"Q" Monday through Friday the 27th

Monday:

Roger and Gopher and I walked to the Big Tent this morning expecting to find it not very crowded. Was I wrong. Apparently, people figured that the weekend would be a madhouse so they would just wait until Monday. Not that it mattered because I didn’t need anything anyway; just taking a nice morning walk.
A most unusual event today; it rained. This is the first time Carol and I have seen it rain in a desert. Throughout the night we could hear the rain on the roof.
Two more rigs pulled in today. Foy and Helen from Texas and Bob and Linda from AZ.

Tuesday

A bright and sunny day. The “girls’ piled in two cars and went into town today. It’s times like that when I feel bad for Carol. Because of her special needs, she doesn’t get invited on such outings. On Thursday, we’re going into town together to run errands, share an apple fritter, have lunch and such.
A friend of Jack and Jeanette joined the group today.

Wednesday

Frank, John and I went to town this morning to do run some errands. When I left Carol was inside the camper but when I got back, she was sitting outside with her friends. This evening was the big covered dish dinner followed by the campfire.

Thursday

In the morning we drove to La Posa South for the dump/water fill. The line was longer then we have ever seen so we turned around and went in town to the Pit Stop. For $12 you can dump your tanks and fill with “filtered” well water. The filter was the typical cartridge type sediment filter. We toped off the propane tank at $2.75/gallon. Then we went to another vendor area off Main Street across from the Pilot station. We poked around for perhaps an hour then headed back to our campsite. We’re “stuffed” out.
After having been to Q for two years, I’ve found an alternative to the $40/two week fee at the LTVA’s if someone was so inclined. There are several free, 14 day BLM areas not very far away. If a person came to town with empty tanks and topped off with water, they could stay for two weeks by paying the Pit Stop $24 for using their facility twice vs the $40 BLM fee. If you’re in town for just a few days, this is clearly the most economical way. The advantage of the LTVA’s is that two of them are within an easy walk of the Big Tent area; not so with free 14 day areas. Of course, there are a number of $5/day dry camping areas that are also within walking distance of town.

The cabinet work in this LD is substandard compared with my 2000. The struts that hold open the large overhead cabinets have failed. The finish is wearing off the wood doors in places and the finish on the cabinet hardware is likewise, wearing off after less then four years. Basically they are junk cabinets fitted with cheap hardware. I did find a way to fix the struts so they will hold the weight of the heavy doors but a sturdier strut should have been installed in the first place.

We saw the most unusual RV we’ve ever seen. It looks like an old diner in a lot of ways. There are stairs that lead to a second level steering station like you see on some fishing boats.

Steve went to the BLM dump/water station this afternoon. It took him an hour and a half!!. The $12 we paid was money well spent.
Two more rigs pulled in today. Les, a full-timer and Gil and Nancy with their highly trained, flawlessly groomed poodle, Elvis. (Actually, Elvis is not a dog anymore, he has attained child status. ;-) We had met all of them at previous SW Lazy Daze Group GTG’s.


Friday

Took one last walk to the Big Tent with the guys. Jim was so impressed with the LED replacement for the fluorescent fixture that he wanted one for over the stove. The Starlight brand bulbs seem to be the most popular items in the Big Tent. In the Lazy Daze group, the most popular purchases were LED lights and the LED motion detector.
Another Lazy Daze pulled in a few minutes ago. It’s a 2012 model. Didn't get the couples name. I lost count since some people have pulled out, but I suspect there were about twenty LD's in the group.

"Q" is an interesting experience, but I suspect this will be our last trip. Were it not for the great group of friends, two days, or so, would be enough time to see the exhibits.

We heard from John & Marge today. They will get into Tucson on February 2nd. When we leave here, we'll head that way.

"Q" Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Friday

Tonight was cook-out night. Hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, chili, salads, more amazing deserts by Ann, on and on.
Steve bought three huge chunks of obsidian he’s going to use to decorate a garden he’s building in his backyard. We chipped off a few pieces just to see how sharp the edge could be. Steve said that the most skilled arrowhead makers generally need about five pounds of obsidian to get one good arrowhead.
The other day, we were sitting outside and Gopher was inside with the screened door shut. Unnoticed, she walked over and joined Carol and me. I just figured I had failed to properly close the screen door. During the social hour today Gopher was again, inside looking out the screened door. I watched her slide the plastic door that covers the latch over using her snout. Then she pushed the screen door lever down with her snout, pushed the door open and wandered over to join us. I can only surmise, that by watching me open the door repeatedly, she’s learned just how its done. Smart dog. I’m going to use a small bungie cord to keep her from pressing down on the latch. That will work until she learns how to simply chew through the bungie.

Saturday

A very cloudy and windy day. Per the weather man, the winds are a steady 25 mph.
In the morning about 8am, there is a “dog park”. Mike has two Goldens, John has his Labradoodle, Cookie her poodle mix, there’s Gopher and a neighbors dog all racing around here and there. Gopher has been a good dog. Sometimes she has trouble getting along with the rest of the girls because she just has to be the Alpha Female and can get aggressive to assert her position. Around here she’s been doing just fine. While I was walking yesterday, with Gopher on her short leash, a large female dog came running out from behind an RV with her owner in hot pursuit. I took Gopher off her leash in case there was going to be a confrontation but the meeting came off OK. Raised fur, some growls an apologetic owner but nothing more.
About 9am Gopher and I walked down to the Big Tent. There are vendors set up all around the tent so we stayed outside away from the crowds. I’m looking for a brighter LED bulb to replace the basically useless incandescent bulb under the range fan hood. Carol and I are going to the Big Tent tomorrow. I’ll take the bulb with me and find a replacement.
Come social hour, the winds were gusting to 40mph and the blowing dust was terrible. Everyone adjourned until tomorrow.

Sunrise photo by Andrea. That's us on the bottom, left side. John and Linda are on the right.

Sunday

We were up by 7am. We drove into Kuehn Street which is the street on the south side of the I-10 next to the area where the Big Tent(RV show) is located. The unpaved right-of-way/shoulder on Kuehn is about 35’ wide. I found a great place to park that was right next to a fire lane so we couldn’t get sandwiched in. We were only about a block from the Big Tent. The only bad thing about our location was the wonderful aroma from the cinnamon bun vendor. Couldn’t resist. From where we were parked, Carol had easy access to everything in the area. A tow vehicle is convenient in Q, but certainly not necessary. When Lisa pulled in a few days ago, she came over and handed me a set of keys to her car and said to use it anytime I wanted. We thanked for her thoughtfulness but we just don’t like to impose on others like that. We’ve managed quite well over the last 5+ years.

We spent a few hours going through the Big Tent. My goal was the LED bulb. I found the perfect replacement for the fan hood light. It’s 125 lumens which is quite bright, and only uses 2.16 watts vs 10 watts for the 912 bulb it replaced and ,per the brochure, has a 60,000 hour life expectancy. Only cost $10.50. The camper is now equipped with LED lights in every fixture we use to any great extent. That was our only Big Tent purchase. Carol found three very nice T-shirts in the Tyson Wells area. We had fried veggies for lunch. Zucchini, artichokes, mushrooms and onion rings; very good.

Everyone else went to the Big Tent as well with LED lights being the major purchase. There were perhaps a dozen places selling lights so the selection was quite good and the competition kept prices in line.

Jack and Jeanette Walker, friends from the Southeast Lazy Daze Group, pulled in today. They had been to a Bluegrass festival in Blyth, CA. The group is up to 16 rigs at this point with a few more expected.

A neighbor

A few days ago, this lot was vacant. They charge $7/day for dry camping here.