Brrrrrr Cold

It is Brrrr Cold even in Yuma AZ

I was up at 5 am this morning and checked the outside temperature and it was 29*F

For this area, that is very cold, at 7 pm this evening it is 47*F

Last year high temp 73* low of 53*F

Made a short trip to Mexico today, the poor Mexicans were wearing their very heavy winter coats and scarfs. I do not think any of the stores and shops have heaters..

What did I buy in Mexico? Blankets !!
the line to get back into the US was pretty short :)

Did not take any pictures, the border folks have signs warning about taking pictures....

Yuma Army Proving Grounds

I went on a little trip to check out a local lake (Lake Mittry) that is used for local irrigation for the agriculture here. ( They grow strawberries, lettuce, grapefruit, dates, oranges, etc).

There are free boondocking camping sites around the lake with a 10 day limit. (I went to check them out)

After driving around the lake, heading back to Yuma, I saw static displays of US Army artillery

So, I stopped and took some pictures
To enlarge the pictures..... Click on them












Sherman Tank

You can see where bullets hit the tank

























































I know many who follow the blog are having severe winter weather.

The weather in Yuma is not as cold or snowy But we are having pretty strong winds, they predict the winds to last 'till Thursday.. So far this evening my wind indicator shows a max. of 50.5mph.
The wind charger is working pretty good :)

Stay warm everybody

Going to Yuma Az today

Yesterday in Quartzsite was a very windy day, the wind indicator showed the maximum wind gust to be 49.5 mph, and a few clouds. But, it was warm.

With a few clouds the sunset was pretty good.




Packing up this morning traveling to Yuma, and set up next to the Mexican border to reconnect with some new (to me) friends mainly Canadian snow birds.

Front Sight training

I traveled to Pahrump Nv to attend a 4 day defensive handgun course.




Pahrump, is about 20 miles from the front sight complex.

I stayed at a casino / hotel/ RV resort with full hookups, very nice.. and only 15.00 per day :)
Classes started on Monday at 8am "pacific time" which I found out about the time change on Monday after I was early by 1 hour ..... OOPS ... at least I was not late

I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the training

Picture of the range that we trained at, the staff is superb, friendly and has a sense of humor (very much appreciated)

The steel targets are for a friendly competition among the students on day 4
( there where 29 of us)

Picture at sunset looking through a rifle range, classes last 'till about 5:30 to 6pm. But I did not care :)










Video of finals

Front Sight

Leaving Quartzsite

I took this picture of a 79 VW
young couple from Mass.

I thought Jenny might like these pictures.











During the day everyone does their own thing, but, at about sundown folks in the area gather around the campfire and share stories, (or who can tell the best lie:) )
Usually lasts to 9 pm for most. by then it is getting pretty cool outside.









This guy showed up for a day, I saw his Iowa plate with floyd county,

He lives in Charles City, worked at the White farm factory, but, does not remember Roy Fisher








I added this un-cropped picture to illustrate the vastness of the areas for boondocking camping in these areas (BLM lands)














This is Bob's rig.
Bob has converted a cargo trailer into a RV

The panels on top are solar panels, between those and a Honda 1000 watt generator, he is self sufficient .
Bob has various web sites on living, in small units and, very economically.
Through his efforts many folks stopped by and stayed in this area for a
Rubber Tramp Rendezvous

Now off to Pahrump Nevada

Warm in the Desert

I hear and see it is snowing in Colorado

Thought this may help with cabin fever ....or not :)

It is currently 78*F in the trailer right now @ 5:00

Got the BBQ going .
Cheers

Quartzsite Az

Last night I talked with folks that are from a group, that stay in vans, class C's.

They found out that I had a wind generator.
So, they made an appointment for today to ask questions and help put up the generator.

I had about 10 folks asking questions and comments, it was fun


I also found water on the ground on the back side of the trailer, after investigating I found the drain for the fresh water leaking, it had a crack in a plastic connector, (probably was frozen and cracked) Now that I am in warmer weather ( today 80*F )
it started to leak and I lost 3/4 of the water I put in yesterday.



Traffic at the exit at I-10 exit, had to get across to get to the hardware store to get new parts for the water leak repair, took a while.

After the repair was made, I made 3 trips to the Loves truck stop to get water, & haul to the trailer, used a small pondmaster water pump and refilled the tank.




Noon inside temp :) door open









For (Lawrence) the solar was putting 13.9 to 14 amps at noon.


Tonight,




Youtube video below





You tube video below

Trip to Quartzsite

After a late start

We made it to San Felipe Indian Casino , they have a nice flat lot for rv's and available electrical power if needed for $15.00 per night.
We are set up with 4 6volt batteries, so we have enough reserve power for the furnace to keep warm a d watch TV.



This a shot of the gps information for this part of the trip






The next morning we left for the second leg of the trip, going down I-25 to I-40 west, to the Arizona border, and then took us hwy 191 south ( shortcut?)
The road was pretty rough narrow 2 lane, Long day, finally stayed at wal-mart at Globe Arizona (in the mountains) Gps shows 900 miles, 15 hrs travel time.

This morning left early, traveled through Pheonix (no traffic) made the last 200 miles to Quartzsite.

Preparing for a quick snowbird trip

The trailer is setting in the driveway all very cold, the temps right now are 3*F at the gazebo, and 5*F at the pump house in the back yard...

But, on Friday the rig and I are about to head south to the warm desert..

We will keep a record of our travels for the next few weeks.
Boondocking, using our solar system, and wind charger system to be self sustaining, staying very low cost and free spots..

Last pheasant trip

Last pheasant trip of the 2010 season
After waiting for the weather to clear, on Saturday it was clear and cold.
We started hunting at 10am with the temps at around 10*F . After about 1 1/2 hours of hunting this years good spots we had our limit of pheasants.


We stopped to visit local folks and then watched college football the rest of the day


On Sunday we left about the same time, the first bird was a very long retrieve, Libby would not let it get away.

I had my limit soon, and we hunted the rest of the day trying to get Gary and Jeff to shoot better. Shooting better at the end of the season makes a big difference, as the birds are very wary and spooky.

We stayed the night and returned home on Monday in very good weather.