1/30/2013–A Relaxing Day in Parker, AZ

It was a pretty laid back day for us today.  We started out with a big breakfast of english muffins, eggs, hash browns, and link sausage.  After breakfast, I got spaghetti sauce started in the slow cooker.  Shortly after that, Sue invited us to join them for dinner at their place.  Okay…so the spaghetti sauce can cook and we can eat it another day.  Later, I made some brownies to accompany our meal this evening.

Once the brownies came out of the oven, we headed into Parker to try to find out more about the race.  We stopped at the Blue Water Casino and picked up some information, but Ken still is not finding the information he really wants….he was hoping for a list of the race entrants and more information that explains the various classes that run in the Parker 425.  We headed back to the truck and drove to the other side of the casino where we found this truck racing around the parking lot.  This one should be very much like the one Ken expects Robby Gordon to be driving.

We returned to camp and as it was another beautiful day, we sat outside visiting and enjoying the nice weather.  It’s just a small dot above the hillside, but this small flying machine was apparently out checking out the race course.

Sue is looking pretty darned relaxed!

and Jerry looks serious…

…but not for long…Ron and Diana’s dog Keisha knows that Jerry has a dog biscuit hidden under his cap.  She worked at it for quite a while but finally found her reward.

After happy hour, we rejoined everyone in Jerry & Sue’s RV and had a very good, but messy, meal of ribs and side dishes.  After dinner, we returned to the RV for an evening of tv and computers.  Tomorrow (Thursday) is the start of the Parker 425 events and we’ll be headed into town to see the Downtown Experience.

1/29/2013–Laughlin, NV to Parker, AZ

We drove from Laughlin, NV to Parker, AZ today first heading south on the Needles Highway to I-40, then east to take AZ-95 south to Parker.

We stopped in Lake Havasu City at the Walmart to stock up on a few items we needed for our stay in Parker, then continued south.

In this photo, we can see some RV’s parked up on the hillside called The Steps.  We camped there a couple of years ago while attending the Winter Blast with the Escapees Boomers group.

There is usually heavy traffic in both directions with just a small area for turning into the Steps.  Toward the middle of the photo, you can see a break in the guardrails near the RV we’re following and the approaching vehicle.

And another photo of it as we get closer.

This photo is looking to the north from the south end of Lake Havasu.

This cluster of palm trees is an interesting landmark as we get closer to Parker.

The Blue Water Casino is the base for the Parker 425 race.

In Parker, we stopped at Superfuels to fill our fuel tank.  We had planned to fill the propane tanks also, but there was too much congestion, and we decided to return later with just the small tank.  South of Parker, we took Shea Road for approximately 8 miles where we joined Jerry & Sue, Ron & Diana, and one other Boomer couple who are here for the Parker 425.  We got set up, had a late lunch and returned to town to fill the small propane tank and look for some information on the race.

With those tasks accomplished, we returned to the RV just in time for happy hour.  It’s nice to have some warmer weather returning to us!  We sat outside until it started chilling off, then it was back to the RV for the evening.

1/26/13–1/28/13–Laughlin, NV

We’re currently on our fourth and final night in Laughlin, NV and really don’t have too many photos of our visit.  Most of our time has been spent getting the inside of the RV cleaned up and getting caught up on laundry.  Also, Ken’s cousin and her husband live here in Laughlin, so we’ve spent every evening visiting with them either at their place or ours and having meals together.

Here are a couple of photos taken along the north-south highway during our ventures away from the RV.

There are many colors in the hillsides.

This almost looks like a tropical beach, but it’s a desert beach along the Colorado River near the Avi Casino south of Laughlin.

Tomorrow, we’ll be headed south to Parker, AZ for about a week to catch glimpses of the Parker 425 race while dry camping off of Shea Road.  We’re looking forward to the experience and hope to catch up with other Escapees friends while there.

1/25/2013–Quartzsite, AZ to Laughlin, NV

We left Quartzsite Friday morning headed for Laughlin, NV for a 4 night stay to catch up on laundry, cleaning the RV, and visiting Ken’s cousin.  It was not a pleasant driving day with a couple of the idiot drivers out there on the road.  As we were headed north on AZ-95 at full highway speed, a pickup with a large 5th wheel decided he had time to pull out in front of us and turn south.  Ken had to put on the brakes and it was a little scary.  Ken gave the guy a blast of the air horn, and the idiot just smiled and waved at us!  Later in the drive, we had a car pass us that barely missed hitting another car head-on due to his stupidity.

We decided to turn off AZ-95 at Parker where there was construction on the bridge over the Colorado River.

Approaching the California inspection station.

We passed some unique desert scenery.

After crossing the border into Nevada, it was just a few short miles to our destination at the Riverside RV Park, our home for the next 4 nights.

After getting set up, I got started on the laundry before stopping at In ‘N Out Burger for lunch and then a stop at the post office to pick up our mail.  From there we returned to the RV to work on some more laundry and make arrangements to see Ken’s cousin later today.  We later paid a visit to Ken’s cousin Verna and her husband Art for a short visit and then a trip out to dinner.  It had been a long day, so we were ready to get back to the RV after dinner after making plans for them to come to the RV for dinner the next night.

01/24/2013–Our Last Day in Quartzsite

This is our last full day in Quartzsite and the only plans we made were to have lunch with friends from the Spokane Elks lodge at Silly Al’s.  It was dark enough in the restaurant that I couldn’t get a very good photo, so this is the best I could do.  In our previous visits to Quartzsite, we had never been to this restaurant.  What had we been waiting for…it was a pretty darn good pizza!

After lunch, we checked out a gas station at the east end of town.  It has an easy entry for the RV and a propane fill area also.  What do you think about the cost of fuel?

Obviously, it’s a digital error!  Unless we change our minds, we’ll fill the fuel and propane tanks there in the morning before heading to Laughlin, NV where we’ll be catching up on laundry, cleaning, and visiting Ken’s cousin.  Until then….

01/23/13–Another Day in Quartzsite & a Jana Update

I was up early this morning and caught a beautiful sunrise (through our screened window).

We were on the road late this morning and made another trip to the landfill as this the last day they are open until Sunday.  From there, we headed back to town and did a drive by of a lot our friends Bruce & Nena own in town.  It’s a very nice lot and we were able to report back to them that the lot was empty as the expected.  We continued to the west end of Main St and found a parking spot in the Main Event and spent about an hour exploring the stores in that area.  We went through 2 large buildings which (in my opinion) sell nothing but dollar store rejected merchandise.  Across from those buildings, there were a few RVers set up with their antique sales.  We couldn’t believe all the empty space in this area compared to our last trip here 5-6 years ago.  We stopped for lunch at the Quartzsite Yacht Club and had good service and a good meal.

We headed back to the RV with the intention of completing a few projects, but stopped at Scaddan Wash to visit our friends from Spokane Elks Ernie and Vivien.  After a visit with them, we returned to the RV with good intentions of getting something done.  But it didn’t take much for us to get waylaid visiting John and Jana just long enough to not accomplish anything.

The black and blue is spreading to Jana’s left eye and forehead and she says her knee is really hurting, but she’s a trooper and it’s not slowing her down.  Our best wishes to Jana for a very quick recovery!!

After our visit, we headed back to the RV to dine on shrimp quesadillas and our usual tv, computer, reading routine.  Tomorrow we’ll be meeting up with other members of Spokane Elks lodge for pizza at Silly Al’s.

1/22/2013–Shopping the Vendors in Tyson Wells

Late this morning, we took a tour of the vendors in the Tyson Wells area north of the Big Tent in Quartzsite.  When in this area, you see it all and we saw this very unique RV set up at one of the vendor sites.

The back of the bus was set up as a blacksmith shop.  I’m guessing they really have to watch for the low clearance bridges…but it could be that it doesn’t move either.

For our friend Glenn back in Arizona City, we had to get some photos at this flute vendor.

This rack of flutes had animals and/or birds as a part of them on the upper left side.

I’m not sure what to call these flutes, but they’re an “A” shape and were interesting.

I didn’t get a photo today of the area where we are camped, but a good majority of the Escapees have moved on to other areas.  We decided to stay here to keep an eye on John & Jana’s 5th wheel as they were gone for a few days to California for doctor appointments and were due back today.  They returned a little later than we expected them but still were here before dark.  Jana tripped over a sprinkler at their house in California and ended up in the emergency room last night

Luckily, she still has her wonderful sense of humor!  I think she’ll be hurting for a few days.

After visiting with them for a while, we returned to the RV for a night of our usual tv, computing and reading.

1/21/2013–Back to the Big Tent in Quartzsite

Our plans for today included a trip to the laundromat, so we headed to the one north of I-10 on Hwy 95.  It was too crowded so we decided to head back to the big tent to purchase some more LED lights.  We had purchased to tubes the other day and were happy with them, so we decided to get 4 additional tubes and a couple of smaller LED’s.

We were greeted at the big tent by the Michelin Man.

It didn’t seem to be nearly as crowded in the tent today as it was on Saturday.

After making our purchase, we looked around a bit more then drove over to check out the other laundromat in town.  It was also busy, so we headed back to the RV for lunch.  After lunch, Ken installed the LED tubes and I walked over to visit with Susie.

Back at the RV for the evening, we had taco salad and a quiet evening of tv, computer and reading….not too exciting a day.

1/20/2013–The Desert Bar

While we’re boondocking out in the desert, we don’t have easy access to disposing of our garbage.  However, just north of Quartzsite, La Paz County has a landfill which is open Sunday – Wednesday between the hours of 7:30am and 2:30pm.  Once we got going this morning, that was our first stop of the day on our planned trip to the Desert Bar north of Parker, AZ.

From our RV, it was about 50miles to the turnoff on Cienego Springs Rd and then just under 5 miles to the Desert Bar.  We followed 3 other vehicles along the washboard road,

but could see the dust of other vehicles further along the road.

Once we were parked, there was an elevated walkway across to the main bar.

We arrived there somewhere around 11:15am, so it wasn’t too busy at the bar yet.

This fireplace seemed to be held in place by it’s chimney.

This photo is from the lower level looking back up at the walkway.  The girl in the pink shirt is the cashier and takes orders for lunch.  There are also meals available at the bar on the upper level, but there was a notation on the menu about no cheese for burgers or any other item for that matter.

We both ordered tri tip sandwiches and mine came with grilled onions and peppers.  It was very good!

After lunch we walked around and saw this one bank of batteries that runs the solar system for the bar.

We could also look across the lower level, with the walkway to the left and the parking area in the background.

As we walked back over the bridge to the truck, we looked down at the long line to order food.  That made us feel a lot better about the early lunch.

And here are a few of the solar panels.

Driving back toward Hwy 95 on Cienega Springs Rd, we passed at least 60 vehicles headed in to the Desert Bar.  Another plus for the early meal.

Back in Parker, we couldn’t find a laundromat by looking on our GPS and driving through parts of the town.  We stopped by Walmart for a few items then started driving back to Quartzsite.  Wouldn’t you know it…we found the laundromat as we were leaving town and it was in a place where I wouldn’t have seen it as we arrived in Parker.  Oh well, there’s always another day for laundry!

In Quartzsite, you’re likely to see some very unusual RV’s, vehicles, people and almost anything else you can think of.  On our return to town, we pulled up behind this van with a bull’s head out the window on the right side…

and a donkey with it’s head out the window on the other side of the van.

And that’s no bull!  Oh wait…yes it is!

Back at the RV, we got things put away and then joined the gang for happy hour before returning to the RV for some tv and computer time.

It looks like laundry and a return to the big tent may be in store for us tomorrow.