THE EXCITEMENT OF STARTING OUT

BOONDOCKED IN THE AJO HIGHLANDS, ARIZONA

It is always nice to come across new RV folks just starting out because it brings back great feelings of excitement & anticipation of our own early RV days.  Check out Janie & John's FLAMINGO ON A STICK .

BOONDOCKED NEAR WHY, ARIZONA

Looking back I would say those early days of shopping for an RV both online & on RV lots were some of the most exciting new days we have had as RV'ers.  Comparing notes with other RV folks & faithfully reading everything we could find in the RV NET FORUM.  Travel trailers, Class C's, truck campers, 5th wheels, Class B's & Motorhomes.  So much to choose from & so many questions to be asked & answered.  So many decisions to make.  Throw in a healthy serving of tension, stress, plus anxiety, and you have a really great mix of genuine apprehensive excitement.   It's a unique kind of excitement & I remember that stomach turning stuff well.  We didn't always make the right decisions & I'm sure we probably have a few more wrong decisions ahead of us but we have managed to get ourselves on the road every winter for the last 5 out of 6 years & with a bit of luck we'll be back on the road this coming September or October again.

BOONDOCKED IN SLAB CITY, CALIFORNIA

Cloudy cool day so most of my time was spent inside getting my little used SMUG MUG photo account organized.  A long, long, way to go but I did get a good start on it today.  Have had this account for about 3 years so it's about time I used it's great photo galleries.  Sure is nice sorting photos on a nice big new 20" monitor.  Great colors & great detail.

BOONDOCKED AT THE CLARK DRY LAKE BED ALONGSIDE ROCK HOUSE ROAD IN BORREGO SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA (no, we didn't build that earth oven)

MOTTY & PATTI got themselves a bigger & better truck plus a newer & smaller dog & I'm assuming RICK & RICK & PAULETTE arrived safely home today in Cowichan Bay on British Columbia's Vancouver Island.  Just two more examples of excited RV folks.  Different degrees of excitement maybe but excitement just the same. 

BOONDOCKED NEAR TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

I had run the generator in the motorhome a couple of days ago & after a few minutes it quit.  A quick look at the gas guage in the motorhome showed the needle on a quarter tank so knew that's why the genny quit.  Off to Goderich yesterday for $75 worth of gas.  Yep, that was good enough to get the generator up & running again.

BOONDOCKED IN QUARTZSITE, ARIZONA

GROANER'S CORNER:(( 

GAMES FOR WHEN WE ARE OLDER

1. Sag, you're It. 
2 . 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
3. Kick the bucket
4. Musical recliners.
5. Simon says something incoherent.
6. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy.

And another sign of getting old is when you don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

BOONDOCKING IN THE AJO HIGHLANDS.....2008

DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS:))

A bit late sitting down at the old keyboard to-night but I did manage to throw a few photos to-gether of a favorite boondocking spot we camped at back in late February of 08. It's just west of Ajo, Arizona in the AJO HIGHLANDS in a place commonly referred to as the Darby Wells Road area.

HOME IS WHEREVER THE RIG IS PARKED:))

Anybody who follows our blog knows we are boondocking folks who avoid RV Parks wherever possible. I've blathered on quite a bit about our dislike of crowded parks in the past so won't re-hash myself here & get all the RV Park folks chasing me around with big sticks again. MY IDEA OF BOONDOCKING

To-day's boondocking photos show what we consider to be just about the perfect setting for people like us who prefer the peace & tranquility of Mother Nature. Only sounds are the coyotes, Gila woodpeckers, a few ravens, & the desert wind. No security lights, trailer lights, or headlights, only the beautiful light of the moon in a clear star studded night sky. Nothing moving past your rig except for the odd rabbit or roadrunner. No big flat sided fiberglass RV's 10 feet away, just endless miles of Saguaro cactus, Cholas, Ocotillos, majestic rock formations, & mountain ranges on all sides for as far as the eye can see. I'll bet this is all sounding pretty boring to a lot of folks out there & the question arises, "what do you do all day?" My answer to that is, "why do we have to do anything!!" We are totally immersed in domestic stuff for 6 months of the year when we are at home in Canada & we consider it a great privilege to step right out of that world once we get down to our desert home in the southwest. And that home is wherever our rig is parked & the quieter the place we can park it the better!! EVERY DAY A CAMPFIRE, EVERY NIGHT A DAY'S MEMORIES

We don't do the same thing day after day though. We do day trips with the car, pop into the nearest town for groceries, & spend large amounts of time relaxing around our rig. If you give it a chance, that relaxing stuff really grows on you. Always a morning hike though. I'm not a television person so couldn't care less if we had a TV or not, except for the news. Nightime is when I enjoy putting the day's blog to-gether. It's a favorite time of mine. Another favorite time is reading. While in Canada I never read a thing but the boondocking lifestyle for me totally lends itself to settling down in a comfy reclining lawn chair in the shade of the rigs awning with a good book. No interruptions, no honking horns, no blaring television, no neighbor's stereos or screaming kids, dirt bikes, ATV's, no social stress & no pesky neighbors. JUST THE WIND, THE THOUGHTS, THE PLANS, THE DREAMS, & THE MEMORIES WAITING FOR THE DESERT MOONRISE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

A VISIT FROM SOME FELLOW DESERT TRAVELERS

MIKE & MAUREEN......FELLOW DESERT TRAVELERS

No wonder I feel soooooo tired most every day. I'm always too busy on the night shift & last night was no exception again. My RV dreams seemed centered around me pulling a very large trailer into some very weird situations. I recognized some of the people in the dream but this morning I can't remember who they were. Fellow RVers I think. Sure was busy moving that long trailer around though & I'm probably going to need an afternoon siesta later to-day. CANONVILLE, UTAH....BAYFIELD BUNCH ON LEFT & MnMnM's RIG IN THE CENTER

Kelly had to slip over to London this morning to pick up her permanent residence card. Because she is an American citizen with duel citizenship living in Canada the renewal of that card is required every 5 years. Because I am a Canadian citizen with a duel appetite living in Canada, the renewal of my Cracker Barrel restaurant card is required every 6 months:)) MIKE & MAUREEN AT THE NORTH RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON

It's not often we have visitors but this afternoon we were happy to have an RV couple drop in whom we had met at a KOA Campground in Cannonville, Utah back in November of 2007. Mike & Maureen had just pulled into that campground minutes before we did & aside from one other rig, we were the only ones in the whole park. And, as co-incidences go they were fulltimers who had called London Ontario their home. Bayfield is only a short 1 hours drive from London. We loosely traveled to-gether over to Zion Canyon later & then down to Kanab where we all visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon. They moved on from Kanab to Page & we swung down around & over to the south rim of the Canyon & we didn't see Mike & Maureen again until February of 08 when we visited them in an RV Park in Ajo, Arizona. Shortly after that we were all boondocked just off the Darby Wells road west of Ajo. On the morning of February 23rd 08 we left our boondocking site, stopped by Mike & Maureen's site to say good-bye & began our long trek back to Ontario. That was the last time we saw them until this afternoon. WEST OF AJO, ARIZONA....MnMnM's ON THE LEFT & THE BAYFIELD BUNCH ON THE RIGHT

We noticed right away that neither one of them had aged one bit. Another testament to that fulltiming RV lifestyle I'd say. It was nice to get caught up on things & reminisce about some old times although we didn't spend a whole lot of time to-gether back then. I have always noticed there is a special type of friendship & bond between RV folks even if you don't know them well. Friendships are often like ships passing in the night. There is a wave, a shout of "ahoy there," greetings are exchanged, a few words, a few laughs, & then the ships disappear into the darkness again. I remember those shouts & greetings & I remember the brief passings & there is something very special about that. Whether it is sharing area information with another passing couple on a far off mountain trail or having a 30 second chat with a fellow RVer at Flying J fuel stop, I remember those brief encounters. The meetings may only last minutes but the memories last forever. BYE GUYS......TILL WE MEET AGAIN

Mike & Maureen & Molly their dog (MnMnM) are in an RV Park over in Strathroy & plan to spend this winter in London before resuming there fulltime life on the road next spring again. Nice to see them & I'm sure our ships will soon again pass in the night somewhere. Maybe here, maybe London, or maybe far off in the land of mountains & deserts again. We may meet on a mountain trail, a quiet desert plateau, or we may pass in the night with a wave, shouts of "ahoy there", some greetings, some words & some laughter. Safe travels my friends........................................:)) SAFE JOURNEYS MY FRIENDS

TO-DAYS HUMOR: A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt , and is named 'Ahmal.' The other goes to a family in Spain ; they name him 'Juan.'Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, 'They're twins ! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal.'

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