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Wow, I should be seeing water opening up on the lake... not happening! We’ll actually be making ice the next few days. Cold front? How bout lows in the teens... mid April!!! I’m heading out of here Saturday... I know it’s Easter this weekend... but I need to get back where it’s warmer... even if just a little...
 
I remember spring breakup from the 1970s when I lived in Anchorage AK.
 
My Gazelle screen room just made it through two winter seasons in Quartzsite. But on this last day the roof fabric is failing due to sun rot. The strong wind is a creating some tears in the fabric panel over the entry door. While I have the skill to sew a replacement roof it is simply not something I want to spend time on. The structure did serve it's intended purpose as my temporary work room with storage while I was working on my build. It is not just the wind in Quartzsite that is hard on tents, sun damage is also a significant issue. I will be fine this summer with the use of shade cloth as I have made a number of panels of it custom sized to attach to my trailer.

Getting close to finishing the interior trim in my trailer but need to put up the headliner. Not an easy one person job as it needs contact cement to install it. One of those jobs better done with a partner but some sections I can do solo. Not in a hurry to get it done, it will most likely happen sometime this summer or fall. Not that a build is ever truly finished because our needs often change over time.
 
Maki2, re: the headliner.

I once saw a guy doing something like that.

He had acquired what looked like two 2-piece shower bars (for the curtain), maybe 1.25 or 1.5" diameter. He was installing thin, flexible panels on the curved ceiling. He said they were handy, because there was an adjustable spring inside (twirl it like a giant screw), then push the inner tube against the spring , put in place, then let it expand to hold the panel. He was using screws to hold the panel against (I think) curved 3/4" ribs.

I hope this makes sense -- it's been 20+ years.😁
 
It won't work for me. He was putting up paneling attached to structure. I am putting up soft marine vinyl that is sold by the yard from a specialty company. I have a molded fiberglass trailer, not a van. The back of the vinyl gets contact cement rolled into it as does the Landau foam insulation. That insulation has already been adhered to the inside surface of the fiberglass roof shell. Lots of curves and nothing to screw or staple it to.
 
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The fabric top on my screen room has started tearing apart from sun rot, meaning UV damage. RIP. At least I go 2 years use out of it but I will miss having it. No a problem as I have lots of shade cloth to hang off the sides of my trailer.

Almost packed up and ready to head to northern Arizona. Short drive this evening to free camping at a casino that is on the River.
 
The fabric top on my screen room has started tearing apart from sun rot, meaning UV damage. RIP. At least I go 2 years use out of it but I will miss having it. No a problem as I have lots of shade cloth to hang off the sides of my trailer.

Almost packed up and ready to head to northern Arizona. Short drive this evening to free camping at a casino that is on the River.
Did you here about that big fire N of Flagstaff? It's apparently moving away from town but be careful!

Cheers!
 
thanks for the heads up. I did not know about that fire. Of course it is already fire season in the Southwest with warnings about fire danger now showing up in the weather reports. Lots of wind around but not yet monsoon season with it's lightning strikes.

I moved north to Lake Havasu today. A little cooler than Quartzsite but still breezy. I will move to a different campsite tomorrow, noisy neighbor stuck in the 80s for his music and playing it loud enough so that it so everyone in the vicinity hears it non stop. Also an 80s thing to do.
 
There is a second smaller fire around Prescott about 2,000 acres I believe. They predict it will be controlled by the first week in May as it is smaller. Highway 89A is closed north of Flagstaff because of the larger “Tunnel Fire” but you can go either way on I 40 to get around it if necessary although it will take several hours more.
 
Several days in a row of strong winds ahead in Northern AZ means both fires will spread rapidly the next 3 days. The monsoon rains do not arrive until July. I hope the NFS camping does not get another state wide shutdown like last summer. That was the first time that type of shutdown of camping has happened so hopefully there will not be a repeat this year.
 
Utah is still mild but windy, we have only had a couple days in the 80’s.
 
Quiet here today, the wind has most of the people indoors or off to town. I am just going to get a few pieces of trim installed along the countertop. One of these years I will remove my temporary countertop plywood pieces and put in new ones which I will cover with laminate. Might get it done this summer if I find some laminate material at the Habitat for Humanity store in Flagstaff AZ. Those specialty thrift stores are a good source for shorter lengths of laminates leftover from projects in sticks and bricks.
 
Arizona is gonna be HOT next week.......>100*.......We're waiting for Paulette's Drivers License to arrive in our Quartzsite mailbox..........(No Real ID available........DMV couldn't verify/domicile the address)

We're near the Parker Strip....right on the Colorado River....a California primitive campground with a vault toilet

Sites are $5 a nite and they honor any Access Pass for HALF-PRICE !...........a little "signal" for the internet

I spend my afternoons soaking in the River on my inner tubeIMG_5934.JPG
 
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Still high wind advisory with 60mph gusts. While driving to this spot I saw downed trees and a few houses with shingles tore off. I found this state park camp site that sits in a lower bowl area that’s protected from the winds. It’s so calm here you wouldn’t know there is a wind storm.

Not a epic spot but it sure checks a lot of boxes.
70DBC3FE-F261-4A0E-AE45-2BB911BE9B4B.jpeg
 
This is a sticks and bricks story, hope that’s OK (I promise not to make a habit of it). So the apartments in my complex face onto a courtyard with a couple of trees. Most days, a paraplegic guy and his caretaker sit out and enjoy the sun for a couple of hours, accompanied by two small dogs and a bird in a cage. Aside from “hi, howzit going” we don’t talk much b/c he has a really hard time talking (and I have a really hard time deciphering what he says), but we smile and make eye contact.

A few days ago I saw the caretaker putting a birdhouse high up in the tree. When I walked by a few minutes later, the gentleman in the wheelchair was alone and more chatty than usual. He kept saying something that sounded like “…ow…” and I kept cheerfully saying “birdhouse, cool, right!” Haha idiot. Later the caretaker explained: they had discovered a baby owl living in the tree.

I feel bad that I tend to avoid chatting with him for any length of time because I can’t understand what he says … and I know how much I hate it if someone asks me to repeat myself multiple times. You must have to have an awful lot of patience, including with your fellow well-meaning humanoids’ awkwardness, to survive as a paraplegic.

Turns out there is in fact an owl. I never in 100 years would have seen it on my own. When I’m counting my blessings I definitely count this cute little courtyard!

PS I'm still not sure if they're hoping the owl will move into the birdhouse or just wanted to provide a good roost for other birds. There's a ton of birds here.
 
Ask his caregiver how best to communicate with him, now that you seem to have a bit of a common interest. It won't take much time from you and may make a world of difference to him. It maybe would be a picture book of local birds to flip through.....
 
Well, they have already made a world of difference to me. Their daily outings have made me see what a magical space that little courtyard really is.
 

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