Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Quartzsite, my new winter home.

Was up quite early yesterday morning and got myself moving. Got everything secured, packed up and ready to go. Howard came out with a scrub brush and gave Ody a water bath, and boy does she look a whole lot better! She had been parked under the mesquite tree for a month with birds pooping on her, blowing dust, leaves and more. Then we took her to get her propane filled and to fill up the gas tank. 

I hooked up Firefly all by myself with Howard supervising, it went well the first try, and I headed out a little before 11 and was here by 1.  I found a nice spot and parked myself, got unhooked and semi settled in. Not going to fully settle until I am sure I am going to stay in this spot. It is a nice spot, just hope it doesn't get too crowded too soon.


Towing was a little different. When it came time to go, I couldn’t get the camera working, I think the extension cord was too big and it lost all it’s power by the time it reached the camera. I was trying to run it on an inverter. Will play with that setup again some other time so I can at least see that the car is still behind me. Couldn’t even see it. I did use a little more gas than normal, but that was to be expected. Ody handled it just fine. And I got it unhooked fairly easily too. I was worried about that part.

I have a nice spot. Already has a fire pit, a huge saguaro cactus, some funny little trees, some quail and a hummer that buzzed me several times. I need to find a way to put up a feeder. I have nothing to hang it off. A pole of some sort is on my shopping list this morning along with some sugar. Then I need to find my feeders. I may do a cheapie regular bird feeder too and see if I get any song birds.



Kali Cat snoozed the whole trip and was ready to eat again shortly after stopping. We won’t have to move until I either need propane or gasoline to run the generator and it is only four miles to town, so she should be fine for a while. 

Here is the most unusual encampment I have seen so far...


I will be setting up my screen house in the next day or two so I can have an outdoor room with a roof. I have the sail cloth tarps to give it walls, and clear shower curtains to create a wind break. I parked with the door facing the trees and the fire pit which means I will get the morning sun on that side, and the afternoon sun coming in the window over the bed  warming things up some. It was quite cool in the shade yesterday.

I also have firewood on my shopping list for today. I want to fill my drinking water bottles, all of them so I only have to do that once a week, and hit the farmers market. I need cat littler, a pole for the hummer feeder and a few other things. Hoping for some nice produce at the FM.

Did I mention that I have a cold and am very tired? By the time I had a chance to nap yesterday, it was too late in the day so I didn’t. Up again at 4 this morning. I will nap today. Not sure if I am going to walk today or not. I would like to get my errands done early and if I walk, that won’t happen. I guess I will see how warm it is this afternoon after I get the errands done and a nap. If I am up for it, I will walk then. I am not doing anything tomorrow, so I should be able to get in a good one. 

A bunch of TV stations, but I haven’t run thru them. I found ABC and stuck to it for the season finale of DWTS. Looking forward to seeing the Thanksgiving day parade on TV tomorrow. Will be the first time in several years. Can’t get live feed online, so I haven’t been able to watch it. Now that I get over the air TV, I should find several. 

I gave up and fired up Ody’s furnace this morning. It is 39 degrees out and was 51 in…I hate to use the propane for that, would like to just use it for the fridge, but it was too early to fire up the generator and use the electric heater. Quiet time is 10 PM to 6 AM.  I now have it fired up and am charging my rechargeables, heating my water, and will turn on the electric heater shortly. My little solar gen held up just fine for TV watching last night, and the battery in the Bose speaker did as well. I’m pleased with that. The longer cord I got for the solar panel will allow me to move the panel with the sun and hopefully I will only have to run the generator once a day. The only thing I am not thrilled with is that the antenna for the TV runs off the coach battery, not the house battery. I will have to start Ody’s engine to make sure it doesn’t run the battery down. 

OK, I can run the water heater and the electric heater at the same time on the generator. Yay. Good to know. 

Well, it is almost 7 AM, not even light out yet. Will be a while before we see any sun, but the farmers market opens at 8 and I would like to be there fairly early, so I am off to get washed up and dressed, especially while the heater is running. 

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