Blue Ox service tent...

Its been busy here in Quartzsite....  I decided to have my tow bar rebuilt and re lubricated... It didn't need rebuilt, but it was super dry in the big ball joint...  The Blue Ox folks have a big display in the big tent..  And it was at the sales display that I learned to take my bar out to the repair tent in the back of the lot...

The tent was hidden on the very back corner of the lot and then was the last tent behind several other tents installing various products...  But I had seen it in previous years and knew where to go...  So on Wednesday I removed the tow bar from the back of my rig and loaded it into the back of the Jeep...

Of course the traffic was awful going South on 95 past the big tent..  But I stayed into the center lane going over the interstate... It moves faster.. Most of the outside lane turns right going to the back side of the tent and out into the wash for parking...  But, if you don't want to park, you can turn into the lot on the South side of the tent...  And that takes you right back to the Blue Ox repair tent...

It was only 10 AM and they had 30 bars ahead of me already...  I don't know how many had come in that morning but the man asked if I  could come back to pick it up tomorrow... I readily agreed...  So for $30 they took it all apart and put a new washer kit inside and lubed the arms...  I thought this was a deal as the whole thing is now tight like it was when it was new..  And the arms are smooth with new lubricant..

So the following morning, I was back up to the show returning to the back part of the parking lot and Blue Ox's repair tent...  It was really a zoo that day getting back to the pickup area, but I stayed patient..  And there was a line of 10 people at the desk.. Some  bringing in bars and others picking them up...  I managed to slip into a double parked line for a few minutes and get the bar before I was railroaded on down the lane...

If you had to carry a tow bar from out in the wash, it would mean for me anyway, that the work just wouldn't get done...  I am pleased with the outcome...  And also I managed to have the tech show me how to adjust the Patriot brake box and get it set up in the Jeep...  I had never been successful in making the brake functional in the Jeep...  He changed a setting by going into the settings screen electronically...  I didn't even know that the setup screen existed....  But it seemed to work when he set it up...

Then he had me set it up from scratch, and of course it errored out in my hands...  So he adjusted some more until I was able to run it....   That was worth the entire trip down here......!

We have had some fun suppers the last two nights, so I will blog about that in the next entry...

Retired Rod

It depends on your perspective..

Its about 7:30 and the thermometer says its 46 degrees outside...  The sun is just coming up... The camp is dead still....  Biscuit is still nestled into the blankets on my big bed...

I jump into my jeans and stoke the fire.............   Uh, well that means turning up the thermostat on its top... LOL

You can see the orange glow of the catalytic element as the propane heats the center block of the heater...

I stand over this glowing bit of warm, holding my hands out absorbing the warmth...

The roof vent is cracked a bit to let the exhaust out of the coach even though it isn't supposed to put out bad fumes or CO....  Better safe than sorry....  

I don't worry about cracking a window, as this rig has holes to the outside everywhere....

So as I am contemplating making breakfast, I look out the windshield and find some folks are already outside by the big fire pit...  This morning is Mimosa breakfast, so a few of the ladies are already outside preparing things....

The fellow in the middle is Tom....    He is full of stories and general devilment.  As you can see, Tom doesn't have on a tan shirt....  In fact, Tom doesn't have on a shirt at all....  And I am sitting here huddled over my heater?  Obviously I am a pansy.....!  Still its about 48 out there... as the long rays of the sun shine in from behind the motorhomes...

Tom is a rock collector and went into town yesterday to go to a rock gathering...  He was telling me about an agate he had purchased....  And I readily admitted that I knew nothing about rocks...  Saying that I didn't even know what kind of rock we were standing on...

So with a straight face, he said those would be leaverites....  Leaverites, never heard of that..... Well that's because you want to Leave her right there on the ground, he exclaimed...! Uhhhh, I walked right into that one......

Well anyway, I did walk out to see what the Mimosa crowd were doing, but was warned that it was a Ladies only party...  So not wanting to break into a gaggle, I spoke my pleasantries and retreated to the man cave....  LOL

The generators were started, and things are coming alive here, so I had better get myself straightened  away, so for now from Quartzsite.....

Retired Rod

Slow and easy....!

Good morning from the campground on Plamosa road....  After my second night's sleep here, I am alive and well....  We are camped around a fire ring that is in the middle of a large open space...  The motorhomes are in a semi circle with their windshield facing the fire....

Of course the fire is out and no one is around this morning...  But I do hear a few generators starting to purr... so folks must be up and stirring...

This has been the scene of the late night  discussion circle and the warming fire...  It wasn't all that cold, but 58 with a breeze seems chilly when you are sitting solving the problems of the world...

Turning to the left, you have the motorhome semi circle... I'm the second one on the left...  If we all get our generators running at the same time, it can get a little noisy...  So the fifth wheel and travel trailer folks are on the opposite side of the fire....  Mostly these folks have the ultra quiet portable generators, that you don't hear beyond about 25 feet....

Sandie and Jim are tucked back in behind the first row of trailers...  That way they can't hear us noisy generator crowd...  LOL        

I spent yesterday parking in the wash behind the big tent and walking all the rows of the show...   I stopped and purchased a couple of LED bulb replacements for my light fixtures...  I will get more as I learn what I need...  They are pricey, as a small one was $11 and the bigger round one was $18..

The wash behind the tent was very loose and gravelly..  I had to put the jeep into 4 wheel drive to get across some of the deeper washes...  Most of the vehicles parked out there were 4WDs

The rest of the day I sat outside by the motorhome and talked to folks as they walked by...  Or spent time on this computer...

It was slow and easy.....  My kind of a day.....!

Retired Rod

Quartzsite for the show...

Tonight I am camped on the BLM ground North of Quartzsite...  This is a boondock site, with no hookups other than the very dark and starry sky...   Biscuit and I left Mesa about 11 AM and drove right thru the center of Phoenix...

That was kind of slow with a whole lot of traffic all around me, but I just cruise along and don't let it get me down...  Once out on the road away from town, it was still way too busy to enjoy the drive, but it is only about 3 hours total driving time..

I spent the next half hour waiting in line to get some diesel on the East end of Q....  That took some attitude maintenance, as people are not too nice to each other.... But eventually I was filled back up...  My generator uses diesel from the engine tank, so I wanted to be mostly full.  Not that I will use that much, but at about a half gallon an hour, it could add up...

Once here, I announced that I was friends with Jim and Sandie..  They are so famous that that was all it took...  Well they did ask if I was an SKP, so I had to answer that my dues were current.... LOL

This group is called the Class Less group...  Since it is made up of folks that started full timing on many different dates...  And like me, I have never full timed, so there for I have no class of date...

These camp grounds are quite full during the show, so you will get to know your neighbors...  We spent tonight around the big fire in the center of the group.. Biscuit wasn't being very good, as she has to go jump on everyone... I had to hold her in my lap and she whined about that...

Anyway there is a blogger get together on Saturday here, so if you blog, and are in the area, we would like to see you.......  Read Jim and Sandie's post about it here...

Retired Rod