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Old 01-29-2012, 02:32 PM   #1
W6ZKH
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Location: Tulare, CA
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Default Quartzite, AZ for RV show, etc Jan 2012

Hello gang...... home from Quartzite.....fairly good trip with a few problems, but nothing that stopped us dead in our tracks.

Trip rundown: left Saturday morning at 9 am heading down Hwy 99... looking at the clouds, decided to go through the LA basin area instead over Hwy 58 to the desert and then north on Hwy 395.. this was a bless....as they got clobbered by rain and I had major truck troubles and if it had happen in the middle of the desert, I'd been SOL. On I-210 east of Pasadena, my engine alarm and light came on saying "check gauges".... low and behold, my temperature gauge was pegged at 240 degs!! Got off onto a side off ramp and into a parking lot where we check and I had NO water in the radiator, and coolant spray all over engine compartment. I had just had the radiator flushed in Sept after coming back from the trip last summer that when it ran hot... Well, after filling the radiator up with water from the RV (which we needed later on), we found on the internet a radiator shop not too far away, and being Saturday and 1 pm figured it would be closed, but I eased on down to it....no parking for RV...but around corner big shopping center, so dropped off the RV and Greg and I went to the radiator shop. They did a pressure test on the tank...no leaks....you know? they didnt replace that thermostat in the truck when they did the flush, so suspected it was a stuck thermostat, so had them replace it and also a new radiator cap. It cured the problem...$90 later of course. Had no problem then from there on with the truck....ran a steady 190 degs even going up hills...

Once the truck was fixed, we headed east again on I-210 heading for our night stay location of the Spotlight 29 Casino near Indio. Got in there, and went and had dinner at the buffet....great Prime Rib.... got up around 5 am and headed out to Arizona.. Beautiful sunrise was waiting for us around 7 am... We stopped at a Gas station/cafe out in the middle of nowhere..Chiriaco Summit.. and also there was the General George S. Patton Museum !! Tanks and all sorts of army vehicles inside the fenced area, but the museum didnt open until 9:30 and we werent going to stay and wait... sure would have like to have gotten into the museum. Funny to see this big museum out in the middle of the desert..

We got into Quartzite around noon and got setup... weather was cool and cloudy....had abit of rain on Sunday, but just enough to settle the dust... about Wednesday, Greg asked me what was all that water under my RV from? Crap....a water leak...had been going for afew days we suspect, as the storage box was wet... took off a panel and the maze of hose, looking like spagettie, where a fitting was leaking, and those type of clamps they used you cant retighten, so Greg and I went into town and found a hardware store and bought 10 1/2" hose clamps.. Came back and replaced the one that was leaking...as soon as you fixed one, then another would start leaking...sheesh....anyway, ended up using all 10 clamps and even went into to buy more just incase...sofar no more leaks.

I did breakfast one morning for us all.....Mountain Man Breakfast.......sausage, hashbrowns, eggs with green and red peppers and onions topped with shredded cheese....turned out good....at least the 3 others said it was good, but I burned my DO...didnt put enough oil to season it....took abit to clean it up and reseason. Then I did a Cherry Cobbler one night, out of the same DO (the one the kids got me for Xmas) and it was good and cleaned up great... Each night we would trade off and share dinner or even breakfast, which made it nice.

Now to the SHOPPING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bet I walked 5 miles in sand and rock in those 4 days of shopping....hahaha I weighed this morning and had lost 3 pounds LOL...So much to see and shop at. Had to laugh....Greg and Kellie were probably the YOUNGEST people there in Quartzite !!!!! So many old goats, with they walkers, canes and hover rounds, heh... There were twice as many people there this year compared to last, and I would guestimate 350,000 RV's, as it was a sea of white roofs for 15 miles around Quartzite... Letsee, I bought a small Solar Panel for my radio stuff, some Donuts (cord carriers), a Griswold DO Pot from the 1930's in great shape and a pair of old spurs just to Connie off, which it did when I came into the RV wearing them LOL!! No sense of humor, haha....

Once Connie had payroll done yesterday, at 11:30 Arizona time we left and headed to I-40 before heading west into California. Got fuel just before the state line and good thing, as it would have cost me more than a dollar more a gallon if I had gotten it in Needles.... Regular gas in AZ was $3.59 and in Needles it was $4.79!!! I never did see a price for diesel though...that price for gas in Needles was at all gas stations we saw along the freeway....couldnt afford to live there... We topped off again in Barstow before heading over the hill, even though I think I could have made it, but why take a chance....

Was nice to sleep in a big bed again, especially with BedHog Bailey, haha.... now comes the unloading of the RV before I take it to the RV repair place to get my new tires on and also that additional Air Conditioner added...plus have one small repair job under warranty...light fixture...

Didnt do much radio operating, as was dragged shopping most days....my feet can vouch for that... did manage to work an 8J1R in Japan on 20M CW QRP with the FT-817 and Buddipole dipole. Acouple of stateside Q's and that was it..

John W6ZKH



Patton Museum


My Dutch Oven Cooking breakfast setup


Antenna and RV setup
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Mess makers Bailey & Gretchen (dogs)
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2011 Forest River Wildcat 313 5th wheel
Icom IC-2800 Dual-bander in truck
Yaesu FT-1900R 2M Xcvr in RV
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Old 01-30-2012, 08:57 AM   #2
KF5BET
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Wow...sounds like you had a good trip (minus the thermostat and water...)! Love to go camping but always love to come home as well...
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