A quick run to Idaho

So here I am, back in Idaho and it's cold, now, as most of you know I like cool weather, as long as I don't have to shovel any snow. I'm only saying it's cold because I had to winterize the trailer to make it to Idaho. (drain water tanks, water heater, house lines and put RV antifreeze in the P-traps. About 10 gallons of water in bottles for the toilet.)

I stayed in the warmth of Southern Nevada as long as I could, I returned to the Oasis RV Resort from the Main Street Station, then I went up to Mesquite, NV. Oasis RV park for a week. I kept watching the weather, snow and rain across Utah, Nevada and Idaho hoping for a warming trend as a sign to return to the north........ It didn't happen...... Moms taxes and medical appointments could wait no longer, we had to return..... I left Mesquite fully intending to stay in Salt Lake that evening....

Blam, whap whap whap made it's appearance, another tire blew??? Mile marker 147 on Northbound I-15 about 2pm, I was at the side of the road, waiting once again for the Good Sam Emergency people to come change my tire, I realize I can change it in less then 10 minutes, given the tools I have and the on-board generator, besides a 2000 watt inverter on the truck to run my electric impact wrench. I've got a 12 ton hydraulic jack, that the tow truck operators usually resort to, since the ones they have don't go as high. But I wait, cause I paid for the damn thing (Emergency Road Service), I might as well use it.

The tow truck driver arrives, with a air jack, he puts it under the trailer on the axle, I stop him, ummm, you can't do that, he wants to know why, I tell him about Dexter axles, thay are just tubes with rubber rope in them and how they bend very easily. I let him know that I would like new axles, but felt it necessary to warn him anyway. Now, guess what, his jack can't reach the trailer frame, so he borrows two of my blocks to raise his jack up enough. He does have an air impact wrench and makes short work of the tire change. I ask him what he's torquing the lugs to and get told he doesn't have a torque wrench on the truck. I offer him mine and tell him a 100 ft-lbs is fine. He wants to discuss it, saying most 8 lug wheels are much higher, I agree I tell him, but those are usually 9/16 or 5/8 lugs. I politely point out the 1/2 in lugs he just worked with, he considers the point and gives in. Then we have a small discussion about drive axles and trailer axles and the needs of transferring engine torque versus load weight. He takes off and I limp into Payson Utah Walmart, they agree once more it's a road hazard that blew the tire and give me a new tire free of charge...... (since I paid the $9.76 road hazard warranty in 2005.) We stayed the night in the parking lot with Walmarts permission, I ran the generator for a while to warm up using the electric heaters, and taking about 15 minutes to change the new tire and spare back.. (in my shorts and sandals.)

The next morning I got up about 9am (it's a quiet store lot,) and drove into Salt Lake, I parked at Camping World and unhooked. I had a list of things I needed to do, haircut/style at Bella Mia (thanks Jen, I think this makes it about 13 years of haircuts), taxes to PC accountant, alignment check at the local Firestone store, Crown Burger (should be outlawed), Mountain America to check on real estate loans (personal loans are cheaper), Convergys, (drop off a care package...No hug, and yes, I'm whining......)

I make it back to Camping World around 6:30, shop until they close getting some supplies. I hook up and take off to Idaho, it's still cold.... I get into Hagerman at my moms house about 1am. Time for a well deserved rest...


I tucked the trailer in beside the house instead of parking it out front like I usually do, I think it's a sign I'm gonna be here a while doing yardwork.....;o)

Just a tale of woe, hope and perseverance..

THUD THUD Clank CRASH

I'm still in Las Vegas, currently residing at the Main Street Station RV park. Ok, it's a parking lot with hookups, and at six in the morning I was awoken with loud crashes and screeches. I look out the window and see a nearby building being demolished, it even looks like a nice sunrise (something I don't see a lot of.) I walked out and took a few photos, when my flash went off, a couple of workers ran and got a fire hose and began watering down the building. (guilty conscience?) I went back in my condo on wheels and put in earplugs (memories of sleeping after graveyard shift) and slept peacefully till noon. Fremont Street Experience and Light Show is less than three blocks away, so we went and experienced it for about 4 shows during an evening. I'm waiting for the northern US to warm up, and I'll head north, theres things to to do and people to see, passports to pick up and puppy dogs to get checked out by the vet.

Sunsets

I just sat out and watched my last sunset this year in Quartzsite, it was nothing spectacular, some nice color and a few westbound neon jet contrails.


I've spent many evenings watching the sunset and appreciating God's splendor and man's contribution of some smog. The colors touch something in the soul. I realized I've missed sunsets every evening for 16 years working in Park City, there are no sunsets, the sun just disappears behind the mountain and the coolness settles in. I did have some great sunrises on graveyard shift, but theres nothing like a good sunset.

My final week in QZ

I'm leaving Quartzsite on March 9th, my birthday and heading to Las Vegas. It's been fun, I didn't upgrade nearly as much this year, I did all the big stuff last year. I worked on my metal awning covers a bit, making them a bit more sturdy. I did invest in some more tools, still a lot of tool venders in town for some reason. I cleaned and polished the truck and trailer some. It's hard with the water here leaving large salt spots if you don't dry it off immediately, it felt like a losing battle. I did some work on the internet situation, getting a wireless print server and modifying it to receive wifi internet to multiple computers in the trailer. It's using the print server backwards from what it was meant to be, but it works very well and will work well in long term situations. It's not the quickest setup I've used. I need to hack the code a bit and make it more user friendly.

Here is a map to where I've been staying, there is a gray rooftop in the lower left quadrant near the cross roads, a brown rectangle just to the left (concrete slab) I'm parked about 20 feet west (left) of the "slab", last year I was parked on the slab,


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