After Chapter 8's title, decided to try naming my chapters after movies for awhile. Too corny?
I did it! Left LV a winner! WooHoo!
1/5/00: Got a late start out of LV, so arrived in Q yesterday at sunset. If you ever can arrange it, come into Q at sunset on I-10 from the West. It's positively beautiful! The sunset turns the mountains red, the city lights have that glimmer that desert cities get at night, and the scene is really awesome. I don't usually like to arrive anywhere after dark, but this time it was a great idea.
The trip down 95 is like a 200-mile roller coaster ride. They didn't move any of the sand dunes when they built the road, so it's u-u-u-up and do-o-o-own, u-u-up and do-o-o-own ... well, you get the picture. It's a really scenic route, but you can only see the scenery on the u-u-up-side ... lol. It's the only place in the country where I've actually travelled on both I-40 and I-10 on the same day. You get on I-40 outside of Needles for awhile, then join our old friend I-10 at Blythe to come into Quartzsite. Makes you wonder what happened to I-20 and I-30. I just checked the map -- I-20 peters out West of Pecos Texas and I-30 ends in Dallas. Just had a thought -- I came out on I-10, end-to-end .. maybe I should return on I-40, .... but what rhymes with 40? ... Could start from Kingman, visit L&D in Albuquerque, drop down to visit T&M in Lubbock, see daughter in Knoxville, then catch I-95 South to Florida. hmmm ... sounds like a plan. Remind me when I decide it's time to go back East again.
Somewhere along 95, I pulled off the highway and stopped to eat lunch. As I ate, I pulled up the blind on the window next to my table and looked out across the desert --- fantastic! I took a couple of pictures, but they didn't really capture the view. There I sat, eating my bologna/salami/cheese sandwich and potato salad, looking at the awesome desert mountain view, and thought "Was I right to quit work and hop in the RV and wander around the country?" .... final answer "YES!"
My Travel Log
Nothing in this site is copyrighted -- I'd be honored if you'd
reuse anything you find here for your website
9. It's A Wonderful Life
It occurred to me on the way down here that I'm probably chattering too much in this travel log -- probably results from not talking to anyone for days .. lol. Then I said to myself, "self, nobody has to read this junk, so chatter all you like" .. hoho.
Joke of the Day: You know how gas stations, etc. put their restroom keys on a LARGE object so you won't lose the key or stick it in your pocket? Well, hat's off to the manager of Kinko's on Maryland Parkway in LV -- he put the men's room key on a 12" Ruler! ... now that's funny! Didn't notice what he had the lady's room key on ... hmmm.
Help! I'm having withdrawal pains! I haven't been on Playsite for over a month now. If you're ever on Playsite playing Euchre, tell them "oldguy2" says hi. Aaaak! I've forgotten their names ... oh well, the hazards of old age.
To Laurel: I've been eating the white stuff on the inside of the orange peeling as much as I can stand and my ears are still ringing. Any other ideas? It's not really a big problem, I don't notice the ringing unless it's real quiet, which it usually isn't.
Apologies to Zach: I really intended to get a picture of the Harley-Davidson Cafe in LV. Right there on LV Boulevard, they have a huge Harley sticking out of the building. Must have been 50' high! Thought of you immediately when I saw it. If I can find a link to their website, I'll steal a picture and pretend I shot it and put it in the pictures for this chapter. I was going to go into the cafe, but they put up a fence around it New Year's Eve and started charging a cover charge. Well, we all know that "Real Men Don't Pay Cover Charges", so I never got in. Sorry about that -- maybe next time.
Desert and Mountain on U.S. 95
Excuse #6 - too light. In all fairness, these pictures do look better in person than they do here. I've been saving these as JPEG -- anybody got a better suggestion? I tried GIF, but it didn't work well at all. Could try TIFF I guess.
Desert and Mountain on U.S. 95 .. second try
Turned the camera down way dark ... seems to work better. This is a different mountain, btw -- not the same view as the one on the left. If these silly Polariod shots didn't cost me $1 each, I'd probably experiment more. Oh well, I think I've at least determined that darker is better when you're outside in bright sunlight around noon or so ... lol.
Harley-Davidson Cafe in Las Vegas
Meant to put this in the last chapter and forgot. Since this chapter is light on pictures, decided to stick it here. This one's for you, Zach!
LOL .. Took me a year, but finally got the picture -- stole it from their newly updated website. Go there for more neat pictures!
Well, it's 9:00 and they're starting to line up at the water station across the road and I'm almost out of water, so I'd better drop this and go get in line. I finally dumped my tanks yesterday (first time since before Christmas) and last refilled water tank at the Imperial Dunes rest area. First thing I'm going to do is take myself a long, hot shower and wash my hair properly. Doing showers and hair over a sink with minimal water is ok, but sure no comparison to a real shower.
Next step is to find someplace in Q where I can get on the internet to upload this page. Oh yeah ... I realized yesterday that I've been talking about downloading my webpages. Turns out going to the server is upload and coming to my pc is download. Don't know why ... that's just the jargon I guess. I profusely apologize to all the internet nerds out there ... lol.
Part II - Now it's noon and I'm all set up, showered, and feel great. Found a perfect parking spot -- my needs are simple: Must be level, must face the door to the South for morning and afternoon sun, have at least one cactus out the front door and at least one out the dinette (back) window, and must have mountains visible on all sides. Put up the solar panel, put down the jacks, etc., etc. and I'm all set. Note in the photos below that I've marked off my "yard" with Caution tape -- if you don't, there's a possibility someone will drive through or maybe even decide to camp there. Now, was there anything else I wanted to do? ... oh, yeah ... go find an internet connection so I can upload this so someone beside me can enjoy it.
My Quartzsite Ranch
This is where I'll be living for the next month of so. Excuse #6 again -- maybe I need to turn it even darker ... hmmm.
My Quartzsite Ranch (edited)
"Enhanced" the colors with my editor, hoping the yellow tape would show better. Show fine on my picture ... lol. Things I wanted you to notice: 1 - solar panel sticking up on top; 2 - Hallowe'en Jack-o-Lantern cutout -- only thing I had to stick in the ground to hold the yellow tape; 3 - Christmas elf cutouts;
4 - Nearest neighbor .. about 200 yards; 5 - Truck on the road going by -- i.e., to show how close I am to the nearest road.
BTW, I think I'm going to enjoy Q alot more this time. Ran the heater all night and batteries are still up enough to run this laptop. Solar panel is putting out 4.2 amps .. that's great, since it was only rated at 4 amps. Means I've got it aimed perfectly at the sun. I know a few people here, so won't be quite as much on my own as I was in December. And .. there are a whole lot more people here now, so will be much more to see and do.
Aaak! Just wrote my first check of the new year and found that my checkbook isn't Y2K-compatible! hoho ... they put in _______,19__ for the date ... shame on them. Other checkbooks have Date _____ -- how wise.
Later ...
Below - My Home at La Posa - You want to come visit? If I know you, find the nearest airport (Blythe, Yuma?), fly in, and call me to come pick you up. If I don't know you, or if you want to surprise me, go South from Q on 95 to La Posa South LTVA on your left. Turn in and go 1.2 miles until the pavement ends. At 1.3, you'll see a 15 mph sign and a "Dusty Road" sign-- take the next right, past the port-a-potty (unless they move it), and take the next right (not the one behind the port-a-potty, the next one). Note on the map below, I've drawn an arrow to show where the port-a-potty actually is. Now you're on trail #567. Drive through two dry washes and you'll see a 3-armed cactus on your right -- take the next left and there I am! X marks the spot!
