I can’t believe that today is our last day in
Quartzsite. Tomorrow we leave to start
our trek to Alaska, visiting several state and national parks until we hit the
Canadian border in mid-May!
Before I forget, I have some very exciting news for you
all! My parents finally relented and I
now have a Facebook Page! It is under
PoPo Young (be sure you capitalize the “Ps”) and here is my profile photo (You
won’t believe how many Popo Youngs are out there in Facebook land)! PLEASE, friend me! I’m still going to do my blog, but during
these months of extensive travel, posting on Facebook will allow us to stay in closer
touch!
PoPo Young - Facebook Profile |
These last few weeks have been a whirlwind! We visited Los Algadones for another round of
Margaritas with Claudia and Mike before they left Quartzsite for their Tiffin
Motor Coach Rally. And we couldn’t leave
without purchasing a few pounds of jumbo prawn—they were so D-LISH-OUS last
time!
Claudia and Mike |
Unfortunately, those few hours in Mexico disqualified Mom from
donating blood. She learned as she
entered the Blood Center in Phoenix last week that Mexico is on the Zika virus travel
alert list, and blood donations must be postponed for 28 days upon returning
from an infected area. Oh well, she will
try to find a blood center along our travel route after the 28 day period
expires.
After temps in the 90s and massive winds, we had an unusual
occurrence here in the desert:
RAIN! On three different days! With it came cooler temps, and unfortunately much
higher humidity. But pretty interesting to
see how quickly the “washes” fill up and become flowing rivers and streams. Can’t imagine what monsoon season is like!
I spent considerable time designing my contribution to the Watson
Sign Forest in Alaska! Can’t wait to
display it. What do you think? Pretty good likeness, if I may say so myself.
Rambling RV Rat creating a Watson Lake Sign Forest"masterpiece" |
Daddy has been particularly busy prepping the RV and truck
for our upcoming Alaskan trek, which has led to some alarming discoveries.
By taking the RV tires off to check the brakes and lube the
axles, he found the wet bolt that holds the axle/leaf spring to the RV frame
had broken off! Imagine how frightening
it would have been to discover this while driving! Daddy immediately went to RV Lifestyles to
order the parts, which took over a week to receive. But all is back in safe driving order now.
He then brought the truck to International in Phoenix for service. They do not make appointments--you must go
and wait your turn. We want Big Boomer
in top notch condition for this trip, so Dad got up at 4 AM to drive nearly two
hours to Phoenix to arrive just as the shop was opening. He was first in line and waited hours while
they did an oil change, changed the transmission fluid, put on new brakes, and
gave Big Boomer the “safe driving” seal of approval and a bill for $2,370. He arrived back in Quartzsite at 10:30
PM. A few days later while traveling in Blythe,
the transmission indicator lights up the dashboard. Dad checks the transmission fluid level and it
is low. WHAT!!! Back another 2 hours to International! At least this time they take Big Boomer in
right away, and ascertain that the fluid is low by 1.5 gallons! They inspect and assure us there is no leak. They determine the service technician just
screwed up—he drained the cooler but did not account for this when determining
how much transmission fluid to add.
Another disaster averted.
In September, we invested in a tire pressure monitor system
for the truck and RV. We figured the $400+
price tag was money well spent with this rough roads we will encounter during this
10,000 mile Alaskan trek. We had no
issues with the system until this Tuesday when the monitor started beeping. Upon
inspection, Dad finds the reason the monitor is beeping is because it can’t get
a reading on the rear passenger side truck tire—the sensor broke off! WHAT! Whoever
heard of that happening? Thankfully, the
issue gets resolved quickly by our sales rep and fellow Amazonian Don. He will mail a new sensor to our home
address. Wish this problem happened
earlier in the year, when we could get our mail forwarded to Quartzsite anytime
during the last 4 months. Now we leave
tomorrow and must strategize where to have our mail forwarded.
As the beloved Saturday Night Live character Roseanne Roseannadanna said, “it’s always something—if it ain’t one thing, it’s another”. That pretty much sums up the full time RVing lifestyle! It is not for the faint-hearted!
As civilization here in La Posa South dwindles, the wildlife
becomes bolder. The Gambel Quail just
recently wandered into our campsite, there is a lizard living in our woodpile,
and a ground squirrel has decided to partake of some bird seed.
The coyotes were howling on Monday and were VERY close
to camp, seemingly only 50 feet on other side of wash. The gila woodpeckers and hummingbirds have
fought over the use of the feeder. The
woodpeckers have gotten very demanding for more frequent refills, pecking at
our windows and on top of our roof. Sorry
fellas, closed for the season! The
rattlesnakes remain elusive—two years in a row and no “live” sighting! But we will continue our quest when we return
next winter.
Just when we think Spring is over here in the desert,
something else starts to bloom. Look at
these beautiful blossoms on a nearby saguaro tree!
Another great winter spent in Q!
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