Because We Can - Fulltime RV'ing

Journal Archive 3/21 - 3/31 2014

Scroll down to read the latest post

Friday March 21 Imperial Dam, CA

A Most Favorite Place Day

We headed out on one of the many tracks that lead back into the far reaches of the LTVA for our morning walk and came across this. We walked up to it and I realized that from Linda's pose it was my job to take a photo. Does she ever have me trained. Well, they do say that a well trained dog is a happy dog. Well trained Bob.

Even though we had a great spot next to the front dry wash and within easy walking distance of KB Tools, we decided that one night at Quartzsite was enough. It was time to move on to our very mostest favoritist place, Senator Wash just north of Yuma.

Linda had two things she wanted at the grocery store, so off we went to buy bird seed and tomatoes. Then we saw the beautiful New York Strip Steaks they had, perfect for grilling for tonight's meal. That opened our eyes to other possibilities and one thing led to another, and you know how it goes. Starving to death is not on our agenda.

There are certain places where you turn off one road onto another that are easy to recognize. This is one of them. In fact the coach knows the way so well we didn't even bother to use GPS. And during the drive there was a steady stream of RV's heading north on Hwy 95. At least they had the joy of spending the winter in warm sunny southern Arizona rather in the much colder north. I wonder what the people who choose to live in the same house year around think of snowbirds and fulltimers. To them we may be crazy, but we are crazy with a big smile on our face.

Linda always takes a photo of this helicopter at one of the entrances to Yuma Proving Ground.

Linda also always takes photos of the wild burros that are found around here. Linda also bought carrots just in case one decides to visit us during our stay. Optimistic Linda.

The view to the front. Moments later Linda was putting up her hummingbird feeder and it wasn't long until the first hummer showed up. She calls here, at Imperial Dam, her favorite place of all the places we stay. I have to agree. Solitude in the midst of many RVs.

Washing the dirt and dust off the solar panels. This is a place where we deploy the MotoSat but we leave the Winegard stowed. For us it's a place to relax without TV.

No worries about the fire ring here. Pyro mom preparing for the evening fire. She later explained she carefully determined which way the wind was blowing before deciding upon the placement of the stone circle. These things don't just happen, there is a lot that goes into the making of a Pyro mom.

Linda carefully sorts the trash, saving the paper burnables in a separate bag. I am still being trained it the proper application of sorting technique, but in a couple of more days I will either be up to speed or out of skin. I've learned the reverse Tom Sawyer approach does not work in this case. I have to do it until I do it the way she wants it done. Did you know coffee grounds burn? Well they do and now I put them out in the sun to dry after I make her morning coffee. Good Bob.

What's not to like about being here. Lucky Bob and Linda.

---

Saturday March 22 Imperial Dam, CA

A Wonderful Day

Staged photo of me carrying the garbage to the dumpster. It turned out to be a mile and a half walk which was just fine. The photo was more difficult than the walk. "Let me run ahead and then take a photo of me walking." Sounds easy enough but something got lost in the translation. Eventually she dug her iPhone out of the pocket of her shorts, spent who knows how long getting it set to take a photo, then took every bit as long to take the photo. Thus me standing instead of walking. At least I wasn't facing the camera with a glare on my face. I could have probably walked to the dumpster and back in the time it took her to take the photo. But with the million positives she has I guess I could overlook this one tiny insignificant negative. Smart Bob.

This was not the only time during our morning walk a boulder found its way into a shoe. Being nice I only posted only this one photo of her. This was despite the fact I had warned her a few days ago, after she took a photo of me removing the only rock to become lodged in my shoe in ages, that I'd plaster the Internet full of photos of her removing rocks from her shoe the next time even a speck of sand found its way into one of her shoes. Kind, considerate Bob.

Some people need to utilize the library more than others. Linda also had another reason to take this photo. Most of my life I pronounced library exactly as it is spelled here. Linda must have corrected me a thousand time over the years until not to long ago I began pronouncing it correctly. As she took this photo she said, "This is how stupid you sounded all those years." Why is it when I mispronounce a word I am stupid but when I say something to her using a word she doesn't understand I am stupid for using words that aren't common? At least she has no problem when I say "Yes dear." Lucky Bob

The reading is correct, it was just that the sensor was in the sun. It was a beautiful sunny day. The high was in the low 80's. We soaked up the sun and read most of the day. And we have the sunburns to prove it. Nothing bad, but still a definite pink tone that contrasts nicely with white beside it.

Just a comment on when I post the Daily Journal. With the new residential refrigerator we are still trying to figure out when to charge the batteries with the generator, which is also the time when I write. We have discovered there is enough solar power to completely charge the batteries during the afternoon. I am writing this evening while we use the generator to top off the batteries for the night.

As far as battery usage with the refrigerator is concerned, we find that it uses about 17% of the battery to run for 12 hours overnight. Can't tell you the amps it uses as we have always had the monitor set to read in percent. Tomorrow we are not going to run the generator in the morning and see if just the solar will bring the batteries up to 100% during the afternoon, meaning we will only need to run the generator once a day. Running the generator to make Linda's morning coffee doesn't count. And since we are here to relax we don't need to be on the Internet during the day. Learning how to use new toys is always fun.

Oops! Just discovered several photos I overlooked that would have me in trouble if I didn't post them. In our game of Mastermind tonight I was very soundly beaten by Linda. In fact she won every game. Maybe I should check to see if if the local Liberry has a book on winning Mastermind strategies.

The nightly Pyro mom photo, happy hour, dinner and a fire. Very happy Linda.

---

Sunday March 23 Imperial Dam, CA

A Very Relaxed Day

Linda actually selected an up and down route for the walk this morning. It took a while but she was finally rewarded with a sighting of burro tracks. There were skads and skads of tracks but no burros, however the tracks were good enough for her. As you can tell from the size of the track, they don't have very big feet, and in fact they are very big animals.

The relatively flat land near where she found the burro tracks. Note the long purposeful stride.

Short steps with the head down going up one of the steeper grades. I was really proud of her because she never once stopped to rest. I joked that this was good training for the climb up to the castles we will be visiting in Europe later this year. It looked like she took it to heart. Awesome Linda. Proud Bob

She made sure I knew she had taken a photo of me going up the same hill. Guess I need to post it, white legs and all. And yes, I waited for her at the top.

I have written before about the energy bars/balls that she makes, and today she made another batch. I think the first time she made them they were balls, the second time they were bars, this time they are just loose in the container. I noticed as she was using the spatula to remove them from the mixing bowl to the container something odd was happening. Every time the spatula was used to sweep some mix into the container the spatula needed to be cleaned off before the next sweep of mix. As I told her, that's why I can't help but love her, she does the neatest little girl things at times. A matronly grandmother in either appearance or actions she most definitely isn't.

It was a most relaxing day. We take our shade where we can get it.

Tonight as the sun set the colors just absolutely popped. As we watched they changed, intensifying then slowing fading out. Life is indeed good.

The marinated pork tenderloin had been grilled along with a jalapeno. Dinner was over, the fire was burning as Pyro mom got ready to put the paper items she separated from the days trash into the fire. Everybody has the power to decide how they want to live Life. I am so glad we realized: Life is not a dress rehearsal. Don't be afraid to laugh, love and retire early.

---

Go To Top of Page

---

---