on house hold projects and not complain
on how I go about doing them!
More later.
Sunday Nov. 16th
by your roving reporter
Terry
We are falling behind a bit
in our postings; I think we are starting to get into the true spirit
of Q, nothing to do, all day to do it, and we can always postpone
it until tomorrow; That said, we have been running errands and keeping
ourselves busy.
Early in the week I did my
volunteer day at the Gem and Mineral club, we enclosed a garage door
on the building that the club is remodeling to add more work space.
I taught chain making on Thursday morning and silversmithing on Friday
morning at the gem and mineral club, while teaching I have a bit
of time to work on Christmas gifts; Hoping I can be done with gifts
by the first week in Dec. so I can be shipping in time for the holidays.
Ron has been busy this week,
working on Larry and Pyhliss's lap top computer, doing a lot of updating
and cleaning of files. They were out of town and in no hurry to get
the laptop back, and it took all of the time allotted to get their computer
back in top shape.
Went to Blythe CA Friday
to visit K-Mart for bicycle shopping for Ron and parts for me. I
finally got our old bike back together after ignoring it all last year.
Ron looked at new bikes, but didn't find anything that he liked,
He is going to use the old one for a while to see if he gets into the biking
mood. I looked at tudes and liners for our old bike.
While in Blythe we also looked
for a new grill, our old Olympian was abandoned in Iowa with a rusted out
drip plate, and burner (but not discarded). The parts were going
to be more then a new grill, something I can not understand,
everything else on the grill is in good shape, but the repair parts
are so grossly over priced we are discouraged from repairing anything,
supposed to throw it away, and buy a new one. Will keep and eye out
for parts, or may try to fabricate a new burner, does not appear to be
something that would be to very difficult to weld together when I have
the time.
I am trying to revive my
sourdough starter from a couple of years back. When I got ready to
shut down the starter last time I dried a portion of it, and we have carried
it with us for two years. I am thinking I will be doing more baking
this winter with decent bread being unavailable in Q and what is available
is very high priced, but so is flour; still I can get a five lb bag
of flour for about the price of a good loaf of bread, and save a
trip to blight or parker.
Saturday morning I thought
the starter was working well and I mixed up a batch of bread, and used
a bit of the starter for pancakes. The pancakes turned out great,
but I am still waiting for the bread to rise on Sunday morning, while the
saved bit of starter is happily bubbling away in the sourdough pot,
can not understand how the starter can be working so well and the bread
dough is setting there doing nothing?
We also hauled water on Saturday,
made two trips, the first thirty gal of water was siphoned into our
tanks and the second thirty gal went to our neighbors, Larry was
still recovering from a long car trip which aggravated his back and we
decided to get them their water so he did not have to hassle with it.
The weather here in Quartzsite
is about as good as it ever gets, The afternoon will run in the upper
70's to very low 80's with evening temps in the 50's every day, and
the forecast is for much more of the same; This is why we come to
Quartzsite. Lately we have taken to setting outside in the evenings
for the sunset, and while we have not set out our fire ring yet, we have
lingered late into the evening, Friday night was especially beautiful
with the full moon to top off an already beautiful evening.
And just for good measure
another AZ sunset shot from out of our sun room; The perfect conclusion
to a great day.
Update from
Ron
We talked to
Bob and Sandy today of Colored
Outside the Lines and who are in Oshkosh, NB for the winter and
are not able to get back down to Q this winter. We miss them. We had a
good talk and updated them on what is happening in Q. Next season we hope
to have them back with us to share the boondocking experience in the BLM
as thousands do each year becoming a community of like souls who
are living off the grid before the term GREEN was all the rage. Sure you
can stay in many of the RV parks in Q but the rest of us head out to the
BLM and live OFF the grid and love it. The total cost is about the same
(after you get the solar, generator power etc) but it is all about the
freedom of not being closed in in a RV park.
To each their
own as they say... So whatever you choose just get your butt on down to
Q and have a great winter season.
Monday Nov. 24th
Life
in Q as we know it.... Last Thursday ended up in turmoil as when
Terry shut down the Nexus 32 " HD flat screen TV as in brand new, that
came with the 5er he had a little static charge shoot from his finger to
the on off switch of the TV. After that it would only try to come on and
then shut right back down. Just cycle on and off when plugged in. Friday
called the TV company and they wanted me to email or FAX proof of purchase
to them so they could then get it serviced. Well it came with the
5er so had to get NuWa to fax a bill of lading to them also as they kept
saying my faxes were unreadable and they were not getting my emails with
my bill of sale of the trailer. Finally they agreed I owned the TV and
they would call back when they found someone to service it. Even then it
would have to sit in the service dept. while they then shipped out parts.
They said a static charge would not cause it to fail, but they have had
this before in their TVs. Glad to know... and they even knew which circuit
pack it would need. I knew it would be weeks for this repair as we are
in Quartzsite after all.
UPDATE:
Now Monday... Do you think Nexus Electronics has called back with a service
center to fix their product.... NOT.
So
on Saturday off we go to Yuma to just buy a new TV. (The thought is we
will later get this one repaired and give it to Terry's parents back in
Iowa.) On with the story, by now I have researched sets on the web and
have decided we needed not just a run of the mill HD TV, but a 1080p top
of the line Sony. Now this is of course not telling Terry just how
much this state of the art TV would cost.
So
after dropping a bunch at Wal*Mart in Yuma getting our big box store fix
and getting staples at not Quartzsite prices we head on over to Best Buy
for the big buy. I tried to get Terry out of the picture as I tell
the salesperson what I am looking for. The sales staff can spot a buyer
a mile away and soon I'm saying... I'll take that one. But I knew terry
saw the price tag. He has learned just to stay quiet at times like this
when I'm shopping. BUT would you believe they had a special sale
$100 off, (and it was over $1K on The Sony unit (32XBR6 HD 1080p) AND a
FREE Sony Blue Ray DVD player thrown in when you buy the TV. That did it,
I got to tell Terry, see a $300 DVD player for free What A Deal.
SEE what a great shopper I am. By that time he had given up and just stood
back in I'm sure defeat or awe.
One
our way to Yuma we had to pass Stone Cabin about half way. One the way
back I stopped so Terry could get an ice cream cone. He was still sort
of in a daze. Need refreshment.
Got
a shot of the Yuma Proving Grounds entrance and the BLM camping area.
Cabbage
looked like the harvest selection of the day on the west side of Yuma along
HW 95.
On Sunday Terry recovered
enough to bake a loaf of sourdough bread. By the way the TV works great
and popped in a Blue Ray DVD to see it at its full potential.
We also had a very nice
visit with Esther & Steve who just got to Q and wanted to stop buy
and get a AlarmIt unit. They are new fulltimers down from Canada and we
had fun exchanging stories of their adventures heading south in their brand
new very top of the line Double Tree Suites 5 th wheel. As they checked
out the HD satellite stand, Terry attempted to get a picture of them. Yah
my backside and very little of them. I seem to dominate the shot. You know
how much I like being in pictures but this is the only one of them. They
are off to Discount Solar in Q on Tuesday to get the works installed. Solar
panels, inverter/converter and AGM batteries.
Can't do a post without mentioning
the rock club. A shot of the remodeling project of the old Q fire station
which will be more shop and classrooms for the club. They are filling in
the fire engine doors. This building is right next to the existing club
facilities.
Thursday Nov. 27th
by your roving reporter
Terry
Happy Turkey Day.
It's easy to make perfect
mashed potatoes when you start from scratch and use real potatoes, the
kind that need peeling, just like they do at the La Casa Del Rancho Restaurant
in Quartzsite. We went to La Casa for another Thanksgiving feast,
and were not disappointed. Everything was great, and we enjoyed a
great meal, again.
While at La Casa we ran into
fellow fulltimers who were new to the area. They asked us where one
takes trash if they are camping in the free 14 day sites, and the answer
eluded us at first and then we thought there is a waste transfer station
north of town. We have always stayed in the LTVA's and with the lTVA
permit you get to use the water , dump station, and trash dumpsters.
For the fourteen day campers I did a bit of web research, that confirmed
what I thought; If you get propane, or dump and get fresh water at
the RV Pit Stop you can use their dumpster, also there is a waste
transfer station on the North edge of Quartzsite, on the west side of Hwy
95. the transfer station has limited hours, but is supposed to be
free? UPDATED info from readers Patty and
Peter The transfer station on 95 is open Sunday through Wednesday
from about 7:30 AM until 2 or 2:30 PM, and there is no charge.
This morning the thought
occurred to me that it is one year ago that I was suffering through Thanksgiving
and the long weekend after with my Pilonidal cyst, which put me in
the Parker hospital early in the morning the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
I am very thankful for my and Ron's good health this Thanksgiving.
We noticed that the crowd
at LA Casa like most of Quartzsite seems to be a little slower then last
year, I am wondering if the extremely high fuel prices forced a lot
of people off the road last spring, and they have made other plans for
the winter? What have you done in your travels? We are waiting
to see how many of the vendors show up this winter, there is nothing
more forlorn then a vacant flea market lot waiting for the vendors to show
up.
The picture above is of
the La Mesa RV sales lot in in Q, No RVs on the site yet. We wonder if
with the current RV sales situation if they will have a large presence
this year. Beaudry RV who had a huge lot on the south side of town is in
Chapter 11 and looks like will not be here at all. Sandy and Bob will have
to miss their free lunches they used to have.
 
The next few weeks should
see these lots fill up with vendors and RV's for sale, we will be taking
pictures to keep all of you up to date on the various shows as they open
and fill with vendors. I and many of the members of the Quartzsite
Gem and Mineral Club are anxiously waiting for the vendors in the Prospectors
Panorama to open, especially Altamont
Jewelry Supply so we can stock up. I have been doing a lot of
sterling silver chain work this fall and last summer, and will need to
get sterling silver wire from John as soon as he gets to town. I
will also be looking forward to the Desert
Gardens gem and mineral show and the
QIA Pow Wow.
Last year I did not get to
see much of the QIA Pow Wow as I was in the middle of a fairly involved
cabinet building project for the Gem and mineral Club; I had planned
on hitting the Pow Wow on the last day, and it got rained out; Will
not let that happen this year.
While on the subject of rain,
We have a couple days of rain this week. Wednesday we had quite a
bit of rain, enough that Tyson wash has water in it, and enough water
to close Hwy 95 going south to Yuma for a couple of hours while run off
kept the road closed. The road closure is fairly common when it rains
in AZ, as the state hwy dept. does not put in culverts on many of the roads;
The hwy dips down into the wash, and when it rains the water covers the
low points, It is quite dangerous to enter these low points when
there is water crossing the road, the vehicle can get washed off the road
with very little water. This morning there were still large puddles
of water in the areas around our trailer.
After our Thanksgiving dinner
We drove over to Blythe, Ca and went to Mayflower County park 6 miles NE
of Blythe on the Colorado River. They have a nice campground that
is usually full when we drive through. Being on the river they can
have green grass. Lots of room and mature trees as the photo above
show.
Ron here...
K Mart was our final stop
of the day, we picked up a few odds and ends, a couple of new
lamps for the trailer, a box of cereal, and a few other oddments,
we for once did not stop at Alberson's for anything. We dislike them as
they are expensive and know it as they are the only outlet in the city.
We can find about the same prices or better on sale days in Q at the General
Store.
Have a great Black Friday
and go shopping, as we will be sitting tight in Q as there are no big box
stores within 80 miles of here. Sure we have in the past rushed over to
Blythe, CA to Radio Shack but this year couldn't find anything in
their ad of interest. After all we just spent about $1500 on new stuff
from Best Buy last week. Think we have done enough to boost the economy
lately.
Have a great weekend as it
rained in Q and the temp late today was 70 and humidity was way up to 50%.
as compared to 15% all last week.
Going to be clear and sunny
forever as we go forward next week.
UPDATED
info from readers Patty and Peter. The
transfer station on 95 is open Sunday through Wednesday from about 7:30
AM until 2 or 2:30 PM, and there is no charge.
New
UPDATE:
On
the Garbage issue when staying in the FREE 14 day BLM areas.
From
another reader.
I
went there last year and I think I recollect that they required a
local resident address before you could dump. Is this
right? If so you might
put
this on the site as people will be disappointed. Dumping our
garbage was the one most major thing when we stayed last year.
Sunday Nov. 30th
Ron here don't want you
confused...
Sunday... We drove
out to the transfer station and the sign sez free for residents but $10
for non residents. Guess Quartzsite does not want to be tourist friendly
to the thousands of RVers who stop in the 14 day free camping areas and
spend their money in town at the grocery stores, gas stations and flea
markets. Shame on you Quartzsite.
Other than that is has been
normal Quartzsite, perfect weather while we hear a winter storm is kicking
up back in Iowa. Just in time for people to hit the roads on a Sunday night.
We usually take a drive
on the loop around Q to survey the vender status late each afternoon, and
also make a daily stop at the General Store for the few things we need
for supper each day. Getting back on first name basis with the folks there.
Dropped off our Sunday paper for Larry and Phyllis at the BLM entrance
station. They are the La Posa North hosts who coordinate the volunteers
who staff the station. A labor of love to service the long term visitors
who spend time in the BLM each season.
Stopped at  Rice
Ranch at the Indian Fry Bread Taco vender and picked up an early supper.
I wanted a BBQ sandwich
at another vender but Terry pleaded for Fry Bread. Since he bought I defered
to his wishes.
Added some of our own extra
sour cream and salsa. It was very filling and am now feeling like I did
after Turkey dinner last Thursday.
The General Store was giving
away pumpkins the other day and Terry just had to have one as he claimed
he was going to bake a pumpkin pie from stracth. As you can see it is still
sitting on the picnic table. We shall see. He also has a whole bunchs of
bananas in the freezer ready to make banana bread. I shouldn't be too critical
as Terry then proceeded to bake a loaf of sourdough bread. May have to
have a slice later tonight.
He was going to do it in
the dutch oven but it got late so he used the RV oven. Yes that is a pizza
pan so you know it is large.
Wow the last day of November.
Pension check hits the bank direct deposit and all is well. I like the
first of the month anymore, no mortage or
utilities, and while
staying in the BLM off the grid no RV parks or electric fees.
But I know you are saying
we paid big bucks up front for the solar, converter/inverter, plus batteries
and generator. So the payback takes many years that we could be staying
in an RV parks for the money we spent to not have to. As they say priceless.
Most RV parks in AZ anymove
are charging 16 cents a KWH plus tax. Sure we do run our 3000 Honda generator
at night and now that reg. fuel prices are back down that costs even less.
I figure the generator cost is about the same as commerical power when
turned on. So overall about about half the cost. Now don't quote me on
that as we do not get down to the nitty gritty of all this stuff... Life
is two short for that. We do this by feel and it works for us. Just like
when we know it is time to dump the black tank. Does your black tank gauge
work? Do you even look at it anymore? Thought so... Go with the flow
and let the rest take care of itself. And when you get lost ALWAYS blame
the navigator. And remember when you run out of gas the navigator in the
right side seat, gets out and goes walking for gas while the driver tunes
in his favorite XM radio station. Or if using diesel you are both
screwed. If you run out of diesel all kinds of things go wrong with
the engine. Like the injectors (those big buck things that make it all
work). I don't even want to think about it. Now you should have a Road
Service so none of this applies to you. We do have RV RoadHelp by Allstate
since 1999 and they have come to our rescue a couple of times and we would
not be without them. There may be better services out there, but that is
who we use, so be it. It comes with a KOA card discount, as if we would
ever want to stop at an overpriced KOA. There I go badmouthing KOA's. Just
stop it.... Good for vacation type people who don't know any better and
want to get their kids to a fun stop for the night and hang the cost, we
are only doing this once a year. Or if you have money to burn. Time to
stop posting and refresh my gin and tonic before I get in real trouble.
Time is flying waiting
for the winter RVers to show up. Did I say it is slow down here? This may
be the year they just don't show up. We shall see and let you know.
Last
update 9 pm AZ time Much of the above changed if you read it earlier.
I seem to post and go back and tweek it with later thoughts as the ice
cubes melt. Need to hold off and upload it as a finshed blog.
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