Dave, finally saw your route, where are you staying 1st nite? Quartzsite? Blythe? I spent my first month working in Ehrenburg in a motel in Blythe, decent place, around 44 bucks a nite. As to altitude... no marathons, (stick to Barths haha) or sudden strenuous activity. I lived most of my life at 1000 ft. or less elev. but i did work for 5 months at 10,000 ft. on Maui. It takes a month or so to adjust even at our current 6000 ft. elev. What you might notice more is the lower humidity ie. chapped lips and dry sinuses, just drinking more liquids will help. Of course everybody is different and what bothers one person might not affect another. Sedona is a nice place to look around and spend the nite or depending on your timing if you wish to make a detour or change your route a little we are only 40 miles east of Camp Verde and you are welcome to come for dinner and to spend the nite with us. ( help keep your expenses down, and i do make a mean prime rib at times)

Bill the one house is about 2500 sq. ft. i think and is about 6 years old and is in Chandler. I think she said it costs her about 400 bucks for the a/c in the summer, very minimal heating cost during the winter. I will be talking to her in a day or two and will verify that info. My friend in Havasu said it was 600 for his a/c, 20 or 22 year old house about 1800 to 1900 sq. ft. with a 10 or 12 year old a/c. He said he was going to replace it and his bill should drop quite a bit. Another gal in Havasu, 15 to 20 year old house about 1500 sq.ft. said her bill was 400. By the way during the summer these places have NO cold water out of the tap. After 30 seconds the water is almost hot enough to do dishes in! Try coming home all sweaty and dirty from work and taking a cool shower! On the other hand during the winter up here the cold water is almost cold enough to crack your teeth! We are renting a concrete brick house which stays cool in the summer but cold in the winter, single pane windows, old gas wall heater which is getting replaced very soon and a fireplace. Last year i think we were paying around 150 to 180 for gas... this year i bought 4 cords of wood for 500 and haven't turned on the gas yet even tho we have been getting frost off and on all month. Hope this helps you some.....your results may vary according to location and other factors not discussed here, no warrenty stated or implied, do not try this at home.

Dave don't forget the boots... you gotta have the boots!!! I Think Bill H is right, Barth around for a couple of winters and find out what area you like best. That is what we plan to do and i figure it will probably be 5 or 6 years before we find a permanent spot. Remember BOOTS not tennies!

Shadowman, thanks for the info. Thast gives me some idea of budgeting. Living a mile or less form the ocean, we rarely use heat or cooling.

Dave, Olroy is close to right about Blythe, with one exception: If you like Mexican food, Amapola has the best machacha verdura anywhere. Ask for it wet and soft. Beware of their salsa. You will pay in the morning.

Blythe also has one of the best RV repairman anywhere. Chuck at Valley Palms. Believe it or not, he is a rocket scientist who defected to the River.

Thanks guys, Blythe was in the schedule because we want to check out the Quartzite, Slab City stuff and Blythe appeared to be the best and closest place with lodging.

And, by the way, I can not tell you how icky the thought of a motel stay in the desert is for me. I can just see the scorpions eating the bed bugs, then me...

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Short cuts always take longer

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Dave, it's a fairly long shot from Blythe to Slab City which is located East of Niland, off California Hwy 111. Probably not worth your time on such a quick tour.

There are several long term camping areas on Federal lands in that general area. The one nearest your route is on Hwy. 95, a few miles South of Quartzite. In Feb., the desert is covered with rigs, from clapped-out microbuses, to 45' Prevosts, and everything between.

Also Dave, them AZ & CA scorpions can't hold a candle to your MN mosquitoes. You're not likely to encounter them in a motel room anyway.

Bill, you mentioned exploring the area north of Wickenburg, and the Prescott area. We have friends who wintered with us many years in Indio, CA, and summered in Yarnnell, No. of Wickenburg. They moved to Kingman when his bad heart couldn't tolerate the Yarnell altitude. We never visited Yarnell, so I can't comment on climate & topography.

Prescott probably has the best year-round climate in the state, but it has gotten popular, pricey, and probably trendy as well.

Dave, I can understand the trepidation a Minnesota city boy might feel about the uncharted territory of the desert. You may be surprised to find that the only hostile Indians now run casinos to take your money, even little towns have running water and electricity, there are motels all over, most of them pretty good, and they even have air conditioning.

I agree with the correspondents who suggest you try some long-term trips in your rig before you decide to buy real estate. The bloom fades quickly when the novelty of a new place wears off, and you find you made a mistake. Research, research, test, and try, before you buy.


[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited October 30, 2003).]

Yes, we are not going to put money down in Feb, however, we have recognized that it is possible to miss the boat. I am 55 and it seams to me that most of the American adult world is approaching that age. We started looking at single family homes is Sun City last year and you could get a 1600 sq ft 2-2 for around $75K, this year the same homes are $95. Now my house here in Eden Prairie went up about the same but if I were to buy that one house we looked at, (on the web) last year we would have been far ahead. Actually, we couldn't have because you have to be 55 and my birthdays in May.

Anyway, our itenerary is from Sunday to Sunday and we are getting there early on Sunday so we will check out SC on the first day and then we will be on the way. It appears that each leg is a maximum of of 210 miles which is from Needles and Flagstaff so that is a max of 4 hours drive even with a couple stops. And, we are going to have 8 days.


Olroy, you are right about Blythe and Niland, thanks to the Salton Sea. When I looked at that map it didn't look too far.

Barthmobile Blog
Music: Playing Pink Martini Lounge
Mood: tired, knees hurt

I am thinking about Blythe, Needles, Yuma and what it must have been like for my dad and mom and my dad's brother Ted to move from College Springs, Iowa in 1931 to work on the Imperial Dam and canals. My dad was born in 1909 and at the age of 11 quit school to work on road gangs with mules, later went to the South Pacific with the US Marines, broke heads and got shot at forming Local 12 of the Operating Engineers Union in California but told me in his final days that his life was defined by the 4 years living in a canvas two room shanty with plywood floors in Yuma building that dam.



It was a lesson to all of us kids who thought we were living a tough life because we didn't have air conditional in Hueneme High School when it got above 80.

At my dad's funeral were two old fellows who also worked on the dam and they were his best friends for a lifetime.





Having this website has it's privilages, I can tell the world about my awesome parents.

[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited October 30, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by davebowers (edited October 30, 2003).]

I'm looking in the Green Valley area South of Tuscon. Prices are rasonable, and it will be up and comming.

Hey Dave, is the trip to az. still on?
if so one quick stop you might make is at brenda. a small rv community just off of I-10 at exit 31. comming from pheonix exit right onto hwy. 60 n. or e. 3 0r 4 miles you come to a small berg with 4 rv resorts. we stayed at desert gold last year and loved it. i know your time is short but this is a don't miss place if you are thinking of taking the barth out in the future. 13 miles to Q-site. all ammenities and $1075.00 for the whole year, plus electric.
mike

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mike foster
83-35' regency 8.2 detroit towing 98 cherokee classic 4x4

Dave, I reprised this thread because of the new posting. It occured to me I didn't mention that we've spent a couple months in Yuma, the past three winters, and enjoyed it. The Foothills area is thick with snowbirds. Park model trailers and small mobile homes on private lots are reasonable to buy and the winter climate is pleasant.

Summers are hotter than the hinges of hell. I know. In the '50s I had a traveling job. As junior member of the firm, I got the Yuma swing in the summer, and the Yellowstone trip in the winter, though that's another story.

Green Valley is another place with some reasonable real estate, though it's a little too gentrified and suburbanized for me. Different strokes for different folks, etc.

I still suggest doing a winter or two in the Barth and casing the state. Take a few small bites, and you may find a new dish you like better than your original idea.

We're driving the toad to Quartzite tomorrow, just a one day turnaround. I hope to meet some of the correspondents to this site, and bathe in a sea of Barths. I'm not proud enough of the condition of my new rig, "Da Coach" (Got to change that name - maybe to "Roy's Folly") to take it up there. Still working on deferred maintenance. The deeper I get into it, the more it looks like the rig led a hard life, as well as suffering neglect.

I hope you're still planning the AZ swing. Think about Yuma. Your dad wouldn't recognize it. We hardly did either, and it had been less than ten years since we had been here previously.

Sorry guys but because of the downturn in the electronics biz and other commitments we will not be going to AZ this year. Hopefully soon though. It's -4 deg here now and starting to snow...

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Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment.

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Dave, I remember now, why it is I left MN as soon as I got out of high school.

Dave and Deb, sorry you can't make what i'm sure is a well deserved respite. medical and $$ kept us from being there right now also.
maybe this is a good thing for you and will allow you an escape later that is longer and will allow you to take the barthmobile, which will be far more comfortable than super 8's or ?. the area you are looking at traveling is so vast with so much to see and check out it would have been hard work for you to enjoy whats there with so little time.
HEY, maybe some of us can caravan that way some day! hope you're feeling better.

p.s.- if you could do me a favor and keep that snow and cold up there i'd really appreciate it.

mike

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mike foster
83-35' regency 8.2 detroit towing 98 cherokee classic 4x4

Hi Dave,

I was just going thru the website, reading bits & pieces. I read your mails about wanting to travel to Arizona. I would have to agree with Shadow Man, there are lots of higher areas that are not so hot. I grew up in Phoenix and you couldn't get me to move back there for the world! I just don't like the heat. I am in Prescott (a mile high). We get 100 degree days, but not alot, and we get light snow too. But, you may like the heat! Many people think it's just great. They say "it's a dry heat" (like sticking your head in the oven as far as I'm concerned). Well, I hope you get to make your trip soon. The prices tend to just keep going up!

Good luck hunting!
rugdlr