Back in Quartzsite!

We stopped in Blythe to do grocery shopping and then headed on to our place in Quartzsite. The power hadn't been turned on yet, so we spent the time opening up the house, getting the water and propane turned on, and unloading the Lazy Daze -- everything except the food in the refrigerator. The guy from APS showed up sometime between 2 and 3. By evening, the refrigerator was cold enough to transfer the food from the Lazy Daze into the house.

I don't know how often I'll be updating this blog while we're in Quartzsite for the winter. I'll try to check in from time to time to catch up on what we've been doing, but it won't be an everyday thing.

Miles driven: 100.1
GPS coordinates: N33 39.496 / W114 13.618

Mojave National Preserve

We left Death Valley and drove south, stopping in Baker for lunch at Denny's and to get gas for the Lazy Daze ($2.889/gallon). We looked for the Visitor's Center for the Mojave National Preserve, but found that it had been moved into the Preserve itself.

The Mojave National Preserve Visitor's Center is now housed in what was, at one time, the train depot in the small town of Kelso. We have never been in this Preserve before, but will definitely have to come back and do some exploring of the area.

After we left the Visitor's Center, we continued south, looking for a place where we could pull off the road to spend the night. We didn't find anyplace until we'd almost made it to I-40, but finally pulled off onto a short, paved, spur road and parked. We could see the Interstate, but were far enough away, that the noise didn't bother us...and we had a nice view of the surrounding countryside.

Miles driven: 223.5
GPS coordinates: N34 43.585 / W115 40.816

Death Valley National Park

We stopped in Tonopah to get gas for the Lazy Daze ($2.799/gallon) and then on to Death Valley National Park. Again, we are staying at Mesquite Spring Campground in the northern portion of the park (about 5 miles from Scotty's Castle)...it's higher in elevation (about 1,800') than the campground at Furnace Creek, thus it's cooler. The fact that it's been overcast with a nice breeze helps keep the temperature down, too.

The only problem with this visit was the group that moved into a site a few spaces down from us. As we were preparing for bed, their dogs started barking...and continued to bark for at least an hour until someone else who was fed up with the noise, pounded on their door and told them to "Shut those d*mn dogs up!" The dogs were immediately silenced, so it begs the question (since the owners were obviously there), WHY did they let them continue to bark nonstop? Maybe they're deaf???

Miles driven: 101.9
GPS coordinates: N36 57.743 / W117 22.243

Miller's Rest Stop

We had breakfast at the McDonald's in Yerington and then headed off to Miller's Rest Stop where we are spending the night.

Although we do not normally stay overnight in rest stops, this is our fourth stay at this particular one. It's about 10 miles west of Tonopah, Nevada on US-6. No semis are allow inside the rest area, and there is a separate section specifically for RVs where one can stay for up to 18 hours. There is also a dump and fresh water available.

Miles driven: 178.0
GPS coordinates: N38 08.480 / W117 27.382

Silver Lake Beach Campground

Before leaving Susanville, we picked up more canned puppy food for Maxx, and did grocery shopping at Safeway.

We were going to stay at the fairground in Fallon, Nevada tonight, but remembering that last year at just about this time, the fairground was full because of some event, I went online to find out what might be going on this weekend. Sure enough, there is a horse show of some type going on. So, instead, we decided to stay at Silver Lake Beach in the Lahonton State Recreation Area just south of Silver Springs. We've actually never driven US-95Alt before, so it was a new experience. This is a nice campground and it was quiet tonight, but I can imagine this is a real jumpin' place on summer weekends!

Miles driven: 136.2
GPS coordinates: N39 23.771 / W119 11.602

In doing some research online about Valley Fever, I ran across an article written by Suzanne Stack, D.V.M. about VF in Greyhounds (who, like Basenjis, are sighthounds...just bigger). Because dogs with VF loose weight (Maxx has gone from his normal 24-25 pounds down to just slightly over 21 pounds when he was weighed a few days ago), Dr. Stack recommends feeding a canned food with the most fat, protein, and calories you can find. While she specifically recommended Hills N/D cancer diet (at almost 600 calories per can), she says that canned puppy food is good, too, since it has a higher fat content than adult food.

So today we went on a search of Susanville for canned puppy food. Our first stop was Wal-Mart...adult canned dog food, but no puppy food. Same thing at Safeway where we had to do grocery shopping, anyway. So after coming back to the RV to unload groceries and have lunch, Earl looked up pet stores in the phone book and found a farm supply place just down the road from the RV park that carries dog food. And they did carry canned puppy food. We picked the Natural Choice Puppy Food since it had more fat in it than the Science Diet canned food.

Hopefully, Maxx will like this food and start putting on some weight!

Mountain View RV Park

We were going to spend today at Lava Beds to explore some of the caves that we didn't get a chance to see when we were here last year (and when it was much warmer). But we discovered a small leak in the water pump, and decided to leave and go on to Susanville so that we could get it fixed.

When we arrived and checked into Mountain View RV Park (where we stay each time we're in Susanville), the woman who checked us in gave us the name and phone number of a mobile tech who, fortunately, was able to come out right away. The problem turned out to be a bad "O" ring on the intake side which was quickly repaired.

Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

When we left Emigrant Lake Campground, we continued east on SR-66. This is just the kind of road I like...narrow, no shoulders, with a steep drop-off. And, of course, we were on the outside! Note to self: Next time we drive this road, come from the other direction!

We're spending the night at Indian Well Campground in the Lava Beds National Monument. Before arriving, we stopped at the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. Nice place...might be a good one to volunteer at, although we didn't see anyplace for RVs (but we didn't ask, either).

Miles driven: 103.7
GPS coordinates: N41 43.040 / W121 30.339