Tuesday, January 31, 2012

I am seriously behind in blogging!

Location, Bouse, AZ


A quick synopsis of the last few weeks is in order. I made it through the last day of CES with no serious consequences and collected a bag full of give-a-ways to boot.

Dick, Jeff, and I stayed until Monday morning and then drove to Plamosa road north of Quartzsite for 10 days of camping in the desert.

My ex-neighbor Budd arrived on Wednesday. Clyda flew into Phoenix on Saturday where I picked her up.

We spent our days walking the aisles of the vender’s stalls looking for the odd and unique item. Not much made it back to the RV however.

Several people had left for home by last Saturday so we packed up and moved over the hill on Plamosa Road to Bouse and parked by our friends Jack and Judy.

It is always nice to stay here. They have water, electricity, and sewer. We also get 2 digital TV channels over the air. Luxury!

We have done one ATV ride. We rode to an area where Jack had seen some petroglyphs recently. There were many in the area but none were exceptional.

Today I dropped my truck off at the Ford dealer in Parker as the turn signals had stopped functioning. I hope they can fix it. Jack and I then drove out Shea Road towards Swansea to try to find a snake shaped Intaglio. We had an aerial picture and GPS coordinates which helped. Of course, the BLM also helped by putting a fence around the area.

An Intaglio is a figure scraped into the ground

The figure is close to 100 feet long but is very hard to photograph as it lies on a grey patch of ground.


 

All of the large rocks have been removed from the area and are scattered nearby as if they had been thrown to clear the playa for the Intaglio.


Friday, January 13, 2012

Limping along at CES.

Location, Las Vegas, NV


Oh boy! Do my feet hurt!

My feet, my hips, my knees, and my legs hurt! I have been walking the exhibit hall floors at The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for the last three days. There is over 1.8 million square feet of exhibit space with over 3100 vendors present. They range from very large companies to Mom and Pop businesses all looking to make an impact on the visiting hoards. And hoards there are. The numbers when finalized should be above 150,000 and at times it is impossible to move down the aisles especially when a major presentation is being made.

The big things at this show? 3D TV’s are everywhere. Some require special glasses while others require none. In 2011, 23 million 3D TV’s were shipped world wide. Only 3.6 million of these in the US. One hundred million will be shipped world wide by 2015.

Audio is back. From large speaker systems to tiny ear buds with high end earphones filling in the middle.

Electric vehicles and all the connected electronics included. It is amazing how many companies supply power connections for electric vehicles.

There must be 100 companies supplying covers for iPhones and iPads. From simple covers to those covered with Bling.

I did find the perfect gift for the Man Cave.


Check out the CD holders on the front, the guitar on the back, and all those special electronic gadgets. Enough to make any Man Cave complete.

One more day of the show tomorrow, if my feet hold out.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Time to hit the road.

Location, at Home, CA

I have been working on all of the chores necessary to get on the road.

Besides getting the truck and trailer ready there is the thousand and one items that need to be considered for an extended trip. I start with an equipment list which details all of the physical things I need to think about. I also have a clothing list and a food list.

Food takes up the most time. Some food I take from home, such as frozen meat. Mostly it has to do with the extras needed to do a particular meal. I break my list down into, what do I buy now, and what will I buy on the road.

I also need to think about what computer things I need on the road. For this trip I will take the Netbook (because it is smaller) and my old laptop as a backup. I have all my important files on a portable drive so that goes. How about all those power cords needed to charge everything? Got those I hope. Books to read? I always have lots of those. Maybe I should consider a Kindle to reduce the weight! Ipod and Satellite radio? The radio is new. Hopefully, it will make those long desert road stretches bearable.

The truck is gassed, the food is bought, and cloths are loaded in the trailer.

Tomorrow I will load the truck and recheck my lists.

I plan to blog while gone but rumors on the internet are saying that phone companies are blocking use of PC to cell connections for internet connections because of excessive overuse. I hope that isn’t the case as we rely on our cell phone connection to the internet while on the road.