Slabs through Yuma back to Slabs

February 4 through February 14, 2006

Saturday February 4:

On net early, finished financial business and received tracking numbers on three of 4 camera related packages via email. The latest is due in Thursday. We will go into Algodones Wednesday for dentist and stay in Yuma Thursday for resupply, laundry and package pickup. I call the camera supplier for their tracking number, and find them closed Saturday, but open Sunday. We'll have to call tomorrow. We drove to the spring for a short soak before leaving around noon for the Slabs. A chap asked me to drop a crushed swimming pool chlorine tablet in the four corners of the pool like he had promised to do. The pool looks like it is overused and really needs the chlorine, so I am quite ready to do it....carefully, so none of the dust is inhaled or blown in my eyes. We stopped on the way at a rest stop on SR 111 north of Calipatria (N33.08245 W115.52177) for a leisurely shower, dump and water, and arrived at Slabs near 3PM, had dinner and finished dishes before dark when the music started. The tomato festival in town kept the crowd smaller than usual, but there were enough good performers to make it fun. Builder Bill has a fire started, although it has warmed SO MUCH in the two weeks since we've been here I don't think I need it for heat. Insane Wayne was here, and lived up to his moniker....but he is a REALLY good guitar man, and sings a large repertoire of original (at least to us) songs. They may not all be suitable for the kiddies, but there are no kiddies here tonight. :-)) Roger was a bit delayed at putting the steel guitar into action, but his excuse was good.....he was eating FREE FOOD! :-) He made up for being late by playing good! I have a good excuse for no pictures too....camera finally got too recalcitrant to use and the new one is not in yet. :-( It's a shame, as the show was a good one. We always marvel at the talent that shows up here.....and wonder if there really is more talent in southern California due to the movie industry nearby. We walk back to the RV several times for added refreshments, and Builder Bill renders his usual outstanding rendition of "16 tons" and Roger alternates between steel and bass guitar depending on the group. I chatted with Roger as the show neared the end, and offered to let him use my Power Blaster penetrant for a water pump change he and Bob were going to do on Sage's diesel truck tomorrow. Breakdowns are really not nice for RVers...and they are guaranteed to happen, are always costly, and always inconvenience! Don went on with the final karioke act and Builder Bill started tearing down the unused equipment. Roger went to help, and I went to rest my weary head on a pillow. Claire was ahead of me in bed, but not yet asleep. The dogs were extra vocal tonight...stimulated by the music perhaps? :-)

Sunday February 5:

This morning I'm up early for the net, but soon back in bed…the late hours took their toll. Around 9 I called the camera store in NYC to get the tracking number for my shipment…the man said I should call tomorrow and talk about my order. I asked what was wrong...he said they could not get my credit card company to authorize shipment to the UPS address I had given them.... :-(((( @#$%, this will delay the camera ANOTHER week. grrrrr!! I had called the credit card company a couple hours AFTER placing this order....it had been the first one I placed, and they had said NOTHING about calling the credit card company when they took the order. Newegg had warned that I would have to do that when I placed the order with them later. I recalled there was a charge against my credit card for the camera, went on line to get the exact name of the company, and called back again to be sure that charge was theirs...the company name did not match "ElectroDiscounts" who I had bought from. The customer service rep confirmed the charge was theirs, and said they had no trouble charging the card, just getting authorization to ship to that alternate address, and that someone would call me Monday..... I did not say anything about them not charging until they shipped...my understanding of the credit card rules. Oh well. At least we have not been defrauded...yet! I bike to Roger's slab, and find his trailer closed up, but find Ray up and active in the Rayhound. He takes the time to show me all the projects he has finished on the bus since last year...the solar panels, slide out tool box, generator compartment for the quiet Honda 2KW generator that powers the satellite terminal and his computers. The second deck has grown a bit to accommodate the solar panels, but construction materials ready for use indicate more work is going to take place. We discuss the weight...and he estimates it is above 30,000 pounds. This is a BEEFY vehicle, with Detroit diesel engine, and lots of strength...built to bus safety standards to withstand rollover, not just disintegrate in a pile of wood and fiberglass splinters like modern RVs. The luggage compartments provide PLENTY of storage, and Ray indicates he will convert to AGM batteries so he can store them underneath in the aluminum compartments without release of hydrogen gas or fumes to cause corrosion. Roger appears, I give him the Power Blaster, and soon return home to change the generator oil. This is a 100 hour oil change, with oil and air filter replacement that will take extra time. Claire decides to bike into Niland for the tomato festival while I finish the generator, and I'll join her later. By the time I'm finished with everything stowed, and start out, I meet her coming back. She says Niland no longer grows tomatoes, blaming Mexican imports for destroying the industry, but they still have the festival. Claire indicated the festival had little to interest her, and I decided to pass on the rest of the bicycle trip to town, and check how Roger was doing with the truck. Bob was under the hood when I met him, but the job was not going as well as expected. One of the special tools they had bought to do the job did not fit...even though they were for that engine. We spent time trying to figure out how to jury rig a tool, with no success. Finally it was time to relax...the job will get finished on "Slab time"....whenever it gets finished. Tomorrow they will drive to Calipatria and try to get the RIGHT tool. We watched the super bowl...rooting in vain for Seattle only because their quarterback Hasselbeck came from BC....we had seen him play at some games we had attended when the kids were there. The game is much less interesting when the home town team is not involved. We called the kids, spoke briefly with Matt and left Carol a message which she returned while I was on line finishing up the weekend business....Oh well, we all know we are all alive and well. :-) I'm ready for bed tonight. Too much lost sleep this weekend...but it was FUN! :-))

Monday February 6:

I'm up before dawn working on the log…it is nice and warm. Today we will go back to Holtville and a couple days soaking at the hot spring before the dentist on Wednesday. Biked to see Ray and Roger before we left, and were on our way before noon. Bob was going to get tools which actually FIT Sage's truck...we wish him luck! I left an invitation with Bob for Sage to go to Mexico with us Wednesday if she wanted to, and our cell number. We showered and dumped at the rest stop, and went on to soak at the hot spring before moving the 2 miles north of the LTVA for the night.

Tuesday February 7:

Tuesday mornings the hot spring pools get cleaned and are closed until about noon. I investigated installing the 2 meter ham rig….and came to the conclusion that I really did NOT want to install the 5/8th wave antenna near the center of the roof where I had planned. It is way too close to the FM radio antenna for my comfort. I occasionally use that radio and would not want to ruin it with excessive power from the transmitter antenna too close. I think that the only solution will be a vertical dipole OR coaxial antenna mounted on the passenger side mirror. I guess I must fabricate such an antenna, as I do not know of any made with flexible elements that can withstand collisions with limbs and bridges. Oh well....at least I looked, and Claire suggested I can return the screening and aluminum angle piece I bought to home depot. :-) We went for a short walk in the desert....the bees seem to have grown in number....

Some are quite busy...so there is nectar to be had here, even in this dry year that has few flowers visible. Beyond the BLM land there is an orchard left to dry and go dormant.

The afternoon is devoted to soaking....

and of course EVERYBODY showers before soaking... :-) The sun is below the western horizon when we arrive at our overnight parking place this evening.

Wednesday February 8:

Left camping area at 8AM for 11AM dentist appointment. We were parked at the Indian parking lot at the border just around 9AM, and took time for a quick shower before heading out. I wanted to be early, and hope to call the camera company for a UPS tracking number at the pay phone on the US side of the border. The pay phone is not a vendor I'm familiar with, but it takes the 800 number and the call goes through easily; the order shipped yesterday and the tracking number is available. JOY! :-) I have to get the root canal finished in the morning, then get the bridge prep done on the tooth, and impressions taken in the afternoon. The appointments are kept right on time, the work is completed as agreed. I am pleased that Dr Comacho does not use novocaine to grind the restored root canal tooth to take the bridge, and I feel no pain although the root canal numbness is gone. The new complete top bridge is fitted permanently, and feels good. We're on a roll! I must come back in an hour for the temporary on the restored bottom tooth, and I walk up the hill toward the end of the LONG line going back to the US....it is out of sight around the corner. Claire calls out to me from the line where she is waiting...and shows off her new Trifocal glasses. She had paid $110 for them WITH an optometrist's exam. She seemed happier with these glasses than with the progressive lenses she had gotten at home last time. She says they let her read much easier...but may require getting used to before driving in them. We discuss which Tequila she wants.....and with the name and price written down, I go off to buy it before returning to the dentist. No problem finding it this time! :-) The temporary tooth certainly solves the sharp edge that had been covered up by seaweed since the first root canal work. I can EAT again! We drive to the Pilot Knob free 14 day BLM area, miss the Sidewinder Road exit, and return to it by way of a U turn at Ogilby road....oh well, it has been a long day, now just a few minutes longer. This time we find the RIGHT road into this place...the 3 mile hard surfaced road that starts just south of the gas station, and lets us park a short distance off the hard surface where the road ends. We've avoided this place since struggling with soft sand on a dirt road further south 3 years ago.... We had not been back...until Claire spotted the paved road leading to a number of RV's parked just south of I-8...and we traced it to the gas station area. People had tried to describe that road to us, but we were not hearing due to our previous negative feelings about the sand road..... now we KNOW how to get here the RIGHT way. :-) Dinner is tuna salad with DELICIOUS Mexican "boat" rolls Claire had brought back. They taste a bit sweet, like Bahamian bread, but are crusty with the chewy texture of French bread. I can again enjoy eating chewy bread since the sharp tooth is fixed...and it sure is delicious dipped in Claire's browned garlic bits in warm olive oil. It's good I'm not going back to the dentist again TOMORROW...he would not be able to get close enough to work! :-) After dishes, I'm ready for bed....these long days at the dentist are quite fatiguing.

Thursday February 9:

I'm up early (5:10AM) to work on the log and other computer chores. I need info on paper from the computer, since today we do our Yuma business…shopping, fill fuel, do laundry, return stuff to Home Depot, and hopefully pick up 3 of our 4 camera packages at the UPS store (which we must know how to find), and see on line when the camera itself is coming in. We will start early to perhaps avoid the huge rush of our last day in Yuma, and can return here for the night if it gets late rather than drive all the way to Holtville. We shop Walmart, then I get email early, and find an invitation from Roger, the Slab's steel guitar player (and professional chef) to join him and friends for a formal black tie dinner at Rayhound's slab on Friday night. Although I cannot envision a formal dinner at the Slabs, Shrimp Bisque over flat noodles does appeal, and we quickly respond in the affirmative to Roger's gracious invitation, and immediately make plans to spend Friday night at the Slabs. We would have gone there for Saturday night music anyway.... :-) Next stop is UPS, only a couple blocks away, to pick up our three packages that are supposed to be here. It takes a while, but they are all finally located. We continue on to shop Fry's, where we find asparagus on sale, just the thing to make an asparagus salad to go with Roger's shrimp bisque. Then we do laundry and park where the free WiFi is useable. Roger does not reply with any needed goodies from Yuma, so when we stop at Sam's to fuel, I pick up a case of Fat Tire Amber Ale. I'm not familiar with it, but when the choice of darker beers is that or Michelob, I'll take a chance. I know Roger does not find our usual Corona too pleasing. :-) We depart Yuma before dark, again heading for the Sidewinder road BLM free 14 day area... This is a convenient stop overnight for Algodones and Yuma, and this time we get off at the right exit....JUST west of the border patrol check point on I-8 west. It is a bit closer than the VFW BLM area east of Yuma, is in the correct direction for heading west, and the road is good. The Fat Tire Ale I'd put in the freezer at Sam's is chilled by now, and we try it when we get parked....I like it, Claire prefers the Corona with lime, but then she does not like ale much at all. This stuff will do very well for us darker beer drinkers. :-) Later that night I try the new card reader that had come in....and Windows XP refuses to recognize it, says it is not working. :-((( Oh no, and the camera is coming in Wednesday with no way to read the card. I think a bit on this, and wonder if the reader really is USB 2 and 1.1 compatible. I thought all USB devices were backward compatible, but this one specifically says USB 2....with no reference to USB 1.1 or backward compatibility. I decide to try using my existing USB 2/1.1 reader as a hub for the new reader...but the combination draws too much power for the USB port on the computer, and they shut down. I am NOT a happy camper this night...another problem to solve and we're running out of time to get stuff shipped here before we want to go to San Diego when the dentist is finished in a week....

Friday February 10:

We depart Sidewinder road early, intending to get a few hours soaking at Holtville hot springs on the way to the Slabs, with time for a shower, dump, and water fill at the rest stop on the way to the slabs (after all, it IS a formal affair), hoping to get there noonish or a bit later. We run into Tom in the hot spring and pass on some melatonin herbal supplement that we hope might solve his sleeping problem....it works for Claire when hot milk fails. We leave around 11AM bound for the slabs, with a stop planned at the Holtville library to check our email. A small disaster struck in Holtville, when I got squeezed by a passing truck in the left lane and knocked the passenger side mirror on a parked truck on the right. The plastic mirror housing was not broken, but both curved mirrors popped out and hung by their wires.... :-((( There was a good WiFi net connection at the Library...extremely fast. Nothing new in email, but I looked for support on the card reader that windows would not recognize, tried Newegg real time chat support and found they could not answer my question about USB 1.1 support for the device, referring me to the manufacturers website instead. I tried there, found no reference, and finally sent their support an email. I looked for PCMCIA plug in cards with USB 2 interfaces, finding many online under $20. This may be what we need....the specs on that card reader expressly state USB 2 as the computer interface. Perhaps I can find one at Walmart and avoid the shipping delay? I try to push the mirrors back into position...the lower one catches in place easily, but the top refuses to do so. I go on the roof, still cannot figure out how it should go together, and remove the screws holding the mating piece to the housing. The push on connectors for the mirror heater appear to be frozen on their tabs so hard they threaten to pull out of the heater printed circuit board if the connection is broken there..... I finally cut the heater wires so the mirror can be brought inside. Time to figure out how to fix it later.....dinner will not wait! We move on to the rest area, shower, dump, and fill water, then stop at the Niland library to try to order a PCMCIA USB 2 interface from Newegg on line...the WiFi is encrypted, and the library is closed...HUH? Strange for a library, but I see reference to a required internet access agreement...so maybe they control their users? We'll never know as we do not have time to wait. We move on to the Slabs, where we find room to park just along side Ray's slab....and find Roger, Sage, and Bob busy preparing and cooking.

After Fat Tire's all around, I ask about the WiFi at the Niland library...Ray he says he'd heard it was down, and offers to let me use his satellite connection to try to order a PCMCA USB 2 interface card from Newegg. Newegg ships UPS second day, and if placed today the order might get there at the same time as the camera. I go on line and soon find a suitable interface for under $18 delivered, and place the order before 3PM California time. I'm hopeful it might still ship today as Newegg ships from California. I then find I'm relaxed enough to help with food preparation myself, and I'm soon peeling shrimp... Roger values the shells for the stock he'll boil out of them, and I apologize for spilling some of the shrimpy water onto my lap. I'll regret that even more later.... As Sage's black kitty William shows increased interest in me, I know I might be kinda improperly dressed for a formal affair. :-) Ray, Roxie, and Roger (not Chef Roger, or Steelman Roger...this is Airplane Roger) arrive ready for fun!

Roxie is on top of things, and comes to my rescue with a jeweled tie...

She really can't do much about my new found attractiveness to kitties.... William is a sweet kitty, but WHAT a waste of a good shower!! Bob disappears, and returns properly attired.

Roger is working like the pro he is....

As the sun drops toward the western horizon, he moves the stove under the shelter where lights can be attached. He just rolls with the newly empty propane tank on the stove, and waits patiently while another tank is located...

Who says chefs are ALL temperamental? :-) Sage disappears inside and mentions something about strawberry pie.....then shows a CASE of huge berries that are going into the pies. WOW! Vern volunteers to lick the beaters from the REAL WHIPPED CREAM Sage has made to top her pies.

Sage finishes in time to return and open wine to let it breathe a bit before dinner is served.

Roger is getting close, so salad is served buffet style. Here Alice, Vern and Claire chow down.

There is even fresh bread that Vern baked in his solar oven... It must have been good... Lila, Roger, Roxie and Ray have finished theirs by the time I get to them with the camera... :-)

Roger is ready to serve just as darkness is nearly complete....just a faint afterglow of the day remains on the western horizon.

He starts plating up the noodles and covering them with the creamy bisque topped with a pepper sauce and garnished with parsley. Soon more hands join in to help, assembly line style.

Dinner is served, and it is SCRUMPTIOUS ....unbelievably, there is plenty left for seconds...and thirds even, but I MUST save room for strawberry pie. :-) Sage celebrates her birthday with a single candle in a strawberry pie....

Happy 39th again Sage.... I'll not reveal how many times you celebrated that, though.... :-)) It's hard to believe....food fit for a king served in classic style...at the Slabs. Sage's old friend Dolores from the LOWS group (Loners On Wheels) here at the Slabs comes prepared to go first class...

She even has a REAL wine glass...and a TABLE to eat from! :-) Karen and Pete and their cute lap dog from the slab across the road are with us here too.

Builder Bill, who runs and performs at the Range music stage, and Robin had been out shopping all day, but returned in time for dinner.

It looks like dinner was enjoyed by all...that's my second plate on the table there half gone, and I'd better eat it quick while some strawberry pie's still left! Who'd believe it? Well, it really did happen, on Rayhound's Slab, today! Here Chef Roger cozies up to foxy Roxie ....

It's been a LONG day for Roger....and he sure earned a hug! He tasted so much while cooking he had no appetite left when it came time to sit down to a plate of his creation....such a shame! :-) There are 16 guests and Roger, Sage, and Bob have treated us like KINGS. I hope I didn't miss anyone...if so, "Sorry 'bout that"....but the strawberry pie wrote over all the other memories....it was just DELICIOUS! As usual in the desert, it cools dramatically soon after sunset, and the group drifted away to the warmth of their abodes. What a GREAT time. THANK YOU again Roger, Sage, Bob, and all the other contributors.... :-)))

Saturday February 11:

I was up early for net day, but after all the fun last night I'm ready to pack it in again as soon as the financial business is finished. There is a home built solar oven demo organized by Vern at 4PM, and Smiley is showing off his creation.

The oven part consists of two cardboard boxes sized so one will fit inside the other, painted flat black with tempera poster paint (all the paints and glues used should be non-toxic kiddie safe materials toavoid contaminating the food) to make it absorb the sun's heat better. Cardboard covered with aluminum foil, and fastened together with a fabric hinge and lacing makes a folding reflector.

The oven is covered with a tempered glass to allow the sun's heat in and trap it inside.

This view shows the back side of the reflector; alternate diagonals are glued with white paper glue, with a simple fabric hinge on one corner and the opposite corner laced to hold it open for use. Removing the laces allows folding flat for storage. Smiley demonstrated the rack he built to make angling the oven into the sun easy.

The top square piece comes off by removing the tilt hinging bolts, then the base folds flat aided by single screw hinges in the four corners at the bottom. Smiley distributed instructions for construction of an oven....

We aren't going to be here Thursday when the group will put these together....but perhaps next summer at home we can try. It would be interesting to try reflective aluminum foil between the two oven boxes to (maybe) keep more heat in the oven. Perhaps this complication is unnecessary, as the oven gets above 300 degrees in midday sun, and sure baked a beautiful loaf of bread that Vern brought to the dinner. We move to Area 22 near dusk, so we can walk cross the street to the Range. I finish the dishes just as the music starts, and walk over with our double chair as Claire chats on the phone with Reni in Florida. Insane Wayne is playing tonight, and Barbara and Jay are here too. This should be a goodie...but no Roger on steel? I'm concerned, as I did not see him outside his trailer all day Saturday. If he doesn't show up here to play his steel guitar, he's not feeling too well..... There are no volunteers for drums, so Jay and Barbara cut their show short. A group of singers who are good, but not familiar to us go on stage.

Mountain Molly is on the left, with her two friends singing and playing some sweet mountain music, with Barb and Don helping out with accompaniment on the right. My memory lost the names of two in the center....sorry! Builder Bill went on with Don and a good lady singer on the right accompanying...I don't know her name either, but we have enjoyed her vocals a lot in the past.

The music is good, but last evening takes its toll....we're just TIRED. We retire way too early, and miss some great performances...but there is only so much fun to be had in one day. :-)

Sunday February 12:

Net day today too….I was up early for that, but there is not as much to do as usual. Ray's generosity with the satellite internet made for LOTS less work today. I decided to fix the passenger side rear view mirror…we really need that. It took some study of the broken plastic parts, but I finally figured out how it went together originally. I used a nail to replace a missing plastic pin that had broken away from a plastic springy part that held the rotating cones together, and JB weld held the nail in place. I hoped I could get it together, and that it would hold and allow full adjustment of the mirror after the epoxy hardened. I walked back to Ray's slab to share the pictures I'd taken the previous day, and found Roger feeling unwell, but improving. Not much of a reward for that great dinner's head chef.... :-(( I found Ray on his second floor deck....looking out carefully for any attacking Indians.

That's not a radar or laser raygun mounted on the rail....it's Ray's satellite terminal that's providing high speed internet for the Slab. :-) Ray showed me the view from the second deck of the Rayhound...really neet! While I was marvelling at the view, Roger and Bob came in pulling Roger's new (to him) powered parachute airplane.

They had used Bob's car dolly to haul it from the other side of the Salton Sea, and it fit almost like the trailer was made for it. We cut short the stay on the deck to inspect the new arrival....it had a REAL miniature aircraft engine

It is two cycle, but has automatic oil injection and even a dual ignition. It was made by Rotex, with the Bombardier name on the block casting, so it appears to be the real thing. The engine develops 65 horsepower...no toy! Although no license is required to fly this aircraft, Roger does not intend to fly it until he gets lessons....a wise move in my mind :-) Although it only goes 30 mph, that is a high speed to hit the ground or a cactus with a human body, and it can go quite high above the ground....I recall terminal velocity for a falling object well exceeds 30 mph.... Some knowledge seems to be a good thing in this case.... Sage invited us to join the pot luck dinner on the slab tonight, and I told her I'd check with Claire...who was preparing dinner in the RV at area 22 as we spoke. Claire was ready for more socializing, so we moved the coach back to Ray's Slab for the night. Soon we hear the roar of an aircraft engine start nearby....and Roger with his wife Lila in the navigators seat pass by on the road, with the chute still furled.....ground test time for the new plane! :-)) Then it's Ray's turn in the navigators seat and they go out of sight on the road. I have enough time to coax my reluctant camera into taking a picture as they return....

Rogers beard flying in the wind (hope it doesn't grow long enough to get into the prop...he he ) and Ray in the navigator's seat pointing the way home..... This thing is a hoot! :-) It sure does move on the ground.... I wonder if some of the potholes could not get it airborne....YIKES. Roxie filled her camera card just as she tried to photograph the moon rising over the Chocolate Mountains....I had to fill in and grab her shot.

She was dismayed that she would have to delete pictures until she could take the card to a store to get it put on a CD. I was wondering if I could download her card with my reader, thinking the card was too new....then I remembered my new card reader....it might work on her newer computer with USB 2. The card fit...so we tried it. The reader was immediately recognized by windows, and the pictures were soon on her computer, the card erased, and I know my reader works with a USB 2 interface...whew, it's not dead out of the box! It's a relief to know that I have not bought something ELSE that is unusable.... and not worth the trouble of returning. :-) This turned out to be a win for all...my card reader is good, and Roxie can continue taking pictures. I'm happy she does it, as my camera requires MUCH too much coaxing to get it to agree to snap a picture...... We retire early again....it's a lot of fun here, but taxing to this geezer's body. :-)

Monday February 14:

I was up late, checked the net first, then put the mirror together before leaving Ray's Slab. It took a while…the cut wires needed to be soldered together, and sealed against weather before trying to get the mirror to snap into place. A bit of silicon grease on the plastic tabs eased the fitting, and it snapped in easily. :-)))) We dodged another expensive bullet....those mirrors are EXPENSIVE. After adjusting the mirror, it was after noon when we left. We stopped as usual at the rest stop to shower, dump, and fill water, then on to an end of day soak in the hot spring. We left Claire's "City Bar & Grill" T shirt and both pairs of shower shoes outside of the RV unnoticed when we drove away from hot spring. We were settled two miles away when Claire thought about them....and we left it go until morning. If they are gone then, too bad.

PLANS: Thursday we will pick up our packages in Yuma, do laundry, and get ready to leave this area. Friday I finish with the dentist. We may return to the Slabs this weekend, as there is no weekend Passport America campground in San Diego ....but then, San Diego, here we come. When we've seen the zoo, the sights from the point protecting the harbor, and any other things that interest us there, we will work our way to Las Vegas to meet Doris on March 1!

Until next time...

ENJOY... We are!