The weekend weather was true to the forecast. The temperatures reached the low to mid-80s which felt nice in this dry climate. I had a task to accomplish on Saturday. Our generator was showing 855 hours of run time. It was due for an oil and filter change at 850 hours, so I didn’t want to wait any longer – especially since we’ve been running the generator for a couple of hours in the morning and few more hours in the evening each day while we were dry camped at the Lake Havasu City rodeo grounds.

While I tackled the generator service, Donna went for a hike with some of our Alpine Coach friends. It turned out to be a good thing I got to the generator service when I did. When I opened the trap door to the compartment where the oil filter is located, I found a mess in there. The oil filter  seal had a small leak. The filter had worked loose. I’m not sure how that happened – I installed the filter myself. I was sure I had tightened it properly, but I must have made a mistake. The filter is up inside a small compartment and you have to install it by feel while lying on your back underneath it. I was extra careful to be sure I tightened the new filter more than half a turn after the seal made contact.

The big event for Saturday was the Cowboy Barbeque. We had tickets – $10 each – for the dinner. They had a bandstand and a few dozen tables on a large concrete patio behind the rodeo grandstands. They also had a beer bar featuring ales from a local brewery called Mudshark Brewing. This was a fund raiser for the rodeo association.

Live music at the barbeque

We had a choice of chicken or beef tri-tip for the entree. I chose the beef while Donna went for the chicken. We also had a tossed salad, beans and garlic bread with it. It was very good and a fun time. Donna brought her hoops along and did some hoop dancing to the music before we ate. She even persuaded a couple of guys in our group to give it a try.

Ed working the hoop

You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, pictures can also be deceiving. Ed looks like a hoop master in the photo. He actually got one revolution of the hoop – that’s when I snapped the photo – before the hoop fell to the ground. But he gave it a good try!

Saturday night sunset in the desert

After a spectacular sunset, we watched fireworks again. Saturday night’s show was the biggest of the weekend.

The wind picked up on Sunday. Donna went for a group hike up Picnic Table Mountain – the name comes from the picnic table someone carried – presumably in pieces – up the rugged mountain trail. I ran a few errands including grocery shopping with a list Donna gave me.

The wind really increased as the day wore on. Our Alpine Coach Association happy hour and dinner was cancelled due to the wind blowing tables, chairs and mats away. Our wagon master, Dave Guhse, served roasted chicken halves with potato salad and broccoli slaw on paper plates at his coach. We lined up, got our plates and retreated back to our individual coaches to eat dinner out of the wind.

The day before, the guys surreptitiously got together to put icing on cupcakes one of the women in the group made. After dinner we retrieved our cupcakes and gave them to our valentines. I missed the photo opportunity before Donna ate the cake decorated with a pink heart shaped icing topped with a dollop of purple icing. Donna had a valentine gift for me as well. It was a red ale from Alesmith called My Bloody Valentine Ale.

My Bloody Valentine Ale

Before dinner, I spent the afternoon rearranging the trailer to make room for the Can Am Spyder. It took some doing but I managed to make enough room. The tricky part was backing the Spyder into the trailer. I rode it in reverse up the ramp. There are spring-loaded cables on each side of the ramp door. These cables are about 61″ apart from each other. The Spyder is over 59″ wide at the front wheels giving me about 3/4″ clearance on each side. With Donna and our friend Dave Hobden watching the wheels and cables and guiding me, I got past them without scraping the wheels or fenders. But then I had a problem. Backing slowly past the cables I had to open the throttle to provide enough power to get up the ramp. The rear wheel lost traction and fishtailed off to the side. I rolled back down the ramp and repeated the procedure three times with the same result each time.

I told Donna I needed her to get on the back seat of the Spyder so I would have enough weight over the rear wheel for traction. That did the trick. The next issue was getting her out of the trailer – the Spyder completely blocked her in. She was able to climb over the front suspension without doing any damage. In the photo it looks like there’s plenty of clearance for the Spyder. The interior width of the trailer is 68″, giving me about four inches of clearance on each side. The challenge was getting past the cables and through the 63″ door opening.

Spyder shoehorned into the trailer

The wind didn’t abate after dark – if anything it grew in intensity. I slept fitfully as gusts made noises. I got up in the night to roll up the bedroom window awning. We both got out of bed tired the next morning. The poor night’s sleep coupled with the weekend activities caught up with us. We made our final preparations and said “until next time’ to our Alpine Coach friends and headed out a little after 10am.

A row of Alpine Coaches getting ready to depart

We headed south on AZ95 toward Quartzsite, then followed AZ68 to I-10 east. The wind diminished – we had mostly a tailwind all day. The trip was a little over 200 miles. I stopped at the Pilot/Flying J in Avondale and took on 65 gallons of diesel fuel at $1.78/gallon – the lowest price we’ve ever paid for fuel since hitting the road in 2013.

We checked into Towerpoint RV Resort in Mesa Arizona (map) where we’ve booked a two-month stay. After dropping the trailer in our site, we were set up quickly. After a full week of dry camping, it’s good to be on full hook-ups again. I dumped and flushed the tanks first thing before showering and making a run to Red, White and Brew for a cold one.

Today Donna has a dentist appointment this morning. She’ll ride the Spyder (her inaugural ride) over to the dentist on Power Road. When she comes home, I’ll be off trailer shopping. I’m looking at 8.5 x 20 enclosed car carriers.