Tucson

We have been in Tucson a week now this time, parked at camp Arlene's. A week ago we went to Nogalas Mexico with Mark and Lydia. The picked us up at the casino where we were and Mark drove us down. Riding in the back of their small Ford made me want a 4 door truck, or 4 door jeep all the more.

 Lydia had a dental appointment in Mexico so we went with them. The first stop was the duty free store, we bought a couple cartons of smokes for $10 a carton. We got an off brand, and Mark and Lydia got their name brand for $30, which sure beats the $55-$110 they charge in the states.

 Once in Mexico we walked around looking in several shops. Nogalas is a lot different than Los Algadones, and I would much rather spend a day in Los Algadones. We had breakfast at Leo's, the sausage was a hot dog, and the ham was not ham, but the eggs were cooked to order, and the pancakes were ok. Marcia and I did get our Coke Light, which is diet Coke but in Mexico it has a little more syrup in it.
We had a pretty good time over all and Lydia has one more appointment today.

 Once we got back to the casino we said our good-byes and then we drove the rig to "Camp Arlene's" so we could spend Thanksgiving with family. Pam, and the "girls" did an excellent job preparing the dinner, and everyone ate a little more than they should have. The next day we did it again with left overs and it was as good as it was the day before.

 Sunday Bill and I went to the desert to pop a few caps. Bill collects all kinds of guns, he has or has had several old hand guns. A 1902 38, an old colt 45 with pearl grips made around 1904, and several long guns. We made a lot of noise and had a good time, it had been years since I had been shooting like that.
It was a lot of fun and I look forward to doing it again sometime.

 I had been hearing a noise coming from the engine of the rig and couldn't tell if it was normal or not. A mechanic told me recently it was a cracked manifold, and I really didn't want to hear that. So I called cummins to find a shop near here, and to ask about a warranty, I was really pleased to hear that a cracked manifold would be covered under the 5 year 100000 mile cummins warranty. Although our rig is an 06 it wasn't "put into service" until May of 2007 so we still have a few months on the warranty, and it will ONLY COST US THE $100 deductible. (we dodged a bullet there)

 We will drop the rig off Saturday, the day before we fly back to KY and they should have it fixed and ready for us when we return a week later.

 It is 3:44 am and my mind is wandering so until the next time............................

WHY

 We spent almost a full week in Gila Bend, the Aux air station has a fam-camp with about 60 sites. Full hook-ups and free laundry for less than a lot of places charge to dump your tanks. The only problem is there is NOTHING around there.
We left Yuma last Tuesday and drove to Gila Bend. We got all set up in the fam-camp, was greeted by several of the rv'ers that spend the entire winter there, and made it to the 4 PM happy Hour. We were introduced to all that were there, and had a good time listening to all the gossip.

 One bad thing about this fam-camp is that don't have the same rule as Escapees have about talking politics, or bringing pets to the happy hour. One lady was very outspoken with her political views, and you could tell she enjoyed being that way. And one couple had to bring their "puggsly" to every get together, I really enjoy the Escapees Boondockers rule about not bringing your pet to gatherings. You may love your pet more than anything, (and that is the main problem) but I'm not an animal lover, and watching some one's pet sit and stare at someone eating is disgusting. ( I'm not an animal hater either )

 The following day we drove into Gila Bend and had lunch at McDonald's. Then we drove around town look things over. After that ten min was over we headed back to the rig. I got caught up on a lot of things I have been wanting to do. I finished Corey's walking stick, fixed the leak in the water hose where I had installed the water filters' and got started on a chair I'm re-doing.

 The next day we just chilled, and the following day we drove down to Ajo. Ajo is another small town but there are many paths to play around on in the jeep. We spend a couple hours just riding around in the desert admiring the beauty.

 We had so much fun in Gila Bend that we decided to leave a day early. We really did enjoy our time there, but I can only take so much of nothing. Even though we were paid up until tomorrow we left today. Our plan was to spend the day at the casino in WHY AZ. but they don't allow overnight parking there so we didn't stay.

 I really would have liked to spend a day or two in that area, there are plenty 4x4 trails and the Organ Pipe Cactus N. M. is a beautiful place. The cactus are so plentiful and they are so huge it is really impressive. So I'm thinking we may head that way when we return from KY next month. I know there are plenty of places to dry camp around Why, but I just wanted a casino to park at.

We will hang out here for a couple days before we head up to my aunt Arlene's for a couple weeks..........

Thanks to any of you that did the survey I posted, our daughter thanks you too.......




Why is a small town in southern AZ, it was named after the roads that form a Y.

Our Daughter needs help.

 As most of you know our daughter Jenelle is due to graduate the Universtity Of TN next month. One of her school projects this semester is doing a survey online. The more people she gets to do the survey the better her grade will be. So if you have a few min to spare would you please take the survey? Just follow this link .

 Thanks a bunch, and I will do a blog on hanging out in Gila Bend soon......

Inverter Issues

We have had issues with our inverter ever since we bought the rig, for some reason we have to have the inverter on to watch tv, even if we are plugged into shore power.

I put a post about it on the escapee forum, http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=95202

and got some good information about what the problem is. As you can see in the picture if you close it has a circuit breaker that is messed up. For some reason the electricity coming from the shore power is not getting through the inverter to the TV without going through the inverter. The conclusion is a bad transfer switch inside the inverter, possible caused by the messed up circuit breaker.

The main reason for this blog post is so I can have a link to the picture to post on the forum so the guys helping me can see it.

We will be leaving Yuma tomorrow if the etch-a-sketch doesn't change overnight. We have enjoyed being here at Kofa Co-op, enjoyed a couple trips to Mexico where Marcia got new glasses, and contacts, and we have enjoyed the hot tub here. ( I enjoy them anywhere).

Tomorrow we head to Gila Bend. Not much there, but at the air station we can have full hookups for $7 a night and free use of the laundry room. We will make a couple day trips to see sights we want to see, some for the first time and some to see again.

Until the next time.............

Laughlin

 Pam and Marcia decided Laughlin would be a good weekend getaway, mainly for Pam and Jon because we are already on an extended weekend getaway. Ours started in May of 2007 when we sold the house and moved into the RV.

 Pam worked really hard getting us all reservations at the Colorado Belle, but the main lady she normally deals with was not working so she could only get their room. She did however get it cleared for us to park the RV there for the weekend, so we all me there Friday.

 We spent several hours playing slot machines in the casino, and taking advantage of their free drinks. We all decided to meet up at 6 pm for dinner, and we had a pretty good meal in the "Brewery". They make their own beer, and serve all kinds of food. After eating we went to the RV to play some farkle, and that is when things went down hill fast.

 Barney Fife was on duty as the security guard, and he said we couldn't be inside the RV. When I tried to explain that we had it all cleared with the casino, and even had a parking permit from the casino. Well he quickly explained that the county didn't allow it unless the casino had a permit to allow dry camping, and they didn't have one.

 Now Pam was a little embarrassed, and we all were frustrated, but Pam went into action. She went inside and found the lady that gave her the permit, and explained it all to her. She agreed it was her mistake so she comped us a room for the weekend. I thought that was pretty good.

 The next day I was in the RV watching the KY football game, I had the generator running, kicked back and enjoying the game when another security guard stopped by and informed me that even though we had a room there we wasn't supposed to be inside the RV. But he said it was such a nice day that he would let me finish watching the game.

 I guess the county passed some law to make the casino's buy some permit to allow dry camping and the Colorado Belle didn't fork over the $$. The Pioneer Casino next door had " FREE DRY CAMPING" on a large sign next to the road, so I guess they paid the fees.

 Bottom line is we had a pretty good time with Pam and Jon, and they do have a pretty good deal going with the Colorado Belle, as they get all their food, and drinks comped by the casino, plus they get a suite with a large balcony over looking the Colorado River.

 I was really happy to leave, I like sleeping in MY BED. We are now parked at " HI JOLLY " a free area of the BLM land just north of Quartzsite. We will head to Yuma tomorrow or the next day for a week or two........

Been a while

OK I.m sorry, but it has been a couple weeks since my last blog post, Once we left Tucson we took the rig to Spectrac near Phoenix to have the front end aligned. They did a great job, they corrected the screw ups they made at the International dealer in Tucson, and then aligned it up. The ride and drive is so much better now that it has been aligned.

We spent a week resting near Phoenix, didn't do anything except dinner out for our 19th anniversary. Then we wound up in Congress at the SKP park North Ranch. North Ranch is a beautiful place, but it is in the middle of nowhere. Wickenburg is about 15 miles away, and there you can find several eateries and a few stores. Congress has nothing, one place to eat and the prices reflect the fact there is nothing else around.

We got the RV washed while at North Ranch, but the weather wasn't looking good for the trip to Laughlin on Friday so we left a couple days early. Wednesday the wind was blowing pretty good, but nothing like the forecast for Friday. We spent two days at a Passport America Park before moving over to the casino.

We will spend the weekend here at the casino, (cousin Pam got us a room comped for the weekend) And for your information the Colorado Belle Casino DOES NOT allow dry camping in their parking lot. I'll tell that story in the next post, now I have to feed the slot machines......