Windy Windy

The wind has just not stopped. It blew all night last night and all day today.

We spent the day at the Grand Canyon. The temperature was great but we damn near got blown off the edge of the canyon several times.

Here is a photo of me holding my shirt over my head. This shows how hard the wind was blowing. It is supposed to snow some tonight but they say it won’t stick, not cold enough. Then rain all day tomorrow. This is OK. We will just stay inside and watch videos. It is only supposed to last one day then be OK from them on.

Meteor Crater

About 30 miles east of Flagstaff Arizona is a huge meteor crater. Around 50,000 years ago a meteor 150 feet across hit the earth. It hit with such force that it vaporized and left a crater 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet across.

The land out there is barren. You can see nothing for miles and miles.
When I heard that they wanted $15 to look at a hole in the ground I almost passed this up. I’m glad I didn’t. I am still not sure it’s worth $15 each but it was defiantly interesting to see. I wasn’t aware that meteors were metal. This meteor was iron-nickel. Another interesting fact I found out was that the shooting stars we see are no larger than the tip of a ballpoint pen. It’s the gasses we see in the night.

After the crater we stopped in Flagstaff to take the wives out for Mother’s day dinner. Flagstaff is a college town and an interesting place. There is quite a collection of unique shops.

Sedona

When we left Williams this morning the temp was in the 50s. I decided to leave the shorts and put on a pair of pants. Also the flip-flops stayed behind and on went the shoes. My feet were freaking out since they haven’t seen shoes for about 5 months now. When I jumped out of the truck in Sedona I was sorry. It was a nice warm 70 something. We spent the day cruising the downtown shops then headed for the chapel.

There are some of the best views from the chapel.

Can you see the bird in this one?


How would you like to own this house? There is even an observatory on the roof. This house was being built a couple of years ago when we were here the last time. It is still under construction today.

Tomorrow is NASCAR day so we won’t be going anywhere. We decided since it is the weekend we will just hang around and maybe take a walk into town. Monday should be a good day to head on into the Grand Canyon. We are talking about heading over to see the Meteor Crater near Flagstaff sometime while we are here too.

Made it to Williams

We made it to Williams Arizona today. Man! It’s up hill all the way here. We started out in Havasu at about 600ft and are now at 6700ft. We will be visiting The Grand Canyon and the Sedona area while here. The weather was in the 70s when we got here today. They told us to disconnect our water hose overnight because it will drop to the 20s. All the weather reports say 35º so I am going to throw caution to the wind and leave it hooked up. It’s only supposed to get to about 65º tomorrow. A far cry from the 90s in Havasu. We are in a new park right next to the Grand Canyon Railroad. It is part of the Hotel and we have full privileges of the Hotel as well.

Getting lonely around here

Well just about everyone has gone home around here. There are a few that live here year around. Us on the other hand, we are just hanging out to recoup the refrigerator money. The refrigerator is working fine, thank you. We have decided to just limit our travel to short local trips this year. Tomorrow we are off to The Grand Canyon, Williams actually, for a week. From there we will do day trips to The Grand Canyon and Sedona. When we get back we will head down to Parker to spend a few days on the river where is will be a bit cooler.

Owning our own RV lot here at the resort has become a good thing because it doesn’t cost us campground fees or fuel to hang out here, we can hang out as long as we like, we can rent out the lot when we are not here, and property is still a good investment.

The Desert Bar

I have been hearing about a bar out in the middle of the desert. Sunday we decided to check it out. This place has no power or water to it. It’s in the MIDDLE OF THE DESERT! It is built on an old copper mine property. You can still see the mine in the side of the hill.

The road to the bar is a dirt road that I would not want to take our car down. We did it with our friends in their 4 wheel drive truck.

There are a few 4 wheel trails leading to the bar and I hear this is a popular place for the 4 wheelers in the area. Kind of like an oases in the desert. I hear the bar is standing room only at times and they even have bands most weekends. I believe the bands run on generator power.

Finally after about 5 miles there it was. This place is pretty cool. They run off solar panels, batteries and inverters. Their water comes from a well. The towers you see are the cooling towers. Water is pumped up the tower and trickles over cotton pads. Air passing through the cotton is cooled and falls down the towers into the building. It really works. You wouldn’t even know there is no power connected to the place. Yes it is a bit rugged but I was impressed for being in the middle of the desert.

There is even a church build on the property. There are no services held in this church because it is only about 6X6 in the middle and those sidewalls are just that, walls.

Their website is www.thedesertbar.com

Boats Bongs and Babes

This picture says it all. The girls on this boat are pole dancing and you can see the Beer Bongs hanging off to the right. Today we spent the day on the lake with friends on their boat. What a riot! Weekends around here get pretty crazy but since these big fast boats are in town, this weekend was really crazy. I added some pictures to our photo site. Just click on the thumbnail in the left hand column titles “Havasu Boat Shootout”. The Shootout was a race to see who can reach top speeds.

This “Bud Light” boat blew them all away. Of course…how much money do you think Bud put into this thing? It even sounded completely different than the rest. During the race the wind came up so much that all the spectating boats pulled anchor and headed for the channel. What a fiasco. They had to stop the race because boats were all over the course. Police and race officials were trying there best to keep boats off the course but to no avail. It got pretty torturous out there. We sure had a great time though.

Big boats in town

There is a lot going on right now. Over in Laughlin they are hosting the Laughlin River Motorcycle Run. Here in town they are hosting a big boat show, poker run, and shootout.

Last night was the boat show. This is similar to a car show where they closed off the main street and lined it with boats. Now these aren’t just boats, these are BOATS!

We are talking BIG BUCKS here. These boats are pushing close to a million dollars and running thousands of horsepower. They get about 4 mpg and run race fuel at about $4.50 a gallon. They will easily burn $1,000 in fuel this weekend.

I think last night all of Lake Havasu was down town checking out the boats. Today there are about 200 boats in the poker run and tomorrow about 50 in the shootout to see who can reach top speed.

No these are not six packs of Bud Light, these are the two batteries for the boat.

Cold Fridge

I woke this morning, checked the temperature inside the fridge and it read 32.4º. YES!
Looks like we have a working fridge finally. The icemaker is even making ice. Later today I went back to the shop to take some photos of the bad cooling unit for insurance purposes and had a talk with the guys that did the job. I did a lot of research as to what it takes to change out one of these things and the guys certainly sounded like they knew what they were talking about. They were happy to hear everything worked well and I was happy.

Fridge is in

Today I took the motorhome into the shop bright and early to get the refrigerator repaired. I wanted to make sure they had all day to work on it so hopefully they would have it done by tonight. When I dropped it off I told the guy he really should take a look at it to make sure he wants to tackle it. He said no problem they do this all the time. As I mentioned before, to repair the refrigerator it has to come out and turn 90º and then go over the kitchen counter, all 280 lbs of it. Well I no sooner got home and the shop called. The guy said he took some measurements and it is impossible to get it out and over the counter. There is just not enough room. He did say they will still do the job but they will have to do it in the kitchen standing up and it will be difficult. I figured this has now turned into a two day job. I was surprised when I got the call at 3:00p that it was done. Not only that but the guy said once they got it out of the hole it went over the counter with no problems. Well so far it seems to be cooling down. We will see in the morning.

No Home

Tomorrow we will be without a home. The motorhome goes into the shop to get the refrigerator repaired, Finally! I am hoping we will have it back by the same evening but I am not counting on it. We have made arrangements to stay in the park model we rented for Susan’s parents. Her parents showed up today to visit for the week. Her father said he would sell his house in Southern California and buy a place here in a hart beat except for the value of property these days. It’s just not a good time to sell a house right now if you don’t have to. They are looking forward to spending the week with us.

Our grandson called the other day to tell us he was in the emergency room. He says he was helping his father do some yard work and stepped on a rake. It went right through his foot. He called today to tell us he got 3 stitches and spent 5 hours in the emergency room. The poor little guy is only 7 years old. He sure was brave through the whole thing though.

Visitors

Tomorrow Susan’s parents will be here for the week. We rented them one of the Park Models here in the park.

Susan is looking forward to spending some time with them. On Tuesday I will be taking the motorhome into the shop so they can start on the refrigerator. We could have rescheduled it until Susan’s parents leave but the way things are here in Havasu, you got to take advantage of the situation when it’s there. We will just hang out at the Park Model until the motorhome is done. They say it’s a 3 hour job but they haven’t seen it yet. I’m not planning on getting the motorhome back until the next day, that’s if they do it at all after seeing it.

Oh, and Rexhall called me and canceled the appointment I made with them to replace the refrigerator. Why am I not surprised? “Par for the course” as they say. I wasn’t going to cancel the Rexhall appointment until it was repaired and working.

The appointment is made

Yesterday I got a call from the RV Service Center that our refrigerator cooling unit is in. She said she will let the shop know and they will call me to make an appointment. Well, today around 3:00p I got tired of waiting and gave them a call. We made an appointment for next Tuesday. We decided tomorrow (Friday) would not be good incase they didn’t get the job done because I would be without the motorhome for the weekend. They say Monday is too hectic so we made it for Tuesday. Susan and I are both worried that they will mess up something trying to get it out to work on it. I took plenty of pictures of the cabinets, wood floors and ceiling. I made note of all the existing dings, yeah we do have a few dings. Hopefully they will surprise us and do the job right the first time and with no damage. This doesn’t come at a very good time because Susan’s parents are coming to visit us next week. We thought about putting it off but we really don’t want to wait any longer.
The wind has slowed down a bit here. It was still too gusty to put the awnings out today. Maybe tomorrow it will be nice.

A blustery day

Didn’t do much today. We were having gusts of wind in the high 40s today. It all started last night or I should say early this morning. I heard a commotion outside and peaked out to see my neighbor wrestling with his torn awning. I was going to head out and help but it looked like he and his wife had it under control. The wind didn’t let up until around 6:00p or so today. My big excitement was watching the neighbor a few sites down have his awning replaced. His was damaged in the last big wind we had. I made a comment about watching and the installer told me about the time he replaced 3 awnings in Quartsite. He said there were about 60 guys that brought their chairs over to watch. After he was done with that one they all followed him over to the next one to watch and to the next one. Reminds me of the sewer scene in the movie RV. Life is good when that’s all you got to do.

Phoenix NASCAR photos added

I just added the Phoenix NASCAR photos. Click on the thumbnail in the left hand column.

Susan’s a happy NASCAR fan

We are back from the race in Phoenix. Susan’s Favorite driver Jimmie Johnson won so she is happy. He has been struggling all season so far but this weekend he was back. It was close though because he almost ran out of gas on the last lap. Fortunately he was a half lap in front of the 2nd place car so he could back off the throttle and save fuel. After the win he came around the backstretch where we were to do a burnout and ran out of gas half way through his burnout. He had to be pushed back to Victory Lane. The weather was fantastic and we all had a great time.

As usual there was plenty of good food and drink. It was good to see our daughter and friends again. I will post pictures to out photo site tomorrow.

Another NASCAR race

We arrived today in Goodyear Arizona. This is about 20 minutes from Phoenix International Raceway where we will be spending most of our waking hours for the Phoenix NASCAR race this weekend. We will be meeting our daughter and friends in the infield for the race activities. Susan is excited as usual. We also came with some friends on their madden voyage in their new fifth wheel trailer and first time at a NASCAR event. We got settled in and puttered around the trailer checking out the systems and making sure everything works. They didn’t have a chance to do much because the trailer arrived just before the trip.
We are still without a refrigerator but luckily I bought the little one to use until ours gets fixed. It traveled in its little corner of the motorhome real well and even stayed cold with no power for the 3 hour ride here. I called the repair place just before we left and they called Dometic. Dometic says they got the part Monday and shipped it out. They say it should arrive by this Friday or Monday. Maybe next week we will have refrigeration again.

Refer Madness

No it’s not what you think. It’s the refrigerator. Yes we still are without our refrigerator. We thought we were making progress. I found a place that will do the repair job and Dometic agreed to sell us the part for ½ price. That’s all well and good however apparently Dometic doesn’t even have the part to sell at any price. They are expecting to get the part from their vendor by April 7th and said it probably wouldn’t get to us until the 18th.

So today I went out and bought a small refrigerator that will fit in a corner of the motorhome until ours is fixed. We will just sell the little one once we are satisfied ours is fixed and working.

The resort is clearing out. The Snowbirds are heading back home. This is the time of year we get people coming and going as they use the resort as a stopover on their way home.
I heard on the radio yesterday the Britney Spears is going to work here in Lake Havasu as a cocktail waitress. They say her Dad said she needs to live a normal live for a while and told her to get a job. She will be starting this Friday for minimum wage. Since yesterday was April Fools day, this could just be a joke.
There is a new feature on our web site. As you may know we run a small banner of ads by Google. They run down the left column and consist of 4 or 5 ads. Actually they are websites that contain more information on things I post about. Now they have added scroll buttons at the top of the ads that allow you to scroll through many ads. Try it out. Maybe you’ll find something of interest.

Blooming desert

I like to call this my Friar Tuck Cactus. The cacti are blooming all around here. This one is in our little cactus garden at the front of our lot here in Lake Havasu. My oleander and bottlebrush are in full bloom also. Looks pretty cool. The weather has been just perfect the last couple of days. It is in the mid 80’s with plenty of sunshine and little wind. The wind is supposed to come up tomorrow though. This evening Susan and I went out for Taco Tuesday at Mad Dogs Sports Bar. They make some good tacos and they are only a buck. After dinner we took a drive out on the Island to watch an awesome sunset, then came back and had ice cream on our patio while staring at the stars.

Still no fridge. I called the shop today and they say they will order the part tomorrow. It is coming out of California so hopefully it will not take long to arrive and we can get this thing started. I am starting to call this place Jamaica-su. Their slogan is (with a Jamaican accent), “No worries man…We’ll get to it.” Things don’t happen too quickly in Havasu.

Fantastic Day

After not hearing from the guy that I thought was going to fix the fridge, I headed into town to seek out a shop that will do the job. I believe I found one, but I thought that before. Wee will see.

But the fantastic part of the day was our day on the lake with our good friends. The lake was smooth and cool on this 85º day. We headed down the lake to a marina for lunch.

After lunch we toured the lake and watch the fast boats enjoying the day on the lake.

When we got back to the island we took a cruise through the channel.

You really have to get there early to get a place to park.

A well deserved relaxing day.

A little success…Maybe

I finally found someone to repair our refrigerator today…Well maybe. Mobil Medic came out to take a look this morning and said he would be willing to take on the job if I brought the motorhome to his shop. He said he needs it at the shop so he can get a couple of his guys to help him pull it out and over the kitchen counter. I told him I would get back to him. In the mean time I called Dometic again and asked for the Manager of the Warranty department. Of course I got voice mail and did not expect a call back. A bit later I got a call from another person at Dometic that stated the Manager was busy and he could help me out. I figured, what the heck, and gave it a try. After stating my case he agreed that 4 years was about ½ the 8 year life expectancy and agreed to offer me the part at ½ price. I though this was fare, so he setup a warranty account for me. I then called Mobil Medic to set up a date to get-er-done. The Mobil Medic guy started to back peddle and after talking to him he said his part markup on ½ price wasn’t enough to do the job. I then offered him his markup of the full priced part and he said he will call me tomorrow. We’ll see.

Also today I got a call from the insurance company and they said they have good and bad news. Bad was they are standing behind their denial. Good was that it might be covered under the recall. I said, “That’s bad and bad news because it is NOT covered under the recall.” I told them again that I wanted to appeal the decision. They said I would have to talk to someone else and transferred me…to another voice mail of course.

Go figure

The insurance company denied my claim. That was expected. The appraiser says the ruptured cooling unit in my refrigerator has nothing to do with the violent trip over the railroad tracks that broke a bunch of Susan’s nick knacks inside the coach. Even Dometic says it could happen. He said it was normal ware and tare. I called him and told him why I think he is wrong and that I am appealing his decision. He agreed to give the adjuster a call but wasn’t specific on what he was going to say. Meanwhile I told the adjuster I wish to appeal the decision and he transferred me to his supervisor…voice mail of course. So I am still stuck on square 1, waiting for phone calls.

Don’t buy Dometic!

My Dometic refrigerator has only lasted me 4.5 years. It is one of the few NOT covered under the recall even though it has the same problem stated in the recall. How convenient!

I have contacted several people at Dometic and they all agree that it should have lasted 8 to 10 years but will not help me out with the cost of repair. When they asked if I purchased the extended warranty I asked, “Why? Is it something that is necessary on Dometic Refrigerators?” The Supervisor of Customer Service told me no, it is to cover special circumstances. I said I have one of those special circumstances and I think Dometic should help me out. They say, “Not without a warranty.” I asked about the 5 year warranty on the cooling unit and was told they stopped doing that prior to my year model. I would assume because they had too many failures within that 5 years and it was not cost effective. I told them if it comes to replacing the refrigerator I will choose to install a Norcold because I need a refrigerator that will last longer than 4 to 5 years. They told me that is my option, in other words, They Don’t Care! I have worked my way up the ladder to the Supervisor of Customer Service with the same results. When speaking to the Warranty Department I asked to speak with someone else and was transferred me to an automated service center locator. Not too bright there.

All I am asking for is a replacement cooling unit. I am willing to pay the labor cost for the installation.

I have one more person I will be contacting at Dometic. Gary Atwater is the Manager of the Warranty Department. Gary, if you are reading this, Expect my call! If you can help me out I will make sure this post gets deleted and post a letter of commendation for your efforts.

What a joke

Today we waited for the Insurance Adjuster to show up. When he showed up, after a 3 hour one way drive from Las Vegas, he spent about 10 minutes taking pictures of the motorhome. Took pictures of the Speedometer, four corners, the VIN plate and finally the refrigerator. I could have done that and sent him the pictures, saving him a 6 hour round trip. We spent more time discussing what they would pay for. He seems to think, if they pay anything, they will only pay for a repair the refrigerator. I tried to explain to him that no one will attempt to repair it due to its location and the factory will only replace it. Well I suppose if I can get the $2000 repair cost out of them the replacement will only cost me a little over half the $4500 replacement cost.

I must be a freak. When I was working, If I returned to my desk and found a message on my voice mail, I would call them right back. I have made several phone calls with this fridge thing and am lucky if anyone will call me back.

Another day lost

I waited around all day for the insurance company to reassign my claim to someone local. Finally I made a few phone calls and after a few hours finally got a call back. They say they reassigned it to someone local and gave me the number. I called that number and they gave the number of the guy that will be contacting me. Whew! That’s 5 levels I have gone through so far. No wonder insurance cost so much. So I called the guy that is supposed to take a look and, of course, got his voice mail. Another day lost. I think I need to find out where these people live and go unplug their fridge and see how long they can go without. In the mean time it seems all the ammonia has leaked out because I have taken the fans off the back of the fridge and there is no more ammonia smell.

Still no fridge

Well no one in town will attempt the job since it looks impossible to get the fridge out to work on it. I called Rexhall and they assured me it is possible to get it out and over the kitchen counter. I was at a loss since I called every service place in Havasu and no one will do it. My friend suggested I call my insurance company to see if they will pay for the repair. They say they might do that. If I can get them to pay I will just run it over to the factory and have them do it since they say they know how. That way if they do mess something up they have the stuff to fix it. The factory is only 270 miles away so it’s only a days drive.
Today I got a call from my insurance company and they wanted to come look at it. The problem is they thought I was in San Diego. The guy said if there is no one in Havasu that can look at it I will have to take it to a shop for an estimate. I called Rexhall and they want about $4500 to do the job. At this point I am still waiting to see if they have someone in Havasu to come look at it.

Ongoing fridge problems

The yellow stuff is NOT supposed to be there.

The coach smells like ammonia and there is not much we can do about it since the refrigerator is still venting. I have fans on the back of the fridge to suck out the ammonia and windows and vents open inside. Our food is scattered around the resort in friend’s refrigerators. Two placed gave me a $2000 estimate for a new cooling unit and one really doesn’t want to do it after I told him that once we got the fridge out of the cabinet we will have to lift it over the kitchen counter to get room to work on it, all 230 lbs of it. It will take a week to order the cooling unit at a cost of $1500. I called Dometic and asked about the recall and they told me I was on my own since it is one of the few that is NOT covered. The recall states, a stress crack could cause the ammonia/hydrogen solution to drip down on the gas burner and cause a fire. Huh? Take a look at the photo above and tell me what you think. I have a few other places to call to see if I can get someone to tackle this job. I might have to do the job myself. I will need about 3 other guys to help me get the thing out and back in but once I get it out I can take my time and do it right.

Were running out of cold

Yes the weather is shaping up nicely here in Havasu. Today was around 77º with little breeze. But the real reason I say we are running out of cold is because our refrigerator has sprung a leak. RV refrigerators work on a mixture of water and ammonia using an evaporative method. Well, we got home from dinner last night and as soon as we stepped inside the coach we could smell the distinct odor of ammonia. I knew right away what it was. I went outside and stuck my sniffer in the access panel behind the refrigerator and sure enough that’s where is was coming from. Right away the figure $2000 came to mind. This morning I called a few repair places and I was pretty close on the price. Our refrigerator manufacturer has a recall going on for this exact problem however ours is not on the recall list. I will be giving them a call though. So far though the refrigerator is staying cold. I don’t know how much longer it will stay cold and it will take about a week to get the parts and get it done.

Vegas NASCAR Photos

I just posted our Las Vegas NASCAR photos. Click on the link in the left hand column.
I gave Susan the camera when she went to the garages and pits and she took a ton of photos. I also got a good picture of Jeff Gordon’s wrecked car on the back of the flatbed as they brought it down the road we were on.

Back in Havasu again

We arrived in Lake Havasu City Arizona today just after noon. The Las Vegas NASCAR was a blast. All races and activities went off without any weather delays such as California. We did have a heck of a wind Saturday night. I got up about midnight and closed the slides because the awnings were flapping and keeping us awake. The motorhome was shaking and rocking quite a bit even with the jacks down. Susan finally got to meet her favorite driver Jimmie Johnson and get her race jacket signed. She spent most of the time in the garages and pits watching all the race action. She really likes the Las Vegas race. I will post some pictures as soon as I can.

We got on the road this morning and had a good drive. The traffic was rather heavy getting out of the track but once we got a couple of miles away it thinned out pretty good. We hit a bad bump in the road on the way to Havasu that felt like the back end of the motorhome came off the ground. A lot of Susan’s knick-knacks suffered some damage. I will have to dig out the glue tomorrow and do some repairs. I am also going to dig out my creeper and take a look under the motorhome for anything loose or damaged.

LVMS

That’s Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That’s where we are at right now. Today we moved from Sam’s Town RV Park to the racetrack. We are on the outskirts of the track in one of their many RV parking lots. It is dry camping but we are right here at the track. This has got to be the most I have ever paid for boon docking at $50 a night. Our daughter has an infield spot and we have a car pass that will allow us to drive right in to their RV everyday. We have a pretty good spot that is on the end so we aren’t boxed in by other rigs. The only problem was, there is a generator powered light near us that is bright and loud. I asked the guy working this area if it was going to be running 24 hours and he said not if you don’t want it to. I told him during the evening isn’t a problem and he said he would shut it down at 10:00p. I guess it never hurts to ask.

Las Vegas

Well, We picked up the car from the NASCAR track this morning and hightailed it over to Las Vegas. We had all these visions of running into LA traffic heading over to the track and having a hassle getting the motorhome into the parking lot to hook up the car but it was a piece of cake. The drive to Las Vegas was a good one also. The traffic was light all the way and the weather was perfect. Since they didn’t get to finish the race yesterday (they tried until 11:00p) they finished it today.

We were on the road during the race but with modern technology and our Verizon Aircard Susan was able to follow every lap on the NASCAR website.

I posted a few photos of our weekend. Click on the Cal NASCAR 2008 thumbnail in the left column.

It didn't look like they were going to race today but finally the race got started...late, then someone slipped on the water seeping out of the seams in the track and hit the wall. After that caution they started the race again. Then another car slipped on the water and hit the wall, slid down the track taking out another car, slid back up the track and was rear ended causing it to flip and catch on fire. All this happened right in front of us.

This time they got out the concrete saws and cut slots in the track to try to drain off the water. They finally got the race started again and it started to rain again. We gave up and left. Last I checked they are still trying to dry off the track and start the race again. Good news…Jimmie is in the lead.

OH and to top it all off. Our daughter thought they could drop us off at our car on the way out but once we got out of the infield we found that all roads in were blocked and the only way we could go was out. So we had them drop us off at our motorhome at the Elks Lodge. The car is still at the track. We hope we can get in tomorrow with the motorhome to pick up the car on our way to Las Vegas.

There’s snow in them thar hills

The rains last night put a nice dusting of snow on the mountains here. They managed to get one race in today before the rains came again. The truck race went off without a problem but when it came time for the Nationwide (Bush) race the rains were playing games with them. It would stop raining and as soon as they got the jet dryers out on the track it would start raining again. They would stop and the rain would stop. They would start drying again and the rain would start again. This went on for a couple of hours until they finally called it a day. There is another race tomorrow and if they get that one done with no rain, they will try to run the one that got rained out today. The weather out look for tomorrow looks worse than today however. We will just have to wait and see.

A day at the track

No NASCAR race activity today. Got rained out. Today was supposed to be practice and qualifying. We still had a great day at the track today though. Got to spend some time with old friends and the day with our daughter. Tomorrow is supposed to be a good day. They will be running a truck race and the Bush…Ops…Nationwide Race tomorrow.

I hate LA

Did I ever say I hate Las Angeles? I think I have. Well Not really LA but the LA traffic. We didn’t even get into the heart of it and still it’s a mess. As we were traveling down an LA freeway a piece of something went whizzing across the front of the motorhome, hit the side of the truck next to us and bounced back and made a few marks on the side of the motorhome. We made it to Ontario where we will be staying at the Elks Lodge. We will be driving the car to the California Motor Speedway for NASCAR from here. It’s a good thing we got here when we did because it filled up shortly after we setup. There are a few that will probably be pulling out as soon as they start letting them into the infield of the speedway.

Rain Rain Rain Rain

That’s the weather forecast for the next 4 days. This is not good for NASCAR. We will just have to see what happens.

Another successful Rally

We have been going to a rally at Lake San Antonio near Paso Robles California for (I think) 4 years now. This started as a small get together that Susan and I found on the RV.Net message board and join in one year. From the start we had such a great time that we now try to make it to the twice per year rallies if we are in the general part of the country. It has become so popular that they try to limit it to 20 rigs. Once it is posted that they are accepting reservations the 20 spots are filled within 24 hours. We had a great time and look forward to the next one.

We are now at the Santa Barbara Elks lodge on our way to Fontana for the NASCAR race. Tomorrow we will be moving on down to settle in for the weekend’s race. Susan is so excited.

San Antonio Lake

We moved on to San Antonio Lake near Paso Robles this morning. We left a bit earlier than usual because we needed to get here and set up the satellite dish so Susan could watch her NASCAR race. When we got to Paso Robles the wind was blowing pretty well. It wasn’t too much of a problem until we turned off the highway and started heading up the hill. Now we had a good crosswind. I am real pleased with the handling of our motorhome in the wind, however as we were heading down the road a gust took us into the oncoming lane. Good thing there was no traffic. We arrived at San Antonio Lake safe and in time to catch the race.

Beullton California

We left Temecula yesterday morning and spent the night at the Simi Valley Elks Lodge. We were going to wait until 12:00p to leave since it was only a 2 hour drive to the next stop and they don’t let you pull into your site until 2:00p. We decided to head on out at 9:00a because I needed to fuel up and Susan needed to do some laundry. They do allow you to park in overflow before 2:00p so we sat in overflow while Susan did laundry here at the campground. We are all settled in at our site now.

I really screwed up. I almost never make reservations. Why? Well take today for an example. I called last night and made reservations for tonight and tomorrow night. After making the reservations I started thinking…the 2 nights will cost me $80. I could have stayed at the Lompoc Elks Lodge 2 nights for $30. Susan needs to go to the DMV to get her drivers license renewed. The DMV is 1 block away from the Lompoc Elks Lodge, it is 17 miles from where we are now. If I canceled our reservations here it would cost me $20. I could have canceled and still been $30 ahead. I really screwed up!

Another great weekend

We just had another great weekend. We got to Pechanga RV Resort in Temecula California on Thursday and the rest of our friends arrived on Friday. Saturday we took off to the NHRA drags in Pomona for a day trip.


You can see some photos of the drag races I shot by clicking on the photo link in the left column. We had pass to the NAPA hospitality tent, which was right next to the NAPA car pit. What a blast! Later that night we went to dinner at the casino then to the Improv for some comedy. We sat and relaxed for today then our friends had to head home. As I was writing this post we were treated to a really cool fireworks show over the casino. I don’t know what it was all about but it was a good show. We will be staying one more night before we head on up north to an RV Rally for next weekend.

A change of scenery

We have a change of scenery today. We left Havasu this morning at around 9:30a Arizona time and arrived in Temecula at 4:00p California time. That’s about 7.5 hours. No, I didn’t drive 7.5 hours! We stopped in Havasu to fuel up the motorhome and car, and then stopped again in Hemet to do our shopping. I would say I drove about 5 hours, which is still over my limit, but it was a good drive. The weather was ideal for driving. It was in the low 70s and pretty much no wind, even the windmills in Palms Springs were still. I don’t think I have ever gone through there without seeing at least a few windmills turning. I am serious, there was not one windmill turning! As we were traveling through Palms Springs we ran into a traffic jam. I heard a trucker on the CB ask what the hold up was and another responded by saying it was a motorhome that (what I thought he said) broke down. As we approached the scene, the motorhome wasn’t broke down, it was burnt down. What a sad sight to see. I hope everyone got out OK.

Cleaning and Cleaning

I spent hours cleaning today. We had a rain last night and after the rain the wind started to blow…Real hard. I guess the wind kicked up a lot of dust because when I went out this morning everything was covered in a light coat of mud. I tried to ignore it but just couldn’t. Finally I got out the hose. I started on top of the motorhome and worked my way down to the cement slab. Everything on the lot got hosed down. Of course since the water quality isn’t the best around here I needed to towel dry the motorhome and car or the water spots would be impossible to remove. The wind blew all day but at least everything was dry so mud wasn’t an issue. There is a 3 day rule in Havasu when it comes to the wind. It usually blows 3 days straight and then it is calm. I hope this holds true this week because on the 4th day we are traveling. I would rather not travel with a strong wind blowing unless it’s at my back.

I added something new to our website today. I sat down and compiled a list of campgrounds by state, city, and campground name. You can view the list by clicking on the link “Campgrounds Visited” in the left column. Email us if you would like any more info on any of the campgrounds.

Less than a week

We are down to less than a week before we are back on the road again. Seeing others come and go around here is making me anxious to hit the road again. We are heading on over to Temecula California for a birthday party. While there a friend and I are planning to head up to Pomona on Saturday for the NHRA Winter Nationals. This is the start of the NHRA drag racing season for the year.

Awsome

I can’t take credit for this photo but thought it was so awesome I just had to share it with you. This is a recent photo of the Grand Canyon taken at sunrise by Alan W from Longmont Colorado. It was about 15º and 10” of snow on the ground. You can see more of his photos on his website.

Ah..Finally a bit of relief

The stock market has really taken a hit so far this year. We are down quite a bit of money. I get a kick out of people that say aren’t you going to get out of the stock market because stocks are going down? I feel like replying, aren’t you going to sell your house because the value has gone down? Well the last two days have been good for our stocks. We have recouped some of the value. I just wish they would admit we are in a recession so we can start the recovery. It’s like an alcoholic, you are not going to recover until you admit you are one. Our property value here at Havasu RV Resort has not dropped, it has leveled out right now because people are just not buying like they have but the values haven’t dropped. Let’s face it, people who can afford several hundred thousand dollars for an RV are not hurting in the financial area.

This weekend they are having an open house here at the resort to celebrate the opening of phase 3. Paul Everet has brought in some $700,000 RVs from Laughlin Nevada and set them up on some lots for sale. I bet one could get a really good package deal. There is going to be food and other goodies. We won’t have far to go to partake.

Susan has just added another race to our NASCAR schedule. Looks like we will be heading up to Wine Country in California for the road course at Infineon Raceway near Napa. We haven’t been to this one yet so it should be a fun new experience.

Quartzsite Arizona

Yesterday we visited Quartzsite with some friends. For those who do not know about Quartzsite, this is a small town in the middle of Arizona along interstate 10. This town usually has a population of about 1900, however this time of year it swells to several hundred thousand. Where do they all stay, you might ask? Anywhere they want. The RV parks in town fill up fast and the rest just find a spot in the desert land surrounding Quartzsite and setup camp.

There are literally RVs as far as the eye can see from I-10. Why do they all head for Quartzsite? This time of year Quartzsite hosts probably the biggest flee market and RV show in the US. They also host a gem & mineral show, antique show, and car show. If you can’t find it in Quartzsite, it probably doesn’t exist. This is the second time we visited Quartzsite and it appears the population and vendors are a bit low, most likely due to the economy and price of fuel. Still, we spent the whole day there and didn’t even scratch the surface.

This is a photo of a guy that does wood burning with a magnifying glass. I guess he doesn’t work on cloudy days. It was a great day though.

Brrrrrr

What do you thing of when you hear Arizona Desert…HOT?
Well the snowbirds have arrived here in Arizona and apparently they brought their weather with them. The last couple of days it has been blustery and cold. It has been getting into the 30s at night and we are lucky if we see 50 during the day. I thought about moving on to a warmer place but where. It is cold everywhere. It should be warming up soon and before we know it, it will be downright HOT. That is the nature of the Desert.

We have been so busy lately that I have forgotten to update the website. We have lots of friends here in Havasu and have been visiting and doing a lot with them. I have hardly found time to do my chores on the motorhome. Today I did get all the wheels polished. Thank goodness for the Power Ball I got as a Christmas present a while back. It is still a chore but saved me hours of rubbing on the wheels.
Although the weather is still cool here in Lake Havasu, we have had some nice days. It’s only going to get better from here on out.
We are planning on heading to Quartzite in a couple of weeks. We won’t be taking the motorhome though. We are riding out with some friends for the day. A couple of years ago Susan and I spent a week in Quartzite. It takes a couple of days to see everything there.

Susan spotted this golf cart here in the Resort right away. She just had to take a picture of it. Good thing they want too much for it or she would be hounding me to buy it to add to her ever growing NASCAR collection.

Cruisin’ the lake

We had a great day. Our friends took us out to lunch on their new pontoon boat today. Even though it never even got to 60º today and the wind chill was much lower out on the lake we were bundled up and had a nice time.

We took a cruise through the channel and under the London Bridge. As you may know, this is the real original London Bridge brought over here from London England. It was shipped through the Panama cannel and trucked from Long Beach California then assembled brick by brick on a peninsula. After assembley, the channel was dug under the bridge allowing the water from Lake Havasu to flow underneath. This turned the peninsula into an island.

The weather changes day to day this time of year in Lake Havasu City. One day it will be warm with no wind and the next day it will be cold and very windy. We should be getting rain this weekend.

We have been busy. We have not spent one whole day at home since we got here. We’re always going somewhere and doing something.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. We had another great year last year. Our intention was to head up through Utah, Wyoming, and Montana and visit the National Parks along the way. We started out with spending the 4th of July in Las Vegas and when we got to Zion it was 110º. Way too hot to enjoy hiking through the National Parks. Also there was the worst wildfire in Utah’s history blocking our way by closing off 150 miles if I-15. So the decision was made to head for the coast.
The year closed with us back in Lake Havasu Arizona. We spent New Years Eve at a party at a friend’s house. The weather was absolutely great the day we arrived and the day after, however it has got cool and real windy for the last 2 days. This is typical for this area this time of year though. Soon it will warm up and keep on going into downright hot. We will enjoy the transition in the next couple of months.

I broke the rules

Yes, I broke one of my fulltimer rules today. The rule is, 2X2X2. What this is, is drive no more than 200 miles a day, get off the road by 2:00p, and stay for at least 2 days. Our usual trip from San Diego to Lake Havasu City includes a stopover in Indio. When I reached Indio today, the wind was at my back, the motorhome was running great, and I was comfortable so I kept on going. 5 ½ hour later, 325 miles later we were in Lake Havasu City. I was going to stop in Ehrenburg for propane, a sandwich, and a short break but the Flying J was so packed I stopped long enough for a potty break and got the heck out of there. I then remember once before saying I would never stop there again. Well here we are, back in Lake Havasu City. We had a big meeting on our patio this evening as all our friends came to welcome us back.

I hate to burst their bubble

We meet all kinds of interesting people here at the campground. It kind of reminds me of my old bartending days. Some are real nice genuine people and some are just plane weirdoes. The ones that continue to crack me up are the ones that are living in their own fantasy world. Last year, for instance, we had a guy living in the campground in a little pink Barbie tent. I don’t even know how he fit inside. He would tell me how he owns a few racehorses over at the Del Mar Race Track. One day I saw him across the street pushing a shopping cart full of aluminum cans he had collected. Just the other day I had to shut down a fellow that was playing an electric guitar. He was telling me he has over 60 rare guitars and gets $60 an hour setting up Rolling Stone concerts. He lives in an old motorhome with a busted window. He also rides around the campground on his bike in a UPS uniform. These people are living in their own fantasy world and I don’t want to be the one to tell them otherwise. If they want to be a millionaire in their own mind, who am I to tell them otherwise. I just listen and smile.

Getting ready for the move

Tomorrow is packing day and Saturday we are out of here. I am excited to get back on the road again, even if it is just to Lake Havasu where we will sit for a month. One month I can handle, three months was just too long. Who knows, we may not sit for a month. You never know when something may come up. We will be free to travel. It has been getting pretty cold here at the beach. I went out to temperatures in the 30s this morning. It never got over 55º today. It is a good thing we are moving because I just checked the propane the other day and we are close to having no hot water.

Merry Christmas

Winding down

We are on the down hill slope now. We have one more week to go here at the Campground. I am defiantly ready. This is the longest period we have stayed put in all the time we have been full timing. You learn from experiences and we have learned that 3 months is too long. We are signed up for our usual 2 months next year.

Susan has just finished her Christmas baking and the motorhome is filled with cookies and fudge. She has made up plates of goodies for all our friends. Yesterday we delivered some to the Park Aids, Rangers, and other Camp Hosts here at the park. She also made a batch for my homeless friends I make here every year. They sure appreciate that.

Not on my watch

Not much happens on the weekdays this time of year. We are less than ¼ full and everyone is well behaved. Today would have been another ho hum day here at the campground. Well not quite. I was on my rounds and noticed a pool company truck parked in one of the sites. I though this was a bit unusual since no one seemed to be around and there was no tent or camping gear. I just figured it was a visitor to another site and let it go for now. After an hour I got a little more suspicious so I walked into the site to look for a campsite tag or visitors pass on the truck. I spotted the campsite tag and noticed a person lying on the front seat of the truck. Still a little unusual I thought but nonetheless he was registered so I went to the entrance station to see if they needed anything. While at the entrance a Sheriff car came speeding into the campground, lights flashing and siren blasting. I followed the Sheriff car through the campground and they headed right for the pool company truck. Both deputies got out, guns drawn and moved to the front of the truck. Not much I could do at this point so I went back to block the entrance to that part of the campground. Soon 5 or 6 more patrol cars showed up along with a fire truck and an ambulance. Seems the guy checked in to the campsite to check out. In other words he attempted suicide with drugs and alcohol. I still am not sure how the Sheriffs knew he was there. The only thing I can figure is he made a 911 call. I guess he’s all right but he is now on our BOL (be on the lookout) list.

Much better

My back is much better and I am back to my normal antics again. I still have a little pinching in the back but that should go away soon. Man, I was hurting for a while.

Well we are ready for Christmas. Susan has got the shopping done, notice I say Susan, and the tree and decorations are up.

We get quite a few looks from the camper that pass by the motorhome since we have displays on the dash and a small lighted tree on the steering wheel table. All that’s left is the goodies. Susan always bakes up a storm with all kinds of Christmas goodies. Most are given away to friends and family.

It’s been getting pretty cold around here, relatively speaking. I know it is miserably cold in other parts of the country but when I have to go out to do my morning check at 7:00a and it’s 41°, that’s cold to me. It might get up into the high 50s to low 60s for a while during the day but by 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon it starts to chill out again. At least we are cozy with our fireplace in the evenings.

Laid up

Well the storm came and went. Not much of a storm this time. The weather has taken a turn for the better. Although it is still chilly, the sun is shining and there is not a cloud in the sky. This is very aggravating for me because my back is giving my fits. I have had degenerative arthritis of the spine for quite some time and for the most part it is fine. Heck sometimes I don’t even notice it at all, or maybe I just got used to always having a little back pain. Well since the weather was bad all three weekend days, I did nothing but sit inside and cruise the internet. This is the worst thing I could do for my back. Activity seems to keep it limber. Well I woke Sunday morning with a pretty sore back and just happened to flinch just right to send it into spasms. I could barely move all day yesterday. Today is better but I still am moving kind of slow and not making any sudden moves. It should be back to normal, for me, in a couple of days. Fortunately I have been off duty from Saturday and don’t go back on until Tuesday afternoon. I will still be moving a little slow but at least I should be able to make my rounds.

New storm

They (the national weather service) say that we are in for a good storm this weekend. I have gone around and warned some of the tent campers. We also had some early checkouts today. Some campers were due out tomorrow but decided to pack it up today rather than in the rain tomorrow. Also according to our reservation service there are 43 cancellations for tomorrow. I have read two different forecasts for the weekend. One says very bad storm and the other is a lot more less threatening. I have put things away and rolled up the awnings and am prepared for the worst. I just hope it isn’t too bad tomorrow morning since I have the AM shift. After that it can do what it wants because we have the next 3 days off. Here are a few photos from last weeks storms.

Our beach disappeared because of high tide. This poor girl was trying to walk her dog on what used to be a beach.

Note the water line on the cliffs as the tide goes out.

Here is a photo of some of the erosion in the park. These trees have given way to the sea.

And of course storms always mean killer sunsets.

No not Hawaii

This is a photo of the surf off the coast just north of the campground this morning. As you can see, many surfers braved the challenging waves to get that big ride. We had big surf last year also and there were many rescues and one death but this year it hasn’t been bad. There were plenty of lifeguards on duty including many in the surf on Jet Skis. By noon most of the surfers were gone and the Skis were on their trailers. Tomorrow will be some of the same but the waves are going to be diminishing in the next few days. This weekend we are expecting more rain though. We just got cleaned up from the rain last weekend.

What a mess

What a weekend. I woke Friday morning to the sound of rain on the roof of the motorhome. It was still a while before I needed to do my morning rounds so I laid there listening to the rain. By luck, the rain slowed by the time I went to do my rounds. We were expecting over 100 campers to arrive Friday afternoon but the steady rain all day kept most away. Some called and canceled and some called saying they would show if the rain let up but most didn’t call at all. The ones that did show found some sites flooded and some impossible to get into due to the washed out transition from the road to campsite. One even had to call a tow truck after driving into a deep rut. By night fall the rain really started to fall. The 10 X 20 canopy in our site filled with water and came down with a crash, bending a few poles. The wind blew over some of the rain soaked bamboo fencing in our site. By morning the rain had stopped but the damage was done. The roads were filled with mud and campsites were a mess. Since the rain stopped the campers started to show up. We filled up pretty good with all the late arrivals wanting to at least get their 1 night out of 2 in. Even though the sites were a mess and some still filled with mud, the campers seemed to have a good time. Well it is now Sunday evening and most have gone home now. Monday should be a slow day as it usually is this time of year. I have mended fences and will pick up a few parts to repair the canopy. At least the rain did a good job washing the dirt and ocean off the motorhome. Now all I need to do is apply a coat of wax. The weather report is saying we will get more rain next weekend. Hopefully it will be a bit lighter than the last.