Laundry, Housework and Rock Sliders For the New Jeep.

 

Laundry day.

Friday we were running out of clean socks and undies so Patti packed the dirty clothes up and went to do the laundry. While she was doing that I did some housework. Cleaned the shower and tub, swept the floors and mopped the kitchen, the hall and bathroom.

The rest of the day we just hung out.

Rock Sliders For the New Jeep.

When we got home from Wednesdays jeep ride, the rock sliders had been delivered.

Yesterday I called Dennis M to see if he would be interested in giving me a hand installing the rock sliders. He was putting up Christmas decorations and said he would come over in about an hour and give me a hand.

I moved the jeep onto the big slab behind our place and started removing the short flairs in front of the doors. Then I unpacked the rock guards.

I read the installation instructions and the first thing it said to do was remove all the body mounts from one side of the jeep; which I did.
Dennis showed up about then and brought his bottle jack so we could jack the body up.

The first rock slider took us about 2 hours to do. The instructions weren’t very clear but once we figured out what they were telling us it wasn’t that hard to do. We had to cut 3/16” off the top of two of the body mount bushings and reinstall them with the rock slider mounting plate between the top of the mount and the bushing.
Once we got the first rock guard mounted, we took a break for lunch. 

After lunch we started on the second guard. It only took us about 20 minutes to install it.

It is amazing how easy things are when you know what to do.

As usual I was too busy to take pictures while we were working on the jeep but here is a picture of the finished job.

 

Okay that’s all for now.

Mexican Thanksgiving Dinner

 

We went to Cheryl and Dennis’ for a Mexican Thanksgiving dinner. There were eight for dinner; Cheryl and Dennis, Louise and Dick, Mary and Larry (friends of Louise and Dick) and Patti and I.
I made up two batches of Nopalito’s one “HOT” and one mild.
Patti made some Mexican rice. Louise, brought a chile relleno casserole and there were three different kinds of salad. 
For dessert we had pumpkin pie squares (yumm) and the custard pie that Patti and I bought in Blythe. The pie was good but not what we were expecting. It was more of a custard cream pie not a traditional custard pie.

The only picture we took was of the pie.

 
After dinner we exchanged recipes.

It was a fun time and great food.

Mini Grand Canyon.

 

Trip Into the Mini Grand Canyon.

We gathered at the fire station yesterday morning. There were six jeeps in all.
Around 9:00 we headed north on 95 toward Parker.
We were headed for the back side of the mountains in the distance.

About 10 miles south of Parker we turned left onto a graded dirt road and drove to a ATV staging area just south of the Indian reservation. Here, we stopped to air down.

Here is a view of the mountains from the staging area.

After we were aired down, we followed the wash north along the cliffs.

Eventually we came to a sandy track going up to the top of the cliffs.

The new jeep had no problem at all going up this trail. When we did this trip with Clifford, I had to use second gear and floor it all the way to the top and just made it.

With the new jeep, I just left it in drive and slowly drove up to the top;

the rest of the group followed us with no problem.

Once on top we had a nice view of the desert.

The sky was interesting today with lots of clouds floating above us.

After taking in the view we continued along a winding trail on the top of the cliffs to the next view spot.

At this spot we get our first view into what we call the “Mini Grand Canyon”

We followed the trail along the cliffs stopping a couple of times. Eventually we started down off the cliffs and drove around the west end of them into the wash that comes out of the canyon.
As we drove by the cliffs we could clearly see the layers of sediment that had been laid down over millennia.

I have always been amazed how views of erosion are so captivating.

 

We drove up and down several washes.

Of course since I was leading, we ended up in several col-de-sacs.

Fortunately all the canyons are interesting.

 

The Slot Canyon.

Eventually with some help from Tom, we found the canyon that we were looking for. Here we stopped  for lunch at the mouth of the slot canyon.

After lunch, some of us walked into the slot to investigate it.

I took my camera and followed.

I met Dennis coming out of a side canyon

and followed him up the main slot.

We walked to the end of the canyon where it goes straight up. For some reason I didn’t take any pictures of the end.

The Side Canyon.

On the way back I noticed Tom coming out of the side canyon.

He said it looked like it went for quite a ways but he didn’t go to the end. The last time I was here I started up this side canyon but didn’t go far. This time I was determined to follow it all the way to the end.

Before I started up the canyon Tom pointed out a hawk or owl nest high on the side of the wall.

I followed the side canyon for several minutes until I came to where it opened up.

Here I came upon a beaver  tail cactus in bloom.

That in itself was worth the walk up the canyon.

After looking around the area for a little while I then headed back to the rest of the group.

We left the canyon and started back toward the main dirt road.

Here is one more picture of the main canyon walls with some interesting cap rocks.

After about a half hour we came to the pavement. Patti and I had to go to Blythe to pick up a custard pie that we ordered from The A&R Bakery so we headed west toward California highway 95 and followed it south to Blythe.

Well that was our trip to the Mini Grand Canyon. I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Slow Days

 

We haven’t done a whole lot that last few days.

I have been stripping some more stuff out of Clifford. Sunday I took all the stuff for the auxiliary towing brake system from Clifford but I haven’t started putting any of it on the new jeep yet.
Yesterday I took the wires for the towing lights off Clifford. I think that is the last thing that I will taking off. Now I am waiting to get the pink slip for Clifford before I put a For Sale sign on it and park it along highway 95.

I am making a couple large batches of Nopalitos for the group for Thanksgiving so yesterday I cut up 4 pounds of pork into small bite size pieces. That will save me a lot of time on Thursday.

We are getting a little bored lately so today we are going to take trip to Lake Havasu City. Patti wants to check out the “99 Cent Only” store to see if they have any of that chocolate wine that we bought there last year. I also want to go to Harbor Freight to see if I can get a high lift jack for the new jeep as there is no jack in it.
That’s not very exciting but it will be an outing anyway.

Laundry Day and Jeep stuff.

 

No Hot Water and Patti Does Laundry:

This morning when I got up to take my morning shower I found that the water heater had tripped off  due  to a lack of propane. I slipped on a pair of pants and threw on a sweatshirt and my boots and went outside to swap from the external propane tank to the onboard tank.

  
“Burrrr it”s cold out there.”
I jumped back in bed and waited for the water to get hot.
After breakfast Patti took the new jeep to the laundry-mat with 5 loads of laundry.

Off To Do Errands:

After Patti left to do the laundry I gathered up all the trash that we had been stacking up in the shed (yes, this spot we are staying in has a shed).  I put the trash in the back of Clifford.
We were almost out of drinking water (you don’t drink the tap water in Quartzsite) so I put the water jugs in the front seat along  with the empty propane tank and off I went to take care of my errands.

The first stop was the dump.

I drove to 95, turned north and drove about 2 miles to the refuse transfer station. As I turned onto the dump road I noticed that there was no one dumping garbage. When I got to the gate, it was closed. The sign on the gate told the tail; the dump is only open Sunday through Wednesday. Wonderful! I guess I have to keep  all this trash in Clifford until Sunday. What a come down for poor Clifford from a rock crawling super star to a garbage truck.

Getting Propane From an Old Acquaintance.

From the dump I went back to town and stopped at Herb’s Hardware to fill up the propane tank.
When I pulled up to the propane fill station I noticed this old guy with a white beard and round belly walking toward me. As he approached I recognized him.
He looked at me and said “You look familiar, are you a buck skinner?” 
“yes I am” I replied, Aren’t you Iron Jaw?” I asked.
“Yep”, he drawled.” “And who might you be?”
I’m Tangle-foot I held out my paw for a shake.
”Yes” he said, “now I remember you”.
We stood around talking about the old days at Rendezvous. After some gabbing he filled my propane bottle and I left to find some water.

The Mobil gas station has drinking water for $0.25 per gallon. I filled the jugs and headed back to the RV.

Cleaning out the Center Console in Clifford.

After hooking up the external tank and putting away the water jugs, I started taking stuff out of Clifford. The first thing I did was to clean out the console between the seats. I was amazed at how much stuff was in there. The new jeep’s console is not big enough to hold it all. I put the basics in the new jeep.

My next chore was to clean out under the  seats in Clifford.

Tow strap, two rock hammers, machete, two pairs of leather gloves, nylon rope, receiver tow hitch, tow strap, etc. It all fit under and along side the new seats. I had already moved the air pump and the tool bag to the new jeep.

The next thing to do was take  the platform and boxes out of the back of Clifford and see if it would fit in the new jeep.
(I really have to come up with an good name for the new jeep).
First, I took all the garbage out of the back of Clifford and stacked it to the side. Luckily there was no wind today.

I took the back seat out of the new jeep and put it in the shed.
Next I removed the boxes from Clifford, then I unscrewed the screws holding the platform down and removed it. I put the platform in the new jeep and it sort of fit. It was close enough to work temporarily but I will have to make a new one when I get home.

Friday:

After breakfast I removed the batteries from Clifford and the new jeep and swapped them as Clifford had a new “gel cell” and the new jeep’s battery was an unknown “wet cell”.

After that I decided to swap the winch from Clifford to the new jeep. I removed the winch and tried to put it on the new jeep. There was no way that it would fit. I decided that I really didn’t need  a winch on the new jeep right now so I put it back on Clifford. It might be a selling point.

The First or Last Cactus Blossom:

Patti went to the store to get some eggs. On her way home she noticed a Beavertail cactus blooming.

 

I don’t know whether this is the first blossom of the season or the last blossom of the year, either way it was a surprise.

Lunch and a Hair Cut.

For lunch Patti and I went to Taco Mio for a couple taco’s.
After lunch we went to Holiday Palms to see Debbie and get our hair cut. I get a hair cut every 6 months whether I need it or not. One when we get to Quartzsite and one just before we leave in April.

Okay that takes care of the last couple of days; talk to you later.

Desert Mushrooms, Getting the New Jeep and Desert Jeep Ride.

 

Desert Mushrooms;

On Sunday Patti and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood and came across these mushrooms on a corner of our spot.

 

I looked them up on the internet and here is what I found out.

The Desert Shaggy Mane
- Podaxis pistillaris

The desert shaggy mane bears close resemblance to the far more moist true shaggy mane; hence, the name. Stalked puffballs are well known for their specialization to dry environments, and they intentionally dry out to form brittle, papery "lollipops" filled with a mass of brown spores. When ready, a small disturbance, even wind, will break apart their outer layer and release their spores.

P. pistillaris is a very common resident of urban desert environments. It prefers sandy areas, and can appear in very large numbers in disturbed locations, such as those under construction or development. The most common locations are the edges of roads and in medians, where they recieve drip irrigation water and gain nutrients from leaf litter.

This info is from: http://www.tanelorn.us/data/mycology/myc_loc_des.htm

 

The New Jeep:

Monday morning we went to the bank to see  if we could get our money to buy the new Jeep. It took some finagling but eventually we  had the cash.

Dennis (white Jeep) drove me to Phoenix  so he could check out the jeep thoroughly.
After he did a good check out I asked him what he thought. His reply was, “I’d buy it”.
That was  all I needed to hear. I counted out the cash to the seller and away we went. I in my new jeep and  Dennis following.

A day In Blythe:

We got back to Quartzsite late due to a 3 hour traffic jam on I-10 so I didn’t have time to go to Blythe to get the new jeep’s title transferred.
As it turned out, we couldn’t have gotten it done then anyway as it took all day Tuesday to get it done; what with smog checks and all. The DMV part was pretty easy but expensive. Unbelievably the lady in the DMV office in Blythe was very accommodating and friendly. I don’t think I have ever described dealings with any other DMV office in that way. It was refreshing.

We had a couple hours to wait to get the smog test done so we did some shopping and had lunch at the A&R bakery and deli. Great sandwiches.

We finally got everything done and were  home by 4:00.

The Jeep is now officially Mine.

Here is a list of extras on the jeep.

New 35” X 12.5 X 15” BFG TA radials. My favorite tires.
New 4” lift.
New Mickey Thompson 15” wheels
New custom bumper with a swing out tire carrier.
And most importantly it has a Dana  44 rear differential which are rare on older jeeps and the best differential to have on a jeep.
The jeep has a 6 cylinder engine and three speed automatic transmission.
The Transmission will make trail driving a lot easier.

The only things I will need  to add is a Detroit locker in the rear and rock guards. Eventually I will probably also add a winch.

The New Jeeps First Trail Ride:

We met the Wednesday Jeep group at the fire station north of town around 9:00.
Of course everyone wanted to inspect the new jeep so we hung around there for a while.
Eventually, it was time to go. Everyone decided that the new jeep should be the  leader, So, off we went to lead a  trip on a trail that I am only slightly familiar with. We were headed  for the high cliffs on the south side of the Colorado River between Parker and Lake Havasu City.

We drove north on 95 from Q to just south of Parker where we turned  east on Shea Rd.
We followed Shea Road to the Arizona canal. Here we turned north onto a small trail under the power lines. This is where we stopped to air down.

 

Once we were all set we followed the power line road into the wash and drove in  the wash for a couple miles.

 

It was very rough and we were getting bounced around a lot. I mentioned to Patti that I thought Clifford was a lot smoother riding.

Eventually we got to our first view spot. A place where the power lines drop down the canyon toward the Colorado River.

 

While we were there I decided to disconnect the sway bar on the front of jeep to see if that would improve the ride.

 

It was easy to do and made a remarkable difference in the ride. That is a relief.

We continued on our way rolling over the rocks and up and down steep hills.

 

This is actually an easy trail, just a lot of bumpy rocks.

We wandered around looking for the correct trail to the other view points.

Views from the trail were spectacular.
This view is looking north across the Bill Williams River (the green area in the foreground).

Eventually we came to a perfect spot to have lunch.

The views were awesome.

This is a view of Lake Havasu.

After lunch we headed back down the trail. We stopped at another view spot for one last look.

A visit to the Indian res.

It was an uneventful drive back to Shea Road. We got there around 3:15.
Everyone wanted to stop at the Indian reservation to get a new reservation travel permit. I know that it is necessary to get the permit if we want to travel on the res. but I hate to have to deal with that grumpy old broad that issues the permits. I was hopping that she may have been replaced by now but no, she was still there and just as grumpy as ever. It is real hard for me to hold my tongue when dealing with this bitch but I made it and got the permit. I hope this will be  the last time I have to do this.

After getting the permit we went to Maya Mexican restaurant in Parker for an early dinner. The food was good and so was the service.

We stopped at Walmart for a couple of things and were treated to a nice sunset.

Okay, that brings us up to date.
The new jeep works great!

Two More Trails on the Way Home.

 

Mingus Mountain.

We left Sedona around 8:00 AM for the return trip to Quartzsite.
We headed west on 89 through  Cottonwood to Mingus Mountain Road.

You can see the mountains we are going to drive through in the distance.

We stopped at the Maverick station where we topped off the fuel tanks, then headed into the mountains.

The road started out paved but soon turned to a wide gravel road. We stopped here to air down.

 

As we climbed higher into the mountains the trail became smaller.

Most of the trail was easy with only a couple rough spots.

Even higher in the mountains we began seeing some fall colors.

We passed the remains of the Copper Chief Mine.

The trail continues to climb.

 

As we climbed we saw more color in some of the trees along the trail;

and in the valley’s

Even higher, we splashed through puddles covered with ice.

Eventually we got to the top where we had some spectacular views of the red rock cliffs and the San Francisco Peaks in the north.

Eventually we came to Highway 89 west of Jerome. At the highway we turned east and drove a couple miles to our next trail.

Woodchute Trail.

The Woodchute Trail is an easy trail. At times a little brushy but other than that not very exciting we stopped for lunch at a spot overlooking the red rock country.

After lunch we continued around the loop and came back to the highway. Here we aired up and headed for Quartzsite.
We got home around 5:30 PM.

Back Home in Q.

We stopped at the bank to see if our check for the money to buy the new jeep had cleared but It hadn’t and the total funds won’t be released until next Thursday.
I guess I’ll have to try another approach to get the cash.

Yesterday we went to Blythe, CA so I could power wash the engine in Clifford and we could get a few groceries.
We also wanted to see if the A & R Bakery and Deli was still  in business. It was so we picked up one of their wonderful cheery crisps to have for dessert. Yummm!

It was an awesome four day’s of jeeping.