Happy Summer!!

Happy Summer!!

Wherever Home is Parked?

Wherever Home is Parked?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

laundry and nonsense!

We woke to another chilly morning.  Although not as cold as yesterday.  I got dressed and went over to the 10 AM meeting at the RTR .. it was on favorite Gadgets. I forgot my camera but did learn about some new things I will be checking into.  It’s amazing what you can learn from others.   We have learned so much here at the RTR and just being in Quartzsite with the pro’s.   I came back and it was warming up so we crashed our neighbors party Smile 

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After crashing the party we decided to head to town since it’s still on the cool side and get our laundry done.  I’ve been without my washer and so the dreaded trip to the laundry mat was needed.  Were running out of warm clothes since we do not own many as we try to stay out of this kind of weather.

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anytime we go to town we always take our water jugs and fill them up!  We topped our fresh water tank off and took the jugs to town with us.

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The RV Pit Stop was just as crazy today as it was yesterday.  With the cold temps everyone is filling up on propane

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It was crazy near the dump and water stations as well. 

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Trying to drive in here is crazy .. glad it was hubby and not me.  It was like being in Miami again!

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Next on the list was the laundry mat .. oh my .. I think everyone had the same idea .. come and get it done while it’s cold

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when we first got there we had to wait on a washer .. the place was packed!

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Oh my $1.75 per load and we had 2!  Ouch it’s been awhile since I’ve had to pay these prices

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then we had to wait to get a dryer

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a quarter buys 6.6 mins .. ouch again!

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We finally got both loads in the dryer

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there is a restaurant in the same building so you can go get something to eat or drink while waiting, although I wouldn’t recommend it as if your clothes stop and your not there, someone is there to take them out dry or not to take your dryer. 

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We barely found a place to park in the parking .. the place is crazy!

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You can also get a shower .. $6.00 per 20 minute limit .. a day like today a hot shower would feel good, glad I have my own at home though as I hate using public showers!  It’s a personal thing for me and that is why we have a home that has a nice size shower.  Hubby and I both enjoy our own private shower.  Although I have to admit I am not crazy about the navy showers.

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across the street from the laundry mat is the Roadrunner Market, it’s a bit on the pricey side .. your better to stock up before arriving.

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this mountain has a Q painted on it .. yep .. means your in Quartzsite, AZ .. the month of January .. home to over 1.5 million RVer’s!

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you can find many things here .. if your into rocks .. this is the place to be

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just remember the place is packed with lots of retired people!  You know what that means don’t ya?  

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Yep .. you better not be in a hurry .. since the cold weather has hit .. the place is not packed yet, but as it starts warming up more and more will be arriving.

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We decided to tour this little area today

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I loved this tent although it was still cold inside .. so we didn’t stick around long

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there was still some wind so a guy was flying this kite

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It was really up there and he had a neat tool for bringing it back down .. hmmm see hubby I told you those things were toys and not tools!

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He reeled his kite in and took his toys and headed home

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there is any kind of flag you can want here

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neat toys here .. we looked and were tempted but we resisted as we have no way to tow it and paying storage would be outrageous. 

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traffic is starting to pick up but isn’t bad yet …

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campers and people are everywhere .. but we’ve been told we haven’t seen anything yet ..

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hmmm I’m excited and can’t wait .. how bout you?

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the Dollar General and Family Dollar stores are popular here and your friend as they are the cheapest place in town to stock up

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This run down area sits behind the road runner.  I wonder if this is what the town looked like before it became a haven for snowbirds?

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RV parks are everywhere here as well

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.. up and down the streets in town. 

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Although after seeing these RV parks ..  I really do not see why anyone wants to stay in one of these 

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you pay for a spot where you are parked on top of your neighbor

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you get water and sewer but you still have to pay for your electricity?

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they have park model parks here as well .. like they do in Florida and Texas .. places that snowbirds escape to.

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on the way home we spotted this rig .. Homeless Rescue Services … Serving the homeless since 1999 and on the bumper it says “Try Jesus” I love it!!

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see how close these rigs are parked to each other?

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now look out on the BLM land where we are parked ..

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this is the road leading to where we are

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it’s starting to fill up a bit

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you can park as close or far away as you want from your neighbor or friends

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there  are middle class rigs like ours ..

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and there are high dollar rigs out here

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there are bus conversions …

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there are vans

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there is lots of wide open spaces for those of us who enjoy our space

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you find an already existing road and pull in and find the perfect place you want to call home for 14 days.

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We are parked where there is a 14 day limit ..  we didn’t get a permit when we arrived but after several started pulling in the ranger and camp host came around and issued 14 day permits to all of us.  They like to keep a record of how many come each year. 

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although we are told it’s not highly enforced as in the month of January there are so many rigs that it’s impossible.

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A nice place to take a walk, when it was warm enough we took the dogs and they loved it ..

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I know I’m blonde .. but after seeing all this nice open space

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where would you prefer to park your home?  In town on top of your neighbor or out in this huge area?

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After all our home has big holding tanks .. we can go almost a month on our black tank. 

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we have 2 gray tanks and the little dish water I use is excellent to dispose of in the evening to put out our camp fire (that is great for burning our paper trash) Plus I do not like going to bed with a fire going esp in just a rock fire pit like we have ..  although we haven’t had a fire the last couple of nights as it’s been too cold. 

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we have a nice size fresh water tank and a couple 6 gal water jugs, plus some milk jugs (they work well for filling our fresh water tank with)

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we have done well with water .. in fact because we are in town all the time as we are only like 3 miles away .. so getting water has not been a problem for us at all.  I fill up everything I have inside and we take our empty jugs to town and fill them up.  We have the same amount of water we came here with .. we really need to use it up before we pull out around the 24th.  Plus we are getting filtered water for 25 cents a gal or 5 gals for a buck!  Were saving money by not having to buy bottled drinking water! 

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When were ready to leave on our way out we will stop and dump our tanks for a minimal fee or wait until we get to our next destination where a dump will be available.

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So with all of this … we do not need their water or sewer and we definitely do not want to be parked in our neighbor’s back window.

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I say nonsense!  When I have a place to park for free with a yard like this … Why would I want to pay 30 bucks a night or $350 per month for those few services?

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It warmed up a bit more today but I still needed a coat and it’s not my desired temps.  They said a high of 65 but my weather things only said 62 degrees.  We were tired when we got home so dinner tonight was some home made soup from the roast we had the other day and it was so good on a cool night.  Were curled up watching some TV while the generator charges up our batteries for the night.