So, the first thing we did when we left was to empty our holding tanks, and fill with fresh water.
We got to the dump station, and there was a bit of a lineup, but not bad.
Sherman, third in line to use the dump station.
Now, I have a bone to pick with some of you RVers out there.
When there is nobody waiting, you can take all the time you please to putter around at the dump station. But when there are people waiting, what is it exactly that you're doing that takes you so damn long to empty your tanks??!!
It should take you no more than 3 minutes. Attach the hose, pull the leaver, wait 15 or 30 seconds for it to drain, shut the leaver, pull the other leaver, wait another 15 or 30 seconds, shut the leaver, put your hose away, and get back in your vehicle. How can that possibly be more than a 3 minute job?
But I'm watching these people, and it takes more than half of them what seems like forever! By the time we pulled out, there were seventeen rigs waiting in the lineup. Glad we beat the rush.
Back on the road.
Not much in the way of scenery on the highway from Quartzsite to Yuma.
92.5 miles (148 kms) by the time we got parked up at Pilot Knob LTVA.
As we entered Yuma, we were a bit surprised by the landscape. A lot of fruit and vegetable farms. Lettuce, cucumbers, cabbage...all kinds of stuff. And someone had mentioned that we should stop by one of the farm stalls, so we did.
And, we were pleasantly surprised by the prices!
So much so, that we have to recommend this one particular place. Gonzalez Produce, at GPS 32.69934 -114.49638 has a great selection of good produce, and most of it was at prices cheaper than the grocery store.
The only things we found overpriced were cantaloupe ($3.00) and small watermelon ($4.00).
Gonzalez Produce
Almost like Mexico. Almost.
Apples for a buck a pound? Great price!
Our purchases, for $10.90 ($13.00 CDN).
From there, it was off to Walmart. A few more items to cross off our wish list. First, was our Mr. Heater Buddy. Been wanting one of these for a long time. So we had bought the propane hose and adapter the other day. Not all Walmarts have the heater in stock, and we got the very last one in this particular store.
Here is the one we bought...
However, it is only $79.99 at Walmart! Sometimes Amazon has the best price, but sometimes you have to shop around. :-)
Also bought a nice rechargeable LED worklight for $14.99.
And, now that Ruth has a rideable bicycle I needed to get a new front tire and tube for my bike. But my bike has an oddball size of tire and I wasn't surprised that Walmart didn't have it in stock. So I looked up a bike shop that was along our route and went to get it there. I also wasn't surprised by the price. The tire was $29.95, and the "thorn resistant" tube was $14.95. Yikes. Just spent more money on my new tire and tube than we did on Ruth's used bike!
Made our way to the Pilot Knob LTVA, which is just across the California border, and only a mile and a half (2 kms) from the Mexico border. It's not ideal, because it's fairly close to the highway, and a fairly well used train track.
But, we're here because we can ride our bikes from here to the border at Algodones, Mexico and get Ruth's crown done on the tooth that had a root canal in Mazatlan last month. So, it's convenient.
We always manage to find a spot well away from everyone else.
Not as busy as I thought it would be.
Sherman knows he is the coolest motorhome ever!
So, today...we're off to Mexico! Not the real Mexico, just border town Mexico. Should be interesting anyhow.
Ruth good luck at the dentist. Will be leaving here Thursday or Friday, maybe we will catch up to you guys soon.
ReplyDeleteDentist went sorta well. The temporary crown he put on came off within a few hours sure hope the final crown stays on better than that!
DeleteWe will still be here at Pilot Knob on Friday at least because that is the day that I go back for the final crown. Not sure yet what our plans for Saturday are.
Good luck at the dentist. We visited Los Algodones last week - but not for dental work, just to look around. I find it interesting that Yuma produces so many vegetables in the desert.
ReplyDeleteThank you Donna!
DeleteWe were surprised about seeing all the agriculture here as well! The prices aren't as good as what we see further down in Mexico but it sure beats most of the grocery store prices and the produces looks so much fresher.
We were just at the Q and had fun visiting the vendors, RV show and taking in a few seminars. We didn't stay on BLM LTVA with the water and dumping but may do so next year. We just left once our tanks were full. My husband is having a root canal and crown done this morning in Algodones by Dr. Sonia. Who are you seeing?
ReplyDeleteNot sure yet, because we haven't made an appointment. We're trying for either Dr. Eva Urena, or Dr. Elana Rodriguez.
DeleteHave heard from two people that they liked their work done by Dr Eva Urena. Can't speak to it firsthand as haven't had any work done.
DeleteOur first choice was Dr. Eva Urena but unfortunately she was too busy to take us but we were able to get into our second choice Dr. Elana Rodriguez, although it wasn't her that worked on my crown but either a son, brother or other relative.
DeleteGood luck with the dental work.
ReplyDeleteThanks Croft! The temporary crown didn't last long so I am hoping the final crown on Friday stays put! :-)
DeleteNeat that you can bike to Mexico. Good luck with the dental work.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the bike ride didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped it would.
DeleteI once was behind a guy at the dump station that dumped and flushed his black tank 10 times. He insisted that was the "Proper" way to dump. Then he flushed his sewer hose for another five minutes. If I didn't have to dump tanks so badly, I would have moved on. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteYep, that is what Kevin was getting at with this post, if there is a long line up then speed things up a little so that you don't hold others up. 10 times is excessive, it is fine to do that when others aren't waiting. We will take our time and rinse things out better when we know that there isn't a line up. There are some people that just won't think of others.
DeleteGreat last shot of your RV.
ReplyDeletewe hiked to the top of Pilot Knob while in Yuma, not much of a trail going up but you can see Algondonez from the top... great shrimp tacos at Lupitas there
ReplyDeleteWe plan on hiking up there is morning.
DeleteWe missed the shrimp tacos at Lupitas so we will keep our eyes open for them on Friday when we head back.
Perhaps you have been away from the normal RV American culture too long. I could never dump in three minutes, even though I am very conscious of trying to hurry when others are waiting. I also do a couple of steps you did not mention including washing out my dump hose when I am finished and cleaning the concrete area around the dump station with the water hose before I depart. I don't want to find anyone's toilet paper and such when I pull up, I don't want people behind me to have to see mine. Also, you might want to consider that not everyone is as young and flexible as you. (Us older folks take some time just trying to bend over and flex our knees without falling into the dump station. ) PS. Thanks for posting as frequently as you do. I check your site every day and enjoy your photos and writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about younger people being more flexible and move faster, as an older person I have experienced being young, problem is young people have never experienced being OLD, and complain about things they don't understand. Also, older people are usually on limited income and choose the more economical places . I am not in any hurry to get anywhere as most of the older people, people in a hurry to get anywhere should not expect everybody to hurry to please them.
DeleteBeing older and handicapped, it takes me more then 3 minutes to get from the driver's seat to the dump valves, that being said, I tend to pick times when dump stations are not busy so I don't get frustrated waiting. Most places that charge for dumping don't usually have waiting lines either.
Mickey
Hi Gene. You're right, I purposely did not mention those two extra steps because although I know that some RV'ers perform them, they're not normally necessary. The sewer hose gets well rinsed by the grey water flowing through it. It really shouldn't need to be rinsed again. And I simply don't understand how the concrete area around the dump hole would get dirty enough to need to be purposely rinsed when you're done. The end of the sewer hose fits securely into the dump hole. I guess there can be accidents, but under normal circumstances I've never seen the necessity of doing those extra two steps.
DeleteAs for being older, I guess that can take up an extra 30 seconds or maybe a minute. As for being handicapped, of course that's an exception. But from the people I was watching, they neither looked old nor handicapped. They just seemed to not care. And I suppose that's a lot of people too.
We watched one guy get in his rig, and it was another two or three minutes before he left. What was he doing? Making a sandwich for the road?
You need some compassion for the older folks!!!
ReplyDeleteNowhere did I mention "older folks"!
DeleteI really like that pic of Sherman---he has his own little aura about him! Dump station visits may take a bit longer with modern rigs because the tanks are larger; they often have three tanks; and the third (galley) tank usually has only a 1½-inch line, so it drains more slowly. Plus their owners are OLD ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Dugg, we really like that picture too! :-)
DeleteI guess because we have only had Sheman, we aren't aware of how some of these other units work but still can it really take 10 minutes or more?! Two other units went through while one other one was still there, just not sure what he was doing all that time!
I have three tanks so I will try a "Kevin & Ruth Speed Dump" next time and time it!
DeleteI will be curious to see how it goes! Kevin only empties like this when there is a line up otherwise he will take a little more time and rinse the tanks out some.
DeleteHa! I was hoping someone would try this and time it! Just pretend you're in a Nascar race and you're in charge of the pit stop!
DeleteP.S. Never dump/fill at Quartzsite in January. That is why God invented the Imperial Dam LTVA!
ReplyDeleteWe know that now but this is our first time having to deal with Quartzsite, plus the fact that it was just over a week since we last dumped and we knew that we were staying at Pilot Knob LTVA and that they don't have a dump station. We will keep this information tucked away for the next time.
DeleteSure wish we could have visited today but maybe sometime. Hope you were able to get into a dentist this afternoon and get that tooth taken care of.
ReplyDeleteWe wish we could have too but that dentist appointment sort of messed things up. We have to head back to the dentist to get the final crown put on on Friday but everything looks good for that.
DeleteI too am getting older, older people have a tendency to piddle around. I hate making others wait because of me.
ReplyDeleteThe ones that seemed to take the longest weren't "old" people but it did certainly seem like most people weren't in any rush. I guess we just like to think about others that are waiting in line so that we aren't holding everyone up because of "our routine". When there is a line up we just don't do all the steps that we might normally do if there wasn't a line up. Doing that every once in a while isn't going to do damage to the tanks or the hose.
DeleteWow, you must have an awesome gravity feed on your holding tanks, I think I'm lucky if mine drains in 10 minutes and I hear it just gushing down the hose! Great shot with the clouds, reminds me of the Arizona flag!
ReplyDeleteI guess we must then or we just don't wait for every last drip to come out. We have never had a problem with our tanks so we must we doing it right.
DeleteWe love this picture, Kevin really picked the perfect time to take it.
I understand your frustration you feel waiting to dump, but please consider that some are not as young and healthy as you. It takes John a while due to difficulty breathing. Everything he does is a task and takes rest. He even needs to rest while standing and doing dishes. I help as much as his ego will allow. lol.....Just wanted to share another view. OH! he was able to dump faster than one fellow in our area yesterday.....hehehe
ReplyDeleteWe totally understand that not everyone is as young as us or as able as us but not all the people going to the dump station are "old" We understand that not everyone can do it as quick as Kevin and some were relatively quick but there were a few that took more than 10 minutes each. As I mentioned further up in the comments, when there is a huge line up then perhaps people should not be as thorough with their rinsing and do it the next time when there isn't a line up, that is what we do so that we aren't holding up others behind us. We just think this is being considerate to your neighbor, nobody wants to spend half the day in the dump station line up. See even John is faster than some, so what was that guy doing that took him so long?! Thanks for you view Nan, we do appreciate it.
DeleteWe have seen the dump station line 38 rigs there and one time sat behind a fellow for 20 minutes while he dumped his tanks?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Pilot Knob and Algodones, use both the BLM and the Pilot knob resort for no overnight fees.
See, to us that is just being inconsiderate to his fellow RVer's. What was he doing that could possibly take 20 mins?!
DeleteSome people think they are the only ones in the world. Drives us nuts!
ReplyDeleteWe are going to hit Gonzalez Produce before we leave here on Saturday.
Sherman is one special RV...just look how the sky lights up around him....hehe
I guess that is what it is! We just like to be as considerate as we can when there is a huge line up and try to be as quick as we can. When there is no line up, then we will take more time and do the extra rinsing.
DeleteGlad you are going to stop by Gonzalez Produce we were definitely happy with the prices and the produce itself. Had some of the green beans last night and they were delicious!
Yep, Sherman is pretty special.:-)
My husband and I have been behind some Beyond Slooow people too. I like to wash my hose out too and make it all clean and freash but not if others are waiting their turn. I love to shop at the farmers markets. Getting the freshest produce, I swear, makes it taste even better.
ReplyDeleteSherman looks wonderful in the photo. :)
We would normally rinse out our hose too but if we know that there is a big line up behind us then we figure the grey water cleans the hose out good enough and will just leave it until the next time so that we aren't holding up the line.
DeleteWe liked this farmer's market stall but we still find the Mexican markets the BEST!