Tuesday, July 07, 2009

JUST BLOWING ALONG WITH THE WIND:))

NEAR SEDONA ARIZONA

ANOTHER cold, gray, overcast day in the neighborhood. T-shirt, long sleeve flannel shirt & my lined Mexican jean jacket was the order of the day. Oh well if it wasn't for the weather what else could I complain about anyway. And speaking of weather I noticed a good weather site posted on RV NET this morning. You can find out about yearly weather in many cities & towns all over the U.S. Average temps, precipitation, snowfall, etc. WEATHER ATOP GROSVENOR'S ARCH IN UTAH

While driving over to London to-day I got to thinking about how we end up in places while we're RVing. A lot of folks know precisely where they are going when they leave home, exactly how many hours it will take them to reach their destination, cost of fuel & how many gallons will be used to get there. They know where they will be stopping & what they will be eating while stopped there. A strict schedule will be adhered to & their destination will probably be the exact same spot in the very same RV Park they have been to for the last umpteen same years. Same friends, same BBQ, same tree beside the cement pad, & the same view out their window as last year because the very same neighbor will be in his very same spot again as well. Boy, sure sounds exciting huh!! HIKING IN THE AJO MOUNTAIN RANGE....ORGAN PIPE NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA

I feel soooooo fortunate that neither Kelly or I are into that structured kind of traveling. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, it's just simply different strokes for different folks. Here's an example of how a typical RV trip goes for us. We leave home knowing the area of country we are headed for which in our case is The American Southwest. We start our traveling part of the journey each day not knowing where we will end that night. Some people would find that stressful....and so do we sometimes when it's mid to late afternoon & we've got the map out trying to track down a nearby State Park. Nerves can become a little frayed until we've settled in somewhere but at least it's not boring, routine, or predictable. We don't usually dilly-dally along too much while heading for the southwest so we generally scoot across the country lickity split & in about 5 or 6 days we've reached the eastern edge of what we consider to be our southwest winter stomping grounds. Coming across flat Texas into New Mexico my eyes begin to strain for the first glimpse of our beloved mountains & once we've put Roswell NM behind us & begin to climb into those mountains through the Apache Pass to Alamogordo I feel we have reached our second home & our adventurous snowbird lifestyle begins. PARK AVENUE IN ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH

We kind of blow along in the wind like a tumbling Tumbleweed sometimes & the least little crosswind can blow us off into an entirely different direction. Two seasons ago after talking to some RV boondocker folks in Why Arizona we decided to have solar panels installed on our motorhome because we knew we did not want anything more to do with RV Parks. We had heard of a fellow in Slab City California who did quality solar panel installations so that's where we headed. Spent about 3 days at the Slabs & didn't have a clue where we were going next until a 5th wheel RV couple rolled in to Solar Mike's to have some work done on their solar batteries. Said they were camped in a great spot west of the Salton Sea at a place called Peg Leg Smiths just outside of Boreggo Springs. Well, the name Peg Leg Smith is enough to perk anybody's interest so as soon as our installation was complete we put a big California sunrise behind us early one morning & headed west for a place called Boreggo Springs. SOLAR INSTALLATION DAY IN SLAB CITY, CALIFORNIA

Swung down around the southern edge of the Salton Sea, north to Salton City & then hung a big left turn heading for the looming San Bernardino Mountains & Boreggo Springs. No problem finding the Peg Leg place out in the desert but as we drove up & had us a look we knew it was not for us. Way too many RV's clustered in a tiny area just off the highway but just a mile back from there we had spotted a smattering of RV's scattered about in a larger area of desert floor. We ended up staying there for 2 or 3 weeks before heading off again letting the wind blow us to wherever it felt we should go.SLOT CANYON HIKE NEAR BOREGGO SPRINGS CALIFORNIA...BUTCH, KELLY, & AL.

Hope to be at our 3 week ranch sitting job near Douglas Arizona by November this year & if we can get an early start in October I would like to head down into the southwest corner of Colorado to an area known as the 4 Corners. The Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, & Colorado State Lines all meet there & we hear the area is second to none for awesome & spectacular scenery.

Well, that's some of the very early thoughts in my head & maybe with a little help & a nudge from that old westerly wind we just might end up somewhere in the mountains again this winter without ever knowing how or why we got there. For us...........it's the only way to go..........................now that's what I call exciting:))

TO-DAY'S HUMOR: What do you call a cow with no legs?...........................Ground Beef

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

2 comments:

  1. Hey, guys! If you are going to be near Douglas this fall/winter, we can trot on down and say howdy! Unfortunately (in a way), we are RV park people, so will need to find a reasonable one nearby. We can boondock a night or two when it feels right, but otherwise, it's FHU for us.

    Your style is very appealing to think about, if we don't think about it too long. We're not quite as fussy as some about strict plans, and we certainly don't go to the same place again and again, unless you consider our site at the SKP Park in Benson the same place! When we're traveling, we have a few parks in mind near what we want to see, and will usually phone ahead as we travel to get a reservation for the night or longer.

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  2. I envy your ability to just get in the rig and go without worrying about where! When traveling, I always like to know where we'll be stopping for the night - in fact, most times we'll have a reservation. We don't worry about gallons of diesel though and that other stuff. But, once we're at a campsite and the truck is unhitched it's wherever and whenever. That's what I really love - getting in the truck each day and driving north, south, east or west just to see what's out there! Like you say, everyone is a bit different in how they approach RV'ing.

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