Friday, January 9, 2015

Corvairs and Cacti

Odometer 43585
Trip meter 0

January 2, 2015
Ajo, AZ


I have been very busy getting ready for a training session that I will be presenting in early January, and the blog has suffered for that.  I am really excited to be part of the training cadre for D2000 Safety based in Eugene, Oregon.  D2000 offers training on a range of topics including scaffolding, confined space safety, excavation safety, fall protection, high and low angle rescue, to mention a few.




We have been noticing that whenever there is even a slight rain we get a few trickles of water on the inside of our windshield- nothing major, but I have had this on my list since before we left Port Orford, and today is my day to look into it.  The first thing anyone with a motorhome considers when a leak appears up front- is the clearance lights.
Out came the ladder and the screwdriver.

Two years ago when we were ready to launch across country- I really debated whether hauling a good versitile ladder with us was a good weight/ space decision.  At that time I opted for a very cheap- lightweight 6 foot stepladder.  Big mistake!  I know ladder safety, and I was always in a position of needing to be higher on the ladder than was safe (including the very top).  I vowed that when we got back to my stored equipment in Oregon, that the Little Giant ladder was going to go in the basement storage bin and the cheapo ladder was going into a dumpster.  It's heavy and it takes up space, but when I need a good sturdy 8 foot stepladder or a 17' extension ladder- I've got it.  No regrets.


The lenses pop off to expose two screws which hold the light base to the fiberglass.  The bulbs are a wedge base and simply pull out from the front, so there is no reason that the base can't be caulked to the fiberglass- but as you can see- it never happened.  My on-board supply of caulking had dried to a clay-like consistency, so a quick trip to the grocery/hardware store netted me some fresh caulking, and after a little cleaning of the two surfaces the job took about 15 minutes.  Next rain we get we can tell if the lights were the only leak, or if the windshield is leaking also.


On our latest walk-about town, I decided to take some photos to share with my readers, to give you a sense of the ecclectic nature of this small town.  REB Supply next door to the RV park has this brace of 60's Corvairs parked out front, and yes they are for sale.  REB is a store that would be best described as an outdoors store, with some camping gear, guns, ammunition, but a lot of interesting and non-related stuff too- new and used.  Fun place to shop.


Walking through Ajo's downtown plaza the other day we spotted what looked like a Subaru that had been pulled too fast down the freeway and lost it's exterior skin somewhere down the road.  Someone has turned this into a desert explorer that they tow behind their motorhome- looks like fun!


We also found a saddle tree in the heart of town.  I have to admit I never knew where saddles came from.


Our next door neighbor, Twila, keeps forgetting to feed her dog, poor thing used to be skin and bones.  Good little retriever though.


Down on second and Palm streets there is a house with an Organ Pipe cactus in the front yard that has a crest in it.  These cristate cacti are very rare and are thought to develop laterally at the apex when there is a zinc deficiency in the soil.  We have several pictures of cristate Saguaro cacti but a cristate Organ Pipe is very rare- and right here in town!


Ah! speaking of cristate saguaros, here is one Mark found  years ago.  It's about 13 miles out Pipeline road.  He showed it to Joan and me right before Christmas.


Joan and I have been volunteering at a local thrift store that is located in the Ajo Plaza in old downtown.  This store's proceeds go towards the maintenance and up-keep on the plaza, which was built by the mine in 1917.  So far the plaza still looks amazing, so we think this is worthwhile.  We are there mostly to clean, organize and restock the shelves with "new" merchandise.  This is a "before" picture- I'll take an after picture in the next few weeks.

This is the sidewalk outside the thrift store, during the "2nd Saturday" craft fair and grower's market.


Your Traveling Friends

Joan and Jeff



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