THE WINDS OF TRAVEL PLAN CHANGES ARE BLOWING AGAIN………

Advantage of where we are is that each morning we can set off in any direction we like on our morning desert walk and always see something pleasingly different with nary a person in sight.  There are no boundaries here so we can walk as far as we can see.

GETTING A CHOLLA BARB OUT OF PHEEBS PAW
Decided to take us for a drive 11 miles south to Why this morning.  This is old familiar territory for us and I always like to touch base with old memories.  Drove through the BLM land at the 2 mile marker south of Why and found the spot where we had stayed back in February of 08.  I like old memories but they are kinda sad because we had Max and Checkers in those days and I could see them happily running and playing in the sandy wash beside the old campsite again this morning.

THIS WAS OUR CAMPSITE AT MILE MARKER 2 BLM LANDS SOUTH OF WHY ARIZONA BACK IN FEBRUARY OF 08
Although not as scenic as Darby Wells this is still a good boondocking place because of the level hard packed sandy clay surface.  Lots of room here for probably a hundred rigs to scatter about among the Mesquite and still have respectful privacy between them.  This BLM land has a camp host as well at it’s entrance and you are allowed a stay of 14 days.  Some folks then move up to Darby Wells for 14 days and then back down to Why.

WE KNEW WE WERE BACK IN THE HICKIWAN TRAILS AREA WHEN THIS A-10 WART HOG FLEW LOW AND SLOW OVERHEAD ROLLING HIS WINGS FROM SIDE TO SIDE
From the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands we headed back through Why to the Coyote Howls East RV Park.  This is where we used to park on the road out front with our laptop to pick up their internet signal back in January of 07.  This is also where we will dump our tanks later this week because our plans have changed and we will be backtracking southeast shortly.

From Coyote Howls it was a mile down the road for another trip down memory lane for us.  This is where Hickiwan Trails RV Park is located and the one which you have often heard me refer to in my posts.  Some of our earliest and best RV memories took place at Hickiwan Trails and it will always be a special place for us.  Type Hickiwan Trails into our ‘Search’ box for our times there.

AFTERNOON WALK WITH PHEEBS THE WILD CHILD:))
Took a drive around the Park first and spotted a fifth wheel from British Columbia in a spot we had once stayed at there.  Sure enough, it was Bill from Enderby BC so we stopped in for a visit.  Bill’s wife was out for a walk but he did remember us well from 3 years ago and we were able to get caught up on some of the local gossip we had missed from the past few years.  From Bill’s place it was up to the office to see Hickiwan Ray….but Ray was in Casa Grande today so we had a visit with Ray’s wife Marsha.  Again, we caught up on what’s been happening since our last time there.  And yes, Marsha did remember the Cave People.  (Dennis & Donna:)) It was kind of our version of old home week even it was just two people from the past we saw today.  Too bad we missed Hickiwan Ray…he’s a character:))

PHEEBS HAS BEEN DOING REALLY WELL AT AVOIDING THESE PRICKLY TEDDY BEAR CHOLLAS, PRONOUNCED…..CHOY-A’S
When’s the last time you changed a headlight on your vehicle?  A screwdriver to remove a few screws holding a round chrome rim, right.  Wrong!!  Check out what IVAN had to go through just to change a headlight on his GMC truck.

MORNING SUN IN THE DESERT
After a series of medical challenges RETIRED ROD finally has the wheels rolling west as he and Loyce are quickly making tracks from colder Kansas to warmer Arizona. 
 
DENNIS AND DONNA are so far back in a Louisiana swamp they have seen Alligators playing banjos!!

THE ROAD TO OUR HOUSE
Someone recently inquired about our solar set-up.  I had all that technical info filed away somewhere but couldn’t find it.  Not being a technical person myself I can only tell you that we had the system installed in December of 2008 and it has worked perfectly ever since and we have never run out of power.  Of course, we are not power hogs either and have no washer and dryer on board, or dish washers or hair dryers, etc.  We haven’t traveled in hot weather so have never had to use our A/C.

We are in the habit of kicking on the generator in the morning while the coffee is brewed and that’s about it.  Solar power for us is no different than the electricity at home.  Flip a switch and the lights go on etc.

HEADING BACK TO THE RIG AFTER A MORNING WALK
Here’s a paragraph I just found from a previous post of mine regarding solar…..Our solar system was installed by SOLAR MIKE'S SUN WORKS in Slab City, California. I know we got two solar panels on the roof with numbers like 120 or 130. I think that has to do with watts or something. They are Kyocera panels I think & there should be some pics in our Slab City Installation album which I will put a link in for below. We also had 4 new batteries installed, 1 monitor, 1 control panel, & 1 2500watt power inverter plus lots of wiring. The inverter is bigger than we needed but it was used & had just come out of a fifth wheel while we were there. Those people were going to an even bigger set-up. Our total cost was somewhere around $3,000+ I think. Installation took a day & a half & you can read about it here....
-INSTALLATION DAY -OUR LAST DAY AT THE SLABS

OUR TWO SOLAR PANELS ARE VISIBLE ON THE ROOF IN THIS PHOTO
We are planning to drop into Solar Mike’s at Slab City this trip to have him check on a clicking sound in the monitor and just generally go over our system to make sure things are still operating well.  By the way, we would definitely recommend Solar Mike to anyone needing a professional solar installation:))

YEP, THAT’S US OUT THERE AT TOP RIGHT….TUCSON IS ABOUT 80 MILES BEYOND THOSE DISTANT MOUNTAINS IN THE CENTER OF THE PHOTO
And, why did we decide on Solar Power?  In our first year of Snow Birding it only took us a few stays at RV Parks to convince both of us we needed to make some immediate changes if we were going to continue the RV lifestyle we preferred.  We knew if we were going to continue traveling it was imperative that we become self sufficient and that in a nutshell is why we went with solar power.  It is a decision we have never regretted for one millisecond.  Our system has paid for itself many times over when you figure the cost of nightly stays at RV Parks and the fees we would have had to pay these last 5 years.  Where we are boon docked right now is simply a fine example of our way of thinking.  We have the freedom to go wherever we are comfortable.  This week our door opens to a natural Saguaro cactus garden that stretches for as far as the eye can see in any direction  Mountains ring the horizon and the only sounds we hear are maybe a distant Coyote and the whistles of nearby Cactus Wrens.  Not everybody’s cup of tea but it sure work’s out fine for us:))

SAGUARO CACTUS

Well, now to our change of travel plans again.  I love it when plans change because that means new things will be happening.  Received an email from the Ranch Folks near McNeal Arizona this morning wondering if we could look after the ranch for 3 weeks beginning the middle of December.  It was coincidental because just this morning I was saying to Kelly I thought we should check out the Patagonia area south of Tucson on our way back through here in a couple months.  Now we’ll do that Patagonia area on our way to the ranch over the next couple weeks.  We may be at the Ranch longer than 3 weeks but not sure yet.  Anyway, when we leave the Ranch again we will slide right on through to southwestern Arizona and southeastern California.  Like I said, I love it when plans get all jumbled up and I like it when new travels are afoot.  Routine day to day boredom is my number one enemy so anything to keep things constantly on the move for me works just fine.  We will start our slow backtracking to southern Tucson and then Patagonia and Cochise County by the end of the week probably:)) 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Man: "Just look at that young person with the short hair and blue jeans. Is it a boy or a girl?"
Bystander: "It's a girl. She's my daughter."
Man: "Oh, please forgive me, sir. I had no idea you were her father."
Bystander: "I'm not. I'm her mother."
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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.