Mar 4 - Mar. 8 Last week at La Posa South & the trek North.

Mar 4 
We're up fairly early and getting through the morning routine because Leslie wants to go to line dancing "March Madness", not to be confused with basketball madness but definitely on the same scale lol. It's the day they invite groups from all over to come and enjoy some dancing and a potluck from 11:00 am to 3:15pm. There turned out to be over 135 dancers from as far away as Tucson and Indio, Ca. It's a big event and Leslie thought it was just the local group so it was a big surprise. Leslie took our truck so she could leave when she wanted and she is picking up some grocery items on the way home. 

Lot's of people enjoying some line dancing.

I get to stay home and work! Of course that was my decision and I have some caulking that needs done before we hit the road north. Plus we have recognized that some time alone is a good thing while we are on the road together. A little time alone to do what you like to do is a definite must for us.
It's a beautiful day outside so I opened the windows on the truck and put Margaret in there .... her happy place. I waved to Dianne and said hi as she is outside doing some knitting by their rig. I got started cutting out a bunch of old caulking, one of my least favourite tasks by the way, and then started applying the new bead. Of course while I am working on one spot I notice another spot that could use some sealant and on it goes. After a couple hours of that I had enough and wrapped up all the tools and went for a short bike ride. Work and reward system lol.
Leslie got home around 3pm and we relaxed and chatted for a bit until happy hour. After happy hour we left to have supper and Leslie relaxed at the rig while I joined some others at a campfire by Mike & Dawne's rig. Mike & Dawne moved into Harry's spot after he left and they now have the central firepit. I didn't stay too long and when I got home Leslie was already in bed. Hard day of dancing wore her out!
Mar 5
We are going to Castle Dome Mines Museum today with Steve & Dianne. The Mine is down towards Yuma off of highway 95 about an hour each way. We took off about 10am on a gorgeous hot and sunny day. The weather is much improved these days, more of what everyone expects in March in the desert. I think the best way to describe the Museum is in pictures so we have a bunch coming up. Leslie took probably over 150 and she tried to pick the best ones, here goes.

Road starts as pavement but turns to washboard gravel :(

Okay no desert hikes here!

Observation blimp taking off. 

The blimp in the photo is part of the effort to patrol the border with Mexico for illegal entrants. The lady at the museum told us that it has cameras and equipment strong enough to count our teeth from this close. It flies far overhead and sometimes you can spot it from La Posa South. The stand at the nose is the docking tether where it is kept. Lots of warning signs not to stray off the road and a large military presence with barracks and other buildings in the area. 

Very soon after that we parked at the mine and paid our $15 to do a self guided tour, except we brought our own tour guides! Dianne and Steve have been here before, when it was only $10. 

The courtyard in the middle of some of the old buildings.

115 years of production! What a history.

Self player piano in the tavern.

Single vehicle garage!

General store and some canned goods. My parents had a trunk like that.

I bet there was some pain involved in this room!

Really nice church with copper ceiling.

Old school sewing machine, no fancy stitches here.

Blacksmith forge with a monster bellows to heat the coal.

We were crossing over a little wash and Dianne was holding Margaret's leash when we noticed Margaret stop and yelp a little and then stop with her paw in the air. She had gotten too close to a cholla cactus and it stuck her in the neck and on the top of both her paws. Cholla cactus spines are similar it seems to a porcupine quill in that they have barbs along them that stick in human or dog flesh. If you try to just pull them they won't come out without pulling and tearing the skin. This is Margaret's second experience with these spines so we are a little better at getting them out. Steve had his trusty nail clippers in his pocket so we snipped the spines about in half and then wait 30 seconds or so for them to pull in the barb. Once they de-pressure, the spines or needles pull out super easy without tearing. We got some out on the spot but had to walk back to the truck to get the rest. Margaret needed a drink of water too because it was quite the trauma for her with us holding her still and pulling out the spines. We put her in a back pack for the rest of the tour. There was lots more cholla cactus where we ended up. 
Dianne felt bad for not watching closer while she had Margaret's leash but we would not have done any better. Dianne did everything right but the dog just happened to get into some cactus. No worries Dianne!!

Cool old 1970's travel trailer with beauty wood floors.

Found this guy in the back, oops sorry buddy, carry on lol.

Steve was sad that the curtain was open when we walked in.

It's a big surprise to pull open the curtain and see this fella.

This was the dude in the trailer.

Group selfie in the courtyard, Margaret in the pack on my back.

We moved the truck to the other parking area for the rest of the walk and Dianne waited in the truck with Margaret. Enough walking for her knee today already. Margaret is happy to wait with her favourite treat lady !

Some of the mining machinery.

Work camps are way nicer these days!

Not exactly private.

We walked past some open mine shafts that are fenced off so the pictures didn't turn out at all. Some of the mine shafts were 450 feet deep, amazing work considering some of the tools they used in the day. The doctors office and the assay/post office/pay office was also over in this section so we toured them as well.

The doc is in!

Get your pay and your mail all in the same building!

It was a great museum to check out and if you are close to Yuma it's worth a look but give yourself a few hours and bring water. It got pretty hot while we were walking around and we went through a few bottles of water. We wrapped up our tour and headed back to the truck where Dianne and Margaret were patiently waiting. We drove straight back to Quartzsite to pick up some groceries and beer for a hot dog roast tonight with the gang. 

We had enough time for a brief happy hour at Steve & Dianne's rig and then got a fire going for the hot dogs. Dale and Ruth joined us for hot dogs from the other side of the LTVA where they are camped. We haven't seen them since Catalina State Park in November so it was great to meet up again. They have had some issues with their trailer and some Lippert components getting replaced and then just for fun their truck had fuel system issues that had to be fixed. They were extremely patient and got it all fixed thanks to their extended warranties. Would have been a massive bill without coverage. A little lesson there for us newbies.

A hot dog feast with lots of goodies.

Chatting by the fire until the coals are just right.

That was a great day and we are a little tired from our day in the sun so we said good night to everyone and called it a day. 

Mar 6

Leslie has one more day of line dancing before we leave and today is the day. She got ready for 9:30 and rode with Allison to the QIA. I did some blog stuff and then some tightening and checking on the rig before the big pull. There are so many self tapping screws on this trailer and many of them back out so I have been using Loctite and small amounts of silicone to "glue" them into place. At noon I got a text from Leslie to pick her up. It seems we had agreed that I would just drive in at noon to get her but my mind must have been elsewhere when we agreed on that. Leslie is very understanding and really didn't mind that I picked her up at 12:20 after she stood outside waiting patiently. ( Love you honey!) We went out for lunch when I got there. That makes it all better lol. We went back and relaxed a bit and did some organizing for the trip before happy hour at Steve & Dianne's. Tonight is Survivor night so after supper we gathered in their rig and enjoyed another episode with no commercials, thanks guys. Our last Survivor night in the desert :(

Mar 7

Leslie is on a mission today to do a major clean inside the rig before we leave and I want to get one more good long bike ride in today. We did our usual morning routine and then got at it. The trailer looks amazing and I did an 8 mile ride. The wind makes it a good workout. We relaxed in the afternoon and got some stuff ready for a hamburger potluck that Red & Pam are hosting over at Mike & Dawne's rig. Red & Pam are supplying the burgers and Red is doing the cooking too. Thanks buddy. Lots of good people coming and it should be an amazing meal with all the different dishes. We gathered at Steve & Dianne's for a quick happy hour while our hosts got everything ready and then took our chairs over to gather around Mike & Dawne's rig for supper. 

Allison, Earl, and Dianne

Steve, Colan, Pam & Red discussing something very important ;)

Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of the meal when it was ready. Also we missed getting a picture of Mike & Dawne, our hosts. Sometimes you are just having too much fun to take pictures. We enjoyed a great dinner with Red's awesome burgers and all the salads and fixin's that were on the table. Dawne made a bean dish she calls "block party beans" that was really good in my opinion. It had several different kinds of beans plus a sauce that was really tasty. I had a couple helpings of the beans. Yumm!

It had cooled off lots after the sun went down so everyone was heading inside to relax, no fire tonight. The sunset was incredible for our last evening in the desert. Sunsets out here can be amazing.

Great shot of the mountains in the distance and beauty sunset.

Leslie and I joined Steve & Dianne at their house for a nightcap seeing as we are leaving tomorrow. We picked up Margaret so she gets to enjoy some time with them too. She's going to miss running to the "treat lady". Dianne did a great job training her to sit. I think both Steve & Dianne will miss her too. They get a good chuckle watching her chase the laser.

Auntie Treats playing the laser game at their house.

We visited for a little while and then said good night. It's a sad time saying good bye to these two awesome people.  We will meet up again for who knows what adventure later this summer. We have a plan to meet at Ray & Deb Kyle's house in Lake Cowichan, which we can imagine will be a fabulous time with great food, maybe a beverage or two and good friends. Can't go wrong there. Thanks Deb for graciously offering to host! We'll miss you Steve and Dianne. See you soon.

Mar 8

This is it, we are leaving our desert home in Quartzsite today. We have had a fantastic stay here and we have learned a ton of things about our rig and how to manage different systems while boondocking (dry camping). It was a great experience and we know what we need to be able to do this more in the future. That being said, we are looking forward to full hookups and a long shower. Not going to lie on that one lol.

We had a decent breakfast and then got at our final packing up. We did most of the work yesterday and the day before so it's really just putting away the last minute stuff and then pull in the slides and lift the jacks. Everyone here knows the deal on packing up and everyone waited until we were hooked up before coming over to say good bye. Big rounds of hugs and handshakes to Earl & Allison, Red & Pam, Mike & Dawne (they are coming to the same RV Park in Bakersfield as us tomorrow) and last but certainly not least was Steve & Dianne. Leslie got a little teary eyed saying good bye which just goes to show that we really enjoyed ourselves and we're going to miss these great people. 

We jumped in the truck and with a last wave we headed out of our spot to the dump station and the highway to Bakersfield California. The weather is supposed to be sunny but windy and of course that wind is coming right at us. Beat the crap out of my milage while towing, that's for sure. We snapped a couple road pics of Q on the way out. It's an interesting small town and soon there will be hardly anyone there once all the RV'ers leave. See ya next year!

Great place!

Looking north on highway 95 from the bridge over I10.

Good pizza and people watching place.

We turned west on I10 and I got to feel the headwind right away. It's going to be a little tougher and hard on fuel but it is what it is. Good news is that we are meeting our High Chaparral friends in Bakersfield. Randy & Shelley and Wayne & Karen are also staying at Orange Grove RV Park on their way north. We're going to travel with Randy & Shelley to their place in Washington State. Mike & Dawne are also stopping there tomorrow on their way back to Oregon. So we're happy to see everyone in Bakersfield but sad to say good bye to the folks here. We'll wait for the next post to tell you about our travel days. California here we come! Cheers everybody!! :)