Desert Friends, Quartzsite, AZ - January 30, 2015

We have been at the Roadrunner BLM area for 8 days now. Our holding tanks are doing good so far. Our guages don't work worth a hoot, but no 'burping' so far. We plan to stay here for a total of 12 days, then move over to La Posa South LTVA area and dump and take on water.

Overall, the weather has been good. It isn't cold at night at all. We did have a few cloudy days, a windy one, and even a couple of rainy days.

Gina and Kyra were here at Roadrunner, so we walked over to visit them.

Gina

Kyra

It was fun catching up with them. We hadn't seen either of them since the RV Dreams Rally in Oregon, 2012. They each made their way to the East coast and back. While there, we discovered this big geocache.

It was a big one.

One day, we went and found Tom & Cheryl. They are fellow Dreamers we first met at the Christian Fellowship SKP BOF Rally a few days back. We sat and chatted with them under their awning.

It was a really nice day and we enjoyed the shade under their awning and behind their sun shade. I commented about their sun shade. We gotta get one of these. And lo and behold ... they had a spare and gave it to me.

Thanks Tom. we like it!

This last week, the SKP Geocachers were holding their rally here at Roadrunner. I walked over and signed in, listened for awhile, then went out and logged 8 more geocaches that day. There are quite a few out here and Donna and I are go out and find a bunch more soon.

Then Thursday, the 29th, was our RV Dreams mini-reunion get together. WE had 16 of us there. Steve BBQ'ed hot dogs, everyone brought 'appys' and stuff, and we all sat around the campfire.

The campfire ring and one of the bundles of firewood is what Howard bought at the RV-Dreams Fall Rally in Indiana last year.

Here is a list of who all was there, and their 'handle' they use on the RV-Dreams Forum.
Allen & Donna  -  fergizmo
Tom & Cheryl  -  TDCDintheRV
Doug & Bonnie  -  friends of Tom & Cheryl
Steve & Dianne  -  dianneandsteve
Dave & Diane  -  Hdrider
Loretta  -  Loretta
Gina  -  RoadTrippingQueen
Les & Sue  -  bigboomer
Jim & Melba  -  leenetwo

And here are the pictures I took.

Cheryl, Tom (in their 2011 Fall Rally shirts) and Dave, Dianne, and Steve (in their 2012 Fall Rally shirts)

And the group pic!

Howard and Linda Payne, who created RV-Dreams, have really created a family of RVers. If you haven't visited their web site, do so at www.rv-dreams.com. There, you can find a wealth of information on this full time RV lifestyle, rallies, the forum, .. and become one of the family too.

And a fun time was held by all.

From the desert

That's All Folks ..... (for now) .....

Back to the desert - with my toys! , Quartzsite, AZ - January 23, 2015

It was only 138 miles from the RAT (Riverside Adventure Trails) to the Roadrunner BLM area just 6 miles south of Quartzsite. It was a great travel day. The cats slept all the way and we saw lots of RVs heading north. That means more room for us.

We have lots of friends still in Quartzsite and we will have plenty of time to meet up. We plan on staying in this area for 26 days.

We picked out a good spot to park, so our solar panels are aiming south. There are folks around us ... but no one close. A peaceful, relaxing spot.

I had to get a few pictures of the area ..... with my toys.

Fergizmo the gnome, finds a big Saguaro cactus just behind our rig.

My big Gumby, playing in the 'woods'.

Mister Bill loves to climb trees.

And Gumby & Pokey checking out the 'forest'.

The last weekend for the 'Big' event at the big tent. We headed over there around 10 AM. Traffic was nuts. We found a place to park and proceeded to walk our legs off.

There are many vendors set up all over the place. We looked at a lot of stuff, but didn't really find anything we couldn't live without.

Onward to the big tent.

We mostly just browsed, but we did find some Happy Camper. It works great for holding tanks. kills odors

We then drove out to Plomosa Road to visit some friends. We sat and talked to Mark & Terri (from the Christian rally). Coming back into town, I stopped off at the RV Pit Stop and filled our water jugs. I got 25 gallons of well water (for our fresh water holding tank) and 1 gallon of drinking water. $1.75 for all.

Then I modified my method of getting the water into my tanks.

.Using my bicycle rack and ladder actually worked pretty good. But I know a 12 volt pump is in my future.

Out here in the desert, we see many rigs with solar panels. Some on the roof, some standing up all around the RV. When I ordered mine through AM Solar out of Oregon, I bought four 100 watt panels, a TriStar 45 amp Charge Controller, along with all the cabling and misc to install it. I also ordered 4 Lifeline GPL-4CT AGM batteries and a Magnum Energy MS2012 pure sign wave inverter/charger.

This setup is working out great for us. I installed it myself in 2012 and got a nice tax credit of $1,605.00 that year.

So .. I spent $5,249.00 on my solar setup (you can get a lot more for less today). Minus the tax credit, I have $3,644.00 in the equipment.

Was it worth it? Since we have had this setup, we have boondocked 67 nights. that is, we were parked without hookups and used out inverter to power all the important stuff, like tv, coffee pot (Keurig), lights, and charge all our goodies.

If we had paid .. say 20 bucks a night for a site with hookups, that means we would have paid out $1,340 more in camping fees alone. I guess that means if we boondock 115 more nights, we will break even.

I am sure we probably will do that. But even if we don't, it is still worth it to us. To not have to fire up the generator (Honda 2000i) and deal with the noise, and gas, it is a peace of mind thing. 

Ahhhhh.....


What a nice relaxing spot.

Later


Fergs signing off........

A Quick Trip Back To Fort Mohave, AZ , Quartzsite, AZ - January 22, 2015

On the last day of our rally, new officers for next year were voted for. Ta Da! I am the new Western VP for the Escapees Christian Fellowship CBOF. I think I may keep busy in the year to come. I've got rallies and get togethers to plan.

Then on Saturday the 17th, we packed up, headed into town to the RV Pit Stop to dump our tanks. We dumped our tanks for $15.00 and did not take on any fresh water. We figured that with only 140 miles to go, to Fort Mohave, we can get water at Donna's brother Gene's house.

We made this trip because our new cat, Tinklebell, has an appointment at the vet to get spayed. And we also would have the opportunity to see how Gene was doing and to say our goodbyes for the year.

We wheeled into the Avi Casino, a good boondocking location where we had stayed at several times, and decided to do the first 3 days there.

We met Mitch and Gene over at the Colorado Belle Casino and watched the Seahawks game on their big screens. What a good game! Go Hawks!

Then we went to Gene's and filled two 7 gallon water containers along with six gallon jugs. And he is doing well (since losing his wife).

Now getting the water into our rig was a bit of a chore. Here is some pics of the task.

I think I will look for a cheap 12 volt water pump at the big tent in Q when we get back.

Then for three more days, we decided to move over to the RAT (4 miles)

and enjoy some hookups for a little bit before our 26 day boondocking stretch planned in Q starting next Friday.

We took Tinkerbell to the vet and they got her fixed up. She is doing good.

We have had Gene & Mitch over to our place for dinner. And we watched the classic movie "RV". Mitch hadn't seen it and he really enjoyed it. We also ate at their house one day. Today is the last day here. We head back to Q tomorrow. Here is Gene and Mitch.

Donna and Gene.

And Gene and I too.

Looking forward to getting back to the desert.

RV Friends , Quartzsite, AZ - January 15, 2015

One of the best things about this RV lifestyle, is all the friends you meet while on the road. We have met the most wonderful people out here.

Here at the Escapees Christian Fellowship rally, there are 23 rigs with 44 people in attendance. Spending this week with them has been a blessing. We have been having a great time and it really feels good to get our spiritual batteries re-charged. God is good!

Last evening, we had a get together of a bunch of us RV Dreamers. RV Dreams is a website and community of full time, part time, and wanna be RVers started by Howard and Linda Payne. Through their educational rallies and get togethers, many of us have become life long friends.

We met at Al's Pizza in Quartzsite and had a wonderful time (good pizza too).

In attendance were Donna & myself (RVing With The Fergs), Diane & Steve (Steve and Diane's Most Excellent Adventures), Dave & Diane (Dave & Diane Throwing Caution To The wind), Ruth & Dale, Red & Pam, Tom & Cheryl, David & Debbie, Gina, and Louise. Some we met at a RV Dreams rally in Oregon in 2012. Some were new to us. But we all had common lifestyles.

Yep, a selfie!

Earlier that day, we attended the 5th annual Escapees Happy Hour. This event is held at Scaddam Wash, just east of Quartzsite each year. It is just a big meet and greet get together for all the Escapees in the area. And there are a lot of us!
This is a photo from last year.

This was yesterday's picture.

There was even a drone (toy) there flying around taking pictures.

Chris and Cherie of Technomadia were there as well.

A grand gathering.

Then today, the 15th, Gina along with David & Debbie came to visit us. We got to know David & Debbie and told many stories and reconnected with Gina, who we hadn't seen since the RV Dreams rally in 2012.

Another great day in the desert.

Love this lifestyle!