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1 to 15 February 2014 16 to 29 February 2014

Saturday February 1, 2014

The RV park is having a RV park wide yard sale.
We do not have that much to sell so three of us got together and put our stuff on one table.
It was very successful for us!

The temperatures have cooled off in the past few days. So after having spent the morning outside in the "cold", I chose to read inside in the afternoon.

Our last bingo at this RV park.

No luck for us tonight.

Sunday February 2, 2014

Brian and I went for nice 10 km bike ride. It was good.

Once I am back, I go and check with the gentleman who fixes bicycles in the RV park and ask him if he sells gold balls for the end on the kickstand of a bike. He does and they are free! He is a golfer and he has a lot of used golf balls!
Here, I am getting the gold ball ready for the kick stand. The golf ball at the end of the kickstand. This will help keeping the bike up when you park" in the sand or other soft place.

Today is also Super Bowl day. We are invited to Lucille and Alfred's place to watch the game with friends.
This was not the game any of us expected! The favorite got hammered.

The gang watching the game... We are only missing Alfred on this photo.

With football you have to have chicken wings! We are full of food and very well hydrated!!!

Monday February 3, 2014

I am starting the packing for our departure tomorrow.
A lot of stuff can go in the basement of the motorhome.
I even found time to go for a bike ride with Dawn and Brian.

Later in the afternoon, I realize I have another flat tire on my bike???

During the evening, it dawned on me why I have so many flat tires. There is some little "prickly" things falling off trees and they are very sharp and strong. I got a few in my tires and they most have broken off and I cannot see them in the tires, but when I ride over a rock of anything that makes the tire flex more tan normal, it punctures the tube.
Off to Walmart to buy two new tires. They have all kinds of tires and tubes, but none for my size!

Tuesday February 4, 2014

I call Best Optical to see if my glasses are ready. They are not, maybe Friday?
So our plan to go to Quartzsite next is postponed for a few days...

This morning, we head to Target to buy the last season of Dexter for only $10.
We stop at a hardware store and found two tires for my bike.

The last few things to pack and we hit the road to the Quechan casino, really close to Mexico.

Goodbye Friendly Acres, we had a great time and maybe we will come back in the future!

On our way to California and the casino.

15 kilometers later we arrive at the casino.

Looking east towards Arizona and Yuma.

Looking west towards El Centro.

Some of the nice mountains we get to see here in southern Arizona.

Us in the middle of the parking lot.

Can you see us in the middle of the photo? There is more than 100 RVs in the casino parking lot. It is free to camp, but no service.

Some people have all the toys.

My new tires, now I hope not to get any flat tire any time soon.
There is no trees here so I should not have any flats.

When you camp in a casino, you cannot complain about the noisy generators. Everybody uses generators.

Wednesday February 5, 2014

After a very noisy evening last night, I cannot understand how somebody with a $300.000.00 motorhome would need a screamer for a generator!!! Tabarnac they make a lot of noise.
We also are located on the "truck" side of the parking lot. On the RV side of the parking lot there is a nice space waiting for us if we make it there fast enough. The sun will hit our solar panel all day long. We will not have to use our generator as much.
Our new home!

And what a view!

The sun is very hot here. I am looking for some shade.

Thursday February 6, 2014

Our leveling jacks are not working for us! I can see $$$$ going away, again.
I take a quick look and decide to let the pro do the repair. There is a RVer here in the casino parking lot who do repairs on RVs. I talk to him and he will come have a look tomorrow afternoon.

Just playing with the camera...

I cannot wait to get the leveling jacks repaired.

Friday February 7, 2014

First ting we did this morning was watch the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi on TV.

Phil arrive in early afternoon with his truck/workshop and gets to work.
First, jack the motorhome high so he can access the pump.

His truck and workshop...

We are in luck, he has a used motor we can use. Cheaper too!

The installation is done fast and he only charges us $100 for the labor and $100 for the used motor.
Pretty good!

We test the jacks and all is well.

Phil goes home and we start to level the motorhome and .... the motor quites. Just like that!
I go and talk to Phil and he says he will change the motor with a new one, but I have to get the new motor. He gives me back the $100 for the used motor.
I found a place in Yuma who has the motor and of course they see you coming a mile away. It is for a RV, it will be expensive.
$300 later I got a new motor and solenoid. After talking to Phil, he will change the motor and solenoid tomorrow afternoon.
We are not upset that the used motor quite on us like that, it was used after all.

Saturday February 8, 2014

Phil is back and ready to replace the motor and the solenoid.

Our new motor and solenoid.

Where the new motor will be going.

Phil did not charge us anything for the "second" replacement and installation of the solenoid. We found him to be really fair.

The sun goes down really fast here, in about 40 seconds the sun is behind the mountains and it gets cold quickly.

Since we were off the jacks after the fix, I went and dumped the used water and refilled at the RV park close to the border. It is only $10 for dump and fresh water.

Sunday February 9, 2014

I am out for a bike ride this morning. Here at the casino, it is not a good place for bike riding.
I take the road toward Winterheaven, it is not a very good road for biking, I think a dirt road would have been nicer.

Some of the sight I saw today.
The guard-rail is made of railroad track, I am sure it will last 200 years...

The "All-American Canal".
It is the water from the Colorado river and it is used to water the crops here in Yuma and southern California.

The red arrow indicates the Interstate 8. On this side, we are in California and on the other side, it is Arizona.
The campsite on the right is a "permanent" resident and on the other side, it is a casino with an RV park.

This bike ride was not one of my best. I still did 6.5 km.

Monday February 10, 2014

First thing I do this morning is to call in Mexico and find out if my glasses are ready. D&rn!
They are not because they did not make a new lens so they sent it back to get the new lens, again!
Another two or three weeks waiting time.

We are not staying at the casino any longer, we are moving to Quartzsite. We will drive the car back here to get them when they will be ready.
The inside of the motorhome ready for traveling. We use the seatbelt to hold the TV stand.
Time to hit the road.

A local resident, that was on the back of the motorhome. He was not happy to have to move!

Goodbye Casino Quechan. This is a very dusty place in the RV part of the parking lot.

We are back on the I-8 towards Yuma and we enter Arizona after a few minutes.

Our first stop is at one of the Walmart in Yuma for some groceries. Our next stop is at the Flying J to top up the propane.
The last time we filled up with propane was in Las Vegas and the price per liters was $0.54. With all the cold and winter storms hitting the north, the price is now $0.78 per liters.

We finally got on highway 95 North towards Quartzsite.

As we go by the Yuma Proving Ground, we see this military vehicle driving by. The Proving Ground is the testing establishment of the US military.

A Border Patrol Checkpoint is coming up. They are looking for illegal alien and drugs.

One or two question from the agent and we are back on the road. Just long enough for the dog to go around the motorhome and the car.
The dog is looking for drugs, can he smell Mexican too?

Our next stop is at the dump station for the used water and we fill up with fresh water.
We chose the La Posa North to camp because it is closer to Quartzsite.

Here, in Quartzsite we will have more things to do them back at the casino. I will be able to bike into town everyday if I want to.

I forgot, we are watching the Olympics game everyday. Canada is doing very good at the games!!!

Tuesday February 11, 2014

My day starts with a bike ride of 16 km. I basically went around Quartzsite.

One of the many RV here at the BLM. This one is really well restored.

My first geococcyx this winter. You are probably wondering what kind of bird this is? It is THE Roadrunner, BEEP BEEP!

Not a great photo, but it shows you what Quartzsite looks like.

Time to wash the windshield form all the dust and give us a nice view of the mountains. Look at the athlete!

Our first campfire in 2014!

Wednesday February 12, 2014

Back in Quartzsite with my bike this morning.
This is a different way of taking your quad with you!

My travel takes me by the RC club of Quartzsite. I stop for a few minutes and watch the airplanes fly around.

I also found the oldest tree in Arizona. An ironwood tree.
The ironwood as the most dense and heavy wood in the world.

We have a nice sunset tonight.

Thursday February 13, 2014

Another easy day in the desert.
Some biking and mostly reading.

Some months ago I bought this "comb" to straighten out fins on radiators.
This is the first time I use it. My two transmission oil cooler have a few bent fins so I use it there first.

The comb worked really good. The next item to use it on will be the AC on the roof.

Friday February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's day to everybody in the world.

Just another relaxed day for us. Somme groceries shopping and mostly reading and watching the Olympics games.

Saturday February 15, 2014

Forecast for today, hot! It got to +31 C today.
Michele makes a big breakfast this morning.
Next we hit the road for a visit of the little town of Bouse. We are taking the scenic route of Bouse.