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Camping near Kofa Mountains south of Quartzsite Arizona

desert mts sunset clouds BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZI love those Kofa Mountains so much I’ve been, stayed, left, and returned all with ten days.  Cold nights and not so cold refrigerator had me on the move to town and different camps.  Does it seem that cold came early or is it my aging memory and low tolerance for below 60-70°F.

ant hole & yellow flowers BLM Palm Canyon Rd Kofa NWR AZAfter leaving the cold of camp Congress and buying yet another battery, this time for the camper, I stayed at Shady Lane RV Park in Quartzsite and took care of chores.  That last camper battery only lasted a year and is needed to make the solar system work.  Early November is pretty quiet in Quartzsite so quick service at Solar Bill and no crowds shopping.  Bought a new peace flag as the old one was raggedly wind blown.

last light desert Kofa Mts BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZThen I headed south for the Kofa Mountains in the Sonoran desert, and camped where I was last year almost on the same tire print.

truckcamper desert BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZAh, felt good to be home.

late light Kofa Mts BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZ

Last light Kofa Mts BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZWaking to 45° instead of 34° with a view of the Kofa Mountains made me happy, though it was a little windy.  Even with clouds the solar panels were charging.  Back to having power, I was able to download photos and work on the computer.

Saguaro desert BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZ

Mesquite tree frame Kofa Mts BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZHigh 60s during the day, out of the wind, felt delightful.  Went for a walk looking for potential places to set the trail-cam.  Couldn’t find any obvious animal trails, tracks or scat and only small burrow holes so I didn’t bother.  I could put a container with water out to attract birds.  But being I haven’t brought my filled water bottles up to count I am being stingy with water.

haze desert Kofa Mts BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZWind picked up the next day and the fridge wouldn’t stay on.  It’s always something.  I need a RV fixit person for all the little shit that’s broken.  After banging on the backside of the fridge it finally started working again.  Sometimes, it just takes a bigger hammer or the movement of old and oxidized wires.  Wind increased throughout the day until I could barely see the Kofa Mountains.  So I stayed inside working on a blog post and video.  Sadly the signal is not great, in fact I believe worse than last year, so I struggled to do anything online.  I am an internet junkie.

desert Kofa Mts clouds BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZOnly mid-November with nights dropping into the mid 30s and wind making the 60° days feel chilly makes me want to be someplace warmer.  Yet making heat with the oven and power under the sun keeps me home, inside, labeling photos from October 2021, and working on videos.

desert Kofa Mts sunrise rays BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZEarly rise Wednesday morning and I took off for two towns.   Starting with Quartzsite where I couldn’t get some parts, filled a propane tank, and took a luxurious 20-minute $10 shower at the laundromat.  Then I drove the 40 minutes north to Parker for some groceries.  Quartzsite doesn’t offer options for big box stores and I don’t typically buy groceries at Dollar-type stores.  The two tiny grocery stores have limited selection for high prices.  Other shopping choices are 20 minutes west to Blythe, California or a little over an hour south to Yuma.

truckcamper Plomosa Rd Quartzsite AZAfter what felt like hours shopping, I drove back south and stopped north of Quartzsite off Plomosa Road on 14-day BLM land.  I didn’t go far enough off the road so did hear a little traffic noise and had more neighbors than I’m used to.  Yes, I’m spoiled by quiet and dark.  But I could move later.

Only that didn’t happen the next day because I had a blazing fast signal and loaded a video about the breakdown in Congress.

The next morning at 36° I was freezing, and so was my entire refrigerator.  First it won’t stay lit then obviously not turn off. That seems to mean the thermostat is bad, and that’s not too hard to change, if I can get the right one.  Which means another trip to Quartzsite.  I went straight to the RV Lifestyles store and a serviceman said I should move the retainer probe to different fins inside the fridge. I didn’t know about this.

Saguaro desert mts sunset clouds BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZThings started to thaw but then it went into the won’t stay lit mode again so I moved the probe back to where it started.  Of course the later didn’t happen until after I’d returned to my camp with the lovely view of the Kofa Mountains.

desert Kofa Mts last light sunset clouds BLM Palm Canyon Rd AZOnly takes a little cloud to make for beautiful sunsets.

Fridge finally lit and stayed on overnight.  Intermittent problems are the worse!  Another problem, my Nikon Coolpix camera died.  I mostly use it while driving (I know and don’t want to hear about it).  Obviously, the big Nikon D5600 with 18-300mm lens is too big for that.  Guess I’ll be using my phone camera more.  Now I’m thinking of what camera could replace the Coolpix (which honestly I never really liked) and the D5600 to reduce weight.  Mirrorless is the now the way to go, but still WAY out of budget.

Another 36° morning and I felt cold!  It’s warmer further south, so I’ve moved again because I can.  I will miss those Kofa Mountains, but I’ll be back.  If you follow me on YouTube I’ve been posting short videos of my camps in real time.  If you’re not subscribed, please do.  The channel actually broke 200 subscribers this month.  Would be great to break 300 in December.  Help a gal out please.

Arizona, Kofa NWR, Parker, Places I've been, Quartzsite, RV life, United States , 35 Comments

Dead batteries and Desert dilemma with clouds, moon, and rain

Even at lower elevation, temperatures dropping caused me more than one desert dilemma beyond being cold.

02 IMG_20221102_095910164_HDRlecwfbr junk left behind BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZ-3My first desert dilemma was the seemingly abandoned and broken trailer near where I decided to camp causing me to wonder if I should even park there.  I have camped in this area before.  Two days later, after dark, some noisy truck towed it away.  Sadly, they left trash behind, lots of it.  I had considered doing a video of the trailer and mess.  This, is one of the reasons public land management agencies use to close dispersed camping.  If we can’t take care of the land, we’ll loose the right to visit.

03 DSL_7949lewfbr desert Vulture Pk clouds BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2Halloween caused no desert dilemma without trick or treaters, not even on the trail-cam.  Good thing, as I had no candy.  When I grew up, Halloween was mostly a community holiday, dressing up and joining local friends to beg from the neighbors.  Community is different now with many not even knowing their neighbors.  I don’t socialize with neighbors, if I can even see them often just due to distance.  Maybe your community is closer knit.  Much of my community is visited online, here on the blog, social media, and now YouTube who recently opened a Community option to my young channel.  I’m still trying to figure out how it works, and think many others are also.  My interpretation of the Geogypsy Community is a tribe of like minded people who enjoy communicating.  I posted a video about it here, and put up a short poll here that got one response in 11 days.  I guess my community isn’t very big, yet.

04 DSL_8198lewfbr cow BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2The Congress camp community has nearby human-dug waterholes for livestock so I figured that would bring in more than just cattle.  I set the trail-cam pointed at said waterhole but other than cows, seems only quick moving birds or bats triggered it after dark.  That felt like a desert dilemma as water usually draws wildlife.

05a DSL_7988lewfbr sunset clouds camp Congress 1 AZ fb g-2

05b DSL_7992lewfbr sunset clouds camp Congress 1 AZ g-2Sunsets frequently cause the desert dilemma of which way to look because it’s 360°, especially at the end of an otherwise gray cloudy day.

06 DSL_8084lewfbr last light Weaver Mts clouds Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2And I do love clouds, but gray days mean less solar charging and that causes a desert dilemma because I live off-grid and rely on my camper battery to operate lights, start the fridge, and charge phone and laptop.  A drive 20 minutes each way to Wickenburg helped charge the “house” battery.  Yet after every stop in town I noticed the solar controller flashing “b01”, an error warning for very low or dead battery.  My cheap battery tester indicated the one-year-old battery was good.  Lights worked, fridge lit, and phone charged.  Now what?  I checked fuses and wiggled wires which solved the error, briefly.  Loose wires are always a nightmare.  Being I had an appointment for an oil change in two days at B&B Automotive just five miles from my Congress camp I figured to let them solve this desert dilemma.

07a DSL_8000lewfbr desert Vulture Pk sunset clouds BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2

07b DSL_8006lewfbr desert sunset clouds BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2And enjoyed another night of gorgeous sunset.

08 DSL_8053lewfbr desert Vulture Pk storm clouds Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2Except the next day was raining with awesome cloud shows and most of my desert dilemma was which way to look and point the camera.

09 DSL_8029lewfbr tripod in doorway with curtain BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2While it rained I set the phone on tripod in the camper door with my drape over it to keep the rain out and Sierra in.  I took some awesome time-lapse and shared a video here.

10a DSL_8067lewfbr desert Weaver Mts storm cell Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2

10b DSL_8074lewfbr desert Weaver Mts storm cell Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2In between rain drops I was in and out of the camper all day taking photos.

11a DSL_8089lewfbr reverse sunset Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2

11b DSL_8087lewfbr sunset Stanton Rd Congress AZ fb mss g-2Sunset was no slouch either.

12 IMG_20221104_104013768_HDRlewfbr dead truck BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZ-3Friday morning I got packed and ready to roll for that oil change.  The shop called to say I could come in before my 11:30am appointment.  Oh boy, stop at the dump on the way and get rid of a week’s worth of garbage for $1.  But the truck wouldn’t start, as in dead batteries.  No problem, I put the handy jumper on it and waited 30 minutes.  Truck still wouldn’t start.  Now that’s a desert dilemma.  Called the shop and they eventually sent a mechanic out but his larger jumper still wouldn’t start the truck.  Only five miles from the shop but I’d have to get a tow.  My first thought was the old fashioned way of finding a BIG truck and pulling my unit with a chain, but now days that means the driveshaft would have to be dropped.  It was just a thought.

13 DSL_8108lecwfbr horses Vulture Pk camp Congress Stanton Rd AZ g-2Wild horses

Being the shop is closed on weekends I figured the tow could wait until Monday morning.  I’d rather stay in my pretty camp than a parking lot over the weekend.

14 DSL_8117lewfbr sunset clouds Stanton Rd BLM Congress AZ g-2Started by calling a couple tow companies in the closest town of Wickenburg and several didn’t have a truck big enough to tow my truck with the camper on it.  No way the camper would be coming off.  It’s a pain to come off and on, plus I couldn’t abandon it on public land with Sierra inside.  I finally called Good Sam Road Care Assistance.  I’ve paid for this service almost 20 years and thankfully only used it about seven times.  One tow pays for all.  But they are a pain in ass to deal with.  Last call years ago the lady I spoke to in Georgia didn’t even know what state the Grand Canyon is in.  Duh!  This lady in Illinois at least found me on maps but didn’t know what a “slide-in cabover truckcamper” is or what is boondocking/dispersed camping/off grid.  I recommended she ask for better training from Good Sam and tried to educate her.  I also gave her the name and number of the nearest tow company with a truck big enough that could find me.  But no, Good Sam has their system, a rather screwed up system.  She tried several tow companies out of the Phoenix area (two hours away) but when I followed up they couldn’t tow my truck with the camper on.  But finally found one and I scheduled the tow for Monday morning, when I would get a text conformation.  I have heard many horror stories from RVers about both Good Sam and AAA.  They will get to you, eventually.

15a DSL_8138lecwfbr Painted Lady butterfly Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2Painted Lady well camouflaged

15b DSL_7938lecwfbr Painted Lady butterfly on Broom bush BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ-3With that done I had the whole weekend to just enjoy the sunny desert.

16a DSL_8154lewfbr desert framed Vulture Pk sunset clouds BLM camp Congress AZ g-2

16b DSL_8181alewfbr desert Weaver Mts sunset clouds moon BLM camp Congress AZ Pano g-2Except, the solar controller still indicated a dead house battery.  Could there be a correlation?  While driving the truck should help charge the house battery, but it shouldn’t deplete that battery.  Oh well, everything was working so I falsely assumed it was the controller and not the battery.

17 DSL_8188lecwfbr Raven bush BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2I spent most of the weekend reading and outdoors soaking up the sun watching my world.  Plus I ate a little extra ice cream just in case the fridge stopped lighting.

18a IMG_20221106_171612262_HDRlecwfbr Gaelyn shadow shooting moon rise BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-3

18b DSL_8217lewfbr moon rise Weaver Mts Stanton Rd Congress AZ fb g-2And I watched for the rise of the almost full moon over the Weaver Mountains.

19 IMG_20221107_113543608_HDRlewfbr Moorish Roadside Rescue tow truck g-3By Sunday night I had no interior lights, dead laptop battery, and low phone battery.  But I’d be OK because my tow would come Monday morning.  Except for yet another desert dilemma.  Morning text from Good Sam listed a tow company that couldn’t tow my truck.  I lost my patience and vented on Face Book tagging Good Sam and within 30 minutes they responded and we were private messengering with much better service than the phone call.  After several more tries they finally enlisted a company from the Phoenix area and it would be two more hours before they’d get to me.  I talked the driver into my rather remote location, but only about one mile off SR89 pavement.  Poor guy was way out of his element.

20 IMG_20221107_113704067_HDRlewfbr Moorish Roadside Rescue tow truck & truckcamper g-3Sadly, my truck couldn’t be pulled onto the tipped tow truck bed without tearing off the back of the camper.  I had thought that would be a problem.  But before just putting the front wheels up only a bit instead the driver hooked up his mega jumper, and the truck started.  Yea!  He followed me the five miles to the repair shop where I had to buy two new truck batteries.  And OUCH, have they gotten expensive!  They also charged my house battery up to 85%.  No time for an oil change and a reschedule would be two weeks out.  Not happening.

21 DSL_8262lewfbr moon rise towers Weaver Mts Stanton Rd Congress AZ fb g-2With the fridge back on I went back to the same camp to watch the moon for a couple more nights.  And maybe the lunar eclipse.

22 DSL_8315lewfbr full moon rise Weaver Mts clouds Stanton Rd Congress AZ fb g-2But that night I woke up feeling nauseous and lost dinner into a waste basket.  Trust me, you don’t want to pray to a RV toilet.  And maybe not eat ice cream right on top of lemon chicken.  So no lunar eclipse and Tuesday was a down day.  Except for a cloudy full moon rise.

23a DSL_8352lecwfbr sunrise clouds Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2

23b IMG_20221109_093943892_HDRlewfbr low clouds Weaver Mts BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-3Rained over night but not enough to flood, which can be a desert dilemma.  Woke to an amazing sunrise followed by heavy clouds and more rain that was suppose to clear before noon.  So I waited until around 10am to roll on to Quartzsite.

24a DSCN1432lecwfbr rainbow SR71 AZ fb g-3

24b DSCN1456lewfbr mts light clouds SR60 AZ g-3

24c DSL_8361alewfbr rainbow SR60 AZ Pano fb g-2

24d DSL_8360lewfbr hills rainbow SR60 AZ fb g-2Did rain a bit in between bursts of sunshine causing me to pull over twice to photograph the rainbows.

25 DSCN1481lewfbr I10 W exit 19 Quartzsite AZ g-3Exit 19 off Interstate 10 to Quartzsite

Actually bought diesel for under $5/gal in Quartzsite.

26 1000001616lecwrr Solar Bill g-3This is not Gus

Went to Solar Bill, met the new owner Gus, and bought yet another battery, this time for the camper to solve that desert dilemma.  Come to find out all the employees stayed on when the business sold.  It’s a good outfit.

27 IMG_20221109_155435872lecwfbr Aerial view Shady Lane RV Park Quartzsite AZ g-3Old aerial of Shady Lane hanging in laundry room

Then went to Shady Lane RV Park for the night (320° video of camp site) to take care of other chores.  Bonus, got to see Finius and Breezy on their last day at the park they just sold.

28 IMG_20221106_121442732lewfbr Sierra sleeping BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-3Because I solved the current desert dilemmas, I took off to an absolutely favorite BLM camp with views of mountains all around because it is not a dilemma to be in the desert.  Enjoy that camp video here which almost catches me up to real time.  Except for writing about the train ride which I’m still working on.

29 IMG_20221109_093936135_HDRlewfbr bumper rock collection BLM camp Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-3Camp Congress bumper collection

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30 DSL_8076lewfbr desert Weaver Mts storm cell Stanton Rd Congress AZ g-2Order Geogypsy 2023 Calendars while they’re still available.

Arizona, Congress, Places I've been, Quartzsite, repairs, RV life, United States , , , , , , 37 Comments

Comfy in camp Congress

desert Weaver Mts clouds BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZCamp Congress is a comfortable place to spend time, not far from my Skull Valley home but at least 2000 feet lower in elevation and thus warmer without yet being HOT.

desert Kofa Mts clouds BLM Palm Canyon Rd Kofa NWR AZI hid out for five days over Easter weekend hunkered in at one of my favorite camps looking at the Kofa Mountains and chasing shade as the temperature pushed past 95° it felt like time to head a little further north.

napkins & magnet happy camperAfter a couple hour drive I settled into camp Congress and was soon joined by a local friend.  Gypsy brought banana bread, a cute magnet, camper napkins, some magazines, and best of all her company along with the lovely four-legged Sandy.  Don’t ask why I don’t have a photo.

Date Crk Mts sunset BLM Cemetery Rd Congress AZSadly the air was heavy with smoky haze from the Tunnel Fire northeast of Flagstaff and the Crooks Fire south of Prescott, both human caused.

truckcamper BLM Cemetery Rd Congress AZAfter a move, long drive, and shopping I like a down day where I don’t have to go anywhere.  So even though the signal is worse than iffy at this camp Congress off Ghost Town and Cemetery Roads on BLM I stayed in place.  I made a 360°-video of camp, wrote a blog post, sat outside reading but mostly listening and watching birds.

Cactus Wren bird Cemetery Rd BLM Congress AZCactus Wren

I love this location for birding.

Date Crk Mts sunset BLM Cemetery Rd Congress AZThe next day I thought about doing laundry, not.  OR, just move to the other camp Congress site where I have strong reliable signal and keep working. Hmmm… OR, not move at all. The last seemed the right choice.  I am lazy sometimes.  So it was much a repeat of the previous day minus the 360 video.

desert Date Crk Mts sunrise clouds BLM Cemetery Rd Congress AZSunrise

Friday morning felt cold at 58° so when I couldn’t get online at all I battened down and left camp Congress.

truckcamper BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZFilled propane in case the predicted cold snap lasted then went to Stanton Road looking for camp Congress 2.  The main reason I didn’t just drive the hour home was the overnight low close to freezing.  No thanks.

tree hole in camper BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZSadly, when considering one site I backed into a tree and now have a hole through the aluminum skin that will have to be patched. One more thing for the growing RVs’ repair list.

desert Weaver Mts sunset clouds BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZMade another 360°-video of camp Congress 2 fighting the wind.  In fact wind with blazing signal kept me indoors working on the computer.

desert mt haze BLM Stanton Rd Congress AZSmoke obscures Vulture Peak to the west

And that’s what I did over the weekend, worked on the computer.  I took 55 minutes of video driving from Kofa to Congress, edited and cut it to 31 minutes for my first Rambling Road Trip video.  My brain never stops while I’m driving so I can always find something to talk about.  Hope you’ll check it out.  I am totally experimenting with this new medium of video.

desert Weaver Mts Crooks fire smoke Stanton Rd Congress AZAfter a two-day video editing marathon, brutal wind, smoke filled sky, and temperatures rising, I finally felt like completing this five month road trip and heading home.  Time to leave camp Congress.

Weaver Mts SR89 Yarnell Hill AZThe drive north along SR89 is familiar.  I did something I’ve thought about for many years, took video of the entire four-mile drive up Yarnell Hill.  Then I continued to film the rest of the drive home through Peeples Valley, Kirkland, and onto Iron Springs Road to Skull Valley, and made another Rambling Road Trip video.

Note on box

blown glass sea turtle from B HoskinsBlown glass sea turtle suncatcher (sitting on an envelope for scale)

Made a quick stop at the post office where a birthday present awaited.  The son of a long-time friend blows glass under the name Wildfire Productions (please check out his website and work).

Two RVs Skull Valley AZAnd, finally, home to my other wheelestate.  I took another 360°-video and a short walk before even looking inside the 5th-wheel/Big House where, as I expected, there was mouse poop which meant cleaning before moving back in.

grass trees mt sunset clouds Skull Valley AZ

5th-wheel from inside truckcamper Skull Valley AZYet I was in no hurry and simply enjoyed the sunset before making dinner in the truckcamper.

Lesson learned this winter as I readied for retirement, slow down.

Arizona, Congress, Places I've been, RV life, United States , , , , 23 Comments

Lijit

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