Laundry, More New Friends, & A Fish Fry - (Quartzsite, AZ)

This was one of our cooler, windier days with a high only in the low 60s.  But, again, not nearly the amount of dust, at least where we are, that I had expected when coming to Quartzsite.

Linda & Stella made plans to do laundry in town today and then go bead shopping.  They took off around 10:00.

I made arrangements with Brenda & Dennis ("hogans1947" on the Forum) for a visit.  Brenda & Dennis are from Illinois, lived in southern California, and were running a business and living in Louisville when they read about us in the newspaper back in the summer of 2005.

They had been planning to full-time.  They sold their business and house and started on the road in September of 2006.

We had corresponded several times, but we had never met.  Since they are staying about 45 minutes away in Blythe, California, this looked like a good opportunity.

I got a shower and straightened up.  Of course it doesn't take much to straighten up as we keep the rig pretty organized and free from clutter.  I've said it many times - clutter can make this box on wheels close in very quickly, and our moods become somewhat irritable when that happens.  :)

While Linda was gone, Pam came over and announced an impromptu fish fry this afternoon at 3:00.  "Bring whatever fish you might have to throw in the deep fryer or, if you don't have any fish, bring a side dish."

Also, the group sent flowers to Kathy of Grant & Kathy (BirdingRVers).  They are here with the Montana Owners Club (MOC), but Kathy had to have emergency surgery in Blythe Sunday night.  I usually don't discuss matters of such a personal nature, but Grant posted some information on their blog, so I wanted to give the RV-Dreams Family an opportunity to lend their support.

We're all with you Kathy!!  And Raider is in good hands, though he misses you both.  :)

Grant & Kathy have good friends here in the MOC, but it has been our experience that RVers everywhere will step up to the plate and take care of one another in situations like this.  The support system among RVers, even complete strangers, is amazing.  :)

Brenda & Dennis arrived a little after noon with their new addition, Koby, a three-month old long-haired dachsund.  Yes, I should have gotten a picture of the adorable little fella, but I didn't.  :)

They have been camphosting at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California between San Diego and Los Angeles.  They lived in that area when they lived in California, so they still have family and friends there.  They have a pretty good deal where they worked for three months, are taking a two month break, and then return for two more months.

Linda returned from the laundry and bead store to meet our guests.  They tried to convince her that driving in southern California with the RV wasn't that big a deal.  But I don't think she bought it.  :)

With hugs and handshakes, they departed to drive north and scout Lake Havasu.  Don & I are going to drive up that way tomorrow to check out potential camping spots while the ladies bead.

By then, it was almost time for the fish fry.  Linda was scrambling to figure out what to fix.  She came up with hush puppies, so I checked with the fish cook to see if that would work.

Some of these westerners have never had hush puppies.  :)

We gathered between a couple of rigs to block the wind as much as possible.

As usual, there was way too much food.  They alternated cooking various kinds of fish, french fries, and hush puppies in the deep fryer.

Yeah, there were some healthy choices too.  But my plate wasn't full of salad.  :)

As the sun sank, we moved chairs out into what was left of the sunbeams to stay a little warmer.  Soon, it was too chilly and Linda & I vacated.  :)

But I was back out taking pictures before completely settling in.

Just can't help it.  :)

Linda beaded while I watched some basketball and returned some emails.  Soon it was off to bed.

We managed to get our batteries completely charged today, so we may not have to use the generator at all tomorrow.

Boondocking Update

It's a record for us.  We've been boondocking a full week now without needing water or dumping.  We've had to use the generator about an hour a day, and we've run our furnace for one cycle each of the last three mornings.  We've had to fill one 40 pound propane cylinder that wasn't quite full when we got here.  I figure it has cost us about $30 for the week.  :)

We had done six days once before, and we knew we could do a week, but usually we've parked without hook-ups at state parks where we've used the bathrooms and showers to cut down on fresh water and holding tank usage.  That's sort of boondocker cheating.  :)

In the week's time, Linda has washed dishes just about every day and we've each had two showers that were shorter than usual, but not really boondocker or military showers.  Boondockers have lots of tips and tricks to make water and holding tanks last longer, but we haven't really employed any of those.  We've been conscious of our usage, but not particularly conservative.

The specs on our rig say our tanks are 100 gallons fresh water, 45 gallons black, and 90 gallons gray (actually two tanks - galley & shower).  Unfortunately, we don't know how that 90 gallons is divided.  :)

I'm sure the serious boondockers will say we should be able to go a month on those tanks.  :)

We'll see how many more days we can go using our approach.  :) 

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Comments

[Laura]

Is that two showers each for the whole week or two showers out of...say 4 that were shorter than usual?

[Teresa]

I would guess that your two gray tanks are 45 gallons each.

We have 75 gallon fresh (which we worried me at first since our previous motorhome had a 100 gallon fresh tank) but have no problem.

We've got 75 gallon black and 75 gallon gray so we have few worries about filling those up. I wish there was a way to empty some of the gray tank into the black tank but I'm told that is illegal.

But then we have friends whose 5th wheel came with just ONE tank, no gray and black. I don't understand that.

[Judy Schmader]

I can see why Linda is convienced pulling the RV in Southern Ca. We started out there and with those mountians try to advoid some of them. Bob had a Banks exhaust brake installed on the F-550 in Azusa, Ca. But we did it and would travel that route again.
Judy

[Judy Schmader]

Oops, that she is not convinced that is.

[Steve]

I happened to click on your Datastorm present location and wow, everyone is in Quartzsite. I don't think I have ever seen the list that long for one location.

[LakeConroePenny]

Teresa. Actually there is a way to get gray water into your black tank legally. Do your dishes in dish pans, one for washing, one for rinsing, and use that water to flush the toilet. That saves on fresh water, too.

Howard. How did everyone like the hush puppies?

Happy Trails, Penny, TX

[Kathy]

That saguaro looks like he's lifting his arms in praise of that sunset. Cool.

Hey, if you are gonna have a fish fry, why you've gotta have hush puppies! Good choice Linda. :)

Kathy

[Howard]

Laura,
That was two short showers each total for the week. Of course we haven't been doing the hiking we normally do, so we weren't quite as stinky as we might have been. :)