MOVING DAY….. DARBY WELLS NORTH TO DARBY WELLS SOUTH:))

LEAVING OUR DARBY WELLS CAMPSITE UNDER STORMY SKIES THIS MORNING
In the above photo you can see a clump of large round brown rocks on the left.  We were camped just across the road from these large rock formations.  They appear in a lot of my photos and Pheebs and I climbed to the top of the center one.  The locals call these rocks the ‘Cow Plops.’  Story goes that Paul Bunyon once traveled through these parts with his big blue ox, Babe.  Seems Babe left a few deposits along the way but here’s my question to the locals.  Babe wasn’t a Cow.  Babe was an Ox.  Should not these large deposits be called…..Ox plops.  I rest my case……

A COUPLE RIGS PARKED NEAR THE ‘COW PLOPS’…OR ARE THEY REALLY OX PLOPS!!
Our travel plans have changed yet again.  Don’t ya just love it.  Because of the higher altitude & ongoing bad weather in the Patagonia area we have decided to forego that region until another time.  Decided to stay right where we are in the warmer weather here on Darby Wells Road. But, a different site.  I think it is just great that we have the freedom to change our location whenever we want.

SOME FOLKS OUT SCRAMBLING UP COW PLOP ROCK THIS MORNING
After our morning walk we hopped in the Jeep and headed south down Darby Wells road scouting for a new and better location.  Wanted to be further away from the main road, wanted to be further south for a better Verizon signal and we were looking for a bit of altitude so we wouldn’t have to put our Mifi on the roof.  Found a location that fit all three requirements and headed back to the rig.

WE FOUND US A NEW SPOT
Packed up a few more things, took the satellite dish down and by 10:20 we pulled out of our old site under increasingly stormy looking skies.  I am always sad to leave a spot that has given us so many memories in just 10 short days but it was time to change things up a bit.  Kelly followed in the Jeep.

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL MORNING WALK
Reached the area of our new site and Kelly parked the Jeep off the road.  She jumped in the rig and we headed the 11 miles south to Why Arizona to dump our tanks and take on fresh water at the COYOTE HOWLS CAMPGROUND AND RV PARK which happens to be right next door to Hickiwan Trails.

COYOTE HOWLS CAMPGROUND AND RV PARK…LOTS OF ROOM HERE
By now there was a light rain falling so we didn’t waste any time taking care of business.  Must admit I am a little gun shy now dumping the black tank after my little incident a couple weeks ago but I made sure the connection was secure and all went well.  Ten dollars to dump by the way.

PHEEBS WATCHING FOR KELLY TO RETURN FROM THE COYOTE HOWLS OFFICE
We had no more than left Coyote Howls when the dark foreboding clouds opened up and we got a mixture of rain and sleet.  Lasted about half way back to Ajo and began to clear.  Storms are like that in the desert.  They can come and go quickly.

COLD RAIN AND SLEET ON OUR WAY BACK TO DARBY WELLS ROAD
Stopped and picked up the Jeep.  Kelly followed me as I slowly made my way with the Motor Home over the rough and narrow desert Jeep road to our new digs.  Picked up some new desert pin striping and scrambled a few cupboards.  Raining lightly as we reached our spot.  Did a little wiggling around with the rig to get things reasonably level, put some boards under the passenger side tires and we were all set settled in.  We were home for another week or so.
 
The rain picked up for about an hour and we ended up having to fire up our Legacy Blue Flame Heater to get warmed up.  By 3 o’clock the sky began clearing and by 4 we were once again bathed in a big warming Arizona sun. 

CLEARING SKIES FIND US IN OUR NEW SPOT
We took Pheebs & Motor for a late afternoon walk and met our closest neighbor from maybe a quarter mile away.  Nice fellow out walking his dog, Lady.  Well, Lady and the Pheebs just hit it off right away and the game was on.  They just ran, frolicked, wrestled and bounded non stop for nearly half an hour.  So nice to see 2 dogs having so much fun playing together.

 
PHEEBS AND NEW PAL LADY HAVING A BLAST THIS AFTERNOON
Because we are higher up now we have a totally scenic 360 degree panoramic view all around us.  We have TV channels with just the rig’s aerial and we now have a stronger Verizon signal.  No cell phone, but who cares eh:))

OUR NEW FRONT YARD
And, a reminder to folks that if you see a colored word or words in my posts with capital letters, it is a clickable link.  For example, if you click on TIOGA GEORGE it will take you to his site.  KEN ROCKWELL PHOTOGRAPHY will take you to my favorite helpful photo site and ONE MINUTE ASTRONOMER will take you to an easy to understand daily night sky Astronomy site.

I liked GYPSY'S post awhile back about how she decided to try on the RV lifestyle as a lone RV’er and how a few years later had to reverse that decision.

There was a time when I might have been able to go it alone as a solo RV’er but I’m not so sure I could or would want to do it that way anymore. From a technical point alone it would be a major challenge for me. Kelly handles all that TV set up confusion, internet and cell phone stuff not to mention all the paper work and dozens of phone calls regarding insurances etc. She is also much better than I am at trouble shooting technical problems. Not easy for a feller to have to admit all that but reality being what it is I have to face the fact that my mind is just not quite as sharp as it once was.

OUR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD
In Gypsy’s post she talked about the feelings of loneliness on the road and I think that would be one of my main problems as well. One of the greatest things about RVing is having someone to share all the adventures with. The highs and the lows. The joint decisions and the like minded interests. I do like my alone times but to be alone 24/7 would probably not work for me now at this age and stage. I never feel a need to be around a bunch of people but I do have a need to be with someone close and someone special. And of course that includes the furry guys too.

(Am hoping I never posted the following two paragraphs before because I wrote them a couple weeks ago and don’t think I included them in my posts)
Made myself a ‘no-no’ purchase in Wal-Mart awhile back. It was something I have not had for years and something I like so much I just have to stay away from because it is so very fattening. It was a spur of the moment decision that saw me pick up a whole quart of this stuff for myself. I know of no drink anywhere on this planet that tastes better than……Pumpkin Spice Eggnog:))

YEP, WE LIKE OUR NEW DARBY WELLS DIGS:))
Our change in travel plans again is a good example of why we prefer to travel the way we do. With no obligations, commitments, reservations or restrictive travel plans we are able to stay flexible and footloose. We both prefer to stay on the move seeing new things. As Snow Birds we sit in one spot for 6 and 7 months of the year and our rig never leaves home. Neither one of us has any interest in driving all the way south for the winter and ending up sitting in one spot for another 6 months. We know we are the exception to the rule but it’s just our way……..10-4:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((  Brenda's 6 year old was explaining to the other kids what "extinct" meant:
"Well," she said in all seriousness, "it means that the dinosaurs are all dead and have been dead so long they don't stink anymore, that's why they call them exstinkt."
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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.

THE BAYFIELD BUNCH MEETS TIOGA GEORGE:))

When I stepped out of the rig this morning with Pheebs and Motor I could see stars from horizon to horizon and that could only mean one thing.  Our previous day’s heavy cloud cover had dissipated.  With sunrise only an hour or so away I knew we were going to be in for a sunny start to the day.  The weather people had been calling for clouds and rain.

WE FIND TIOGA AND GEORGE TUCKED QUIETLY AWAY NEAR DOWNTOWN AJO
We were on a mission this morning because Kelly had noticed someone well known and well respected to the RV Blogging community had rolled quietly into Ajo the night before on his way to Mexico.

I BORROWED THIS PHOTO FROM GEORGE’S BLOG
I think Kelly’s words in Facebook today sum up our meeting with TIOGA GEORGE.  She said, “He is just what I expected. A quiet, gentle, genuine nice person.”  I couldn’t agree more with Kelly as we sat in Miss Tioga chatting with George for about half an hour this morning.  A very personable fellow indeed and if you look carefully he is one of those fellas with a quiet twinkle in his eye and a warming smile to make you feel welcome:))

A REAL GENUINE PERSONABLE FELLOW
With over 6 million hits on his Sitemeter you can see George has been around for awhile and a very popular RV Blogger.  We probably started following his site as far back as 2005.  Tioga George is a true pioneer here in Blog Land and has been the inspiration for countless Bloggers who have followed in his footsteps.  George was blogging about his RVing adventures when many of us were still wondering what RV meant.  We considered it a true honor this morning to meet the fellow who may well be considered the Granddaddy of the RV Blog world.

I WAS SO BUSY TAKING PICTURES I FORGOT TO HAVE MY OWN PICTURE TAKEN WITH GEORGE
Better get to my almost daily now, ‘corrections segment’.  In Thursday’s post I said the A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthogs) pilots were based out of Yuma but Emjay quickly corrected me saying no, those Warthogs are based at the Davis Monthan Air Base in Tucson.  I have been to the Museum section of that air base.  Second correction comes when I said Kelly was on Skype talking to Verizon.  Yes, it was Skype she was using but it was the TV satellite people at Shaw Direct she was talking too.  I have since corrected those two things.

There is a bit of confusion about my posts publishing dates.  I normally publish my blogs on the day I write them but due to our weak Verizon connection my posts can sometimes take hours to publish and that puts them into the next day.  So a post I write on the 12th may take a couple hours and publish and show up as the 13th.  I do not type in the dates….they go in automatically.

OUR RIG SITS COZILY AMONG THE TALL GREEN OCOTILLOS
Had some questions about Coyotes and Snakes while boondocking.  Coyotes are always a main concern and we are ever vigilante for them.  When choosing a boondocking spot we try to have an area of clearance and unrestrictive viewing around us so it is harder for something to sneak up close without being seen.  We never let the dogs out by themselves and if they have to go out in the night I go right out with them carrying a powerful flashlight.  While they are doing their business I am scanning the area with the light looking for any sign of two bright green eyes staring back.  We have never encountered an active snake in the 5 years here in the Southwest.  Most of them are underground in a hibernation state at this time of year but they are never far from my mind while hiking.

AFTERNOON WALK ON ONE OF THE JEEP ROADS
Wandering Willy sent us a link for a device called a Wilson Sleek.  This antennae oriented device is used for boosting a Verizon Mifi signal.  We will look into that.

PHEEBS ASLEEP ON KELLY’S LAP BESIDE THE CAMPFIRE THIS AFTERNOON
Had a comment question last night about the Border Patrol and security in this area.  Anywhere in the Southwestern States of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California there are a lot of Border Patrol personnel and vehicles and seeing them is commonplace.  The Border Patrol is everywhere.  You may encounter them at checkpoints on the highway, at the local grocery store, parked along lonely stretches of desert highway, having lunch at a popular restaurant or heading out into the desert on horseback, ATV, or pickup trucks.  We have been buzzed by Border Patrol helicopters while walking out in the desert near Hickiwan Trails.  The Border Patrol is a part of the community with a job to do and in many cases an integral part of a communities economy.

PARKING LOT OF OLSEN’S IGA IN AJO, ARIZONA
As far as safety goes we have never felt or been threatened at any time in our travels by any illegals moving through the area.  The last thing people coming up from Mexico want, is attention.  They will go out of their way to avoid you spotting them.  Likewise, the drug smugglers do not want to draw attention to themselves either.  I feel much safer out here in the seemingly middle of nowhere than I would in the downtown of any large city.

IT’S A SLEEPY CREW WE HAVE HERE SOME DAYS
The American Air Force was busy this morning and we had many unseen fighter jets in the sky high overhead all morning.  At 10:25 a.m. I was outside and Kelly was at the computer.  Suddenly, without warning 2 of the loudest simultaneous explosions occurred somewhere over our heads.  Those explosions were followed milliseconds later by the sounds of the original explosions echoing back from all directions as the sound waves rebounded back into the valley off the surrounding mountains.  I could hear the roar continue down the valley to the south.

OUR SIDE YARD…JUST ONE OF THE MANY GREAT PLEASURABLE ADVANTAGES OF BOONDOCKING
I’ve heard the loud crack of exploding fireworks and this was like that but a whole lot louder.  I immediately looked to the sky expecting to see a couple puffs of smoke but there was nothing.  I then scanned all around us expecting to see some smoke or dust somewhere but nothing.  I was convinced the double bang was explosives but then it occurred to me…could one of those jets high above have broken the sound barrier and what we heard was a double sonic boom.  The sound we heard was more of a crack than a boom though. 

Hearing the distant ‘pa-rump’ of heavy explosives over in the Barry M. Goldwater Range about 10 or 15 north of us is commonplace here but whatever this was, occurred much, much closer than that.  Seemed to be right overhead.  Anyway, I don’t suppose we’ll ever know but 20 minutes later a second loud bang occurred somewhere in the sky nearby.  And then the planes were gone from the sky and all was quiet once again until mid afternoon when 7 A-10 Thunderbolts (Warthogs) flew overhead heading for the Goldwater range.  Oh, and then there was the low and fast flying white helicopter that flew directly over us. 

THAT’S OUR RIG HIDING OUT ON THE LEFT AS THE CHOPPER FLY’S LOW OVERHEAD
Two new Blog Followers to day.  Welcome aboard to BSG and STEVE KEITHLEY.  Thanks for stopping by folks.

MANY SMALL WESTERN TOWNS HAVE A WHITE CROSS ON A NEARBY MOUNTAIN TOP, JUST LIKE AJO
Our black tank is ready to be dumped so we’ll be rolling out of Darby Wells in the morning.  Our intention was to head on down to the Patagonia area south of Tucson….until we checked the weather report.  That area of Tucson is known as the high desert and is over the 4000 foot elevation level.  They are getting rain and SNOW there right now so that put the ky-bosh on our plans real quick!!  We will dump our tanks at Coyote Howls in Why tomorrow & then probably slide a couple miles down the road to the 2 mile marker BLM land for a few days until the weather straightens out in Patagonia.  Well, that’s the plan for now anyway.

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE THE HALF MOON IN TODAY’S LATE AFTERNOON SKY
Our morning was spent packing up the rig, putting outside mats and tables away, etc.  Turned out to be a quiet afternoon with a couple leisurely walks in the desert.  Soaked up some warming Arizona sunshine and relaxed to the haunting guitar sounds of my favorite guitarist of all time, WILLIAM ACKERMAN. 

And, would you believe we had 1,124 hits on our Sitemeter today.  And why so many?  Tioga George, that’s why:))  Just goes to show what a popular and wide read fellow he is.  A good percentage of those hits on our site are a direct result of George mentioning us in his blog this morning.  Thanks for the boost George….you’re a neat-o guy:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((
A self-righteous man went to the doctor for a check-up. He said, "I feel terrible. Please examine me and tell me what is wrong."
"Let's begin with a few questions," said the doctor, "Do you drink much?"
"Alcohol?" said the man. "I'm a teetotaler. Never touch a drop."
"How about smoking?" asked the doctor. "Never," replied the man. "Tobacco is bad, and I have strong principles against it."
"Well, uh." asked the doctor, "do you have much of a sex life?"
"Oh, no," said the man. "Sex is sin. I'm in bed by 10:30 every night and I always have been."
The doctor paused, looked at the man hard, and asked, "Well, do you have pains in your head?"
"Yes," said the man. "I have terrible pains in my head."
"O.K.," said the doctor. "That's your trouble. Your halo is on too tight!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-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.

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."
-----------------------------------------------------------
-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.