Richard's Travels: Phoenix Area

2-5-16.

I left Lake Havasu City at 8:30 AM. I had planned to empty the holding tanks again at the Mojave County Park.

Just before I arrived there I called the RV Proctologist in Quartzsite. The black tank acted up again. I had another blockage between the toilet and the tank. This should not happen since it is almost straight down, there are no bends in the pipe.

He told me that he can give me an appointment for 11:00 AM tomorrow. But I have to go to a RV Park and get full hookups.

I called an RV Park in Quartzsite which is associated with Passport America. They do not honor Passport America in January and February. I would have to pay the full price of $ 33.00.

I kept on driving and went in the first RV Park in Quartzsite. The Split Rail RV Park charges only $ 20.00.

Checkout time is 11:00 AM. I asked the lady whether I can stay a bit longer and she thought that should be no problem.

After setting up the motorhome I went to the Pit Stop and had the spare propane tank filled.

Then I drove around a bit. Gasoline is now $ 1.79 per gallon in Quartzsite.

My next stop was the library. After the library I drove to Celia’s Rainbow Garden. I always wanted to do that. It is the memorial garden for Cecilia, the daughter of the Naked Bookseller. She died when she was eight years old. Her mother started the garden. Now individuals and clubs are involved.

There are all kind of memorials.

This is a memorial for all RVing women who have taken their final journey.

Some memorials are small and others take a lot of land.

Adamsville was a man’s hobby. The miniature houses were donated to the Quartzsite Museum and they gave it to Cecilia’s Garden.

Grant Young, whoever he was, has a big memorial.

There is also a wall with the names of donors for the garden.

There was a jam session in the evening in the recreation room of the RV Park. Most of the musicians were excellent. I know some of them from the 49er days in Death Valley.

Ray was organizing the jam sessions in Death Valley.

2-6-16.

The RV Proctologist came one hour late. He cleaned out the black water tank with a high power jet.

I left Quartzsite at 1:30 PM. First I filled the motorhome gasoline tank at Pilot. I still cannot believe that I get gasoline for $ 1.79 a gallon. Last year I paid one dollar more.

When I arrived at the Moose Lodge in Goodyear I said hello to Dan and Karen. Dan Took out his soldering iron and we fixed the little gadget for turning off one fuse when I am towing the car.

I hope it works. It is no fun to arrive at a destination and the car battery is drained. I cannot drive the car and even open the trunk when the battery is dead.

2-7-16.

Karen, Dan and I had breakfast at the lodge. It was buffet style and serve yourself.

Besides us three there are two other motorhomes on the parking lot.

There is a strange looking palm tree.

After breakfast I drove to Sunset City and visited Jack, a friend from Carlsbad. He lives now in Phoenix.

It is always fun to see him.

2-8-16.

I left Goodyear at 9:00 PM and one hour later I was at the Pleasant Harbor RV Resort. The resort is located at Lake Pleasant. It is a fancy place. The entrance gives an idea what is coming.

The Clubhouse has a computer room, and all the other facilities normally RV Resorts have.

The swimming pool is perfect for swimming laps.

The office is in a separate building.

The RV sites have fences around them. I never saw that before. Some of the sites are next to the lake.

There is a large dock on the lake with many boats.

This ocotillo was in bloom. I think it is confused; it is rather early for that.

I am dry camping and have a large area for myself. No other WINs have shown up yet.

It was rather windy when I came up highway 303. The motorhome was shaking. In the afternoon the wind disappeared and came back at 5:00 PM. Since I was on level ground I had not lowered the hydraulic jacks. When the motorhome started shaking I brought them down in a hurry.

2-9-16.

In the morning I drove to Pep Boys in Glendale and bought a set of windshield wipers for the car. I am glad I had the mechanic install them. I had bought the wrong ones. The mechanic was not able to install them. They exchanged the set I bought with another brand and then it worked.

I also bought some wax to work on the driver side of the motorhome.

My next stop was Cabela’s. I was not going to buy anything.

Whenever I see a Cabela’s I go in to see the store. Every store has different displays. This one did not disappoint.

When I came back to the RV Resort I ate lunch, had a nap and went swimming.

Today the temperature was 85 degrees F.

Late afternoon I washed the driver side of the motorhome and started waxing. The other three sides I can do at home. The driver side it too close to bushes in the side yard.

2-10-16.

On my morning walk I went to the North Boat Ramp. In the marina are a lot of boats.

Above the lake are some sites for motorhomes. The RV Resort has 254 sites.

A house boat was moved from the water to dry storage. This is a modern looking vessel.

I finished waxing the driver side of the motorhome. I will do the other sides when I get home.

On Friday I will be heading North. Doris cannot come. She is still involved with removing a tenant from the apartment.

We better reschedule the Arizona trip to the fall. It is not much fun to be without Doris.

2-11-16.

This morning I drove to the Westgate Entertainment District in Glendale. I arrived there at 10:00 AM and the place was deserted. Only security personnel was in sight.

I wanted to see the dancing waters and I stayed.

Since the shops and restaurants stay open late everything starts at 11:00 AM. The place is a large shopping center with restaurants which have a lot of outside seating. It must be beautiful at night, with the water and the colorful lights.

There is also the Gila River Arena and across the street the University of Phoenix Stadium.

In the afternoon I went swimming and stopped at the club house and watched people bowling with the WII Sport on the TV monitor. Some of them were very good.

Later I connected the car to the motorhome and got ready for leaving early tomorrow morning.

It is a shame that Doris cannot come. It is warm right now and it would have been perfect weather to go to Sedona and probable Page.

2-12-16.

This was a driving day.

I left Lake Pleasant at 5:45 AM. The plan was to stop for the night at the RV Park in Mohave.

I could not find. Highway 14 is not marked on Highway 58. I had passed it.

I kept on driving and ended up in Bakersfield. Nelda agreed to go to dinner with me. Finally I got a chance. Usually I eat at the place where she lives.

We went to the Firehouse Restaurant. The food was good but it was noisy.

2-13-16.

I drove a little less today.

My goal was to stop in Willits for the night. When I left I-80 and continued on highway 37 I got into holiday traffic. It was stop and go. It took over an hour to go ten miles. It wore me out.

I stopped at the Elks Lodge in Petaluma.

When I came up Interstate 5 the almond trees are in bloom. I wish I could have gotten a bit closer. Almonds are the rage now. People are removing grapevines and planting almond trees.