MIXING IT UP WITH THE VENDORS IN QUARTZITE

THIS VENDOR (orange shirt) HAD ALL HIS GRANDKIDS PICTURES IN THE ADS ON THE BOOTH

We sure are liking these warmer night time temperatures over here closer to the California State line.  Sure cuts down on the propane heating bill.  With the recent rains there is a fair amount of desert greenery around especially along the edges & down in the washes. (creek beds)  Nice to see some new scenery on our morning walk this morning too.

   

WALKING ALONG A DRY WASH AS THE DESERT BEGINS TO GREEN

Had a better night's sleep & didn't feel quite so cranky this morning so figured I might be able to put up with myself OK if I went with Kelly into Quartzite this morning.   Main objective was a new wind sock pole & told Kelly on the way in we had 12.7 minutes to get in, get the pole, & get out.  She didn't think that was funny so took me to McDonalds to humor me.  It worked:))  Some groceries after that & then into the shopping melee we went.  Crowds weren't nearly as bad as other years though & it wasn't like 'bumper cars' jostling around banging into people all the time.  We missed all that manic mayhem by about a week!!  Only had one little bluster when I couldn't immediately find a convenient parking spot like I thought I should.

                               

                                  OUR LITTLE HOME IN THE DESERT

Meandered around a bit until we reached the flags & poles vendor that we have been to for the past 3 years in a row.  The nice old fellow, Sam, & his staff were still there & he thought he might have remembered us.  Well, he might have remembered Kelly:))  I've never really been too memorable you know.  Picked ourselves out a new pole & told Sam we'd be back next year for another one after I step on & break my third pole in a row probably.  Said he'd put us in the book as reliable 'repeat customers!!'

IT’S SAM, OUR YEARLY WIND SOCK POLE MAN:))

About 40 minutes of browsing was about enough for me so Kelly left me sitting on a chair near the road like a good little boy.  Well, after about 10 minutes that plastic chair got kinda hard so I headed back to the car & tried to squeeze myself in the door after some inconsiderate & obviously skinny jerk parked so close to my door it was nearly impossible.  But, I sucked it up & did it.

             

SOME COLORFUL SIGHTS ALONG VENDORS ROW (click on pics to enlarge)

Kelly was back in half an hour & we drove over to the other side of vendors row on Tyson Wells & had a look at few more things.  Popped into a nice little eatery called Bad Boy & I would recommend this one.  This is where a lot of the vendors & working people come.  It's nice & clean with good food.  It's across the road from 'The Gambler' & just east a bit.

                                            

WAITING FOR SOME ‘EATS’ AT BAD BOY………….

We were back to the rig by 2 & found a note in our door from a fellow we had met a year ago when we were here.  He's been following our blog & when I said last night we were in the same spot as last year Peter & his wife Patty knew exactly where we were.  We'll give them a buzz later.

At precisely 2:37 this afternoon our onboard visual EB (eyeball) radar detected 2 bogeys fast approaching our RV space from 11 o'clock high.  I was up on the roof working on a vent cover & heard them coming.  Kelly was down below on the computer & immediately sounded the alarm.  Looked to be a big fifth wheel followed closely by a small Class C.  Within seconds she scrambled our first line of defense.   3 F-16 furry dog fighters roared out of the motorhome in full afterburner mode & turned to attack the approaching bogeys head on.  Squadron leader Max led the charge with his 2 wingmen (wingdogs) Checkers & Max on either side.  They all opened fire simultaneously at long range instantly scoring direct barking hits on both bogeys because I saw a drivers side window going up.  Both vehicles immediately banked to the right breaking off their approach as our F16 furry fighting dogs delivered a full broadside of barks to the vehicles as they skimmed by on our port side & kept on going.  Thought I saw the Class C trailing some smoke.  Our first line of defense had saved us again.   We welcomed the tired crews as they came trotting back to the motorhome & congratulated them all on another job well done.  They were soon back in their favorite spots & sound asleep.  Bravo guys, you saved our peace & serenity once again:))

Later in the afternoon a couple of ultra lites flew over & that reminded me of a post I wrote while we were boondocked here back on January 4th of 2008.  I called that post, AN AVIATOR WAVES FROM THE SKY.  It was also the time we took out & sold all our Motorhome furniture too.  But, that's another story.

                           

CAN YOU SEE THE GREMLINS FACE IN THIS PIECE OF KNARLED DESERT WOOD & AN AVIATOR FLYS OVER IN THE MORNING SKY

And a big welcome to Ken & Nanette, our latest followers.  Welcome aboard folks & thanks for traveling along with, The Bayfield Bunch:))

No idea how long we'll stay here but Kelly's headed back into the Q tomorrow morning for some more of that there browsing stuff.  Not me, I'm staying put right here in the quiet desert & plan to get caught up on a stack of emails that have piled up.  I always feel bad when I don't get right back to people with answers to questions or comments on things.  I have even slipped a bit on my blog reading & am still only half way through my National Geographic Astronomy book that I started a very long time ago.  By the time I get to the end I'll not have remembered the beginning!!

SUNSET OVER THE DOME ROCK MOUNTAINS

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A blonde said, 'I was worried that my Mechanic might try to rip me off.   I was relieved when he told me all I needed was turn signal fluid.'

FACEBOOK READERS GO HERE TO SEE OUR ACTUAL WEBSITE COMPLETE WITH PHOTOS & MORE INFO.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.

2008-SOLD OUR RIG’S FURNITURE & HEADED FOR THE IKEA STORE

CLICK THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE & HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER THEM FOR THE CAPTIONS

By January of 2008 our minds were finally made up.  We were totally fed up with the cheap uncomfortable furniture in our motorhome.  The tub chair was too small & had a comfort level of about 20 seconds.  Couch was the same & the pull out bed must have been made in a hot place somewhere underground.  The cushions for the dinette were obviously designed by a worker who attended Weight Watchers because you couldn't comfortably sit on the them long enough to finish you supper, let along dessert!!

But, here we were boondocking out in the desert & how could we get rid of & replace this stuff.

WE HAVE SINCE ADDED AN AMERICAN FLAG OVER TOP THE CANADIAN FLAG….PROTOCOL:))

Getting rid of the stuff turned out to be easier than we thought because we were in Quartzite, Arizona & it was January!!  Quartzite in January is the buy, sell, & trade Mecca for RV'ers all across America.  It didn't take Kelly long to get into town & do some wheelin & dealin & before we knew it I had my screwdriver out taking our dinette apart……because she had sold everything!!  When your not using power tools it seems the number of screws to be removed triples & by the time I had the million plus screws out of that thing I practically had to let my sore wrist soak in a pale of hot flaming water for the whole rest of the day.

As I'm typing this I seem to recall blogging about this Quartzite furniture story before.  (my apologies if I did) I took apart the dinette & we piled it outside.  Next came the tub chair which was securely bolted to the floor.  Had to get under the motorhome to loosen the bolts with nothing more than a pair of vice grips but finally it was done & out went the chair!! 

Took Kelly a couple trips into Quartzite to 'The Gamblers' new & used trading post where she had struck up a deal to sell our motorhome furniture.  We were able to get the  dis-assembled dinette & tub chair into the Santa Fe alright but the couch was another matter so decided to leave that until we left the Q (Quartzite) a few days later.  I wasn't looking forward to having to try & get that couch out by myself so on our way through town later we stopped at the Gambler's & the boys there came out & hauled the couch out of the rig.  Kelly told people inside the Gambler's new & used store that we were selling our furniture for gas money to get back to Canada.  I had to pull my hat down even further over my face to conceal my embarrassment!! 

Within half an hour we had left Quartzite in the dust & were heading furnitureless for an RV Park in Casa Grande that we had stayed the year before for a couple days.  Sure seemed weird not having any furniture in the rig & the furry guys were in bewilderment as to where they were all going to sleep that night....as was I.  Stopped at an RV Park in Tonopah on the way that night & it was so cold our water froze up outside & an alarm went off warning us of a propane leak.  Turns out there was no leak but the cold had somehow set off that alarm or something.  Had to wait until around 10 in the morning before we could get our hose unthawed from the outside water tap & head off to  Casa Grande.

Arrived in Casa Grande OK & readied ourselves for our shopping sojourn the next day.  Kelly, being the experienced shopper she is, had been in Ikea stores before over the years.  Me, not being a shopper, had no more interest in getting dragged through another dumb store than I had of trying on dresses at a Seven Eleven convenience store so it was with much grumpiness on my part that we headed off in the car towards Phoenix early the next morning.

It was the size of the parking lot that first caught my attention as we approached Ikea.  Looked like enough room to land a Jumbo Jet if it wasn't for all the stately palm trees.  After grubbing it in the desert for the past few weeks I thought we had entered the twilight zone.  The store front was very big & impressive as we walked across the manicured & well landscaped parking lot to the front entrance.  Best part so far was the total lack of cars & people because we were actually there before the store was even open.   Hmmmmm, this was turning out unusually good for me & I was impressed.  Front door was open & Kelly explained Ikea has their own restaurant that actually opens before the store did.  Wow, I could feel some excitement coming to-gether already.  But wait, how could it be possible for Al to feel a twinge of excitement about.......shopping!!  Well, I was about to find out.

 As soon as we walked through Ikea's front door I knew there was something different going on here about this store.  Our blog for that day is HERE & the photos of our Ikea store experience are HERE.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

And here’s the best part.  Sold the RV furniture for $450 & our total Ikea bill was…..$400 so we came out of the whole deal $50 up.  That Kelly is quite a wheeler dealer:))

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.