Getting Setting Up, Filled Up, Cleaned Out and Warmed.

Our Location today is Quartzsite, Arizona, U.S.A. 

For some unknown reason I had another slightly restless sleep last night. When I got out of bed the inside of the trailer felt more like an Icebox then our Home. Once I’d gotten things ready for breakfast I watched in dismay as The Weather Network displayed the outside temperature to be only 34 F (1 C). That explained why I was having difficulty moving.  

Arizona Sunrise.

I managed to get a few pictures of the Sun coming over the mountains to start the day, shining brightly and then sliding behind a bank of heavy clouds. When Kathy came downstairs the first thing she said was for me to turn on the furnace. We haven’t been running any kind of overnight heat since we have been “Off the Grid” here in the LTVA, not even our Big Buddy heater. With our Home in the process of warming I looked at the Remote Charge Monitor and was concerned by the lack of Sunlight to charge our Batteries. The fact that I had left the Inverter running non-stop for a couple of days hadn’t helped the situation. 

Then the Sun disappeared.

We finished two cups of Coffee while at the computers in a vain attempt to warm ourselves. Once the morning reading and chores were finished I went outside to shut the Inverter in hopes that the Batteries might gather a bit of a charge. 

Moments later we were on our way back to Quartzsite. As mentioned in yesterday’s post we are enjoying this style of camping so much that we were setting up for the long haul out here in the LTVA with plans for returning many times in the future. Even though we have been cautiously monitoring our Electrical and Water usage we are not wanting to move our trailer each time we need to refill the trailer’s Fresh Water Tank. We’ve heard of Portable Water Bladders but when we reviewed them Online there seemed to be a lot of hidden problems with them. 

Today we went back to Herb’s Hardware Store where yesterday we saw they had Plastic Fresh Water Barrels for sale. When we arrived the only barrels that were outside were set up for waste. When I inquired about the Fresh Water Barrels they said they set them up onsite but Robert was out having lunch. I also needed a Battery Charger but they didn’t have any so they recommended the Car-Quest store but warned that he closes at noon on Saturday so we had to get there quick.  

The reason for the Battery Charger was someone suggested it to me as a means of charging the Batteries if the Solar Panels weren’t doing the job due to lack of Sunlight. Many Generators have a Battery Charger built in but are extremely slow only producing a Trickle Charge. By using our Generator to power the Battery Charger we could have all our Batteries fully charged in a quarter of the time. The Car-Quest store in Quartzsite is not very big nor is it well organized but he did have a couple of Battery Chargers. One found its way into our backseat. 

Since it was approaching 12:00 noon and we didn’t know how long it would take to set up a Fresh Water Barrel we went to Carl’s Jr. for our lunch. We tried their Western Bacon Burger that tasted great and were pleasantly surprised that unlike the competition they don’t Over-Salt the French Fries. 

Back at Herb’s Hardware Store I had to ask for Robert. He didn’t realize there was no Fresh Water Barrels made up. People have different ways of transferring the water from the barrel so he first asked how I intended to do it before setting it up with the appropriate fittings. In less the ten minutes we had our own solid Fresh Water Barrel that will take lots of abuse, is easy to clean and costs a fraction of what a Water Bladder costs. 

Our New Fresh Water Barrel.

Back Home after I changed my clothes Kathy and I drove over to the Potable Drinking Water fill area. After a couple of quick rinses to get any impurities out it took nearly twenty minutes to fill our Barrel. Part of the reason is there are four hose bibs on the same line that everyone was trying to fill their containers from at the same time.  

The Sun struggling to break through the clouds just before 4:00.

At the trailer since I didn’t get my portable water pump set up yet I connected the Water Barrel to our Water Filters and used the onboard pump to siphon it into the Fresh Water Tank. When the trailer’s tank was full there was still half the water we collected in the Fresh Water Barrel that we can use before we leave here on Wednesday. 

Kathy enjoying the cool Sunshine.

While that was taking place it was still too cold to stand still so I started setting up our Blue Boy to clean out our waste tanks. Because the monitors were showing all our waste tanks to be full I was being cautious not to overfill our Blue Boy. I had all three tanks emptied with room to spare in the Blue Boy and yet the monitors were still showing them as full. I’ll be fixing that when I get back to Windsor. 

The Sun finally came out.

Just as I got back from dumping our Blue Boy at the Waste Dump out the Sky suddenly cleared, the Wind died down and the Sun was finally warming us up. The temperature was only 55 F (13 C) but with the sun warming us it felt much warmer. The Remote Charge Controller Monitor showed the Batteries getting a good charge as well. 

Chicken Cobb Salad.

Kathy made a wonderful Chicken Cobb Salad filled with Fruits and Vegetables for supper tonight.  We are not sure what we’ll be doing tomorrow but we’ll be enjoying warmer temperatures. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

 

It’s about time.

Krackers 

The World's Great Proverbs 

He that drinks beer, thinks beer.