Off To Winter Snowbird Quarters

FINALLY! I was beginning to wonder if we were going to get everything done in time to leave Utah which has turned quite cold. It has been a long expensive summer with having to replace the fuel pump, alternator, and battery in one car, the fuel pump in my SUV, parts on the RV air conditioner, the trailer main power cord, and the trailer batteries. On top of all that, I lost my telecommuting job. This has been a very hard year and I see no sign of the recession getting any better either. At least we can have a warm winter back in Blythe, CA again. We did manage to pare down the storage unit with sales at the local flea market and move my brother’s stuff into a smaller and cheaper unit. Got rid of some other bills too.

Coming down was very nice since we did not even try to caravan. I got to drive alone like in the old days, listen to MY music as loud as I liked, and stop when I was ready for gasoline and lunch. Cell phones let us keep track of each other at stops. We spent one night in Mesquite, NV at the Oasis RV Park. Like any casino campground, it is a glorified parking lot but it was certainly adequate with spaces long enough to pull through and stay hitched up as well as full utilities. Unfortunately, the Oasis Casino closed 3 years ago so no fun there and we had to walk down the street to the Casablanca Casino to register for the RV park. I saw several RVs and big rigs parked across the street in the now empty Oasis parking lot for a free night of boondocking. Me, I like electricity and air conditioning too much.

The next day we drove on down to Blythe via US95. It was certainly an interesting drive through Las Vegas and then the desert on a two-lane road. At one point the speed limit dropped to 5 MPH and a sign showed a turn. They are not kidding! The road just ended and you have to make a sharp left turn onto the freeway there. Glad we didn’t hit that at night!

When we arrived in Blythe, it was 95 degrees and we had friends from last year already waiting for us in the county park. It’s good to be home (winter home) again. We seem to have come a week or two early. Not too many other snowbirds have returned yet and it is hot but that will all change very soon. We got a very large corner space right behind our friends who had home-made apple pie ready and waiting. With our chairs setup together in the shade behind their 5th wheel, we are happily enjoying watching all the birds here in the tree across the road and the gopher tossing dirt out of his hole below.

The big question on everyone’s mind seems to be whether or not the one trouble-maker will be back this year. He had said he wouldn’t be but people are creatures of habit so anything is possible. We all have our fingers crossed for a trouble-free stay this year.