Eastern Utah
EMAIL ME AT: mgypsy97 at aol dot com

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Quartzsite again

Made a quick trip to Discount Solar in "Q" today. I wanted to get an estimate for a system for my TC, but after thinking about it I decided to use the camper as is for now, plug into campground electricity where available and use the genny when I can't plug in. That's too much money to spend until I analyze my probable usage for the coming year. I use very few appliances although I might use a couple more if I didn't have to worry about electric, but I'm not likely to get enough solar power to run appliances.

The folks here at Snowbird West have all kinds of systems hooked up - big solar panels all around their rigs, and lots of batteries. I guess if you lived here 8 months or so out of the year it would be worth it to start accumulating the equipment, but I couldn't live in the desert for that long, plus it's difficult to say how much RVing life I have left.

I've decided to leave tomorrow and head back to Sacramento. I had thought I would stay at CalExpo while removing and adding items from the camper, with the capability of driving the truck at the same time. My son offered to let me park the rig in their driveway and use his car as needed. He added the comment that he could then "play" with my camper. Gotta watch that boy! Actually I can't wait for my kids to see it, and I hope they can use it from time to time for their own trips.

The baked potato I had last night was so yummy I am fixing another one with tonight's supper. I evidently did a good enough job cleaning out the oven because there was no smoke or odor.

Dave came by and told me the sunset was beautiful this evening, and here are a couple of pictures I took.



A few days ago I bought some film for my Minolta, and I've been taking photos with both that and the digital. When I get a roll developed it will be interesting to compare the scenes side by side. You sure can't beat the quick gratification of being able to import pictures right away onto the computer and see them, but the viewfinder can't be beat when it comes to seeing the shot you are taking. I'm quite a bit out of practice when it comes to composing though.

Lady is a real champ at traveling and accepting whatever is thrown at her. I think she will be glad to get back to Sacramento and the apartment where she has more room to move around, and I know she will be happy when we are back east and she can roll in soft grass again.

14 comments:

  1. There's nothing like the desert for beautiful sunsets though!

    Safe travels tomorrow!

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  2. How is your tailbone today? My Scooter prefers the desert to the grass. Probably because she's allergic to the grass. Skitz hates the outdoors no matter where we are.

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  3. I do prefer grass to dirt but sometimes ya just gotta roll around in whatever is under your feet. Safe travels when you get under way & maybe the kids can figure out some shortcuts & tweak the Lance more to your liking. Kids are good for tweaking stuff. Nice sunset.

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  4. Good to see the rig is working out for you!

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  5. When I first hit the road I thought I would be doing quite a bit of boondocking, but it hasn't turned out that way. I tried looking into solar in Minnesota, but no one knew what I was talking about. As time has gone by, I realized that the boondocking that Al, and others do is just not going to happen for me. And I'm OK with that. Emma just loves grass to roll in! :)

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  6. I would guess you would have to do a fair amount of dry camping to justify the cost of the large capacity batteries and heavy duty solar arrays.

    Safe travels.

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  7. I hope you are feeling better.

    When I was crossing NM and AZ, my poor little dog couldn't even find a blade of grass to lift his leg. He was so funny, he had never been on anything but TX grass all his life. Then we got to snow in WA, that was hilarious!

    Lovely pictures, Happy Trails, Penny, TX

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  8. Have a good journey. I am typing this from my iPod. That is sure slow to do for me.the kids would probably do it a lot faster . LOL

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  9. Gypsy, there is a really good probability that your computer screen and or printer cannot even come close to the ability of your camera. My Canon 10meg pocket camera has nearly four times the resolution of my computer monitor and six times what my color printer can show. Your test will not be a test of the cameras but of the viewing medium.

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  10. Aren't the sunsets beautiful!
    Hope you have a good trip home, and your tail bone doesn't bother you.

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  11. From what I have seen you have to do a LOT of boon docking with NO electric for the cost of solar to be worth it, and then it will Never pay for itself. it will always just be a handy gadget that is really expensive to purchase.I think you will do just fine with the generator, that is my first choice for an occasional night way from the power grid and then recharging in the morning. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

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  12. Gypsy, the type of camera does have something to do with it, and yes, the viewing medium also. But for my money,especially for my money, a 5X7 print from film is no better than a 5X7 print from a digital camera and computer printer. Besides, as you say, there is the immediate gratification. We also have a digital SLR with viewfinder. Excelent combination! And remember, the first and most important piece of equipment is the photographer's eye, which you are doing a nice job with!

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  13. Dave is right. The sunset is beautiful. Stay safe.

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  14. This might be over now, as it was written in September, but there was a dog distemper outbreak in Quartzsite:
    http://rvingquartzsite.com/?p=397

    Happy Tails and Trails, Penny, TX

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