Dawn with moon setting over the mountains south of Quartzsite

Jan 19th – I got up early and saw the moon set over the mountains to the west.  We went into town again with Dan and Teri to have a cup of 25-cent coffee – pretty good, especially at that price.  We visited another sign maker – hand carved wooden signs – and then left for the camp site.  We drove an hour and a half to Yuma but could not find the old time fiddle contest that is supposed to be happening.  I guessed that it must be a secret meeting because no one knew where it was.  All we could find was a bluegrass festival happening over the weekend but, since we are going to one next weekend, we gave up and headed for home.

The total trip was about 700 miles and a total of 10 days.  We found that there is indeed a market for carved wooden signs for a variety of uses.

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Jan 19th – we drove into town and met Dan and Teri at one of the swap meet areas.  We drove from there over to the Tyson Wells section on the south side of the freeway for more shopping.  We bought a few items for $1 each and saw what it is all about.  The big deal starts on the weekend when the “big tent” opens but we will not be here for that – we will head down to Yuma so we can avoid the crowds on the weekend – the worse of the month.

On the way back to the coach we stopped at the Pacific Cruisers’ camp where about 7 or 8 GMCs were parked.  We visited for a little while and headed back to the camp.  We just hung around with Dan and Teri and had an early evening.

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Parked next to Dan and Teri at Quartzsite

Jan 18th – we arrived at Quartzsite and needed fuel so we went to the Love’s at the first Quartzsite (we’ll call it Q from now on) exit and our first sample of the crowded conditions.  The gas station was jammed with all types of vehicles.  Once we filled up we traveled along the frontage road to route 95 South.  It was very slow with lots of people shopping in a village that had popped up since our previous visits during the summer.

We made it to 95S and went south to mile marker 99 where Dan and Teri – GMC friends we visited in Dexter, MO last summer – are parked.  It is a maze of unmarked paths through the desert but we found our way to them pretty quickly – thanks to Dan’s directions on the cell phone.  The area was beautiful and clean – it is all a very course gravel or rocks that keep the dust down.  We parked next to them and decided to just spend a little time relaxing and enjoying the view – we can go to town tomorrow.  Dan has internet access via his unlimited data plan with Verizon – not available any more – and he shared it with us.  All the conveniences of home.

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The Colorado River just outside the back window

Jan 16th – Left Indio for Blythe – about 100 miles.  Carol was a little tired of crowds, noise, and stress from “dry camping” because it was our first time.  In order to recharge Carol’s “batteries” we found a campground on the Colorado River about 3 miles north of Blythe on highway 95.  We have a great view of the river looking north and it was very quiet and peaceful – except for a little “won’t start” glitch when we got to the campground.

I don’t yet know what the problem is but I suspect a bad ground connection between the engine and the battery.  We’ll have to wait until we get home to fix it correctly.

Jan 17th – visited a nearby county park which is not bad and a candidate for next time.  Went into town for some groceries and generally hung around doing email and whatever we felt like.

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Jan 15th – attended the “Bylaws” seminar because GMCWS has not updated their bylaws since 1996 and I am wondering what is wrong with them – the bylaws that is.  Other than that is was a pretty empty day.

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Jan 14th – spent the morning working on the computer writing the President’s letter for the GMCWS newsletter.  Went to the ice cream social but not much ice cream, just an “eskimo pie” is what we called them as kids.  Had an hour to waste so went to a presentation about Alaska trips and decided that is not for us.  The “how us use your digital camera” or some such title was OK but the facilities were terrible.  The building was a barn and there was something going on at the other end that had some woman with a microphone droning on about something but we couldn’t make out any words, just noise.  The content was OK but really fast and the people who were there, at least most of them, left pretty confused.

Steve and Gail hosted a “cocktail party” in the space between our coaches and at one time we had 14 people there including a couple of GMCers and a former GMCer who now has a “NewAire” which is a GMC-like diesel pusher – very nice.

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Jan 13 – first day of the rally.  The plan was to have breakfast at the rally – donuts –  but I showed up to late and there were only “plastic” donuts left so I went back to the  coach and ate some cereal and yogurt.  Went back for a “President’s Forum” at 10am but it  had been cancelled.  I visited the vendors’ building looking for what is in demand and any  competition for the sign business – found no competition and a look at the front of lots of  RVs, there is definitely a market for them.

Went back to McDonald’s for more internet and sent an email to the 3gstore.com asking about  the verizon policy on account suspension to see if we can suspend the account while we  don’t need it.

Having dinner from our freezer – leftovers from one of our recent home-cooked meals.  The  entertainment was great – a western band called New West.  Just three guitars playing  cowboy music and some jokes.

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Parked between Steve & Gail and Duane & Ruth in the holding area

Jan 12 – Got to the rally and parked after a slightly confusing “holding area” session.   There was no room to park with other GMCs so we have our own place between Steve and Gail  and Duane and Ruth – fellow GMCers.  Steve and Gail’s friends Joe and Sue and their friends   Eddie and Nancy parked right behind us.  No internet access had me concerned but we  planned to stop at a McDonald’s on the way back from dinner and use their free access.  We  went to dinner at the Spotlight 29 casino using our free buffet tickets from yesterday.   The dinner buffet was great – roast prime rib, shrimp and lots of other choices.  Steve and  Gail went to the McDonald’s with us so we could decide together about seeing Jay Leno on  Saturday night at the Fantasy Springs casino down the road.  Decided not to do it – just  wait for Jay to show up in Tucson some day.

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Jan 11, 2011 trip number 22 to Indio, CA for the FMCA Western Regional Rally.  Did about  300 miles with no problems.  The engine is now really quiet since I installed the Remflex  gasket on the driver’s side exhause manifold.   Also, now we have a engine thermostat and a  new air filter – embarrassing to say but the first one I know of being put in there.
We met Steve and Gail Ault at the Spotlight 29 Casino parking lot, Duane and Ruth  Christopherson too.  Spent the evening just hanging around and talking – also regisered for  our player cards at the casino so that we can have the cheap breakfast tomorrow and a free  buffet sometime later in the week.
No internet access so will have to make due with a desktop text editor for now.

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