Nobody planned it this way, but here we have a Ford Transit 150, 250, and 350, all in a row — low roof, mid roof, and high roof. I am amused.
I’ve had no big adventures lately, just random happenings in and around camp. Here are a few of those short stories.
Kris has joined us (she’s in the midsize Transit between me and Dalane), and Wayne rolled in last night. We have a pretty good crew of new people and old-timers. It’s weird to put myself in the latter category, but at this point, it’s true, when it comes to spending winters in Quartzsite and time on the road in general. I’ve enjoyed hosting a few campfires, but I suspect we’ll be moving to Dalane’s spot from here on because she rebuilt a much nicer fire pit than mine. The rocks were all there, left over from when Yellow Wolf built it last year.
This amazing Sprinter camped with us for a few nights, then took off this morning. It’s named VanGo, appropriately, and its new owner is VanGoBabe. She wandered off this morning, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing her around town. It’s not like you can miss her.
The solar panel saga continues. Thanks to Rich Solar not shipping the replacement until Wednesday, it arrived at my mail forwarder after they closed on Friday, meaning I have to keep using my generator through the weekend until I can pick it up today. That’ll be almost two weeks since I discovered that the 250-watt panel I ordered wouldn’t work with my charger, even though the info on the website and the panel itself said it would.
I went to ship that panel back the other day, and was quoted a shipping cost equal to the cost of the panel itself! No wonder Rich Solar doesn’t want to pay for it. But that makes it even more unfair of them to dump that cost onto me when I’m only returning it because of their error. So I’ve put it up for sale locally. I’m hoping someone in Quartzsite can use it. If not, I can return it directly to their warehouse in a couple of weeks.
The reason for that is I’ve been invited to attend the press launch for the 2024 Kawasaki KLX300 and cover it for ADVRider! It’s taking place in Murrieta, California, about three hours west of Quartzsite. I’ll head there, then continue to Los Angeles, only an hour beyond, to visit my friends there and ride more motorcycles. I’m unsure how long I’ll stay, or whether I’ll return to Quartzsite or head to Imperial Dam afterward.
Rich Solar’s warehouse is in Ontario, California, so since I already have a return authorization, if I don’t sell the 250-watt panel before then I’ll just bring it to the warehouse while I’m passing through and skip the shipping cost. I absolutely should not have to do this, but because I’ll be passing through anyway, I will.
This is my friend Murph. An interview with him and a tour of his amazing skoolie just dropped on Cheap RV Living. I met him and his daughter, Willow (who I camped with in Butte, Montana this past summer), soon after arriving in Quartzsite for the first time two years ago. He’s a great example of the kinds of people I meet out here, their stories, and how they came to live this way. Everyone’s story is unique, but getting sick of the rat race and spending more time living than working for someone else is a common theme among them, and Murph is no different.
Smokey Da Van 