Larry's RV Adventures

New Solar Panels

2010-01-30T07:11:00.000-08:00

This is for Chad! You asked for pics of my newly mounted solar panels so here they are! They are Kyocera 130 panels meaning they each put out 130 watts of power at maximum sun. At 12 volts that works out to about 7.5 amps per hour that each one is capable of putting back into my 2 batteries. They won't power the A/C or the micro, but they'll handle pretty much everything else with room to spare. Plus I have a 2000 watt Honda generator now and I use it too. Right now that's the quick and easy way to get power for the TV and the coffee pot. Oh yeah, it runs the furnace too, but the Mr. Heater that you or your mom got me last year is used a LOT to take the chill off in the morning.

This & That

2009-11-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a LONG time since I've made a post. Got back home from my Arizona trip March 6, 2009. It doesn't look like I'm going to go south this winter. Sherry's still working and going alone isn't much fun, although I always enjoy the thrill of taking off and being "on the road". So maybe a short trip to the Palm Springs area or even Quartzite in January. We'll see.

As it is, I'm just happy to be here and be relatively healthy. This year they found a small cancer on my chest that they removed. Then in the process of checking me out decided I had gallbladder cancer (which I didn't) so they removed my gallbladder. Then they thought I'd had a "silent heart attack" (which I hadn't!). So in the end, I'm pretty healthy, feel good and have NONE of the bad stuff the Dr.'s thought I had!! In fact, an angiogram showed I only had a below normal amount of plaque in one artery! Nothing else. Pretty damned fantastic!

I just got back last week from a trip to see the kids in Ojai again and got to watch my oldest grandson, Alex, who is 17 and a senior in high school play one of his last football games. I had never seen him play H.S. football although I used to watch him in the earlier leagues. Anyway he was a starting wide receiver for the Ojai Rangers and made the first (and only) sack of the game and helped to win their homecoming game! He's really an all around athlete. He hopes to go to San Jose State on a baseball scholarship. Then my 2 younger grandsons, Austin 11, and Nick 8 also play football and I got to watch both of them play games. And my 2 kids are doing well down there and have happy, busy lives.

Just had the yard at my house re landscaped. It was in bad shape after I had 3 trees removed over the last few years. So now all the tree stumps are gone, barkdust is gone from the front yard and in it's place are rocks! Neighborhood cats won't use rocks as their "litter box" like they tried to do with the bark!

2009-02-23T16:26:00.000-08:00

Here it is Monday Feb 23, 2009. Since my last post in the snowy weather of Willcox, I have travelled back west. I spent another 4 nights in Gila Bend, mostly to try and get over a cold I got before journeying up to Sun City to see Charlie. Then I spent 6 nights in Sun City visiting with him and, surprise! his son Denny who came out from DesMoines, Iowa for a couple of weeks. I was most glad to see Denny. He's a heck of a nice guy, about my age, owns a fifth wheel almost identical to mine and a Dodge truck with the Cummins powerhorse Diesel engine, just like me. And he brought his mom with him - she was Charlie's wife at one time, and although she's 83, she's got a mind as sharp as can be and she knows what she knows! Nice visit. Also got to have dinner a couple nights with Sherry's sis, Peg. We had a real good visit. I enjoy visiting with her.

So then, Saturday Feb. 21st. I left and headed west. I've been in Quartzsite camping in the Plomosa Rd. area about 6 miles north of town on BLM land. It's free, but there are no services, water or even a place to dispose of your garbage. But it's the wide open spaces with mountains in the distance so I do like it. The picture above is a picture I took when I got here. After tomorrow night I'll start out to arrive in Ojai, probably Friday to visit my kids. I'm excited to do that!! I have 3 grandsons that I never get to see enough and Ward & wife just bought a house so everything is looking up out there!!

2009-02-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

GOOD MORNING FROM SUNNY ARIZONA!

2009-02-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Yikes! Time sure gets away from you when you're having fun! Know what I mean?
It's Saturday morning, Feb. 7th. as I write this and so again it's been a few days since I made a post. Actually the last few days haven't done much. But Monday I made a trip to Chiricahua National Monument park about 30 miles south of here and did a little hiking as well as learning more about Apache history.

Here's a picture I took of myself at a fire lookout tower on top of 7,310 ft. Sugarloaf Mtn.

It wasn't a real long hike, but it was just right for me and I was happy to have made it!

Below are some more pics of the trip. Much of the park is about rock formations as you can see.

2009-02-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Monday, I visited Ft. Bowie. It is a park administered by the National Park Service. But it's way remote! To get to it requires a 10 mile drive on a dirt road, then a 1 1/2 mile hike up the side of the mountain through desert and mountain scrub, dry washes and so forth.

NOTE: YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY PIC HERE TO ENLARGE IT AND SEE LOTS OF DETAIL.

In the photo the Fort was laid out from the small building you see bottom center. It is a ranger station. There were actually two forts built. The first burned, and the second eventually contained at least 29 structures, including a hospital, barn, officers and enlisted quarters, mess hall, store as well as a large parade ground. (All military facilities HAVE to have a parade ground for marching, inspections, ceremonies,etc!).
The first Fort was constructed starting in 1862. The second was abandoned in 1894 after Geronomo was captured and the Apache Wars were pretty much ended. old historic cavalry/indian sites, and a cemetery. After I left the ranger station (the building in the photo), I hiked up hill further, to get to the very top of the hill where a person has a commanding view in all directions. My legs were getting pretty rubbery feeling by the time I got back to the trail head!

The fort was built for two main purposes: to protect travellers and the U.S. Mail through Apache Pass and to protect Apache Springs, the ONLY water source in the region. The cavalry intended to prevent the indians from getting any water, hoping to eradicate them. That in turn led to many, many bloody battles. In those days, the Apache's were mostly on the warpath and they killed with abandon. The main U.S.Mail route from Memphis/St. Louis went right up through Apache Pass and over to San Francisco, a distance of 2,812 miles that took 25 days. The mail was hauled by Butterfield Overland Mail, who had won a $600,000 annual contract to do this job. They also hauled passengers on the stagecoach. Postage for a letter on this trip was 10 cents; passengers paid $150 apiece, no meals included! Butterfield had a stage station very close to the Fort. So water was important to them too, for both passengers and the animals pulling the stage.

Anyway, tons of history and it was a good trip. Today I'm going to the Chiricahua National Monument listed as 12,000 acres of rocks! (They're BIG).

I'm going to have to extend my stay in this area. So many interesting places I want to see. Most, if not all, are directly related to the cavlary, indians and cowboys.

My water line to the RV froze last night (it's just a white hose). So I turned on my onboard water pump and used my own water this morning. I'm sure the hose will thaw with the sun and be just fine.

This is a "thatched Wickiup" that the Apache's lived in.

The Springs

2009-01-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

Don't cha love it when you can just change your plans whenever you want? That's what I did this morning. I was going to Benson but the Escapee RV Park there (SKP CooP) was full, so I found another RV park here in Willcox that has all the Cox Cable TV channels I need so I can watch the Super Bowl and here I am!

The picture at the right was taken about 5 minutes ago at 6:15 pm MST looking to the west. It shows most of the fifth wheel and part of my truck behind a sun shelter that covers the picnic table. I like it here. Not too many other Rv's, lots of wide open spaces. But this is high desert country I found out this morning. I'm at 4,200 ft. elevation which explains the cooler temps here compared with Phoenix. Hi today was around 68, low last night about 27. Phoenix was probably around 80 today. Big diff! And this is cowboy country. Here in Willcox is the Rex Allen museum - Rex Allen was a cowboy actor back in the late 40's early 50's. When I was about 6 and 7 my friends and I went to the "matinee" every Saturday to watch cowboy movies including Rex Allen's. So anyway I can identify with him and that era. The town here has tried to make the most of its association with him. He grew up here. To the left is another picture I took this morning looking to the east or northeast from Fort Willcox. Nothing but open prairie with mountains in the background.

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2009-01-30T19:44:00.001-08:00

Ok a new post is long overdue so here's a summary of the last week and a half or so.
I did leave Quartzsite on Friday Jan. 23rd. and ended up in Gila Bend again staying at Holt's RV park and truck stop. Nice place for the money, but no tv so it isn't somewhere I'd want to stay long term since I don't have satellite tv this trip. On Monday the 26th. I went up to Sun City and spent the day with Charlie and later he and I and Peggy went out to dinner after which I drove back to Gila Bend. On the morning of Wednesday the 28th. I left Gila Bend and drove the 50 miles or so to the SKP Coop RV park in Casa Grande. Again it's part of the Escapees rv club, very clean, well run and reasonable. But this one was very tight and felt exactly like what you might think of as a trailer park. Spaces too small and close together for my blood. I need more room! So after 2 nights there, I left this morning, Friday the 30th. planning on going to Benson again to the SKP park there, but ended up coming clear over to Willcox for the night to see what is here. Tomorrow I plan to return to Benson and settle in there for the super bowl. After a few days there, I'm thinking seriously I may head over to California to see the kids for a few days and then work my way home. Sherry's ex in laws, Willard & Bernita Nofziger left Lebanon in their fifth wheel yesterday and I think they're somewhere around Palm Desert so may try to see them enroute. So that's about it for now.

2009-01-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Ok a news post is long overdue so here goes: Left Quartzsite

2009-01-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

Jeez, it's been a week since I posted here? I guess I'm just not that wordy. Or maybe I just can't think of anything noteworthy to write about. Probably the latter.
Yesterday I drove the 285 miles or so from Benson to Quartzsite to spend some time. Ah, yes, Quartzsite, that world famous gathering point for Rv'ers of all stripes, economic levels and interests. And January is the busiest time of year here. The town of around 4,000 swells by over a half million visitors, I'm told, between October and March with the biggest number in January. Here they've got huge tents, and huge numbers of smaller tents, where you can reportedly buy anything man (or woman) has ever thought of! This week especially is the RV show week where the big focus is on selling new RV's. Don't know how that'll go this year as I understand there isn't much credit available even for those with excellent credit ratings. On the other hand, it's a great time to be RVing because the cost of fuel has come down so much. Prices are literally half of what they were a year ago! A year ago a tank of diesel would have run me over $150. Now I can do it for around $75! Sweet!

Otherwise how are things? I don't know. Boring. I just can't get into Quartzsite. One of the things I don't like is crowds. So this morning I went into town, from my little perch in the desert, with the intention of parking and browsing some of the tents. Well, a mile south of town traffic was at a complete standstill and it took me about 15 minutes to get into town. There, it was literally gridlock with huge motorhomes, fifth wheels, cars and everything else. Forget parking. I could barely get through town! I finally found a Burger King where I had an early lunch and cup of coffee - coffee was a treat today cause I don't have a percolator and there is no electricity out here in the desert! Anyway, after that experience I just wanted to get back out of town as quickly as I could.

So how can I be online with no electricity? Good question. My computer went dead last night. But the other day I bought a small Black & Decker inverter that converts battery DC to 115 volts AC. It wouldn't work off the accessory sockets inside the fifth wheel so I went directly to the batteries and hooked it up and it worked. It takes about an hour to re-charge the computer battery to 90% or so of full. So now, I can re-charge my computer battery and be online with the help of my Verizon aircard.
I do think I'll move on tomorrow though. If I can't go to the shows here, and if I don't have TV or air conditioning (which right now at 4:30 pm I wish I had), then I'm in the wrong place. I thought I'd really like the Quartzsite environment. I was wrong. And that's what this trip is all about. Seeing what works and what doesn't!

2009-01-14T15:26:00.000-08:00

On Monday Jan 12th. I left Gila Bend and headed east on I-8. Stunning sights along the way of the Sonoran desert - very wide open expanses covered with cactuses and trees that look sort of like sagebrush from a distance, but are much larger.

I went through Casa Grande and then south on I-10 into the Tucson area where I stopped for a short tour of the Sonoran Desert Museum. I could have spent at least a day there, but I did get to see one of the highlights of each day, the flying of the Raptors. In this case a "Harris Hawk."

Although the Sonoran desert is over 8,000 years old, they said that no species of Hawk has adapted and survived there yet. The Harris Hawk has some unique characteristics, like living in fairly large family groups and hunting in groups, that give them hope that perhaps this species will be the first to fully survive. All in all, they had 4 of them flying just over our heads, landing on cacti and hunting. Neat demo
I pulled in for the night Monday at an Escapees (RV Club) park in Benson, Arizona. Yes I am an Escapee! Mostly it's a RV club comprised of fulltimers, but they have some excellent facilities and a great website with tons of info for guys like me! (And everyone else, too). Benson is east of Tucson on I-10. It's a very nice place to stay and originally I decided to stay just one night. Then I stayed a second. This morning I signed up for one week as the rates are pretty reasonable and there are lots of places to explore from here. Today I drove down to Tombstone Arizona, home of the OK Corral, and then onto Bisbee, famous for many things in the old west including one of the sites in "3:10 to Yuma" the movie. More awesome scenery and lots of history.

One comment I might make: When I set out on this trip, I thought I would want to be "boondocking" it a lot - that is, camping without the benefit of a regular campground. So far, I have found that I do want to be in an organized campground, maybe mainly for the security of having others around, but also for the facilities. It's nice to have electric and water and sewer is handy now and then too! But, we'll see. Maybe after I've gotten more used to this, I'll go back to my original intention of boondocking more. I know I will some, eventually, in Quartzite,AZ, the Slabs near Niland, CA and maybe a WalMart or two if I am enroute somewhere and can't make the trip in one day.

2009-01-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

Today I drove from Gila Bend to Benson, Arizona east of Tucson. The weather is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous: clear, sunny skies, temps in the mid 60's with low humidity. And I can and do appreciate the magnificent beauty of the desert and the Arizona mountains in the distance. While getting here today I also stopped at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum outside Tucson. I can't tell you how many varieties of rattle snake and lizards (Gila being one of the more poisonous) they had on display, or how venemous they are (it varies). But I can tell you that in Oregon I can go for a walk in the woods without worrying about getting bit by a critter that might kill or paralyze me. In Oregon I can go to the beach and get down to it anywhere.

2009-01-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

Left Charlie's in Sun City and drove, pulling the fifth wheel, about 55 miles to Gila Bend yesterday Jan. 10th. Besides being the commissioning day for America's newest aircraft carrier, U.S.S. George H.W.Bush, it also happens to have been the day Pat Williams and I flew out of PDX and ended the day at Naval Training Command San Diego for Boot Camp --- 48 years ago (1961)! Oh yes, so much history!!
Anyway the trip down here to Gila Bend went smooth with no problems. I'm slowly getting used to pulling my home on wheels. Decided on a short trip for the maiden voyage. Stayed last night at Holt's Shell RV Park at exit 119 of I-8. With my Escapees membership it only cost me $9.50 for full hookups! A very good price. I decided to stay a second night also then tomorrow I'll move on.
One of the problems last night was NO HEAT in the fifth wheel! Lucky for me Sherry gave me a Mr. Heater portable propane heater for Christmas so I got up in the middle of the night and huddled around it and got warmed! Problem was the valve between the 2 propane tanks on the rig - I had it in the wrong position! Those are the kind of lessons you don't forget! So now the furnace works like a champ and so does the propane stove.
I've got a great view from my back windows of the entire truck stop that is in front of me here at Holt's. Trucks come and go 24/7 from the interstate and also from highway 85 that comes down from Phoenix. They're fun to watch, especially after dark with all their brightly lit running lights. Traffic never stops although it does slow a little in the middle of the night.
Today I went for a walk around parts of Gila Bend. The town itself stretches out for about 3 miles along I-8. It appears to be mostly dying or dead except for the 2 or 3 truck stop places which seem to be doing pretty well right now in the winter. Went out to the Gila Bend Municipal Airport. Nothing going on there either! There are a couple of large modern hangers at one end of the field, but no aircraft or people visible. The entrance to the airport is guarded by a couple of old fighter aircraft. I should have taken a picture, but didn't think of it. No TV here so this is a quiet place to do other things like fixing up the RV, reading or just taking it easy.

2009-01-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Thursday Jan. 8, 2009

As usual I'm behind in posting here. I'll try to get better and more regular with them. I arrived here in Sun City last Sunday afternoon at 2:30 local time, 1:30 Pacific. Nice trip in every way. I came down I-5 through half of California then took off at the Buttonwillow exit for diesel, then proceeded east on CA58 through Bakersfield and on into Mojave where I stayed Saturday night. I left Mojave at 6 am local time and drove out to Barstow, Needles then to Lake Havasu in Arizona and south on 95 through Parker and Vicksburg to I-10 then east into the Phoenix area and up 101 to Sun City! That way I didn't have to go up the grapevine or through the L.A. area at all! I like Mojave just cause. It has a huge airport where they store mothballed airliners from all over the world (not too many right now, maybe 50). I've seen it when there were literally hundreds of airliners stored there. You can see them from above as you come in on the highway. It's pretty impressive. Mojave airport is also the home of Burt Rutan and Voyager, the aircraft he designed and built that was the first aircraft in history to circle the earth without refueling or stopping!

Mojave is also right next to Edwards AFB so I always (secretly!) hope I'll see some top secret plane. Of course, I never have.
After getting into Sun City and going to see Charlie Caldwell, Sherry's step-dad, at his assisted living home, I settled in staying at his house on Roundup Court. Monday I got and installed 2 new Trojan T-105 batteries in the fifth wheel. They're 6 volt batteries that I got cause they're heavy duty with 225 amps of power each, normally used in golf carts, and I connected them up in series to get 12 volts for the fifth wheel. Then yesterday, Wednesday, after shopping around quite a bit for tires I got 4 new Michelins installed on the fifth wheel and got it's wheel bearings repacked too. It had been in storage for some time and I didn't even know its maintenance background. The Michelins are the XPS RIB 235/85R16 series. Load range E (the old 10 ply rating). Supposed to be about the strongest tire made for this application. I don't want any blowouts while cruising down the highway!! This fifth wheel weighs in at 14,000 lbs. That's 3,500 pounds per tire! When you realize that the only thing between you and being flat on the pavement is 4 rubber tires, you want good ones!
So today is cleaning day. Get it cleaned up good inside and get my stuff transferred into it. Then Saturday morning I think I'll be leaving, probably for Gila Bend for a couple days to put the rig through it's paces. Gila Bend is only about 52 miles from here so it'll be a nice breakin trip. Then if all goes well, I'll probably head for Tucson where I'd like to visit the high desert museum and then onto Bisbee, Tombstone, and Ft. Huachuca and that area. Here's a picture of the rig parked in front of Charlie's house on Roundup Ct. in Sun City.

2009-01-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Jan. 8, 2002

It's a beautiful morning in Sun City! Clear skies, sunny, temp. 38 the weatherunderground says, but the windshield on my truck is frosted over.

Arrived here last Sunday afternoon at 2:30 local time (1:30 Pacific). Had a good trip all the way. Spent Saturday night in Mojave cause it was convenient and causse I like Mojave. Big airport there. Burt Rutan has his company there where he designed, built and flew Voyager, the first aircraft ever to fly around the world without refueling or stopping.

Mojave is also next to Edwards AFB so I always hope/think maybe I'll see some top secret aircraft!!!

Tuesday I installed 2 new Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries in the fifth wheel, connecting them in series to produce 12 volts. That is a heavy duty golf cart battery with 225 amps of power that should work out good. Then yesterday, Wednesday, I got new tires put on it and the wheel bearings repacked. I was worried that I wouldn't make it to the tire shop on the old ones. They were very low and I didn't have a compressor with me. But I made it in fine fashion and now have 4 Michelin XPS RIB tires. One of the strongest tires made for this application. Good thing - this fifth wheel trailer weighs in at 14,000 lbs - that's 3,500 pounds per tire!! That's a lot of weight and I don't want any blowouts while cruising down the highway.

2009-01-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday Jan. 03,2009
Well, I left yesterday to start the adventure! Left the house at 7 am Friday Jan. 02 and headed south with the truck fully loaded. I tried to only take the stuff I thought I'd need to outfit the fifth wheel, but it's surprising how much stuff I thought I'd need. In the end, I didn't bring a lot that I'd have liked to have brought. But I'm sure I'll get along just fine with the help of Walmart.
Drove to Sacramento the first day and spent a delightful evening visiting my cousin Fran Miller and her significant other Bob Birch. They are wonderful hosts. Fran is a true gormet cook and we had the finest seafood dinner I've ever had - huge halibut fillets plus her own special green salad and scrumptious potatoes and some fine wine to boot. then ice cream and raspberries for desert with a delicious special coffee from Trader Joe's. Then this morning for breakfast, Bob, somewhat of an omelet gourmet in his own right, fixed delicious omelets as only he can. That plus Bunky, their 2 year old doxon, was just a fun well behaved little lady! All of that plus wonderful conversation that lasted till almost midnight. Thanks Bob and Fran!
Then today I proceeded south where tonight I decided to stay at a motel here in Mojave. Mojave has a great, huge airport where they store surplus airliners, and where Burt Rutan developed and first flew "Voyager". Plus Edwards AFB is right next door. I really enjoy being around both places and the climate here too.
Tomorrow I plan on an early departure for Sun City, AZ. Charlie Caldwell, my old fishing buddy, Sherry's step dad and an all around great guy besides having multiple myeloma, who lives there just ended up in the hospital today with a severe respiratory infection so I'll be spending some time with him too, just for moral support.

2008-10-05T23:18:00.000-07:00

Oct. 05,2008

Well, I just created my one and only blog! I'm planning to "snowbird" it this winter down in Arizona, and wherever else the winds blow me, and after reading several other blogs from RV fulltimers, I thought it'd be fun to have my own so that I can just post a record of where I am and what I am up to for you to see! I don't anticipate leaving for the trip till around the end of November or possibly the end of December due to other committments I have here at home. But once I leave, it'll be off to the races! And I'm really excited about it! I've always been kind of a "gypsy" at heart and "drifting along like a tumbling tumbleweed" in the "beast" (2005 Dodge 3500 , 4x4, Quad Cab, Cummins 5.9 Diesel) and my home on wheels (2002 HitchHiker II 34.5 ft. fifth wheel) should satisfy some of my hunger to travel and explore. I just bought the fifth wheel and I've presently got it stored in Arizona so I won't have it till I get down there and pick it up.