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Today started out overcast and gloomy. Did some chores arount the motor home and went in to La Mesa RV for lunch. They had Coney Island hot dogs and Fritos, very good.
After lunch we went out to the Main Event. Not many vendors out there this year. After the Main Event we went Leisure Lifestyles RV on Dome Rock Road and picked up some parts.
We then went to Rice Ranch
 We stopped for ice cream at Sub Zero Ice Cream for some ice cream. You pick the flavor you want and what you want for nuts, chips or other add ins and they mix it all together and freeze it with liquid nitrogen.  Mixing the ingredients together  Freezing the ice cream  We then went home and visited with some of the people we are camping with. Friends of Gloria and Scott, Glen and Evon, from Saskatchewan came in this morning, they have a big sheep dog named Gracie. While we were gone a couple from Deer River, MN came in. They have been here for several years.
We ordered take out pizza from Big Al's, a large combo. I went down to La Posa South and filled our water can and dumped the garbage. I picked the pizza up on the way back. It was very good and will provide another meal.
Day ended up sunny, windy and warm. Over night low 48 degrees and high today 73 degrees.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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First half of the day pretty much the same as the other days this week. We had a great hamburger for lunch at La Mesa RV.
After lunch we went to Tyson Wells and the Big Tent. Bought a holder for the Oxygenics shower head and some more LED lights.
Went back to the motor home and sat outside in the lawn chair and watched the ultra lights.
While I was sitting outside, Bob and Uarda drove in. They had been broken down in Las Vegas for several days.
We had left over stir fry for dinner, listened to Family Comedy on XM Radio and went to bed.
It was the most perfect day so far, sunny, no wind 75 degrees for a high and over night low of 46.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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Beautiful morning, sunny about 54 degrees at 8:00am. When checking email, got one from Marilyn, saying she and Wayne were just leaving Mesa to come and have lunch with us. Went into Quartzsite and met them at the Readers Oasis bookstore. They had brought friends from Oakes, Arnie and Virginia, who also winter in Mesa. We all went to the free lunch at La Mesa RV. We got there early, so looked at motor homes for awhile. Had spaghetti for lunch. After lunch we went over to the RV show in the Big Tent. Wayne, Marilyn, Arnie and Virginia, were going on to Joshua Tree National Monument, so we said good bye to them. I bought 12" LED tubes for the fluorescent light over sink and LED bulbs for the back closet. Both turned out to be a big improvement over the originals and will save a lot of battery power. Also found a ladder mount for the Carryout Satellite dish for $50. Stopped on the way back to the motor home to fill up the Cherokee at Pilot. $3.39.9 plus a 2 cent discount with the RV Card. Stopped at the produce market and got some Kiwis and kettle corn for 3:00pm for happy hour.
70 degrees at 3:00pm for Happy Hour. Gloria and Scott came from La Paz County Park and are now parked here with us. We all gathered for Happy Hour and Marge, Lorraine and Denis also came out from Quartzsite. Lots of things to eat and drink. Lloyd and Vera stopped by on their way back from Parker. They couldn't stay as they were going dancing.
 After Happy Hour I installed the LED tubes and bulbs. We ate left overs for dinner.
Sunny day with a low of 54 degrees and a high of 75 degrees.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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Day started just like yesterday, morning on the computer and lunch at La Mesa RV. They had bean soup and corn bread today. While wandering around looking at motor homes, we ran into our neighbors Diane and Jerry.
After lunch I went to Discount Solar to buy some 2/0 cable. It went up $2 over night. I bought 6' of red and 6' of black. Will use to connect the inverters to the batteries. While I was buying the cable, Cathy was shopping at Beall's Outlet. Cathy bought David a pair of jeans. Next went to the Gambler to pick up some parts for the Winegard bat wing antenna. They had them on Sunday, but today didn't have any.
We then went out to the vendors on the east end of the Main Event. Didn't find any thing I wanted. Looked around Tired Metal Antiques, selling old tractors and other vehicles and old farm parts and old metal signs. They had an old truck with North Dakota plates on it.
 We then went over to the vendors by the Hi Jolly burial site, there were hardly any there. One of the vendors still there said they had moved down to the SW corner of the Main Event. Cathy bought some cloth and I bought two spare fluorescent tubes for the kitchen lights. One didn't work last night, but when I switched tubes around they both worked. We then went to the produce market. Bought some Kiwis, 4 for a dollar. Also bought some root beer pop corn and candy bars. Then dropped our garbage off at La Posa North and went back to the motor home.
We had sandwiches and a grain salad I bought at Trader Joe's.
Weather was nice. About 40 degrees over night, 70 degrees and sunny today.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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Got down to 50 degrees over night in the motor home. Got up and started the generator to make coffee and heat things up. Spent some time on the Internet catching up with work. Went into Quartzsite at 11:30am. Went to the Silver Buckle at La Mesa RV for free lunch. Had Sloppy Joes with a broccoli and raisin salad, all very good. Asked a couple if we could sit with them. Turned out to be a couple from Apple Valley, David and Janice. David was originally from Langdon and knew the Lebruns. We had also run into them last year at the Q Casino near Yuma, when he saw our North Dakota license plate. Looked at a few motor homes after lunch. there was live music during lunch.
After lunch we went over to Beall's Outlet and Discount Solar. While Cathy checked out the dots at Beall's Outlet, I checked out cable prices at Discount Solar. They have very good prices on cable. We then went over to the Tyson Wells Flea Market. I went through the flea market and then to the RV Show Big Tent. I bought a Rand McNally 7710 GPS. It has a 7" display and a lot of special RV features.
While waiting for Cathy I got some keys made by a vendor by the parking, 99 cents for a regular key and $1.50 for Trimark double cut keys.
About 4:00pm we went back to the motor home to take care of Snoopy. We called our friend Lloyd from Saskatchewan and asked if he was receiving visitors. He said to come on over. On the way we stopped at Beall's Outlet where Cathy bought a Wolfgang Puck skillet and I got meat and rice for dinner at the grocery stores, that's right, had to go to two of them. The first didn't have any brown minute rice.
Got out to Lloyds at La Posa North, but couldn't find his motor home. Called him and turned our lights off and on. he saw us and came and guided us back to his motor home. We were just a short distance from his motor home when we turned around it turns out. Had a nice time catching up with Vera and Lloyd and a couple of drinks. Left about 8:00pm for home and stir fry in the new skillet.
Weather was overcast most of the day and a little rain after 6:00pm, about 60 degrees for a high.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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We had very high winds last night, several times I thought the roof was being torn off, can't find any damage. Nice sunny day in the 60's. About noon we went into Quartzsite. We stopped by the Main Event RV parking and looked for the Lebruns. Couldn't find them, so calledDenis and found out that they went to place behind the Gambler.
We went to the Quartzsite RV Show. We found a parking space near the entrance. A lot of good things at the show. Many vendors selling LED lights. American Crystal Sugar had a booth recruiting workcampers. Bought an LED light to try out, $10. Looked at the Rand McNally 7710 RV GPS , very nice. they are selling them for $60 off the regular price of $399. It has a 7" display and a lot of features.
After the show we went over to the Gamblers and checked out the surplus RV parts. Nothing interesting there. Decided to walk over to where the Lebruns were parked. Just as we got started, Marge drove up and gave us a ride. Had a couple of beers with Denis. The new owners of the RV park are selling 4 electrical hookups per pedestal. There was a mixup with Denis' neighbor and Denis had to turn his motor home around. While we were at Denis', Lloyd a friend from Saskatchewan called. He was out on Plomosa Road to visit us. We will see him tomorrow at La Posa North.
Went back to the motor home and took care of Snoopy. Drove into Quartzsite and ordered spaghetti to go at Silly Al's. Whle we were waiting for the dinners we went over to the grocery store to pick up a few supplies and beer. Went back to the motor home and had a very enjoyable Italian dinner.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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We got things together and we on the road at 12:30pm. Had a little trouble getting the Jeep in neutral, had to hook it up twice. Mostly sunny day around 60 degrees, fairly strong wind. Saw a travel trailer pulled by a SUV upside down facing the opposite way it had been traveling. Went by right after it happened. Both the SUV and the travel trailer were upside down. Fueled up at the ZIP station 30 miles east of Quartzsite. $3.34.9/gal. Nice station for RVs, has three RV lanes. Talked to the man ahead of me driving a diesel Class A motor home and he said the SUV/travel trailer had passed him.
Got to Quartzsite at 3:00pm and went to La Posa South and got a short term BLM pass. Stopped at the dump station and dumped grey and black tanks. Drove 6 miles north and parked with the WIT group. Haven't met anyone yet as it is too windy to go out. Left the slides in for awhile then put them out. Wind came up again during dinner, so we pulled the living room slide in.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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We are on the road again. We left Buxton about 3:30pm on January 16 and drove as far as the Dakota Sioux Casino north of Watertown, SD. They provide free parking with electricity. We checked into the Players Club for promotions and got $2 each off the buffet and $5 in money on the slots. I lost my $5 and Cathy ended up with $8. It was about 6 degrees above over night. On Tuesday drove from Watertown to Sioux Falls to Yankton and ended up at the Kansas Star Casino just south of Wichita, KS. We had nice weather in the teens and sun shine for driving. We spent the night in the parking lot. It is a new casino that opened on December 26, 2012. On Wednesday we drove through Oklahoma and Texas with nice sunny weather with a strong head wind. Temps were in the 50's. We ended up for the night at Walmart in Edgewood, NM, just 30 miles from Albuquerque, NM. During the night Snoopy woke us up with a painful cry. We got him settled down and he did ok. He is almost 15 years old and is having kidney failure. Thursday we drove from Edgewood to Flagstaff on I-40 and then I-17 to Tempe, AZ. We are spending a couple of days at the Tempe Travel Trailer Villa, where I stayed during my prostate cancer treatment. Friday I got the water systems up and running and got the motor home ready for the desert. Did some shopping at Walmart, Dollar Tree and Trader Joe's. Snoopy is feeling a lot better, got his bone toy out to play tonight. He is enjoying his walks in the nice weather, sunny and 71 degrees today.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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We had modem problems so couldn't upload to the BLOG. I thought we just had poor service, but my Internet speed on my Droid X wasn't bad. Called Verizon and tech support said something was wrong at their end. They corrected it and was able to reinstall the modem. It then failed again. I had a spare USB720 so was going to install that. My VZW Access however was only for XP. Enabled the Hot Spot feature on my Droid X and downloaded VZW Access for Windows 7. Got every thing working again.
We spent the rest of the week in Nashville and visited the hermitage on Saturday. Cathy washed clothes at the RV park on sunday. On Monday we headed out to Knoxville and a night at the Escapees Raccoon Valley Rainbow Park. We had nice weather and enjoyed the park. Tuesday morning we drove in to Johnson City, TN and went to my sister Julie's house. My brother in law Jeff is doing some extensive remodeling. They have four girls, Zoey, Chloe, MeToo and Acho. Zoey and Chloe are standard poodles and MeToo and Acho are miniature poodles. All are well behaved and a lot of fun. Snoopy was pretty much intimidated by them, but they treated him nicely.
We drove out to the Bristol race track and got tickets for the Nationwide race on Saturday and got a camping spot at the track. We dry camped on the dragstrip parking lot. Got a 16' x 40' space for $170 for the week. We checked out the Walmart at Bluff city after getting situated. Spent the rest of the week visiting with Jeff and Julie and going out to dinner. Thursday Julie took us to Jonesburrough, the oldest town in Tennessee. We enjoyed looking around and having a nice lunch at the Main Street Cafe. Jonesburrough is famous for story telling and there is a story telling center there.
Friday we went to Nationwide and Sprint Cup practice and then into town for dinner with Jeff and Julie, we ended up going back to Jonesburrough and ate at the Bistro. Very good.
Saturday we went to the Nationwide race and watched Kyle Busch win his fourth race in a row there. The day was perfect, sunny and just the right temperature. After the race we got ready and drove for a few hours and spent the night at the Cookville, TN Walmart.
Sunday we drove into Little Rock and picked up the Brave at Big Boy's Toy Storage. We then drove on to Conway, AR and spent the night at Walmart.
Monday we drove on to Missouri and went to Colaw RV Surplus & Salvage in Carthage. Their prices were pretty high and we didn't buy much. We drove further and about dark stopped at the Harrisonville Walmart.
Tuesday we drove north into Iowa. We had planned on spending the night at Terrible's lakeside Casino at Osceola, but since it was early afternoon drove on. We fueled in DesMoines at a Love's. We thought we were stopping at a Flying J, but it was changed to Love's July 1, 2010. Started driving again with the intention of making Forest City, but rain into rain and strong winds. Stopped and spent the night at the Dow, IA rest stop. Wednesday morning we heard there had been 5 tornados near Osceola. We talked to someone that had spent the night there and he said the casino sent a shuttle out to bring everyone into the casino.
We drove into Mason City and stopped at Walmart. Drove on to Forest City and parked at the Winnebago Visitor Center. Went in and got permits for two motor homes. Went over to Service Center and made appointment for Thursday morning at 7:00am to have the basement air looked at.
Thursday we took the motor home to the Service Center at 7:00am went to Fairmont, MN to Jake's RV Surplus.
We got the turntable we needed for the microwave and some other things at very good prices. On returning to Forest City we had lunch at Subway and then did some shopping at Booksdee
and Johnson Store
in downtown Forest City. We then picked up the motor home and bought some more parts.
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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We had cool rainy weather over night at the winery. It got down to 31 degrees and there was a trace of precipitation. I was out walking Snoopy when a young man dressed in camouflage, including a camouflage shot gun, approached me. he said he was the winery overseer and that the owner had asked him to alert us about two escaped murderers from Louisiana, that were seen in the Humboldt area. They were apprehended in Jackson, but some how got away.
We got going at about 10:00am. We stopped at the Pilot station just east of Jackson and filled up. $3.38 with a 1 cent loyalty card discount. We drove on to Nashville, about 130 miles on I-40. It was a mostly overcast day with wind. When we got to Nashville we went to Any Lab Test Now, so Cathy could get a blood test for warfarin. They couldn't get any blood in attempts in four places. They told her to come back on Friday.
We drove out near the Grand Ol Opry and parked at Two Rivers Campground. It is $30/night.
After getting set up we went to Caney Fork River Valley Grille for dinner. Very colorful place and great food. i had a sirloin steak and Cathy had cat fish. Check out the slide show on their WEB site. Click on Photo.
Cathy at Caney Fork
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| Posted by John Hilley at | | | |
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