February 1 to February 7, 2003

Saturday February 1:

The battery is over 70% this morning, even with all the fan running yesterday.  It's a good thing too;  this is an Internet day!  The cell signal is FULL strength digital here, so it works just GREAT!   I was chatting with friends when they told me the space shuttle was overdue for landing.  What a tragedy…..  :-((((  Life must go on, so we moved to Phoenix college for the Taekwon-do tournament Claire was helping with.  Plenty of parking here on Saturday, so I just made myself at home, and worked the webpage.  :-)  Claire returned around 4:30PM, tired, but enjoyed her day; there were competitors from Mexico, and Claire finally got an edge from all the studying she has put into Spanish; she understood enough to control the long winded school promoting speeches the competitors were adding to their introductions.  :-)  Anyway, she is now fully qualified as a ref for another year.  Even if she does nothing more with it in the year, it was worth the trip to Phoenix.  I cooked macaroni and cheese with tomatoes (from a can of course) and it tasted good;  nothing left from this meal but dirty dishes.  We cleaned up, then Claire drove to Walmart.  Parking there was very full, and we had little choice but to pull RIGHT along side a pickup camper occupied by an elderly couple.  I asked if they minded us so close; they said no, as long as we did not run our generator all night like the trailer across the aisle did LAST night.  I looked and determined our generator exhaust would blast right at their truck one foot away.  It seemed like a safety hazard for them, so I readily agreed not to run it.  We had plenty of battery charge from the drive, and boiled coffee would do in the morning.  After a celebratory drink to Claire's success, Claire read the webpage and pronounced it fit to upload. See how I get this thing approved?  :-))    Bed comes quickly for us. Shortly afterwards, a LOUD generator starts nearby.  It keeps Claire from sleeping by running for two hours, but she graciously saves the battery for the morning uploading, and reads instead of watching TV. No WONDER the couple next to us complained....YIKES, that is loud.  I wonder if it is one of those notorious home made ones using a car alternator and old lawn mower engine?  Claire says the trailer carries it on a platform on back.  I forget to look at it as we leave.

Sunday February 2:

The battery is in fine shape this morning, and I start the uploading.  I am not pleased that I cannot connect to primary site FTP server.  I upload to both mirror sites, then try the primary again, unsuccessfully. :-( The primary site had just requested a one time fee for "free" accounts, which I had gone to great lengths to pay last weekend...now THIS.  GRRRRRR!  I composed an appropriate email to their tech support, and reluctantly concluded  that the primary site would not work this weekend.  Well, that is WHY we have two alternates, isn't it?  :-)  Too bad they both have pop-up ads.  :-((  I recalled a usenet discussion agreeing that  the "pop-up stopper" program was  excellent to stop them, and decided to try it.  I downloaded the 450K free program from  http://www.panicware.com/process_download.html?prdid=PSFREE       and installed it.  After installing, I could access both my mirror sites, and received only an announcement that pop-up stopper had stopped pop-ups, never even ONE popup.  This program can be easily turned off with a double click to it's icon in the taskbar, if you use sites with WANTED non advertising pop-ups, as I do.  After all this Internet activity, we notice the camper next to us has gone, so run our generator.  We hope the trailer who ran last night is a late sleeper.....  :-)  We are soon off to Camping World, where we find a new water pump of the same model we have, and a salesman who insists we have a plumbing leak causing the repeated pump cycling, not bad pump.  After I explain that it could be a leak or a bad pump, and I cannot FIND a leak, so prefer to change the pump first, he allows me to purchase the pump.  :-)  It is cooler today, making the pump change much easier.  It is hard to get to the pump mounted against the outer RV wall, accessible only by removing two narrow drawers and stretching arms....  :-)  I found a plastic pipe plug for the input line, which has no shutoff from the water tank.  With a pie plate to catch drips, I was ready to disconnect.  Claire wanted to soak some mushrooms before the water was turned off, and make coffee, and I wanted to buy a strainer for the pump input; perhaps a little dirt from the water tank got into the pump making it's check valve leak?  Another trip into Camping World, and we have a strainer and also a new 50 foot drinking water hose.  When I return, it is time to change the pump!  It comes out easily, but the mounting dry wall screws had buried their heads into the rubber mounting supports.  A few choice words and drops of blood later the screws were mine, but NO WAY was I installing the new one without flat washers.  I notice the new pump has four mounting holes, while the old one has three.  I find a screw in the toolbox, but NO suitable washers.  Another trip into Camping World, and I'm told they do not stock such hardware.  The manager graciously offers to check the shop stores, and returns with 4 just barely small enough washers, the smallest he can find.  He gives them to me at no charge;  OK, they'll do!!  :-)))  The pump goes in with much luck at not dropping hardware into unaccessible crevasses, and it's wired with a soldered and taped connection instead of crimp, for which we have no terminals.  Turn it on, it is barely audible, and soon stops.  It is WORKING!  I cannot believe how much quieter it is than the four year old one of the same model.  I attribute it to the new all rubber mounting plate.  The old one had a solid plastic mounting plate with rubber mounting feet.  The rubber feet had hardened too....only time will tell if the whole mounting plate will harden and the new one get noisy, but for now, I'm happy.  Claire notices the new one seems to put out lower flow than the old;  it has the same pressure and gallons per minute specs, but I think it waits until the pressure is lower to restart.  It does not appear to cycle due to leaking...fingers crossed.  :-)  I take an Internet break before cleaning up the major mess of tools.  NOW the primary site takes my FTP connect, and I upload.  I wonder if my email complaint was acted upon, or it was just a random outage?  We look at the websites for National Parks we might visit.  Joshua Tree and Death Valley have plenty of sites for us, Mojave National Preserve has fewer.  We decide to stay at Camping World overnight and I receive permission;  I want to be sure we do not have water leaks before we move on.  I look at the pump and see a small puddle gathering under the output connection;  we turn the pump off, relieve pressure, and tighten another 1/8th turn.  Plastic fittings seem to often be this way; they seem tight at first, then require more tightening in a few hours. But that is why we stayed here!  After Claire's stir fry bok choy broccoli dinner, I stored the tools and Camping World purchases in the lockers under the RV.  Afterwards, I gratefully went to bed, while Claire watched TV for a while.

Monday February 3:

Battery is 65% even after TV last night.  :-)  It is 50 outside, quite cool in.  More good news; NO leaks under the water pump, and it was on all night with no running unless water was used!!!  Today we will go to Walmart for some things for our trip to Joshua Tree park, look for a place to do laundry, then fuel, dump, fill water and overnight at Flying J on our way out of Phoenix.  Somewhere I must clean the air prefilter on the generator too.....it is due.  We found Walmart's without difficulty, in an apparent upscale neighborhood.  We replaced some supplies and asked about a laundromat; it is over 15 blocks away, but since 3 clerks recommended this one, and no other, we head out.  It turns out to be an easy drive, and we are soon parked in back and doing laundry.  I changed the generator air prefilter and, at Claire's suggestion, we decided to oil and put in a new one, then wash and dry the old one for use next time; it makes for less fussing outside at the generator, the filter has days to dry, and the generator is ready for use within 15 minutes.  Having the generator always ready is pretty key to this boondocking lifestyle we have evolved.  You do not always need electricity, but you DO need it fast when you decide that you do....  We decide to overnight at the Walmart, and fuel dump and water at Flying J one exit away in the morning, on the way out of town to Joshua Tree National Park almost 300 miles away.  This Walmart is a lot quieter than the Flying J with it's loud PA system.  Dinner is early today, hominy stew with pork, frozen green chilies and tomatoes.  It is quite tasty!  I found my back aching; perhaps from the water pump work yesterday?  It is shower and early to bed tonight. The weather has turned cooler, and I appreciate the full thick quilts that have returned to use.

Tuesday February 4:

It is 48 outside and COLD inside at 5 AM.  The battery is below 60% and we need the furnace;  I go back to bed.  At 6:30 I decide the heck with the battery; if it will not do what we need, time for a new one!   We will charge a-plenty on today's drive too. I enter the log, and then check for Wireless LAN connections (none found, as usual).  I need to find a way to Flying J not using I-10, as we may want to go there in rush hour.  It is only a few blocks not using I-10, and an easy drive; unless traffic is backed up we will go that way.  Claire awakes at 7:30AM, and the generator runs immediately!  One of the benefits of Walmart's is NO quiet hours...  :-)  We leave for Flying J before 9 AM, and find the dump station open.... :-)  After dump, water fill, fueling (prices are up 5 cents a gallon from five days ago), and windshield cleaning we are ready for the day's drive; 214 miles to the closest Joshua Tree NP visitors center, nearly 300 miles to the main one on the park's north side.  We had phoned the park on the weekend, they had not mentioned the nearest site, but we will stop there for information at least, and hopefully can camp there too.  If the road across the park is suitable for us, it will save lots of driving.  We will miss Palm Springs, but doubt the residents there will miss us much.  :-)  Claire starts on the first shift at 9:45, and we are off to California!  We pass through Quartzsite again.  The white "Q" symbolizing this mostly seasonal, mostly RV town is visible on the mountain.  

We make a special note NOT to pull off on the interstate ramps here to change drivers, as we are tempted to do;  it would just give the fanatic traffic enforcers here another chance at our pocketbook!  :-(   We soon find a nice rest stop on I-10 for changing AND lunch.  :-)  We pass into California and Pacific Standard Time; we make a mental note to change the clocks when we stop.  The terrain is noticeably different than the Arizona desert we have left; the color is lighter, sandier, and perhaps brushier, and the mountains poking up from the desert floor are more numerous, higher, and seem more sharply defined.

There are regular built up "dikes" visible in the dry desert floor (right foreground in the picture above); are they remains of abandoned farm fields, overly saline from years of irrigation?  Are they for flash flood control?  We are curious, but can only speculate......  There are for sale signs evident;  I think not!    :-)  There is evidence of  former, but now dying agricultural plantings.  

We pass this structure, later identified as the exit for a tunnel cut through the mountains to transfer water from dams higher on the Colorado river to users further south.

  We arrive at the Cottonwood Springs exit, and drive toward Joshua Tree NP.  The road is narrow but paved, and climbs steadily in the 7 mile drive to the visitors center.  

We find it closed for lunch, but are invited to continue on our way, and pay on the way out.  :-)  We decide to do that, as three campers have arrived just after us; if they take the last available campsites, we will be shut out.  We find PLENTY of open campsites, but not many are large enough for us and reasonably level.  We select the best one we find, and use two blocks under all three of the  drivers side wheels.  It is acceptable.  We notice evidence of scuffing on the passenger side rear tire, all the way around on the tire sidewall, to within an inch or so of the rim.  It is not deep into the rubber, as the writing is still there.   I had noticed some vibration, increasing when we drove over 60 mph, but this scuffing is bothersome; there is evidence that the tire is rubbing on the rear fiberglass fender, but there must be VERY significant unbalance in that wheel to scuff so far in toward the rim.  We will need too keep a close eye on this, and it may need professional maintenance.  The afternoon weather here is fallish, and the cats enjoy a stroll among the bushes.  The view from the campsite is striking in the late afternoon sun.

 We chat with a gentleman from New York; he tells of the below freezing weather last night.  We conserve heat in the RV, accepting above ideal temperatures from the sunshine in anticipation of below ideal later.  We must wait until 5PM to start the generator to microwave dinner; quiet hours are enforced here.  We do not realize until 10 minutes before MST 5PM showing on our clocks that we have not reset to PST;  we will wait the extra hour impatiently, but sometime such a failure will get us in trouble! There is no English TV here, and the one bar analog cellphone signal will not allow a call.  We finally decide that early bedtime is desirable; after all, this day has an extra awake hour for us due to the time change. The quiet makes it VERY easy to sleep.

Wednesday February 5:

It is 41.9 degrees outside under the RV, and the furnace is necessary at 6AM PST when we awake.  It is already light out;  we have not moved an hour's time away from yesterday's MST.  Since this temperature differs a lot from the freezing we had been told to expect, I am curious as to how much the temperature UNDER the RV differs from air temperature, so activate our Christmas gift remote reading thermometer, and place the sensor outside in a bush.  The display is placed in front of the speedometer, so we will not drive away and leave the sensor.... it is AMAZING how clever we geezers must become!  :-)  In time the sensor reveals the temperature outside is 39.8, while under the RV it is 42.9.  This is less of a difference than I thought, but we will see what happens TOMORROW night.....  :-)  Plan today is hiking 4 miles to Mastodon Peak, and some mining ruins.  While we run the generator we listen to General Powell make his case to the UN Security Council; the Yuma TV station has crackly audio and no picture.  I think he made the case, but I'm admittedly biased.....  :-)  Promptly at 9 AM we shut the generator off, as the news ends.  We hike the 4 miles on the Mastodon Peak loop in windy weather; we were bundled up for winter, even in the 60 degree weather.

We could not do without the sunglasses or brimmed hats either, in the intense sun.  We pass Winona Mill, used to extract gold from ore for only seven years ending in 1931.

The concrete tanks have partially collapsed, but foundations for equipment still remain. The Oasis at Cottonwood Springs is interesting; it's flow had slowed WAY down until an earthquake in 1971 increased it again.

The fan palms hold their dead branches on the trunk, instead of dropping them as most palms do.

The varying terrain is interesting, and the views from the heights near Mastodon Peak quite beautiful.  

We can see the Salton Sea dimly through haze to the south, (look in the center of the picture above the dark nearby mountains for white salt deposits dimly visible on the even dimmer Salton Sea shoreline).  We both decided NOT to climb the final 50 feet to the top of Mastodon Peak in the strong winds.  

The steep cliffs carried just too much risk from a misstep, and the winds just made that misstep more likely.  There are not many chances of getting found out here if you fall off the trail among the rocks either.....we'll accept the 'chicken' label; we're telling about it!  :-)    The Mastodon Mine is just rubble now, even though it was still worked in 1971.  

If you want a closer view, you'll have to come here yourself; the tunnels are blocked to keep folks from entering into these very dangerous unmaintained areas.  Warnings are posted about not entering old mine tunnels; I suppose some can be found that are NOT blocked.  My claustrophobic tendencies would protect me from these even without the  warnings...  :-)  We returned around 1:30PM, tired but in time to run the generator and brew coffee.  If it DOES get cold we must have the battery well charged to run the furnace overnight.  It was pleasant snoozing in the calm of the late afternoon sunbeams penetrating the windows, watching the bushes swing actively in the wind outdoors. Hiking in the wind is fatiguing, and we are now ready for calm, rest and recovery.  :-) Near dusk a large jack rabbit enters the campsite.

We've seen lots of sign, and one road kill, but this is the first real live bunny in this park.  They are remarkable with the huge ears and LONG legs....but that is how they get warning and RUN like the wind away from predators.  Dinner is lamb patties with onions, baked sweet potatoes, and canned corn.  With no TV it is easy to elect for early bed, but before retiring I put the remote temperature sensor out in a bush again;  we will see how much difference there really is between open air temperature and the temperature under the RV.  News and weather comes from Los Angeles on AM radio, which fades a lot in the evening hours.  It is OK for information, but not pleasant listening.

Thursday February 6:

We had to start the furnace at 3AM; it was 40 degrees inside, 25 degrees outside in the bush; 31.7 under the RV.  Back to the thick covers and wait for sunshine to raise the temperature.  The furnace runs almost an hour bringing the temperature up to 65, then we set it back to 50.  That will keep pipes from freezing, and we are snug under the thick quilts.  At 6:30 I found myself pushed out of bed by two cats, one on the left at the bottom,  the other on the right at the top; time to arise!  The furnace must be run a long time again to get the interior to 65, but at 7 we can run the generator.  We must inquire at the Visitors Center about temperatures at other campgrounds in this park (Jumbo Rocks where we plan to go today is over 1000 ft higher), as well as good digital cellphone service for the weekend.  Today we shower and dump and fill water;  we will not get another chance in this park until we reach the northern end.  The ranger at the Visitor's Center said the temperature here had been 16 last night in the housing area, and 11 at Jumbo Rocks where we are headed; we had only seen 25 in our campsite.  The ranger indicated we could expect digital cellphone service in  the towns along the north edge of the park, so we have a plan; it's a Walmart Saturday Nite in Yucca Valley.  :-)  The drive to Jumbo Rock campground is uneventful (at least for me, as Claire drove the narrow paved road).  We drove through the cactus garden.

It is dense with fuzzy (looking) cholla cacti, also known various other places as "jumping" cactus or "teddy bear" cactus (for its cute pettable look...NOT the feel I'm sure!)  Nearing the campground we came upon "Not So Wily" Coyote.

 He was obviously begging at the roadside, and created a two car traffic jam here in the middle of NO WHERE!  We found a campsite at Jumbo Rocks Campground at 4300 ft elevation that was level enough to use without blocks, and looked without success for the place to pay.  :-(   Another visitor answered our question with "Camping here is free".  :-))   Cellphone service here is digital, one bar, but still too weak to make a call... I doubt we receive incoming calls here either.  We have been seeing the earlier elusive Joshua Trees everywhere along the road as we neared the campground.  This one bounds our campsite.

This relative of the Yucca has a real wood trunk, but grows only in the higher, cooler Mojave Desert part of the park.  We hike the 2 mile Skull Rock trail, enjoying the different scenery and actually seeing Joshua trees; they only grow in this higher, cooler Mojave desert part of the park.  We joined company with a full time RV couple based in Las Vegas traveling with a Chihuahua. Chico was pedigreed, but they said his did not follow the breeding.  :-)   

He is definitely cute though, and a BUNDLE of energy.  I can just imagine life with him in an RV.....   They said it was too cold here, and planned to move on.  They highly recommended Death Valley National Park, reporting that even though it is further north, it would be much warmer, as it is near or below sea level. Since we had planned to go there if possible, perhaps this cold weather will speed our plans.  :-)  Las Vegas is also reportedly much warmer than here, thank goodness; another winter refuge.  :-)  Claire enjoys climbing the rocks with our Christmas gift walking sticks.

We finally reach Skull Rock, and  yes, do see the resemblance.  I'm sure glad I did not meet this guy in real life though; I could curl up for a nap in his eye socket!

We return and on the way observe this Joshua tree in bloom.  

Each time a branch flowers, it sets a new branch coming off to the side, creating the unique geometry of the tree.  Notice the yucca like barbs on the leaf tips.  They ARE sharp!  I walk the kitties while Claire prepares dinner.  As the sun sank below the horizon, I got COLD.  I finally encouraged Pookie to return home after reaching through a barbed yucca plant to pick him out after his head and neck disappeared into a hollow tree trunk...YIKES, what COULD be living in there.....  :-(  I had strong urges to start the furnace as soon as I returned inside.  I placed the remote temperature sensor in a bush in the campsite, and watched the temperature outside drop rapidly through the freezing point shortly after dark.  I was my dish night, and soon after they were done I found the thickly quilted bed to be inviting.  We ran the generator longer than normal to be sure we had enough charge to run the furnace through the night.  We decided to set the thermostat at 52 to keep water lines from freezing and make getting up in the night a bit more tolerable.  

Friday February 7:

At 3AM Claire reported the outside temperature was 14.  I got up to check all systems, and found the outside temperature was 25 and the temperature under the RV was 34.  I checked the min/max an found that at 2 AM the minimum temperature had been 14 degrees; WOW, this weather is weird.  The minimum under the RV had been 31.5, but it has no time recorder.  At least nothing will freeze in a short time at 31.5.  The RV was MUCH more comfortable with the furnace at 52, and at 6:30AM, after checking the battery and finding over 50% charge remaining, I pushed the thermostat up to 65.  We can run the generator in half an hour.  I crawled back under the covers to await full warmth.  The Bureau of Land Management has an overflow camping area outside the town of Joshua Tree, and I think that perhaps it would be a warmer place to spend tonight?  It looks quite a bit lower; perhaps it even has strong cell service?  :-)  At 7:30 AM Claire is up and I start the generator.  It is hard to evaluate the state of the batteries when the furnace is always cycling, but the charger does not think they are especially weak, and the charge starts tapering off after 15 minutes.  We heat our ample coffee in the microwave, make more, and I finally accept the fact that the charger knows best, and the battery is OK.  I need to learn to evaluate the effect of the furnace's heavy (10 to 15 amps) draw on the voltage reading of the battery;  it takes more time to settle than is available between furnace cycles.  It appears that voltage from the battery is considerably lower ( by several tenths of a volt? ) than it would be for a similar charge state after resting a few hours.  The sun shining through the RV's windows soon makes the furnace unnecessary.  By 9AM I feel VERY warm, but Claire takes Purry out and reports he shakes his paw to indicate cold, and they soon return.  She says there is a cold bite to the air in the warm sun.  We decide to try for the BLM area for the night, as it should be much lower, and hopefully warmer.  We decide to leave by 3 or 4PM, an enjoy the warm day in this pretty park.  We hike the Skull Rock trail in reverse direction, but the cool wind bites; we slow down behind every rock giving shelter, and enjoy the warm sun.  Skull rock is still there, and also a young lady from Massachusetts;  she is in Palm Springs for a conference, and is using her free time in the sun as well as she can.  :-)  This stony immobilized troll guards one passage on the trail.

We return to the RV, warm up in the sunny interior, but as the sun increasingly passes toward the west and out of direct view of the RV side windows, we recall last night's cold;  Claire finishes cooking the beans for supper, and we move out toward the BLM area.  We say goodbye to Jumbo Rocks reluctantly; it's beauty is remarkable.

I have plotted the latitude and longitude of critical turns on the route to the BLM "campground", as some roads are listed as "unmarked dirt roads".  On the way  D O W N from the park (second or low gear much of the way) we stop at the park headquarters an visitors center.  It is nicely done, with exhibits and a desert garden, and a ranger indicates we SHOULD not get stuck in the BLM area as other big rigs use it, but she makes it clear she cannot guarantee we will not have problems either.  Here we learn that the San Andreas Fault passes between I-10 and the park;  I guess we should not park RIGHT under big loose boulders here.  :-)   We have no trouble FINDING the BLM lands; although it is 2000 ft elevation, we just do not want to stay there utterly alone.  It just does not "feel" right....   We head for the Yucca Valley Walmart.  It becomes apparent we have not made a judgement error about being alone on the BLM lands, as we pass several bail bonds offices close together along the highway before reaching Yucca Valley.  I ask at the Walmart if we can stay; they say "Sure, on the outer part of the lot".  :-)  The Walmart looks clean and well kept. Although it is not a Super Walmart (none in California are), it has a brightly lit parking lot.   It also has 5 bars of Verizon digital cellphone signal; we're HOME!  As Claire finishes dinner preparations, I recall I want to pay a bill by phone, and have been waiting to find one for a week.  I find one in Walmart's, and that job is soon finished. Claire has the pasta fazzoule ?sp (pasta with tomatoes and beans) dinner ready when I get back, and we relax in the warmth of the thick hot soup.  As the evening progresses, it is not cold at all compared to the last two nights, and the furnace is still unnecessary.   The few channels on the TV are not at all interesting, so after brewing a pot of hot coffee for the morning, and charging the batteries against furnace needs, we decide to turn in. Before retiring I set the thermostat at 52, protection against excess cold; it is above that now.

PLANS:  This next week we will finish with Joshua Tree NP, and head north through Mojave Desert National Preserve into Death Valley.  The weather will in part determine how much time we spend in each;  after Death Valley, we must decide whether to head directly for the coast, or detour southeast through Las Vegas.  We may want to return further south before heading west to avoid snowy mountain pass crossings anyway.  Things usually become clear when the time comes close, so we will let that decision wait....  Until next time, ENJOY;  we are!!!