Cold and wet.

Not much to write about this morning. I went for a walk yesterday, went across the desert and thru the washes instead of following the roads. Just for a little variety. Almost two miles.

Did some reading in the afternoon. I had a can of gel fuel going for a little heat in the afternoon, so I decided to force it to multi task. I was having catfish for dinner and was going to open a can of turnip greens to go with, so I did that and put it over the gel fuel. By the time I got the fish cooked, the greens were hot. Was a good dinner. I cooked an extra piece of fish for lunch today and will have the remaining greens with it.

I didn’t go anywhere or do anything yesterday, saving it all for today. Unfortunately, there is no farmers market this week. But I will still do the post office, laundry, refill my water tank and hit Dollar General. I should get another couple of containers of gas for Ody, but I think I will wait until I get my pump and bigger gas can. Will be much easier to deal with.

Oh, I got the sewing machine out and tried it out yesterday. It is a little different than my old one, but it works ok. I got the polar fleece - very rough - curtains done for the bunk area. I ended up using the elastic cord that I already had there to hang them. The rod I got at DG wasn’t quite long enough, and it also stopped working. It wasn’t a tension rod anyway, so would have been a real pain in the ass. I am taking it back today. The curtains didn’t turn out even, but that is ok, the do what they were meant to do. Oh, and I did it all on sunshine. :) I used my solar generator to power the sewing machine. 

It is going to be a miserable, cold, wet and windy day today. It is just barely above freezing and started raining some time during the night. When the rain eventually stops, the wind is supposed to pick up. The rain is different here. It is bigger drops, further apart and really doesn’t wet much of anything other than you if you are out in it. It hasn’t poured rain yet. Just enough to be annoying and uncomfortable. Not even wet under the rig.

I was invited to the neighbors campfire tonight, weather permitting. Supposed to be sunny and cold tomorrow for the hike. Have been gathering information for other walks/hikes in the general area.

Today when I get back from doing my chores, I am going to put on a bean soup on the gel fuel. I will need it for the warmth, and I have been soaking the beans overnight. An afternoon on the fuel should be enough to finish cooking them. I have to get serious about my diet. Need to work on getting my numbers down again. I need to break the snacking habit. 

Kali Cat still seems to be fine. Thankfully. I have caught her sitting in front of the heater a couple of times, but mostly she snoozes on the bed. I moved her little bed to the bench by the dinette and she sleeps beside it, not in it. She really doesn’t like that bed. I’m glad I didn’t spend the money for a bigger one.

Won’t be any shower tonight, no sun to warm the water. Hopefully tomorrow after the hike. I still have plenty of room in the gray water tank, so until that is full, I will be showering indoors with a heater going. The days are supposed to warm up next week, so that will help. The warmer the day, the hotter the water. I may also try making a solar oven. That is on my list of things to try out.

Howard called yesterday to check up on me. We chatted for a while. I mentioned coming back to Yuma in March and they were good with that. So that is the plan for now. It will start getting hot by then and electricity for the AC will be very handy. Might even get the water tank dealt with then. In the meantime, I will hike, explore, and maybe join the rock and gem club for a little socialization. They have field trips too. 

Well, time to get myself moving. I want to be at the post office shortly after it opens. That seems to be the best time of day, shorter lines. My sewing machine case and folding grill are there waiting for me. Can’t wait to try the grill. Then laundry, and a little shopping at DG.

Happy New Year!

Another visit with Mike.

Had another nice visit with my brother yesterday. He arrived late morning. We chatted, he looked at the generator and just generally checked things out. Says Ody is a good rig.

We went to lunch at Sweet Darlene’s, it had four stars on Google Maps. This was the first time I have eaten out since I have been here, almost five weeks. It was my birthday dinner. I had the jalepeno burger with fries and strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. My last normal meal for a while. I need to get back to healthy eating and get my numbers down again. I really don’t want to go back on the meds, and I would also like to loose some more weight.

This morning I used my Amazon gift cards that I got for Christmas. I bought stuff I needed instead of fun stuff. I ordered the generator exhaust mod to get the exhaust above Ody’s roof, a battery operated pump to transfer gas from the cans to Ody, a larger gas can (since I won’t have to lift it to pour gas), a cup holder for the tracker, and a backup cable for the new phone. There was some fun stuff I would have liked to have gotten, but went with the necessary items instead. I was going to order a rechargeable fan too, but they wouldn’t ship to a PO box, so I will wait until I am back in Yuma and have a street address. 

There was enough sun yesterday to bring my sun shower up to 90 degrees, so after Mike left, I put a pot of water on the stove and brought the temp up even more and got a shower. Even got my hair washed. I miss being able to take a shower every day, but this is better than nothing. 

It wasn’t quite as cold this morning. 38 outside, 48 inside. I can deal with that for a short time. Much better than yesterday. 

Before Mike got here yesterday, I took a quick trip in town and got some gas for Ody, went to the post office, and stopped and bought some more butane for my stove and heater. It was reasonably priced considering. So, so far, I am managing. The cold yesterday is probably the worst of it, and I made it thru ok. 

Other than that, I really don’t have a lot to offer this morning. I did walk down to the gate house to meet Mike on his way in, so I got in a walk yesterday. Planning on walking again today. I could go to the post office, my folding charcoal grill is there, and I could get more gas for Ody, but I think I will wait until tomorrow and hit the farmers market too. I would like to go into Beall’s at some point since I have never been in one. This one will be closing in the spring from what I hear. Q has a hard time keeping year round businesses because of the nature of the town. Dead in the summer.

Here are some photos I took last week. The hawk is a regular in this area, but this is the first time he sat here for any length of time.

Another cold one

Yesterday stayed in the 50’s and it got cold again last night. When I got up this morning, it was 25 out and 37 in. I stayed in bed until 6 which is when I can fire up the generator. I have it all the way up to 57 degrees inside now. I wonder how my water lines are holding up, I never considered a possible freeze, it is Arizona!

I spent a little time in the screen house rearranging and pulling stuff for the trade blanket. My pile of stuff out there has gotten pretty small. Yay. :) I even reorganized the outside storage area. I have used enough of the butane cans and that made room for me to put some loose stuff in the bin. 

The trade blanket went slowly, lots of chatter, local politics, etc., and I ended up leaving a little after five with only two trades under my belt. Neither were that great, but I reduced my junk pile by a little. Some of the stuff I brought back will be taken up to the dumpster area and left for people that can use it. I brought home a few pieces of jewelry that I will take apart and reuse the components, and some DVD movies. Mostly guy movies, but better than nothing when I am looking for something to watch. I will remove them from their cases and put them in sleeves to reduce space usage.

I left for the trade blanket a little early and filled my water bottles. I also went to Dollar General and picked up a few things. Got more of the battery operated candles. They were on sale, half price, so I bought extras. They are the greatest things! I put one in the bathroom so I will always have a night light, and two of them are on the dinette table. They are on some sort of internal timer. They come on at the same time every day and stay on for six hours, then go off. Can’t beat the price. 

I also grabbed a shower curtain tension rod, the only thing that would go to 53 inches, for the curtains over the bed. I’m hoping it will fit without having to remove the day/night shade. I don’t like the shades, but I don’t want to remove them either. Resale value and all that.

I was going to stop and get some gas for Ody on the way back, but it had gotten cold and I really needed to use the bathroom. I will have to go get some this morning. Plus, I haven’t been to the post office since Tuesday. Must be something there to pick up. 

Kali Cat woke me at 4 AM this morning. She was poking at me with her claws. I’m afraid some day she is going to get me in the eye or something. She ended up having to wait until I got up at 6 because I wasn’t getting out of bed if I couldn’t turn on the heaters. She seems to be fine. No more out of box peeing that I have found, no blood and her nose has cooled off. Got my fingers crossed!

Mike is coming to visit today. Yay! My first Quartzsite company. I’m looking forward to it. Not sure what time tho. I can follow his progress on my phone tho. 

Well, time to get washed up and dressed. I have already heated my wash water before I shut down the generator and I don’t want it to get cold before I can use it.  Hoping it will warm up enough in the next day or so that I can get a shower!

Winter in the desert

Yesterday, after I got done writing and cleaned the litter box, I discovered a puddle of pee in the passenger seat. Thankfully, I had a moving blanket over the seat so most of it didn’t soak thru. I mopped that up looking for any discoloration, and it was a sizable puddle. No red, totally clear, and so far, no other “accidents” since. I now have the seat covered in several layers of waterproofing. Sigh…I worried all day about this, and am hoping that she isn’t getting sick again. Her nose was quite warm, but seems to be ok now. I can’t keep doing this. But I also  can’t make “that” decision. Especially since she seems to be just fine otherwise. Will just have to keep an even closer eye on her.

Anyway, another quiet day. Never made it out of the 50’s and it got windy again. I was reading online where winter lasts about two weeks here, so hopefully we are about half way thru. Was 28 degrees outside this morning and 37 in. I have run the generator and both heaters until the CO detector went off, I may have to start it up again when the air clears. I did get it up to 60 degrees, but it is still 29 out, so it won’t hold at 60 unless the sun comes out very soon.

I piddled around a little with the car yesterday. Lubing door locks, cleaned up my garbage, etc. New air freshener. Locks are working a little better and I think I have worked out the problem with the ignition key. I have a hard time getting it out when I shut the car off. Gotta push before pulling, it makes a difference. Didn’t have to do that with any of my other cars. It will be come habit soon.

I finished the Sex and the City DVD’s and even watched one of the movies. Time to find something else to watch. Maybe Gilmore Girls, haven’t seen that for a while. Or see if there is anything worth watching on regular TV.

I didn’t leave my campsite yesterday. But I will be going out today. I need to stop and pick up a few things before the swap this afternoon, and I also need to get rid of my garbage and fill my sun shower bag. It has been too cold to heat up the water in the black bucket, so no showers until it warms up some. Hoping for this next week. I didn’t think it would be this cold here. I didn’t walk either. By the time I got dressed and out, the wind had already picked up. The wind is very cold.

I got all my Christmas stuff down and put away. I took all the balls off the tree and tossed them. Cut the base off the tree, rolled it in some brown paper and bagged it. Found a spot for it in the storage area, so it is good until next year and out of the way finally. I put the base in the small plastic bin the rest of my xmas stuff is in. Feels a little less cluttered than it did. This rig is so small that not much I can do that will make it feel uncluttered. I will figure out a way to reattach the base when it comes time to set it up next year.

I have a little bit of web work that I need to do. Have been putting it off because I have to haul out the big computer to do it. Although, I learned how to FTP on this computer when I was with Mike. Just not comfortable doing it on a customer site yet. Will have to play with it and get comfortable with it. 

The sim card I ordered from Walmart has been delayed, so I canceled that one and ordered one directly from StraightTalk. I can’t activate the phone until that comes. Unfortunately, it is a different size from the one in my old phone, so I can’t just use that one. I could probably trim it, but don’t want to take the chance of damaging it and not having any phone for days. Besides, it needs the sim if I want to reactivate it at some point.

I have had the generator and heaters off about 45 minutes, it has already dropped 10 degrees in here. I will have to get dressed soon before it is too cold to wash up. But will do the web work first and get that out of the way. I may have to fire up the butane heater. But will try to get by without it.

Cold and windy.

I didn’t do much yesterday, it never really warmed up and it got windy again. I’m not liking the wind much. Makes me nervous. Mostly about the screen house which is my storage area. I will need to go out today and rearrange things since it has blown every which way for days. Tomorrow is the swap blanket, so I need to go thru the stuff anyway.

Today isn’t supposed to make it out of the 50’s and windy again, and I haven’t walked at all this week. I really need to get back out there.  I read a book yesterday, and when I finished that, I started the Sex and the City DVD’s again. I have another day or two before I run out of those, then will have to find something else to watch. Maybe I will try TV again. I haven’t turned that on in about a week or so.

New Year’s day there is a group that is going to climb/hike Q Mountain. I am going to give it another try. I had planned to anyway, and maybe they know of another route. I will be taking my walking stick this time. So I really need to get out and build up my endurance again, even tho that is only a week away. I will walk today, thinking about heading out somewhere and walking some place different. I get so bored! After that, I might get the sewing machine out and do the curtains for the bunk area. I may even start taking down the xmas stuff and seeing how compact I can make it. I am going to take the balls off the little xmas tree and toss them. They are glass and breakable. I have broken a couple already. I will keep the tree tho and find some new unbreakable ones next year. Will probably cut it in half and take the base off so I can put it in a tube or small box of some sort…maybe. I just thought of a place I could try to stash it, but the base will still have to come off. I wouldn’t have to cut it in half tho. Not sure where I will put the lights, but they are solar so they will be put to use and not packed away.

I ran my little butane heater all day. Used about three cans of butane. Expensive. I get about four hours of heat out of one can. I did find a place in town that sells it for $6 for four cans. That is about what I paid for it online. It was 40 degrees indoors this morning and 32 out. One more night of this and it is supposed to warm up for a while. It wasn’t even nice enough to heat my black bucket of water. I didn’t go fill the shower bag anyway. Didn’t clean out the car, didn’t do much of anything. I did eventually get dressed.

I have decided I want to get a few more of the battery operated candles I bought at Dollar General a week or so ago. They are great! They are on some sort of a timer and come on by themselves and stay on six hours and then turn themselves off. They fit in a standard candle holder and look like real candles when lit with the flicker and all. And they give off a surprising amount of light. So I want a couple of backups. I don’t know if they sell them year round or not, so I want to get them while I can. They were only $2 each.

I did get one string of lights up inside Ody yesterday. They look pretty crappy during the day, but look nice at night. For now, I have the little solar panel inside the glass, but it really should be outside. Although I noticed my tree, which is outside, didn’t last the night like it usually does, so maybe there just wasn’t that much sun yesterday. Poor little thing is all lopsided and looks pretty ugly right now. Has taken a hell of a beating with all the wind.

The new phone is supposed to be unlocked today. I will get that done, but I can’t activate it until I get the new sim card. That won’t be until some time next week. Hopefully I won’t have to wait too long. 

I did download the photos that I took at Christmas, but there weren’t many and they weren’t all that great. I got a couple of good ones of Mike, but only one of Judy from the back and none of Nevaeh. Oh well. 

Well, it is just about time for me to get moving. I’m glad I kept my gloves and ear muffs, it is still 32 degrees out and I can’t walk in temps like that without gloves or covering my ears. Pretty much anything below 50 degrees makes my ears hurt.

The day after...

Well, it was a long drive back yesterday, fighting the wind the whole way. The drive over to Chandler was a little better, but the tracker isn’t a good long distance car. If I have to do anything like that again, I will rent a big car for the trip. But it was great to see Mike and Judy. It was like we saw each other last week. We spent some time on our computers, I learned a few things. Chatted, ate, and did it all over again yesterday. I’m hoping they do come to Q before they head back to Wisconsin. I would like to spend a little more time with them.

My room at the Quality Inn was very nice. I think this is the first time I have ever spent a night in a hotel room by myself other than when I was sent to school when I was working for BEU. But, even tho the room was nice, the walls were very thin. I got to listen to the guy snoring next door. And then, in the wee hours, SHE arrived. Doors slamming, knocking on the door, etc. So I was up for a while. The bed and pillows were awesome. It was a pillow top mattress of some sort and was very comfortable. I took two showers just because I could. Hot running water, a flushing toilet, electricity, was a nice little treat.

When I got back last night, my solar panels had blown over. Looks like we had some pretty nasty wind here yesterday. I am going to have to put the tarps and lights back up on the screen house as well. I got the solar panels set back up and found an even bigger rock to weight it down. This is the first time that has happened.

This morning it was 33 degrees outside and 41 inside. I stayed under the blanket until it was late enough to fire up the generator. Now that the generator is off, I have the little butane heater going to keep the chill off. There is a freeze warning for tonight, so it will be even colder.

Mike and Judy gave me an iPhone 5 for Christmas. It was his before he upgraded to iPhone 6. I will need to get a sim card for it, and we are still waiting for it to be unlocked by AT&T, so I won’t be able to activate it until next week sometime unless Mike and Judy do come to Q and can pick up a sim at Walmart for me on the way. I have sent them the info on the card that I need. I got several Amazon gift cards for Christmas, I used one already for the sewing machine case. I may use the others for a bigger propane heater. I’m not going to jump right in and spend them, I need to think about it a little. 

Christmas eve dinner was traditional mexican fare. Was very good. Enchiladas, a chicken enchilada type thing, salsa, refried beans, etc. Christmas dinner was a ham and several kinds of salad. I got to bring home a doggie plate and had that for dinner last night. I have some ham left and will do something with that. Not sure what yet.

I had to stop and gas up the car on the way back, had a few extra miles due to the hotel round trip and was fighting the wind which reduced my mpg. We were just about in the red zone when I hit town. The Arco was open, so I stopped. I only had  a little more than two gallons left in the tank and would have been fine, but since it is a new (to me) car, I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to take the chance. Today I will put the fuel injection cleaner in it. 

I have a list of work that I need to have done on the car, mostly general maintenance stuff that is normal. I just need to find a reputable mechanic here.

I haven’t really walked in days. We did walk around the block yesterday, but it was more of a stroll for me, and Wednesday, a cruise around Walmart a couple of times by the time we got done, so I haven’t spent all my time on my butt. But I did eat like a normal person for two days, including desserts, so I will have to work those off.

I took a few pictures, but haven’t processed them yet. Will post them when I do. I’m getting a very slow start this morning and I have chores that need to be done and a walk to get in. Other than that, nothing on the agenda besides cleaning out the car. I have the old wiper blades, an empty oil bottle and trash from the drive that needs to be dealt with. And at some point I need to refill the solar shower so I can take a shower tomorrow. I'm hoping it warms up for the day and the wind stays away. The sun is out.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Road Trip!

Rough night last night. Woke up overheated and stuffed up. Stayed up until I was cold and could breath, but then couldn’t get back to sleep. I think I finally got a little bit, but it was full of those dreams you have when you are semi conscious. They were about working at BEU…I wonder what that was all about? Haven’t thought about that in years.

Anyway, got my laundry done yesterday morning, gassed up the car and filled both spare gas tanks for Ody. Also walked to the post office while the laundry was washing. My pop up shower enclosure came.  Filled my water tanks on the way back and got the sun shower out and heating up. Added the gas to Ody, about an eighth of a tank worth (5 gallons), and that will run the generator conservatively about a week. I’m going to try putting off a propane run until after New Year’s, but we will see how it goes. I’m only using it for the fridge, heat is electric and butane. Cooking is butane and electric.

It got windy yesterday. That always makes me nervous. My little tree blew over even with rocks on it’s base, so I had to get bigger rocks. I kept an eye on the screen house, so far so good. It has held up to some pretty nasty winds so far.  Read another whole book, then came in and watched DVD’s for a while. I didn’t do much about getting ready for this morning, will do that as I go.

My feet never warmed up after I went back to bed this morning. And when I got up just before 6, the temperature indoors was 47 degrees. I have both heaters going now. I usually only use one. One of them is blowing directly on me, the other is facing the bathroom so that will be nice and toasty when it comes time to wash up and dress.

Oh, I got another shower last night. :) This time I used a 5 gallon bucket, sun heated water, and had enough to wash my hair. I did have to heat a small pot of water because the water cooled some from the time I brought it in to the time I got my shower. Dinner was cooking when I brought it in (pork chops and brussel sprouts). Next time I will use my pop up shower enclosure instead of adding water to my tanks.

Starting to get excited about my road trip today. Considered leaving the car here and bringing Ody, but I already made my reservation, and leaving KC here by herself will probably be a lot less traumatic for her than several hours on the road. I am so looking forward to seeing Mike and Judy, and the hotel room almost as much! Gonna use up a lot of that free wifi. I have been putting off updates because I didn’t want to spend the money on my pay per gig. Tried the McDonalds thing a week or so ago, but it was so very slow I canceled it. 

The cracked screen on my ipad is really bugging me. I guess I will end up replacing it. I don’t want to spend the money, but mine is actually about five years old now. I did good with my first ipad. :) Managed to keep it whole and working a long time. Will probably go with the mini next time.

Well, it is 7 AM and about 20 degrees warmer in here than it was when I got up. So it is time to start getting ready to head out. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

The tree has lights, and I had a shower

I got a shower right here in the rig yesterday! My battery operated shower thingy came yesterday, (http://www.amazon.com/Ivation-Battery-Powered-Handheld-Portable-Shower/dp/B00IFHFJXI ) I got it all charged up and there was enough sun to make the water in the bucket quite warm. I hauled it all in and got a shower indoors since my enclosure hasn’t arrived yet. It felt good even tho I had to keep turning it off so I would have enough water to finish rinsing. Not enough water in the little bucket to do a hair wash too, but I can do that separately. So, if the thing holds up, it is money well spent.  The black bucket actually seems to work better than the sun shower bag. I will have to see if I can find another black bucket to double my water.  Plus, the one I have could use a lid. Of course, everything has a learning curve. The shower thingy is rechargeable and charges up via USB, and I will charge it with my little solar generator.

Yesterday morning I went to the post office. I picked up my sewing machine, two sets of solar string lights, the shower thing, a Christmas gift from Iola and one other thing that I can’t remember right now. Surprisingly, I didn’t have to wait too long in line. I guess I timed it right - again. I also hit Dollar General and picked up a few groceries. Then back to camp and opened everything. 

I read two books yesterday. It was quite a bit warmer, so I spent the afternoon in the screen house . I even got to open Ody’s windows for the afternoon.  I put one set of lights on the little tree. It looks nice, Still lit up this morning. The other set is over the table, still bundled as I haven’t decided how I am going to put them up yet and were the solar panel is going to go.

Other than that, it was an unremarkable day. Kali Cat played with her gift from Iola. That was fun. I got some of it on video.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204232795912533&set=vb.1006638889&type=2&theater

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204232733550974&set=vb.1006638889&type=2&theater

I ended up with the two strings of solar lights because the one that I thought was going back because of the wrong zip code actually made it to me. Go figure. But I can use them both, one inside and one outside. Or, I could set up one set in the bathroom. Without electricity, there is no night light in there. I will find a use for the second set. My little tree wearing it's set.

I have been up since 2:30 and am going back to bed now to try and get a little more sleep. I will be doing laundry this morning and getting ready to head to Phoenix tomorrow. I need to gas up the car, pull a few things out of it, get my stuff together, and am hoping to get a hair wash and a shower in before the day is over. I will also have to fill my blue water tank since I will be putting what is left in the black bucket to heat. I could probably get by another day or so without washing my hair, I will have access to a real shower tomorrow.

I was cold all day yesterday. It was actually cooler inside than it was outside.

The Trade Blanket was a success. I was a little uncomfortable at first, but I got over it. I got rid of everything I brought, and brought home a few nice things. Definitely smaller things. :) I ended up with two bottles of home made Prickly Pear Cactus wine, two jars of jelly, some earrings and a beautiful crystal wand. The wand is something I would have looked at, but not buy, so I am really pleased with that. 

Plus, I met some new people. They are planning on doing it again this next Sunday and I will have to see what I can trade. I did get a couple of things that I won’t keep, but it is a whole lot less than what I went there with. I also got a dichroic glass pendant that is a keeper. I’m taking one of the bottles of wine with me on Wednesday, maybe some jelly too. 

After I got back I chatted with Mike for a while. Figured out when I will be going to Phoenix and then made a reservation at a hotel. That took a while. The nice ones were more than I wanted to spend, then to find an affordable one in a decent neighborhood. I ended up with Quality Inn about ten miles from where they are staying. I will head out of here Wednesday morning and come back Thursday afternoon. They might even take a road trip and come visit me here. I would like that. I am looking forward to seeing Mike and Judy, and the bonus is that I will have a running shower, electricity and free wifi. Looking forward to that shower! I plan on taking more than one. 

I missed the fact that it was winter solstice until this morning. I am happy that the days will start getting longer. I guess it doesn’t affect me as much out here because I can get outdoors and have been.

I have several packages at the post office, my new sewing machine being one of them. I can finally do the curtains for the bunk area. My solar string lights are another, and the battery powered shower/pump. I don’t think the shower enclosure will make it by the time I pick up my stuff unless I wait until afternoon to go. But it is only four miles one way, I can go back again tomorrow if I have to. I should gas up Firefly and fill the two gas tanks for Ody. I also need to run Ody for a little while. It has been over a week and I don’t want to let her sit too long because the battery isn’t all that strong. I will have to replace it at some point, but will keep it as long as it isn’t too much of a pain in the ass.

I use my little heater last night. It worked pretty good. :) I only need it while I am up, don't use it when I am sleeping. I use the electric heaters in the mornings when I have the generator going.

Scooter for sale!

I have decided to sell my electric scooter. I would much rather be on four wheels instead of two.  It has eight miles on it. All charged up and ready to go. Would make a great Christmas gift. Hitch rack included. $1200
La Posa South, Quartzsite, AZ

Yesterday was a puttering kind of day. Got my walk in, covered a little ground I hadn’t done before. Then came back, chatted with my neighbors a for a few minutes. They are going to be here all week, so they will keep an eye on things while I am in Phoenix. 

Mike and Judy made it to Winslow yesterday. Almost there. They have about three and a half hours to go. It will be a little over two hours for me to get there. I’m looking forward to a night in a motel with a real shower, electricity and free wifi. :) PLUS seeing Mike and Judy. It has been about eight years since I saw them last. I still don’t know what the schedule is, so I don’t know when I will be going.

I did get my hair washed. I ended up putting some foil around the sun shower, and removing a gallon or two of water and putting it in a black bucket. So it was lukewarm, but was warm enough to do what I needed to do. The flow on the sun shower was very disappointing, I am hoping the battery operated one is much better. Solar hot water and an outdoor shower can be done, it just needs some tweaking and experimenting.

Nothing on the agenda for today except the trade blanket, and that isn’t until three this afternoon. Since it is Sunday, I am probably going to blow off the walk for the day. I did better this last week, walked every day but Wednesday. A day without aching hip joints would be nice.

Another craft fair and a little more exploration.

I got a pleasant surprise when I went to town yesterday, there was a craft fair going on at the Senior Center across the street from the Salvation Army. I wandered thru there for a little while, and got the card for the lady with the nice copper jewelry. I did get a couple of things for Christmas for next year. Then I went to the Salvation Army, didn’t find much of anything there, but did get a Quillow (pillow/blanket combo) for fifty cents. I then took it directly to the laundromat and tossed it in and washed it. It is in mint condition, so now I have a TV watching blanket that has a pocket for my feet. It folds up into itself making a pillow. I had made a bunch of these years ago, and I wore mine out - literally. This one has puffy batting and a kitty fabric.

While I was at the laundromat, I spotted Sylvia and Al walking along the road. We chatted for a little while. I met them originally at Elephant Butte, and then again at Leasburg Dam. From there, I was going to head back to camp, but did stop at the Flatlander’s Mercantile, didn’t see much of anything there, and I walked both sides of the road to see what else was available. Then took a wrong turn when I left, didn’t look at my compass to see which way to camp. I ended up turning around in a mexican imports parking lot and figured since I was there, I would look around. I did buy a few things there. They had some beautiful imported sinks. If I only had  a place to put one. I got a mexican blanket to put on the bed after Christmas and a couple little metal sculptures and a tiny hand carved quail. 

Back to camp and had some lunch, read a book, and then DVD’s for the rest of the evening wrapped up in my new quillow.

I am finally sleeping later in the morning. Yay. It is too cold to be up without being able to run the generator and get some heat. So the later I sleep, the better. Only had to wait a half hour this morning. It was 36 degrees out this morning, 50 something in.

Today’s challenge is to figure out how to get my hair washed without hot running water. The solar shower isn’t heating up enough during the day. I think I am going to have to let some water out, maybe get a second one and only half fill both. It gets warm, but not hot.

Oh, I also got some rocks at the craft fair. Again, hoping for inspiration. Already tumbled and ready to use.

Tomorrow there is a trade blanket going on at 3. I want to check it out. I have plenty of stuff to get rid of, so maybe I can swap it for something useful. Will have to go thru my stuff today and set some things aside. It will also be a way to meet some people.

Oh, and I finally placed a claim on eBay for the broken sewing machine. Got my money back. I feel bad for the seller, but I am also glad to get my money back. It wasn’t packaged well, and I really doubt that it actually worked, it had packing peanuts inside it, and several cracks and breaks. I might take it to the trade blanket tomorrow and see if I can rehome it. If not, it will go in the dumpster.

Mike and Judy left Wisconsin yesterday and headed to Chandler AZ. They did 900 miles yesterday and if they keep up the pace, might arrive tonight. If not, they will arrive at a decent hour tomorrow. Not sure when I will see them, but am not planning on taking Ody, just Firefly (the car). Which means I can’t be gone too long because of Kali Cat and her feed schedule.  Maybe I can get them to come visit me for a day.

So, my goals for the day are to walk, get my hair washed, and pull together a bin of stuff for the trade blanket tomorrow. Not a lot, but will keep me busy for a little while. 

I picked up a package from my sister at the post office yesterday, but the mug that was in it didn’t survive the trip. :( It is too bad, it was a really nice mug and I had been looking for a nice xmas mug. It was only wrapped in paper, so it had no cushion. I think part of last year’s gift was broken too if I remember correctly.  And I also got a package from Ellen. :) I will have one package to open. Iola said she sent something too…

Another slow day.

Weather wise, it was nicer yesterday. Still cool tho. I spent the morning outside, but came in and read in the afternoon. I had an impromptu campfire last night. Got tired of seeing the boxes and stuff sitting in the fire pit and torched it. I think I am going to have to rake out some of the ash before I have another. My sun shower didn’t get all that warm, but maybe it will be warm enough today to get my hair washed.

I walked my garbage over to the dumpster, almost a mile and a half by the time I got back. Listed a few things on the local buy, sell, trade FB page, and that was about it. A book for the afternoon and DVD’s for the evening.

I had catfish and turnip greens for dinner. The rig is so small, I can’t cook anything in the frying pan without the smoke alarm going off. Every night. Even with the fan over the stove going. 

Kali Cat still seems to be fine, knock on wood…I’m fine. I’m eating too much, bored. Need to break that habit. At least I don’t have a bunch of junk food here so everything I eat isn’t bad for me, just too much of it.

That is about it for today. A trip to the post office, maybe a little wander someplace I haven’t wandered yet. A walk, and if it warms up any, maybe a scooter ride later. It has just been too chilly to be riding. Wishful thinking, mostly cloudy and cool today, high of 63. Maybe I will take a ride to Blythe and check that out.

Not much today.

Not much to write about today. Got my chores done yesterday. Didn't bother to buy gas for Ody, when I checked, I had used less than a quarter tank running the generator. Will do it next time.

Hit the farmers market, did laundry and did a little shopping at Dollar General. Picked up my package at the post office and then headed back.

By the time I got back, it was rainy and nasty, so I spent the afternoon inside watching videos after I read a book. I think it is supposed to clear up today. We could use some sunshine.

Need to get some wiper blades for Firefly. Hers are dry and stiff. But they did work.

Nothing on the agenda for today. Again, I should deal with the stuff I have in the screen house.

The package I picked up at the post office was my solar lights for the hanging candolier. I got those installed and the screen house now has light.

It doesn't feel much like December or Christmas to me. Even less than it did when I was in Vermont.

An unremarkable day

Yesterday turned out to be very similar to the day before, sunny for a couple of hours, then dreary and cold the rest of the day. I’m getting some reading done. Was too cold to take the scooter out again. But it is supposed to start warming up again, and we should be getting more sunshine in a day or so. There hasn’t been enough sun to charge up my solar gen, so I have been having to run the big generator twice a day.

I did get in a walk. Nothing exciting, just along the roads and back. Am hoping to do some more exploring here when it warms up enough to ride the scooter.

Barbara stopped in for a quick visit on her way to town yesterday. 

I finished up the rotisserie chicken and cleaned out the fridge in preparation for today’s jaunt to the farmers market. I also need to do laundry and hit Dollar General for some cat litter. Plus I need to fill my drinking water bottles. And go to the post office. I know of one package that is there, and there might be more by now. I will fill my gas cans for the generator, and dump the garbage at the dumpsters while I am out. Chore day.

I just got notification that my sewing machined has shipped. I don’t know if I will get it before Christmas or not, but it will be nice to finally have a working sewing machine again. This one is much lighter than my old kenmore. I will need to get a case for it tho, I have selected a soft sided case which will make it easier to move around.

I did a little bit of web work for one of the snowmobile sites and then created and sent out invoices for this year’s updates. I don’t make much money on it, but it is better than nothing. I have another to do this morning.

Once I get all my chores done, I may shop the other side of Keuhn road. I haven’t done that yet. There is a Flatlander’s Mercantile I would like to check out. But I can’t spend any money. It is time I started making money instead of spending it, it isn’t bottomless, and it doesn’t grow on trees.

Well, that is about it for here. Nothing new and exciting. I managing without running water, so far so good. But it hasn’t been sunny enough to heat up the solar shower, so I haven’t been able to try that out yet. I may have to pay for a shower this week. I will have to take Ody out some time next week to gas her up, both gas and propane, and dump my tanks, but until then, I’m good. Or will be when I fill the gas tanks.

Nip in the air

Not much to write about this morning. I piddled around for a while in the morning. Got the knobs installed on my door slider, one on each side. I had to cut the head of the screw off so I could screw in the knobs from both sides. That was interesting. I have a hack saw, but didn’t have any way to secure the screw without damaging it, so I reversed the process - held the saw still and moved the screw up and down the saw. I could have used my bolt cutter, but I needed to make sure the threads weren’t squished or damaged.  I also took the rack I got at Salvation Army a week or so ago and took it apart and made two individual racks out of it. I had to drill new screw holes, but it is back up and looks much better. Found a spot for the second one as well.

I did spend a little time in the screen house, but all I did was rearrange and put the tarp up on the inside walls so it has three walls instead of screened sides. I walked a little over a mile too, just right here in the park. Firefly never got started and I didn’t go anywhere.

It was in the lower 60’s all day with a breeze, so it was long pants and heavy sweatshirt all day. Not a lot of sun. In fact, the afternoon was downright dismal. Too cold for scooter riding too. Spent the afternoon reading.

I discovered my ipad has a cracked screen. I dropped it last week, and thought it came out unscathed, but it didn’t. :( I don’t know how long it will keep going with the cracked screen, but will back it up, and hope that it lasts indefinitely. I paid a lot of money for that thing. Although it is four plus years old now. I use it pretty much every day, it is how I read. Maybe I will get the mini next time. But will use this one as long as it will continue working. 

That is about all I have this morning. I don’t have any plans to go anywhere today. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy. Hoping for some sunshine today. I had to run the generator for a little while last night for some heat, and have both electric heaters going in the morning to take the chill off.  If it is any warmer than yesterday, I may take the scooter out for a while. I could go to the post office, but tomorrow is the farmers market and laundry day, so I might as well just wait until then. Just checked the weather, is isn’t supposed to warm up until next week. I guess I should get some gas for Ody so I can keep the generator working. I have the two two gallon cans I can fill. The generator doesn't use that much gas, but if I am firing it up twice a day, might as well be proactive.

No internet and a quick trip to Parker

Yesterday didn’t turn out the way I had expected. Was fiddling around and received an email on my phone that wouldn’t download, so I went to fire up the mifi to see if I could get to to load on my computer, and the mifi device was dead. That meant no internet! The only access I would have would be my phone. Sorry, I need my internet. I tried resetting it, plugging it in somewhere else, even fired up the generator, banged it on the table as a last resort..nada. So, the closest Walmart is in Parker. I had planned on going to Parker sometime this week just to check it out, but instead, I had to make a mad dash. It wasn’t a bad ride, about 35 minutes or so, all desert of course. 

Walmart was easy to find. I got the very last device they had. This time, I bought the protection plan since my last one only lasted about four months. It cost me $150 to get back online, but $50 of that is 5 gig of service, which I haven’t used yet. I was able to transfer my existing balance from one device to the other, and somewhere in there I gained 4 gig of service. I will save the card for the next time I run out. 

Did a little shopping while I was there. I got a 7 gallon water jug, probably should have gone with the two 5 gallon collapsible ones, as I can barely lift the full 7 gallon jug. I also picked up a few groceries including a rotisserie chicken and some potato salad. That will be several meals I won’t have to cook. Got some knobs for my door, and a few other things that were on my list, plus a few things that weren’t.

Since it was a spur of the moment run to Parker, I didn’t have any snacks with me, so I had to stop at McDonalds and grab a quick bite. Got a Jalepeno burger, and it was good! 

I didn't get a chance to drive around and check the place out as I had bought some frozen catfish fillets and I didn't want to take the chance of them thawing. I also didn't have a cooler bag and it was quite warm in the car.

Got back, got the internet up and working, but not without problems. The instructions were wrong and I had to call customer service. The guy was very good. Was very happy to be back online. After that I went and filled my solar shower bag and my new water tank, and took my garbage to the dumpsters.

The rest of the day, since it was late afternoon by then, was spent trying to find something to watch on TV. TV really sucks. I need to get a DVD player or find a place to put my big laptop so I can watch DVD’s. 

Chicken and potato salad for dinner. KC got some of the chicken. She loves it. She has turned into an annoying beggar since I have started giving her people food. She always begged before, but it is much worse now. And when she is hungry, she doesn’t hesitate to let me know about it.

It never got warm here yesterday. I don’t think it hit 70 all day. I wore jeans and my heavy sweatshirt with my hiking shoes all day. 

I did get a shower yesterday. Used up most of the water that was in the tank. Not sure if I am going to bother to fix it, because if I do, I will use it and then will have to deal with moving Ody and dumping my tanks. I might just try to get by with the solar shower and the 7 gallon jug. My drinking water is separate anyway. I buy that in gallon jugs. When I am hooked up to water, the tank doesn’t come into play, so I may just put it off until I go back to Yuma in the spring. The water jug is just outside the door and I brought in my wash water last night so I wouldn’t have to go out in the cold this morning. Plus, both electric heaters work just fine when the water heater isn’t on. A bonus. Yesterday I popped the breaker.

I’m still learning. It keeps things interesting. I am thinking I might sell the scooter, but I want to ride it a few more times first. I may change my mind, but we will see. It is a lot of work loading and unloading, and I don't know if I am going to use it all that much now that I have the tracker.

Oh, and the solar string lights I ordered got sent back to seller. I had the zip code numbers reversed and they went to Yuma. :(  I will get credited for that and I found a less expensive set on eBay. I want to put them on my little tree until after Christmas, then bring them in for light at night. I hope they get here soon enough to do that.

Looks like it is going to be another jeans day, it is only supposed to be in the lower 60’s. I want to spend some time in the screen house after my walk, and see if I can’t get some of that stuff gone. Plus, I could use the cash. 

Well, time to heat my wash water and then shut down the generator. 

Almost made it.

Yesterday I attempted to hike Q Mountain. It really is just a big hill with a big quartz Q on it. Probably a pile of stuff hauled out from the mines. I made it almost to the very tippy top where the flag is, but without a walking stick, it was just a little too steep for me.  I’m thinking there might be another path to try on another day. I started out on the left side, followed the four wheeler trail until it veered off into a narrow walking path. I basically circled the hill until I came to the straight up part. Made it more than half way up that. I could see the flag, but couldn’t get there. I had maybe 20 feet to go. Oh well, it was a good attempt. My knee is very unhappy with me, and I had forgotten how much my feet hurt when I am not walking on level ground.

https://plus.google.com/photos/118406578374225960662/albums/6092445505323489761?banner=pwa   Photos...

On the way back I stopped at the post office and discovered that it isn’t open on Saturdays. And the Monday through Friday hours are 9 to 4. God forbid anyone that works would have to go to the post office.

I did another walk around one of the shopping areas before coming back. I bought an aluminum telescoping walking stick for the next attempt of Q Mtn, and some pemmican from one of the vendors. Another tent had opened since the last time I was there, so I checked it out. I ended up buying some red beads. Coral and magnesite. They are quite pretty. I am hoping they will inspire me to make something.

When I got back, I had some lunch, put air in the scooter tires and headed out towards the hills. I did seven miles on the scooter. I did ok, didn’t dump it, but it doesn’t like the loose gravel roads. I had a couple of scary moments. I didn’t go as far as I had wanted, but I did pretty good. But it also wasn’t the warmest of days and the wind had picked up so the ride back was pretty chilly. I did much better on the tar road than the dirt road, and better on the dirt road than the gravel. So I should be able to do some exploring without having to leave La Posa South. I need the practice if I am going to use it on a regular basis. I am still pretty unsteady on it.

I got my little tree out yesterday. I have it on the road side of my camp. It is weighed down with rocks. It looks really pretty in the sunshine. Not sure what will happen to it if it rains, but for now, it sparkles nicely. I just don’t have the space for it inside. I only lost one of the glass balls on it.

The rest of the day, the TV was on and I processed pictures. The new camera is great, just like my old one but with a different lens, just exactly what I wanted.

While I was digging around yesterday I found the second electric heater. I will have both of those going this morning when it comes time to fire up the generator. I will have one in the front, and one in the back. I have my little butane heater going at the moment, but it really doesn’t give out a lot of heat. It is 38 degrees outside and 57 in. I have manage to bring the indoor temp up 6 degrees in the last hour or so. Kali Cat hasn’t moved far from the heat. If I had a bigger propane tank, I would run the furnace. But I don’t so I can’t. Will just have to deal with the cold until 6 AM when I can fire up the generator. Although, I have heard other generators during “quiet time”. So if worse comes to worse, I can fire it up. The indoor part of the thermometer is right over the outside door, so I imagine it is cooler where it is reading than it really is elsewhere.

Update: Only one heater at a time, I just popped the circuit breaker....

We did have sunshine for most of the day, so my solar got charged up. I have used the 12v plug that I wired up several times since I put it in. Glad I thought of that. Could really use another. Might just wire one into the light over the table for convenience.

Since today is Sunday, I don’t have much on the agenda. A little cleaning, and I should walk since I missed several days this week. But if I do, it will just be here in the park. It is going to be a sweats day. It is only supposed to be in the 60’s again today, and with the wind, that is cold. I should spend some time on the stuff in the screen house too. Need to get it gone. With the scooter and the bike in there now, it is too crowded to use it, and it gets the sunshine all day, so with the cooler temps, I need to make it useable. I’m also thinking about making a burger soup. I would make a stew, but I don’t think I have any flour. Although I do have arrowroot. It will have to be on the stove because I don’t have the juice to use the crock pot and I haven’t made my solar cooker yet.

My fresh water tank is getting close to empty so I can pull that out and try to figure out what is going on. Get it fixed if I can. I need to find my 5 gallon solar shower so I can have water for dish washing, etc. while this is going on. I think I know where that is. I can take that over with the car and fill that up. And if I leave it out in the sun, will have hot water. Maybe I will even figure out a way to setup an outdoor shower so I can shower a little more often.

I just ordered a pop up shower enclosure and a battery operated hand shower. With the five gallon sun shower, or just a bucket of hot water, I will be able to take a shower a couple more times a week without having to worry about filling my tanks. Should have thought about that sooner. I will have to have night showers instead of morning showers if I use the solar, but if I use the water heater, I can shower any time. I will get it all figured out at some point. :) I'm looking forward to more showers. 

Well, time to fire up the generator and have some heat!

Not the best weather.

Yesterday was kind of a waste. I never did get my walk. I headed to town to go to the post office and get my camera and to gas up the car. Then I drove around and figured out how to get to Q mountain. It is off Q Mountain Avenue, go figure. :) Anyway, by the time I got back, the wind was picking up and there was rain in the forecast. So I spent the next little while binning things in the screen house and covering everything with the tarp, as the screen house isn’t water proof. We had gusty winds up to 25mph for pretty much the rest of the day. I was a little concerned about the screen house, but it held up. Although I will have to tighten the guy ropes this morning. 

There was blowing dirt and dust, so I spent the rest of the day inside reading. There wasn’t any sun yesterday, so my solar didn’t charge up very well, but there was enough to watch some TV. I did fall asleep watching TV and when I woke, the solar had crapped out and the TV was off, so I went to bed.

I have my little butane heater going this morning. It is cold in here. I also have a candle burning for a little extra heat. My propane gauge has dropped considerably since a day or two ago. Not sure why. The only thing using it is the fridge and it should last a while. I will have to go out and check the gauge on the tank. It is possible my interior gauge is wrong. The tank gauges are always wrong. I really don’t want to have to move Ody any time soon.

I didn’t get to ride the scooter yesterday as the weather was pretty crappy. So far, it was the worst day since I have been here. Just way too windy to be out and about. Hoping I get a chance today. Will need to air up the tires first tho. I will have to run an extension cord out to the screen house so the scooter charges when I run the generator in the morning.

So far I am very happy with the new camera. Took a few test shots yesterday and it works just fine. I’m using the lens that came with it as it is the same as the one I have in the camera bag. The only thing it didn’t have was a lens cap and I had a spare one in the camera bag. The lady left the memory card in the camera and it has over 900 photos on it. I will have to let her know. See if she wants them.

This morning I will have to straighten the bird feeder pole, tighten the screen house ropes and put things back where they should be because of the wind yesterday. I picked up a solar motion sensor light while I was in town and hung that on the road side of Ody. Now if there is anything out there, the lights should come on. I had no light on that side of the rig. After I get all that done, and my walk, I will probably take the scooter out. Thinking of grabbing my cameras and heading back to where I was earlier in the week. I don't want to go too far because I don't know how long the battery will last. It will be trial and error for a little while. I did not install the pedals, but have them just in case I need them.

I missed a chance to sell the bike I guess. Since it was so windy yesterday, I didn’t have it out, and the people never contacted me, just drove around looking for it. Of course, since it wasn't out, they didn't see it. Oh well. I don’t know if they will come back or not. It would be nice to get that sold.

That is about all I have this morning. I think I am going to go back to bed and see if I can get another hour of sleep. KC has been bugging me for her breakfast, but it is way too early. If I feed her breakfast now, she will want dinner early too. The whole schedule will be screwed up.

Yuma bound..

Yesterday morning was quite productive. I got  my shower (yay), and headed to town. I only bought a bag of oranges at the farmers market. I still have stuff left from last week that needs to be used up and I didn’t see any turnip greens without turnips attached. From there I went to the bank to change a couple of larger bills. Get this, they will only change up to $100, after that, there is a $25 fee…WTF?! So I inquired about opening an account. They have a checking account with a minimum balance of $300 that costs $3 per month. Huh? No way am I paying them to hold any of my money hostage. I will find another way to get cash thank you. They seem to be the only bank in town too. They did make change for me this time tho, so I am good for a while.

Got all but one of my Christmas packages shipped out and the cards stamped and sent. Got my laundry done and the car all gassed up for today. I was back by 10:30.  Then I read for a while. My little solar generator is just loving the second panel. Fully charged by mid day, so I used it to charge some electronics and then let it charge up again before TV time. No more TV dying in the middle of a show.

I have a few more days before I have to secure everything and go dump my tanks. I am already dreading it. There is no easy, unbumpy route to the dump. Still looking for someone to drain the tanks. Hoping I find someone before I have to move again. Would be really nice not to have to stress about that.

No walk yesterday. If I don’t do it first thing in the morning, it doesn’t get done. Won’t be walking today either since I am headed to Yuma first thing this morning. First stop Walmart, need cat food and a few other things, then Howard and Barbara’s. Put together the scooter carrier and probably the scooter, then head back. I want to be back way before dark.

I’m looking forward to playing with the scooter. I am hoping it will take me places the car won’t. Jake would have just gone with the car, but I am not quite as adventurous without him as I was with him. I still want to try Q mountain on foot tomorrow. My new camera is at the post office, I will grab that later today after I get back, and will take that with me tomorrow. I will have to drive to the bottom of the hill, as it is at the edge of town.

There was a coyote yipping just outside the rig last night. I didn’t get my spotlight hooked up in time to see it. Apparently, according to my neighbors, this is a regular route for it. They haven’t seen the fox, but they have seen the bunny. I haven’t seen much of the quail in the last week or so, it might be getting too crowded here for them now. 

Christmas trees and lights are going up around here. I have a string of solar lights coming that I am planning on using indoors, but might do something outside with them until after Christmas. Maybe my little tree that is still in storage would look good with lights on it. 

Next week I want to go to Blythe CA. It is about 25 minutes from here and has big grocery stores and real store shopping. Parker is about 40 minutes away and I will check that out too. I still need to get info on walking/biking trails. Having a hard time finding anything online. I’m already bored with walking here in La Posa South.

Well, I guess that is about it. I need to get myself dressed and on the road. I need to take my garbage to the dumpsters on the way out too.

Trails and Tyson Wash LTVA

I got all the shipping labels printed up, packages are waiting in the car to go to the post office. Was kind of interesting, I had to print them to pdf, then switch over to a different router so I could actually print them on my printer. I guess at some point I will have to see if I can connect the printer directly to the wifi modem…that would make things  a little easier. I’m going to have to see how to get into the printer again to change it’s wireless connection. Or, I could just hook up a USB cable and do it that way, but I already have way too many wires and cords around here, they drive me crazy.

I got the two big folding chairs sold. The people were very happy with them. I hated to part with them, but they are a pain in the ass to keep moving around and took up too much room in my limited space. A small infusion into my cash and a few less pounds to haul around. It will help. Gotta get some more stuff sold tho

Once that was done, I went across the street to Tyson Wash where the hills are with all the trails. Inquired at the gate house, then drove around a little. It is different over there. I went in at Tyson Wash LTVA and exited at La Posa West LTVA just this side of town. I may go there next year if I come back. I like the spot I have here, so I won’t be moving any time soon. I got directions to get to Q mountain, it has a trail and a flag at the top. I’m thinking Friday I will see if I can conquer it. Walking and hiking are two completely different things, but I have been walking for a while now, I should be able to do a short hike, and it will only be hard on the way up. To get to some of them you need an ATV. I might try my scooter at some point.

I finally found a map of the town of Q and just printed that up. One for Ody and one for Firefly. My phone has done really well finding stuff for me, but I would like to have a better idea of where I am headed instead of blindly following instructions. It isn’t always right.

This morning I get to take a shower. It is farmers market day, I need to drop my packages off at the post office, hopefully buy some stamps and get my cards mailed out, do laundry…

We had sunshine yesterday. That second solar panel made a huge difference. The little solar gen was topped off by 1. The first time it has been topped off since I got here. I got to watch TV last night without worrying if it was going to shut itself off. I was beginning to think there was a problem with it.

Oh, when I went out for my walk, I stopped and introduced myself to my neighbors. Connie and Bob. It’s a start.

My scooter was finally delivered in Yuma yesterday. I will be headed there tomorrow to pick it up. While I am there, I need to stop and buy cat food, it is almost twice the cost here and she eats a can a day, sometimes more. Yesterday she got fed three times. For some reason she was really hungry and wouldn’t leave me alone until I gave her more food. Maybe it is the supplements…

Grilled pork chops and green beans from last week’s farmers market for dinner last night. Was good. 

I had an issue with my wifi modem last night. Somehow it got itself locked up. Had to pull out the booklet and see if I could figure it out. Ended up resetting it. This is the first time I have had any issues with it. I did move it yesterday. I originally had it in the printer cupboard, but it was hard to get to. I moved it over beside the fridge so I could turn it off and on without having to move. Charged it up on the little solar panel. Must have gotten a spike of some sort. But I got it figured out and have the paper clip handy in case I need to do it again.

In the 40’s at night here and the 70’s during the day. It throws me when I look at the calendar and it says December and I am in shorts and sandals. That is going to take a little getting used to.