A Day in Quartzsite AZ

Thursday, October 18, 2012 

We didn't do too much today.  We needed to get some simple groceries and fill up the fuel tank.  I also wanted to get some hardware to fix a light that Patty has at her computer desk.  We thought we would take a trip out to see the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) areas that have free or very close to free camping in the desert.

We started out to see an area of BLM land called Roadrunner.  It is about 5 miles south of town.  This is the first area in the US where we have not seen fences along the roads.  The Roadrunner area is off of highway 95 and La Paz and is again bisected by Old Yuma road.  Old Yuma road is an unimproved gravel and sand road into the desert.  We decided to travel down Old Yuma for a mile or 2.  All along the way you see some RVs camping in 95 degree heat with no shade.  This would be much better in the winter months when the temperatures are more in the upper 60s.  Off in the distance we could see a large congregation of RVs but we didn’t want to go that far.  We decided that we will come back during a future winter and do a night or two just to be in the complete darkness of the outdoors.

Cactus garden at our RV park.

Old Yuma road.  The sign says to travel at your own risk.

Campers along Old Yuma Road.

A camper way off to themselves in the desert

More of Old Yuma Road

A large camp of RVs in the distance

Old Yuma Road

In town.  The hippies are still here in Q!

We turned around and headed back to the small town of Q (Quartzsite).  This time of year a lot of stuff is closed.  There is not much in the way of shopping here.  We went to the general store and picked up some basic stuff.  After that we found a store with hardware that I could use for the computer light fix. I picked up 2 large flat washers and a lock washer to secure the light.

After shopping we went back to the RV and I decided to again wash the truck.  I just washed it 2 days ago but it is now completely covered in dust from our trip into the desert.  This RV park has an area for washing RVs and vehicles.  This is the first time I had seen a park with this set up.  It is a concrete pad with a water drain and it has a high pressure hose on a high swing bridge to clear the top of an RV.  This saved me about $8 that I would have spent at one of those quarter gobbling manual car washes.

We made dinner and sat down to TV and again the power management system turned off the Rig because the voltage was too high.  Also, the microwave quit just before the power went out.  I got my old digital volt meter out to check the issue with the microwave.  It seems that there is no power at the wall plug and all of the circuit breakers are on.  It must be a wiring issue in the wall.  A warranty issue for sure for Monday’s appointment.

I also checked the voltage coming into the rig to compare with what the power management system is saying.  My volt meter says that the voltage is 128 at the same time the power management system says it is 131, a 3 volt difference.  My volt meter is over 25 years old so I’m not completely sure it is correct.  However, if it is correct then the power management system is cutting off the power too soon.  This is the second place this has happened.  Both times the voltage is just 2 or 3 volts too high or the difference of what my volt meter shows.  I need to borrow a volt meter to check.

I turned off the power to the rig and we went to bed early at 9:30.  I opened the windows as the temperature had dropped to 72 already.  I turned off the power because the management system was turning it on and off every few minutes as the voltage would hover at 132 – 133.  At 133 the management system turns off the power to the rig.

Tomorrow we head to Phoenix to visit with Patty’s friends from High School.  This should be an easy trip of only 120 miles on a flat divided highway.  It will be interesting to see if we can get the rig into their driveway :[].

Stay tuned!