Had a warm and quiet 3 weeks in Pahrump. Not much to report about it other then my sports bar had someone try to drive through the parking lot facing outer wall. When I went to visit a few days before the first in Pahrump Seahawks game, it was closed, no notice on the door, just 2-3 sheets of plywood covering the hole. A couple hours searching for info on the web showed that the old owner had been leasing the space, and abandoned the bar after the accident. If it was an accident. So here it was November and I had nowhere comfortable to watch the Seahawks games. One thing I liked about the Bounty Hunter bar was that I could bring a six pack of my favorite beer and they’d store it in the cooler for me, selling them back to me over the game period. I’d have 2 or 3, and leave the rest for the next game. And than I could have a typical bar food dinner…they did have a high quality pizza they’d bake up in their air oven. That was well worth having. But the thing about it was even with all that over a 4-5 hour game period, it rarely cost me more than $24. With them being closed, I had to go over to the casino, score a bar stool in the right place and get them to turn the game on. Then play the damn poker machine (or pretend to do so) to get free drinks. Rarely left that place even than without spending $40 or so. In less than comfortable circumstances since the bar stools aren’t designed for human butts. And there would be few Seahawks fans around, unlike that bar were 90% came there just to support the ‘Hawks. I had years ago tried to find a comfortable sports bar before I found the Seahawks bar and really, none of them did it for me like the now ruined one. Dammit. I did sign up for NFL+ streaming service and watched one of their games 10 minutes after the game ended so that worked fine but there’s nothing like watching it live or nearly live surrounded by other fans. Here’s the front door, the damage was over to the right from this picture.
I came over again a week later and the hole had been patched so it looked like the rest of the stucco wall and there was someone inside working on it. Had a Porsche in the parking lot. Anyway I rattled the door and he came out and in answer to my questions explained that the lease $$ had gone up and the old lease holder had refused to spring for the repairs himself so the owners where doing it. They were thinking of some other type business like a retail dress shop would be better suited for the building. Wanted to know if I wanted to lease it. I said no.
Well, anyway, it’s no longer my hang out for the Seahawks games. Sigh.
Meanwhile, here’s how the weather looked most every day…
One thing I always do when I visit Pahrump is go trade in my finished books for unread books (paperback), here…
I return my 10’s of books and get a discount for all the new2me books I choose. They have thousands. I’ve taken up the habit of initialing, dating, and adding stars to each book I finish and having that prevents me from repurchasing a book I’ve already read. Hard to remember most of them as I read a couple books per month. The days of me finishing a book in 3 days are over. I savor them now like fine wine.
I’ve posted lots of pictures about Pahrump and the areas around town and off in the countryside, including the trips to Death Valley, over the years and I didn’t really do much touristy stuff this trip so no new pictures to share. If there had been something new in town I would have but it’s basically the same place as last year.
And after 3 weeks of visiting Pahrump, I headed to Quartzsite. This time I decided to say longer than the 2 days I usually spend there. I decided to try the Passport America park on the southwest side of Quartzsite just south of the Love’s freeway truck stop. Named Desert Gardens. I didn’t bother with a reservation. There was one really great thing about it, it allowed the use of PPA card all year round whereas the other parks in Quartzsite had a 2-3 day limit and most of them wouldn’t allow the card during the winter high season. I wondered what was wrong with the park that they allowed the PPA usage all year round but decided to take the chance. I planned on just showing up but it turned out…
On the trip there, a few miles outside of Parker on a two lane road, broad daylight, good weather, someone crossed the lane and smashed into someone else. I was the 3rd vehicle heading east trapped by the wreck which blocked both lanes. The west bound traffic had already stopped to render assistance so I stayed in the RV, called Desert Gardens and they assigned me a space, no deposit required, and I had the space number so wasn’t worried about being too late. Only thing I saw beyond the giant hay truck in front of me was a woman resting on the ground just off the road near the accident. And what seemed to be a good Samaritan or a family member policing the area for debris and picking it all up. Bits and pieces of the cars. Anyway, the cops were there, as was a BLM officer. She was there to prevent drivers from bailing off the road and into the desert trying to go around the accident…and I saw several people doing that. Finally an ambulance showed up, the woman refused transport (she didn’t appear to be at all injured), then traffic was opened up for us as the investigation wound down. All in all it only took 45 minutes…it just seemed longer. Back on the road, I knew from GPS that my turn was 4.5 miles away, and the traffic going west while I was heading east, was backed up that entire 4.5 miles right up to my turn. And likely the same number of vehicles were behind me.
Anyway, turned south heading for Quartzsite and even with the delay, arrived at the RV park with around 15 minutes of daylight. Turned on power and…nothing. The 50 amp outlet had no power. Wandered around, found another site with a 50 amp outlet and drove over there, now in the dark. And it was dead too. What’s going on! Well, it was too dark to wander around the park all night so I just plugged into the 30 amp outlet. Next day, went to the office, paid for a week, and got assigned a different 50 amp space. Drove over there, and it’s a box with two 30 amp outlets, and zero 50 amp outlets. Sh1t. I found out later that the office has no idea what is what in the park and could care less. Anyway, pulled out my meter and walked around testing 50 amp outlets in nearby spaces until I found one and pulled into that space, than let the office know via a written message as they close early. As a former RV park maintenance and office guru, I find this incompetence grinding. Not to mention the muscle work it takes for an RV’er (many in poor physical condition due to age) to pull out the 50 amp umbilical, plug it in, only to find the outlet is dead or defective, disconnecting, stowing the cord again and driving around trying to find a working space. Very annoying and can be exhausting, especially if you’ve arrived late after a days drive.
I was just perusing their website and it doesn’t even mention they have 50 amp sites…usually that’s an acknowledgement that they’ve not done maintenance on their electrical system for years, which included id’ing which are which. Although the power towers weren’t in that bad of condition, but in the desert, that’s not uncommon. I shouldn’t be down on them too much but it just irks me they don’t have a listing of their electrical facilities with an active plan to prevent misdirecting customers like they did me not once but twice.
Paid for a week and that evening went over to Silly Al’s for the best pizza in the USA. Yum. So the next week wandered around Quartzsite and checked out things. Tried to get an OTA TV signal but Quartzsite, for whatever reason, doesn’t have any translators on the hilltops servicing the town like is common in most the US. Nearest stations are 75 miles away. Where I was staying, there are some foothills that directly block any TV signals from what may be translators on the hills beyond as I read on FB for that area people do get TV from that direction…but where I was, I couldn’t hardly pick up anything. Well, I decided to drop DTV early last year and it was always a hassle getting them to change my local address so enough of that noise and bother and I just watched streaming news and media. Even streamed a Seahawks game the same day it was on.
After that week it was time to head to Mexico. My destination this trip was to be San Felipe. I’ve stayed there for months at a time and enjoy the weather and the small town atmosphere. The trip is via Yuma and to get there, have to take this route though all these massive corporate farms. Wonder where they get the water?
And then this farmland turns into the Dunes National Recreation site. Interesting all that sand used to be along the shore or on the seabed of the inland salt water sea that used to be here 15-35 million years ago.
Lots of sand. Every so often, there would be an RV community that has sprung up to service or accommodate the thousands of dune buggy enthusiasts that come here during the year.
But soon, I’m at the border, (trip from Quartzsite to San Felipe is 4 hours), sign up for Mexican insurance, cross into Mexico where they board the RV and have a look around. This time they didn’t even open the refer or freezer. Didn’t barely glance at it. Had a bunch of food I fully expected them to confiscate but no. And the town of Mexicali was just torn to pieces with all the road work. Had both my phone and my RV type GPS sending me different routes and I literally spend an hour on these narrow winding streets just trying to get out of town! Gah! Finally, I’d bypassed all the construction with what little help the GPS was and was on the main MX5 highway south. Whew. Very nerve racking when that happens in Mexico driving a big bus. And I never spotted a taxi stand where I could stop and have one of them guide me out of town. Plus I didn’t really have any pesos. Just didn’t spot a convenient place to buy any on the way in. Could have been a disaster if I’d dinged someone’s car or something, but I kept my wits and only went down streets I could see for some distance and had the room as I worried my RV south. One thing I ran into was the construction outfit had blocked EVERY DAMN road access to the highway forcing a 4 mile detour. Both GPS maps were trying to get me to turn under the freeway ramp to MX5 but every cross over was blocked. Eventually, though, I was on the right path and was able to turn onto MX5.
Finally, I could relax on MX5 as there wasn’t much traffic. It’s two lane, without much shoulder but the countryside is open and there are many places to pull off if needed. I didn’t need to this trip, like most of the other trips I’ve taken into Mexico.
Eventually, I caught a glimpse of smoke in the distance and I knew that to be a mining company or something that blows black smoke nearly year round. Sits right on the Sea of Cortez around 5 miles off MX5.
Shortly after crossing a many miles long sand and alkaline desert valley floor, I get to pass through these mountains.
After passing through that area, it’s a straight shot to San Felipe. Arrived around 5 PM and the RV park I chose, Campo SF, has an office but no one speaks English. So I paid with a $50 USD bill and hooked up with my RV facing the ocean. Nice. It is a bit spendy at $675 (returning customer so $650/mo for me), but it’s one of the few RV parks in San Felipe that has 50 amp. After setting up I headed for the local Calimax store to use their ATM, got some cash limited by my CU, and stopped at Fat Boy’s for a two taco dinner with all the fixings. Which was a mistake because I was sick as a dog the next day and for 4 days after. I’m still not feeling 100% and it’s been 11 days. Wore my mask the 2nd day to get more cash.
Funny thing, on Xmas day, the power went out at my RV at least 25 times over the course of the day. I was still not feeling well so wasn’t much I could do about it. When it got dark, I did notice that my neighbor in an RV had power. I figured that the park power was sagging with all the people at home doing their xmas stuff so the grid that reached here was causing my power protector to drop out when the power drooped. For the next 3 days, power has been stable. No drops. Here’s a few pics out my front window and the door.
Weather has been nice but it can get chili as the day wears on. I do need to use the AC for a while in the middle of the day, but than heat later. I’ll be here a month enjoying Mexico and San Felipe. Then there are the cold fronts that roll in sometimes. Like this morning up until around 2 PM where was a wall of clouds out over the ocean and over/on the land off to the south. It’s normally temporary but can stick around for days. Right now there’s strong late afternoon sunshine and a gentle breeze.
Thanks for reading! Comments always welcome and encouraged.