We Preview Our Next Move

If you’re wondering when we will give up our isolated, spacious spot in the desert, we don’t know yet, but we do know our time here is going to end, probably within the next week or two.  We need to do some heavy duty washing and cleaning of the Castle and the little Saturn, so we’re going to need to be somewhere with full hook-ups and the ability to wash the rig.  It looks like our next stop along the way will be at the Escapees Park, North Ranch, in Congress.

Yesterday, Janna came by and asked if we wanted to go to Wickenburg and Congress on a little day trip.  Sure, so around noon, she and Mike and Emmi got in their little car;  Gina, Rollie, Jim and I all piled into the little Saturn and off we went:

From our desert home, it’s about 90 miles to Wickenburg, so predictably, lunch was the first item on the agenda once we arrived.  Janna and Mike have been to Anita’s before:

Good choice!  While we were at lunch, Caryl and Jerry, friends of Janna & Mike, stopped by to visit and pick up a quilt Janna had quilted for Caryl.

After lunch, we toured the sights of the town, especially the painted bronze statues that are placed in various locations around the downtown area.  Some of the statues include a speaker box where you can push the button and hear a short talk about the piece of history associated with it.  Very interesting!

Gina and Rollie with one of the statues:

Janna, myself and Gina stopped for a picture opportunity in front of a giant Saguaro:

We made a stop at a small quilt shop to look at some of Caryl’s work, and also a quilt that Janna quilted.  Then we drove out to the Vulture Rock area to take a quick look at some possible future boondocking spots.

The next stop was about 12 miles north of Wickenburg, to the Escapees North Ranch, just outside Congress, Arizona.  Janna and Mike left us there to look around before heading back to our desert.  We will probably stay at North Ranch for a week or so before moving closer in to Phoenix in April.  I need to be in Phoenix to fly out of Sky Harbor in mid-April.  I have to say it didn’t excite me much to see “regular” RV sites, they sure seem packed in close together there.

It was time to get back to our desert and all our dogs, so we didn’t spend too much time at the RV park.  Back on the road to our spot, we were treated to a light show, previewing our expected storm:

The storm arrived pretty much on schedule, so today will be an inside day as we watch the desert get watered.  Should be beautiful and green tomorrow!

Busy Day

Trying to conserve water, I decided to take the dogs to a groomer.  It had been over a year since they’d had a "professional” job done on them anyway, and I thought it would be a good time to do that.  Yesterday was their appointment, 10:00 in Parker.  We had no real plan for what we’d do while they were getting their new do’s, but we did know grocery shopping was going to be part of the day. 

On the road to Parker, this is our familiar view:

Jasmine is getting low on her medication and food, as well, so when I dropped them off at the groomer, I asked for a recommendation for a veterinarian in town.  She told me that the nearest good vet was in Blythe.  That is in the complete opposite direction, so after we talked about it, we decided to go up to Lake Havasu City and try the PetSmart there.

It was a beautiful, sunny day for a drive, here are some sights along Hiway 95 between Parker and Lake Havasu City:

Coming into town:

The PetSmart did not have a Banfield’s Veterinary clinic, so no food or meds for Jasmine.  Just so the trip wouldn’t be completely wasted, I stopped in Dillards and bought a couple of new lipsticks!  We did find a veterinary clinic  in town, and at least got Jasmine’s food.  I’d forgotten to bring the prescription for her meds, so that will have to wait until next week – another day trip! Then we stopped in at Red Robin for lunch since we had a gift card.  The meal was ok, but the service was not!

It was time to head back to Parker for our grocery stop before picking up the dogs.  We went to both Safeway and Walmart, got all the groceries and then got to the dog groomer’s right at the time they were supposed to be done.  The groomer saw me coming in the door and hurried me right back outside with the bad news that somehow Mr. BoJangles hadn’t been bathed, so he wasn’t done yet!  She thought it would be about 50 minutes and he’d be ready to go.  We had cold food in the car, and did not want to sit in the sun for nearly an hour, so I told Jim I’d take him back and come back into Parker to get Mr. BJ.  It was a little over an hour before I got back and the dog still wasn’t done.  I had to wait nearly another hour. Grrrr…. On top of all the delay, I wasn’t very pleased with the job she did.

I was very happy to get back home and have a delayed happy hour!  Gina made a pot of taco soup, so Jim and I went over and had a quick dinner with them before calling it a day.  In spite of the frustrations, it was a good day!

Beautiful Day Again

I feel decadent and spoiled.  How can I say that in a place with no electrical or water hook-ups?  Who would have thought we’d last a month in the desert, boondocking!  Well, not only have we been out here a month today, we get to liking it more every day!

Today was another beautiful, warm day.  I took my time getting started and never got to moving very fast, I admit.  Jim added 20 gallons of water to our fresh water tank and I took a long walk up the road to see what’s there.  Everyone else had their own agenda as well, but once again, we gathered for our evening meal, which was leftover gumbo and rice, plus cornbread and potato salad.  Peach cobbler topped it off for dessert.

We appreciate the comments about our internet issues, including the suggestions to get the Verizon MiFi instead of a router.  I spent some time researching it this morning and talked to a Verizon customer service rep about it.  (Yes, I actually made another phone call to a big company!)  After looking into it, we’ve decided not to go that direction, at least for now.  Reason #1 is that it would cost us about $270 for the device right now.  Reason #2 is it doesn’t have an external antenna port.  We know that our antenna has really increased our signal in more than one location, and we would not like to lose that option.  Reason #3 is that it would “probably” take us out of our current “grandfathered” status of unlimited data and move us to the 5 gigabyte limit plan. Although we typically don’t use that much, we don’t want to let that go.  The reason I say “probably” is that the Verizon rep said the only way to really know if that would happen is to order it and see what happens.  Not liking that option!

We did order another router though, and will use the warranty replacement as a back-up, whenever we get that one.  The new one cost less than $100 and will be delivered within 3 to 5 business days.  So, I think we can manage to share our internet access for a few days and things should then get back to normal.

Meanwhile, we’ll just continue to enjoy each day as it comes and share our joy in the beauty of this place.

Friends Arrive and More Internet Woes

Yesterday was a beautiful weather day.  We got settled into our new spots and spent a lot of time admiring our view and new yard:

Sometime in the afternoon (I hardly ever know what time it is anymore), my phone rang, and Rollie was on the other end of the conversation.  He and Gina had made it to the desert last night and parked near Quartzsite.  He was just describing their location when we lost the phone connection. So Jim and I jumped in the little car and headed off to see if we could find them and invite them to move over to our sweet place.  We’d just about arrived to the mile marker Rollie said they were parked near, when we saw their big truck coming towards us.  It’s hard to miss that!  They were headed the opposite direction, hoping to come find us.  We made a quick turn around and we all pulled over to the side of the road and got out to have a meeting of the minds.  We all decided they should follow us out to check out our spot and maybe move over.

And that’s just what they did:

Right at sunset they pulled in and picked out a spot to settle.  Then they joined the rest of us for dinner and conversation. 

This morning started out as usual, that is until Jim asked me why he couldn’t get connected to the internet.  With one eye half open and my first cup of coffee barely touched, I started trying to figure out what was going on.  Both computers said they were connected to the network, and the router indicated it was connected to the internet, but it wasn’t.  Great.  Coffee basically ignored, I hemmed and hawed, plugged and unplugged and finally decided a call to technical support was going to be required.  But that takes a little getting used to…if you know me, you know I’m not a big fan of technical support.  I needed a little time to get used to the idea, so I slugged down more coffee and went to get dressed while I worked up my attitude to make the call. 

Then I decided maybe I should try a complete reset of the router before taking such a drastic step as to actually call technical support.  I chugged a little more coffee and tackled the complete reset.  No go.  Sigh.  Dial technical support.  The good side of this is that with 3Gstore.com, you actually don’t have to jump through more than a couple of hoops to talk to an actual, English speaking human being who might just have an idea about what they are supporting.  What a concept.  So, even though it’s still calling technical support, I had at least a little confidence we might be able to communicate and solve the problem.

After going through the entire reset and re-setting of our network with the guidance of the tech, it was beginning to look like we might be in business.  But, not to be.  Finally, even technical support had to admit defeat and advise me to seek a warranty replacement.  Complete with a warning that I could be on hold for up to 30 minutes if I chose to call Cradlepoint.  Or, I could go online to the Cradlepoint website and do a support chat.

Well, that action really required more than a slight attitude readjustment, so Jim and I took the opportunity to get out for a little walk before I even thought about that next step.  We went out and found Gina doing a rock search in the nearby wash.  We chatted a few minutes while she shared her treasures, then we went off for a short desert walk.

Back at the Castle, I felt ready to tackle the online support chat for Cradlepoint, and a mere 45 minutes later completed the conversation with Jared.  I needed to send him an email detailing the whole story one more time, and he would then forward that email to operations, who will then, in a day or so, whenever the mood strikes them, email me with a number and instructions to send them the bum router.  Once they receive it, in their own good time, they will send me a new router.  Since I really don’t know how long it might take them to get around to sending me this new router, which will come via Fed Ex, therefore must be sent to an actual street address, and not “third bush past the second line crossing of the electric lines out in the desert near Bouse, Arizona”, I opted to have it sent to our legal address in Livingston Texas.  Which means I will then need to have it forwarded to wherever we might be at the time.

As I was discussing this scenario with Janna later on, she suggested it might be easier to just order a new router and have it sent to their friends’ house in Parker.  Hmmm…now that’s a distinct possibility.  Whatever we do, until a new router appears, we will be sharing our one Verizon air card.  Now, that’s roughing it!

The day was not all lost, though.  Gina announced that she would be providing tonight’s dinner, which was an amazingly delicious gumbo with rice and a side of potato salad.  Oh my gosh, that woman can cook.  And, there are leftovers for tomorrow!  I’m sure glad they arrived and decided to be our neighbors!  We had a wonderful evening talking with them at their place before we said good night.

From our walk this morning, a desert view:

  I call this the “Moose Tree”:

It’s been another beautiful day in the desert!