On the road with Jim and Pat: February 2009

Hello again from Yuma, AZ

Sunday afternoon February 15, 2009 (seventh travelogue of this trip)

It does not seem possible that we have been here over a month! We enjoy it here immensely! We have been having quite mixed days in terms of activities. I have had about equal parts of working on the bus, relaxing, and business. As noted last time, I saved up quite a few small bus projects and am at least half way through the list. In terms of relaxing, I have been spending quite a bit of time outside chatting or relaxing (you really want to enjoy the great weather). I even found time to read a great book (Chuck Yeager autobiography).

For work, I have written two articles under tight deadlines. One is for Plant Services (http://www.plantservices.com/) and the other is for Bus Conversion magazine (http://www.busconversions.com/). The former article is titled “V-belt maintenance in a Struggling Economy” and the latter is titled: “Bus to Trailer/Toad Wiring Conversion System Using Standard Relays”. Just to let you know, the word “toad” has been coined to describe a towed vehicle. I have also drafted a third article that may be published as a digital paper at Plant Services.

The Bus Conversion article came about because of one of my projects down here. It is a real challenge to convert bus wiring (separate brake and turn lights) to typical car/trailer wiring with combined brake and turn lights). I got tired of buying after-market units, only to have them fail after a year of so. I fabricated a system using four automotive relays (I use these same relays in our fire suppression systems).

Pat has been mostly relaxing. As we mentioned last time, we have been walking almost every day. We have both been sticking fairly close to our diet (Pat is much better than I am!).

The main reason we are here is to hang out in good weather. We can conduct business from here and not freeze to death {grin}. If you have been following this travelogue/blog, you know that we had several events in late December and early January. We then planned to hang out in good weather until the first week or second week of March. We had thought we would stay here for two to three weeks and then travel to the Death Valley area and then on to Bakersfield, CA for some races. That would add another 900 miles to the trip. Given the impact of the economy on our finances, we thought we would stay put here.

Ed and Stevi extended the initiation to stay with them, again this year. While their invitation was to stay as guests, we felt that we should help share the costs. That makes it fair for both of us. We just love it here and enjoy their company.

Speaking of the lot, I have attached a photo. You can see that it is far more than a “lot”. In addition to the full hook-ups for the RVs, it has a neat little casita. It also has some great landscaping. The casita has a small living room, and bathroom/utility room. While small, a person could live in it if you wanted to.

I have also posted a picture of the neat Triumph that Ed and Stevi have. It has a Ford engine and really rocks. Ed had just given Pat a ride.

This week Ed and Stevi are house sitting in Prescott, AZ. We are kind of watching the place while they are gone.

This is a desert area, but we had a heck of a rainstorm last week. Ed said it was at least a ½ inch, but I would bet it was closer to 1 inch. This is causing the desert to bloom. Yesterday, we drove out to look at the beautiful flower. We will take a picture or two in the next couple of days and post them.

That is all of now.