Barstow, CA
Odometer 37214
Trip meter 230
Shady Lane RV Camp
We got set up in this park and un hooked the car to head into town to buy groceries. The office gave us a map to Food 4 Less and we were successful finding it in a dark so complete we had trouble reading the street signs. To our astonishment, the food prices were excellent, and there was a great selection of fresh vegetables. We stocked up.
Back at the motorhome, we unloaded our groceries and started thinking about dinner. We had plugged in the electrical before we left, only to find out our electrical outlets still were without power. Joan started dinner on the gas stove while Jeff started dismantling the electrical distribution equipment trying to locate the problem. One thing that had always puzzled me is why are there two separate breaker panels, side by side, under the bed? It took me taking the covers off everything to finally realize the why. The main (larger of the two) panels is for the main appliances; air conditioners, electric water heater, clothes washer, etc. The second, smaller one controls the outlets, the refrigerator (when set to electric only mode), and the outlet the microwave is plugged into. And the reason for the separation, is that the smaller panel is powered through the inverter, which allows you to operate these items off the coach batteries when you aren't plugged into shore power.
What we had done was to overload the circuits in this panel, which tripped the breaker on the inverter down in the electrical bay. Even when we are plugged into the park's power supply, the electricity passes through the inverter, and when we drew more than 20 amps it tripped the small push-button breaker built into the inverter. A push of a button got us up and running again!
The morning dawned bright an clear, nothing frozen. After breakfast Jeff worked on the blog post and Joan proofed it and got it published- I'm caught up finally!
We got rigged for travel and left the park at about 10:20.
The photos aren't that great, but the car in the foreground has a machine gun turret on it and the mini car to the right is a half-track. Wish we could have seen these up close, but they were behind a 6' tall chain link fence.
Rolling down through Barstow in the daylight it looked to be a totally nice little town- if it were warmer we'd have stayed another night and done some exploring.
Cruising down Interstate 40, we had some discussion about a destination for today. We have been to the Fountain of Youth RV Resort on the east bank of the Salton Sea before, and they have these awesome pools and spas flowing with water from a nearby hot springs. With the cold that is gripping this area currently- we were fantasizing about a warm soak in the pools. A quick check on the Internet brought up their daily rates for the winter season- a lofty $40/ night!
We shifted our sights to the Moon River RV Resort in Mohave Valley, AZ, where we have also stayed before. Their rate is $24 a night on our Passport America discount- no hot soak tonight, but it's much closer and we'll be drinking margaritas by 4:30.
We pulled off the Interstate for lunch at a high prominence that gave us great views.
The rest of the trip to Needles and then north to Fort Mohave, AZ (spelled direrently than the Mojave, CA of last nite) was uneventful.
Small world, the host here at the RV park last worked at Ocean Shores near Charleston on the Oregon Coast!
We are watching the weather- much as I expect the rest of you are- and it looks like there is no escape from the next wave of cold. The forecast says possible snow on the ground in most of northern Arizona. The good news is that it is supposed to be brief and even though next week will be cool, the skies will be sunny, and the lows are above freezing.
We hope that by spending Saturday here in Mohave, we will miss most of the nasty stuff coming from the north (rain- maybe some snow?) and by Sunday morning we should be able to travel in sunshine the rest of the way to Ajo.
Your Traveling Friends
Jeff and Joan
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