New Flooring Looks Great

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Long day at the dentist

Thursday was a really long day for me at the dentist. I left Hot Springs LTVA about 8:30 to make my appointment at 10:30. There was an hour time change when entering California and the dentist goes by Arizona time. I got right in on time and they started with my new bridge. No matter what they did it did not fit right as it was too high when I bit down.

They called the lab and they sent someone over to discuss it. They decided it would have to be remade so they had to take another impression and then sent it back to the lab. The dental assistant told me it would take at least another hour before they would get it back and that I could wait in the lobby. I mentioned that I also had to have a wisdom tooth removed. I then was taken to another chair and they prepped me for the removal.

Pulling that wisdom tooth was a frickin bummer!!!!! She had to break it into several pieces and cut the gum as well. I didn’t feel any pain, but heard a lot of crunching noises as she was pulling it. I needed 3 stiches to sew up the cut in the gum.

Then it was off to the lobby, where I must have read every National Geographic magazine they had. I got these pics of the lobby from Debbie when she was there a few weeks earlier.

It was beginning to get very hot and the air conditioner clicked on and soon it was getting rather chilly. So I waited outside in the courtyard.

Finally the new bridge came in and off I went. I am hoping I won’t have to see her again for another year. Should anyone ever need any dental work done I highly recommend Dr Eva Urena on B Street.

Flooring almost complete

Peter continued working on my flooring while I was at the dentist. It is almost complete except for the entrance. What a huge difference this makes. However we did run into some obstacles along the way such as this small box right in back of the passenger seat.

We just put the lid back on it and left it. It is behind my first chair and cannot be seen anyway.The biggest problem we faced were the bolts that attach the house to the truck chassis. They were all along the passenger side of the rig and stuck up about 1/4 inch from the floor.

In many spots the tile would fit over it nicely but there was also one right at the entrance. I plan on purchasing a thick rug to cover it up and prevent anyone from tripping on it.

Aside from that everything looks really good and I am very pleased with the new look. It is so much better then the old carpet and much easier to keep clean.

You can read more about how Peter of American Traveler Fame installed my new flooring at his blog post I cannot begin to thank Peter enough for all the great work he has done.

I don’t know why RV manufacturers continue to put carpeting in RVs. For us full timers it isn’t really practical. Many of us spend a great deal of time in the desert and carry sand and dirt in on our shoes which gets in the carpeting.

Desert Sunset

I again had a beautiful desert sunset to end my day.

Chica’s Birthday

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Chica’s Big Day

Yesterday we celebrated the day that Chica and I first met each other. It was on February 25, 2013 that we both came into each others’ lives. Since that day we have traveled in 2 countries, 2 provinces, and 10 states and almost 10,000 miles. We have been in 100+ degree heat in Libby, MT and -4 degree cold in Fernley, NV. But it has been a wonderful experience for us both. Her she is trying to play with her friend Elvis.

I bought a big cupcake for her and we lit the one candle.

I’m not sure she knew what was going on but she was sure hamming it up for the camera.

Then I got the presents out. I am not sure she is too keen on a new collar, but I’m sure she will like it better then the one she has. She also got a small beaver and a small ducky. She really likes both the beaver and the ducky.

It was really a fun day.

Produce Stands

One big advantage of staying in the Yuma area is the great produce stands they have. We got to going to one that was not too far from us and had very fresh produce and really good prices. I didn’t really stock up as I wanted to cook it when it was really fresh. So I might go into town and stop here on the way home. This one was located on Hwy 95 just south of 7E.

Martha’s Gardens

A couple days ago we all piled into Jim and Gayle’s car and decided to check out Martha’s Gardens. They have all types of dates there in many sizes of boxes. It was very nice with lots of places to sit and eat.

However they were very expensive so we decided to buy dates at the smaller produce stand shown above. The dates there were very good.

Yuma Water

The water we got from the RV park was not very tasty and we heard that water in the area is not really good. That must be the reason that you see water stands everywhere throughout the Yuma area. Normally you get 5 gallons for a $1. We even found one stand where you get 5 gallons for $.50. What a bargain. Here we are getting a supply of drinking water.

Jim, Gayle and Debbie depart

I have had a wonderful time with Jim, Gayle and Debbiie. Thanks so much for showing me such a great time. Chica had a great time with Sophie, Elvis, Rupert and Elliot as well. They left this morning for more adventures in California. Chris and I are left. I have a couple more dental appoints the first week in March and will probably head to Phoenix/Mesa area the second week to meet up with my son and attend some Spring Training games.

The weather here has been fantastic since I arrived here on the 3rd, however it is scheduled to rain this weekend so that will help keep the dust down. It should also bring out the desert flowers. I will take a few hikes before leaving to get more pics.

Yuma River Days

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Jim Melvin

All aboard

We all piled into Debbie’s car and headed off to see the Yuma River Days. Jim decided to stay back. It is a small street celebration with arts and crafts, clothes, food and music. Immediately after parking the car up strolls Chris. We keep running into him in different places/countries. How ironic! We all walked thru the exhibits together and then shortly afterward Chris had to leave. It was a cloudy day which helped to keep temps down a bit, but it was still very hot.

The festival takes place in the old downtown section of Yuma. Here is a pic of the historic Yuma Theatre built in the early 1900’s.

This used to be an old Casino, but has been changed into a diner. Very Cool!! I got this pic of Gayle behind bars. HA!!

Chica’s Relative?

While walking thru the exhibits I saw this lady carrying a Chihuahua that looked very similar to Chica. Too bad I didn’t bring Chica to see if they knew each other. DUH!! I am sure.

At the end of the exhibits they had a couple playing music. They were just getting warmed up.

This ice cream cone sure looked tempting. I didn’t get one here but did manage to sneak one in later in the day.

Arizona Marketplace

Chris had mentioned that there was a flea market much like we experienced in Quartzsite. So off we went. We found a spot where it was a mall atmosphere with many small booths set up inside a big building. Not what we were looking for. Debbie found out what we were looking for and at 4th and 32nd streets you will find the Arizona Marketplace. Lots of RV accessories, food, hardware, etc. The same stuff we saw in Quartzsite although all the vendors were entirely under a shaded roof. Much cooler. It is only open from Thursday thru Sunday and the admission is only $.50 so we plan to go back some other time.

Have you ever heard of toilet tattoos? I never had, but they had all kinds.

We finally got tired of wandering through all the stuff and headed home.

Dumped/Added water

This was the first day I absolutely had to dump my tanks and take on water. It had been 14 days and felt I really conserved. I had to drive 8 1/2 miles to the Laguna RV Park where I had to pay $10 to dump and $5 for water. That is really cheap considering I haven’t paid anything for camping.

Another beautiful sunset

We all sat around talking and enjoying our beverage of choice and got to experience another beautiful sunset. The sunsets here have really been fabulous.

A lazy President’s Day

Today I don’t plan on going anywhere except maybe a short walk around the campsite with Chica. No plans means a nice relaxing day.

Toothless in Yuma on Valentines Day

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Me and my valentine sleep in…

I awoke this morning late. Chicka was still asleep but jumped up and demanded I let her out immediately to do her duties. Good girl!!

Toothless in Yuma

My non tooth is doing well and healing properly. Haven’t had to take only one pain pill the first day, but none since then. Whenever I think of pulling teeth, it reminds me of when I had Chica neutered. The vet mentioned that she still had some of her baby teeth and wondered if I wanted to have those extracted as well. I agreed and when I picked her up the vet/dentist gave me a baggy with 6 extremely tiny teeth. She was not a very happy girl and she would not let me come within 10 feet of her for almost a week. Very hard to do in a 26 1/2 foot RV. I wonder now if they gave her Novocain for dogs.

Back to some hiking

Jim and Gayle were going on a short hike and asked if I wanted to go as well. I was ready to go after sitting out a couple of days. We hiked past the lake and up to where we should have found the trail to cross the canal on our previous hike.

We walked on the road next to the lake.

We got to the canal which had been our nemesis on our last hike.

As hot as it is there are still many plants and trees blooming.

Hiking Great Egret

We even spotted this Great Egret just hanging out by the side of the road. It did not seem to concerned by us walking so close.

Record Temperatures

The news last night mentioned that Arizona was experiencing record temps throughout the state. It is in the low 90’s here in the Yuma area. Hot but not unbearable. In the afternoon Chica likes to lay on a pillow which is a bit cooler.

Mittry Lake Hike

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Short hikes

I took a couple of short hikes with Gayle and Jim just after I arrived at my new home overlooking Mittry Lake. We found a trail that led up to some cairns and other interesting things. On the way we crossed over a spillway on the canal. This is a vital key to a hike we took later in the week. I will get to that later.

We followed a trail that led up into the hills. There were several rocky points where we crossed a wash, but no big deal.

Then we got to a spot with lots of cairns and even some Cristmas bulbs hanging from a cactus.

We could even see Imperial Dam LTVA from here.

This was the stopping point for both hikes as we then turned around and followed the trail back. On the way I was able to get a pic of some of the beautiful foliage.

Where did the trail go?

Yesterday Jim and Gayle Life’s Little Adventures Debbie and myself were met by Boonie of Occupation of Independence and Glenn of To Simplify as well as Ted of Life With Kurumi and Chris Ford who also camped with us at Quartzsite. Plus the dogs Coffee Girl, Rupert and Elliot. I didn’t take Chica as many of the rocks were bigger then her.

We started out on the same trail as we had taken before. Once we hit the cairns and Christmas bulbs we decided to continue down the trail.

The trail was well marked and somewhat easy for quite a while.

We found many flowers in bloom along the way.

Where’s a bridge?

Then it got confusing. We could see the canal from the top of the hills, but couldn’t see any place to cross it. Boonie, Glenn and Ted had gone ahead of us and we weren’t sure which way. Remember the first photo in this post. That’s the canal we had to cross. So we took what we thought was the trail to a spot where we could cross the canal. It wasn’t much of a trail, but it seemed our way out. I saw Boonie, Glenn and Ted walking on the other side of the road. They spotted me and were yelling to go higher. So that is what I was doing. I still could see Gayle on the trail much lower and she was telling me to go lower. HELP!

Too Risky!

I took Gayle’s advise and went back down to the trail. Then it got very risky and we decided it would be much easier if we went back on the trail we came in on. You must realize that I am no where near the hiking ability of Gayle and Jim. They are very experienced hikers. So I was getting very tired and all three of us were running very low on water. We really hadn’t planned to hike as long as we did. It was now about 12:30 to 1:00 and it was getting hotter. Then all of a sudden Gayle spotted a car on a bluff not too far from us. The guy (Steven) said he would get us back to our camp so we made our way over to him. I didn’t get a pic, but this was the terrain.

Thank you Steven!!!!

All three of us piled into his car and he had to drive 4 miles back to the bridge that went over the canal which was the road leading to Imperial Dam. Then 5 miles back to our camp. He even gave us something to drink. What a great guy! He was just about getting ready to start fishing in this great spot along the canal when he spotted us. What a good Samaritan!!!

We all got back and sat around the camp for a while exchanging stories and relaxing. It was a great day in that I met so many new friends and Coffee Girl as well. Next time I go hiking I will be sure to take more water and a snack bar.

Algadones for dental work

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Not the Dentist!!!

Before I got to Mittry Lake I called the same dentist (Dr Eva Urena) to get an appointment. They weren’t able to fit me in for at least a week. Then I mentioned that my friends also had appointments with her so they told me I could come in the same time as their appointments and they would fit me in. How accommodating!!! So early Thursday morning (8am) Debbie, Gayle and I headed to the dentist. Here I am waiting for my appointment. Do you think the cross has any significance?

They cleaned my teeth (only $35) and checked out a couple of problem teeth. One was a wisdom tooth that I still have and she said they would pull that ($80). The second problem was more severe. I have 2 old crowns that need to be removed ($30) and a tooth between them that also needs to be removed ($70). Then I have to wait 3 weeks to heal and I will then be fitted with a 3 unit permanent bridge ($660). YUK!!!

Fortunately I have the time so I set up an appointment for Tuesday to have the teeth removed.

After Dr Urena told me what had to be done and gave me the estimated cost I told Gayle the bad news. She mentioned that maybe I might want to get a second opinion. I got the name of another dentist that others had recommended and called them. I let them know that the tooth was really bothering me and I needed to see the dentist ASAP. Even though I didn’t have an appointment and I had never seen the dentist before they told me to come right over.

Within a 1/2 hour I got an opinion from 2 dentists that were working in this office. They also said I would have to have 2 new crowns ($700) and possibly a root canal as well ($350) depending on what they found after removing the crowns. I decided to go with the first dentist as it seemed like a more permanent fix and less costly as well. She came highly recommended and I have confidence that she is a good dentist.

As I was leaving the second dentist office, I ran into Chris who was also getting dental work done. What a coincidence.

I was surprised how easy it is to get an dental appointment in Algadones. Just tell them you are in pain. HA!

Dental Pain Killers

Chris and I both went back to the first dentist office where Debbie and Gayle were still waiting. It was almost an hour until Gayle’s appointment so Chris and I headed downtown to check out a cantina. We found a table and I ordered a margarita and Chris got a diet coke. My margarita was huge.

Then Debbie and Gayle caught up with us and we went back across the border. I remember going to Algadones in 2012 and it took over an hour to go back across the border. This time we walked right thru without a wait.

I only had my phone which does not take great pics. On top of that I got my finger in the top right corner. DUH!

I wasn’t planning on spending so much for dental work, but had I gone to a dentist in the states it probably would have cost me a fortune. Now I have another appointment for Tuesday morning, which I am not looking forward to. But it will be nice when it is all done.

Beware of Dog!!!

Mary Gardner who also has a great website sent me this pic of Chica while we were in Quartzsite. It was taken while we were watching the football game on the TV set up outside my rig. Chica just had to come out and join us.

Thanks Mary for sending me those great pics

Mittry Lake

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Left Quechan Casino

Monday I left the casino and headed to Mittry Lake via Walmart in Yuma. Mittry Lake is on BLM land just about 5 miles from Imperial Dam. At Walmart I picked up a few groceries and a set of trekking poles. I had borrowed a pole while hiking outside of Quartzsite and found it very helpful so decided to get my own.

Then it was on to meet up with Gayle and Jim (Life’s Little Adventures) and Debbie. They have a great spot on a bluff overlooking the lake and they saved a spot for me.

It is a great spot and very level. I am planning on being here for a few weeks as the price is right ($0).

Tuesday Jim and I drove over to the Christian Service Center just outside Imperial Dam to look for a lift kit for Jim’s solar panels.

Unfortunately they didn’t have what he was looking for but they did have lots of solar panels, batteries and inverters of all sizes. On our way back we decided to drive around and check out other camping areas and found several that had great views such as this one.

Hiking in the area

There are a lot of great hiking trails in the area and yesterday we were looking for some nice trails. We found one that went way up into the hills. Someone had taken the time to decorate it with rocks and even had Christmas bulbs decorating a cactus. I forgot to take my camera so didn’t get any pics. I will try to remember it the next time.

Dental Appointment

I mentioned that I was going to go with Gayle and Debbie to the dentist on Tuesday. I was wrong as their dental appointment was on Thursday. I called the dentist to make an appointment, but the soonest I could get in would have been next week. I then mentioned that my friends had dental appointments on Thursday so they fit me in at the same time. How nice was that? So tomorrow I will be getting up early (for a change) and heading to Mexico and my new dentist.

Weather has been great

This is the best weather I can remember since my first year coming to this area. There have been a few cloudy days, but no rain and most of the days have cloudless blue skies. Great solar! It has been in the 70’s and next week it should be going into the 80’s.

Crystal Hill Hike

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Jim Melvin

More Hiking

We decided to take a turn into the Kofa Wildlife Refuge that was on the road a few miles before the Palm Canyon turnoff. It led to Crystal Hill on a long washboard road. It was even further than the Palm Canyon Road which was about 7 miles.

At one time there was a campground back there, but only saw one camper. The road is pretty rough so getting a rig back there would cause a lot of shaking of everything inside.

Here we are all making our ascent to the peak.

We all made it to the top. It was a very nice view.

Sara at the top with the mountains in the background.

On our descent we ran into this very small cactus.

Also got a few flower pics but there weren’t too many flowers in bloom.

We also found this old mine that had been blocked off so that you couldn’t enter it.

The group all meeting at the bottom in the wash.

It was a great hike and all 12 of us (and 2 dogs) enjoyed it. The road was very dusty going to and from and my Sami is now covered in dust both inside and out. Another GREAT day in Quartzsite.

Amazon Friends

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Meeting up with Amazon co=workers

While still working at Amazon many of us talked about meeting up while we were in Quartzsite. After spending two plus months in Fernley, NV with temps as low as 4 degrees, we all wanted to warm both our bodies and our rigs up. So the best way to accomplish that was to head to Quartzsite.

Kathy planned and scheduled a get together and notified everyone. So we all got together and hashed over old times. It was really fun and I saw some people I hadn’t seen since working at Amazon.

I took my friend Sara along as she was interested in working at Amazon next year.

Everyone brought goodies to eat and it there was plenty to talk about. Barb, Kathy and Al chatting away.

Even Jessica and Max from Harper’s magazine were there.

It was a great time. The day was probably the worst day we had experienced since getting to Quartzsite as it was very cloudy and the sun never did break thru. But we all had a great time reliving some of the crazy Amazon experiences and finding out what everyone was going to be doing and where they were going this year.

Hiking to Palm Canyons

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Jim Melvin

Palm Canyon Hike

The other day a bunch of us drove the 23 miles down to the Palm Canyon turnoff and the 7 miles on a washboard gravel road to the Palm Canyons trailhead. It was only a 1/2 mile hike up the canyon to the spot where you can see the palms growing on the walls of the canyon.