Thursday, January 19, 2017

Well Maybe We Should Have Replaced the Battery Too

Lesson learned, next time do the whole enchilada, alternator AND battery.


I had to walk about a mile to go flag down the tow truck driver.  Finding someone out here isn't easy.


This is why we carry towing with two different companies.  With AAA we have the Premier Towing and the other is with Geico where I have both the rv and Honda insured.  Your three towings a year with AAA can go fast if you are having ongoing problems. 

We are once again parked in front of Diesel Automotive, who have been so nice to me, and tomorrow we will be leaving the Yuma area headed to Casa Grande.

See you down the road.

Evie and Joy

How this lettuce field looked a couple of weeks ago.

How it looks now.  Fresh lettuce growing in the sunny weather.








Saturday, January 14, 2017

Maintenance, Repairs and Changes

Well it's been a busy two months for us in Yuma.  We've had a lot of maintenance and repairs done to both the rv and the Honda.  Let's start with the Honda.  The air conditioning system went out and that took our new found auto mechanics two days to replace all parts and get it up and running again as good as new.  Two days because the parts store sent the wrong parts over the first time.  Oh well, that happened at the same time we were having the rv painted.  I found this great rv repair and paint shop that would loan us his rv to hang out in during the day and at night they would pull ours out of the shop for us to sleep in and in the morning we'd move back into his Bounder while they worked on ours.  We did that for four days then we had to go to a motel while our rv was actually getting painted.  One of those days we were out driving when the alternator went out on the Honda.  We were headed up to Quartzsite and were only about 8 miles past the VFW on highway 95 when the first symptom occurred, that being the battery light lit up on the dash.  I didn't know what that was about so I drove another two miles before I decided maybe we should turn around and head back into town. Soon after turning around all dash lights and gages went out, it is very strange driving without any gages telling you what's going on, not even the speedometer. We were able to make it to within a mile of the VFW when I lost all power.  I was able to coast to a wide spot beside the road where we called for a tow truck and I called my new favorite mechanics to tell them we once again were on our way in.  Again the repairs took two days because the parts house sent bad parts, and the repair guys didn't charge me for that extra time.  And they ran me back and forth to the motel one time and rv paint shop the other.  Carlos and Jr. are the best.




Off loading at Diesel Automotive



This is the card for the repair shop, Carlos and his son Jr.  Their business specializes in diesel but they can and will do anything.  They build dune buggies and all sorts of things, they can do all types of repairs.

Let's move on to the rv painting project shall we.


Here are the guys washing the rv after they stripped all remaining decals
 and after sanding it as well


This was our loaner rv that we hung out in during the day.


First glimpse of our new paint.  Look we have strips at the top too.


Checking tire pressure for me.
 Notice new weather station on roof and window awnings.


Also had the roof coated.


And these guys even cut my new rubber mat into 4 one foot wide strips
to put under my leveling jacks feet to keep them from sinking into the sand.


Chris went above and beyond for us, cutting down a 10 day job to 6,
to make it easier on mom.

We also had our slide fixed, as it hadn't been going out all the way.  That was my fault, when I removed the carpet the transition strip of metal that I put down came un nailed and that allowed the carpet to get bunched up under the slide.  All fixed now.  And also a new water pump installed along with a new ano rod in the hot water heater.  And last but not least, we had window awnings installed and the big awning removed.  Just a bunch of things that needed to be done.  It sounds like a lot but this is our home and all homes need to be maintained.

We're in San Diego for one night to get mail from darling daughter then tomorrow we will head back to the desert, spending some time around Ajo, AZ.

Evie and Joy

Sunset from hotel window.
















Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Bits and Pieces

Some things you see while driving around in the desert.


It just needs a new roof.


Look out for those UXB's
(unexploded bombs)



Jump down turn around pick a bale of cotton


Sunset


Yes, it does rain in the desert





See that rv way back there?  That's our friend Bette
who we first met three years ago at Eagles Nest Lake, NM.
She came out here west of Yuma for a few days.


And so did our friend Chris.


I'll be back next week.

See you around.
Evie and Joy

This palm tree is wearing grass skirts.