Soledad Canyon RV Resort - Acton, CA - April 19, 2021

 The 140 mile move from Palm Springs to Soledad Canyon was a nice easy drive.  We did 2 nights at Soledad Thousand Trails.

It was pretty windy one day, and we just dinked around the RV still cleaning out all the sand from the wind storm in Palm Springs. It is cooler now and enjoy seeing lots more trees and green bushes. We are slowly moving out of the desert area.

During our trip to Soledad TT, we got to use our TSD card again. This time it was at a Petro Truck center along Interstate 10 at Ontario, CA, The pump price was $3.02 and after fueling up, the pump reported a $87.54 sale. After the TSD discount, my bank account was just charged $76.53. Nice.

I received a call from my Step Brother's wife back in Wenatchee, WA. My Step Brother, Randi, had a brain tumor removed and is having a hard time. Going downhill fast. His birthday is May 2nd and we plan on being there for his birthday. So, we changed up our travel plans... a benefit of a fulltime RVer (plans in Jello), and will head toward Wenatchee, WA much sooner.

I decided to drive a longer day than we normally do. A 445 mile travel day, from Soledad TT to the Ponderosa RV Campground in Lotus, CA (by Placerville). It is a Thousand Trails campground that we stayed at several years ago. We opted to head north through Lancaster, Mojave, and down Tehachapi Pass toward Bakersfield and Interstate 5. A much nicer route instead of going up the Grapevine on I-5. 

Another TSD card experience. At a TA truck stop along I-5, Pump said $82.93, and I was charged $74.04. It sure helps compensate for the crazy fuel prices in California.

We made good time, entered rush hour traffic in Sacramento, but it wasn't bad at all. We got to the campground just after 5 PM.

Our site.

BUT!!!!! When pulling into the campground after a long driving day, I had a bit of an accident! Uggg!!!!

Damage to the truck and 5th wheel!

I will do a separate post of all the damage pics after I talk to my insurance agent. Uggg!!!

The Fergs out .......

Palm Springs and TSD Fuel Card Savings - April 16, 2021

 We were just going to spend 3 nights at the Thousand trails park here in the Palm Springs area, but after an incredibly strong wind storm, we changed it up a little and extended our stay three more days. The winds were gusting over 50 mph and our slide toppers were going crazy. We had the Colibaba solution installed for the first night. That is a 1/1/4 inch PVC pipe down across the topper. But the next night was so bad, we pulled the slides in. I guess that's why RVer plans are written in jello. Easily changed. 

Our time here was spent at the park pool, and playing Pokemon Go at a few city parks in the area. Just a lot of relaxing time before the trip northward for the summer. After the storm was over, we spent a good amount of time cleaning the RV. Blowing sand gets in the most tiny openings.

On the way here, we finally got to use our TSD fuel card. The card gives you a great discount at the big truck stops like Flying J, Loves, T/A, Pilot, and the like. Not only do we get to fuel up in the truck lanes, which are nice and wide, but we scan our card at the pump and don't have to go inside. And the discount is nuts! 

We stopped at the last gas stop in Arizona so we could take advantage of cheaper diesel before we travel through California. The pump price was $3.02, which was pretty good, and with out TSD card, we ended up paying $2.82. That's a savings of $0.20 a gallon! Now in California, I can see, using the app, that I can fuel up down the road (Interstate 10), for $3.43 a gallon using the card. I really thought in California, I would be paying over 4 bucks a gallon. Definitely worth checking out.

We are heading out tomorrow. Planning for an easy 140 mile drive to Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails RV Resort. The temps there are in the mid 70's. Finally leaving the desert area. Looking forward to mountains, with lots of trees, and cooler weather.

The Fergs out .......

Last stop in Arizona, and Battle Born Batteries - April 12, 2021

 After our last week boondocking in Quartzsite, we packed up and made the 152 miles to the Mesa Spirit RV Resort in Mesa, AZ. We spent two weeks here. Our spot.

It was pretty hot and our close neighbors helped shade us. Good enough. It was a nice park.

While there, we watched our 2 grand daughters in Phoenix while our daughter and husband took a mini 4 day vacation to Las Vegas. And then spent Easter with them.

I also received my 3 Battle Born batteries while we were at their house. I spent a good half of a day installing them.

Before

Ready to work

A little work behind the breaker panel

This is to run the refrigerator and microwave on the inverter while driving.

There they are

Less space, and 193 pounds lighter.

putting it all back

done

One day, I killed the park power for a day and tested them out. Very happy with how they worked out. I took them down to 80 percent, and they were back to 100 percent before noon the next day. Cool!!

I had been noticing a severe wear pattern on the outside front truck tire. 

I went to 2 alignment shops first and my truck would not fit on their rack. I then took it to an alignment shop in Apache Junction. They had a RV rack.

It was off quite a bit, but they got it fixed up just fine. I also had to replace the tire with my spare. The spare was like new. Never used. But original. Dated 34th week of 2014. My other tires are 05 of 2018. Needless to say, I will be buying a new tire and the 'good' old one will again be my spare.

We enjoyed out last time this season with out daughter and family, the hot weather and trips to the park pool, but it was time to head northward.

April 11th, we packed it up and left Arizona. Our stop was the Palm Springs Thousand Trails in Palm Desert, CA, a 279 mile trip.

Amid the palm trees.

The Fergs out .......

Boondocking in Q Again - La Posa South BLM LTVA, Quartzsite, AZ - March 21, 2021

 This morning, March 21st, we made a quick trip down the road to Walmart to pick up some supplies. Our plan was to head out to Quartzsite and do some boondocking. I changed out our Renogy battery monitor 

for a Victron BMV-712.

And this will be the first time we have been boondocking since I added two more 200 Watt solar panels. We were out in Q earlier in January with just our first two panels (400 Watts). Now we have twice that much. The weather is great right now, and plenty of bandwidth too! Not like mid January during the 'big show days'.

I also decided to change out our 4 NPP NP6 6 volt AGM batteries 

for three Battle Born 12 volt Lithium heated batteries.

That will happen in about a week. we should get them around the 26th. Looking forward to that. The amp hours will go from 450 (only 225 usable), to about 300 usable. And the Victron BMV will talk via Bluetooth to my phone and give me all kinds of stats. But the biggest benefit, is the weight saving this will do. We want to get a Combo Washer/Dryer unit. The washer weighs 148 pounds. Our old 6 volt batteries weighs 65 pounds each. That's a 260 pound battery bank. By switching to the three Battle Born Lithium batteries, each weighing 31 pounds, we save 167 pounds and gain all the benefits of these awesome lithium batteries. Faster charging, longer lasting (10 year warranty), more efficient, less weight. I will let you know how they work out.

Our site here in Quartzsite.

I know we have free camping at a lot of Thousand Trails/Encore RV parks, but it is nice to mix it up and just get away. Very peaceful out here.

In a week, we will be in a Mesa RV park, saying our good-byes to our daughter. Then it will be time to start our migration northward. Washington state for the summer, visiting our kids, grandkids, and even great grandkids. Still planning to work at the California wildfire camps when called. 

The Fergs out .......