I MOOSE SALUTED THE OLD NORTH WIND

MONDAY JANUARY 14/08
The big wind gusts finally let up last night around 9:30 only to return around midnight with reinforcements. I don't know if that is what woke me up or if it was our border collie Checkers growling like crazy. Next thing I heard were the coyotes & it sounded like there was a herd of them outside somewhere having some kind of a convention. Yips, hoots, yelps, whines, cries, & barks.......they had it all. I think there is probably an old Indian legend around somewhere that says it is the warming breaths of many howling coyotes that cause the mighty winds to come sweeping across the sleeping desert floor in the dead of night. And if that isn't it, then just where does all that wind come from anyway!!

We loaded up the dinette this morning (2 trips) & Kelly headed into, The Gamblers, to drop it off. She also swung a deal for them to buy our couch as well so as we are leaving Quartzsite next week we'll drop the couch off there too. Kelly told them that we were selling all our furniture to get enough gas money to get back to Canada. They believed her until she told them it was a joke. Anyway, that solves our renovation problems & clears the decks for some better furniture of some kind. New or used, doesn't matter. In the meantime I guess we'll just sit on the floor with the dogs. But, that's ok.....we like our dogs a lot:))

Had another super great day doing basically nothing. I'm kinda getting used to really liking this but it hasn't been easy. Always that nagging feeling that I should be doing something. I have a degree in puttering but even that is wearing a little thin.

When I first went outside this morning I noticed the wind had finally abated so without further ado I proceeded to put our awning down & clipped on the camouflage netting. Then, just to be a smart ass..paragus I poked my head around the end of the coach, stuck my thumbs in my ears & gave that big old nuisance of a north wind a good old fashioned Canadian Moose salute. Well, you know what happened, right!! Within half an hour I had the awning hastily back up & was chasing our Canadian flag across the desert floor after having it being blown right off the flag pole by.........yep, you guessed it.......that bigger than life old North wind again. And, he kept it up all day long right up until about 4 p.m. this afternoon. So much for my smart ass-paragus Moose salute:((

The Coyotes started up a few minutes ago but Checkers started barking loudly & that brought about an abrupt end to the shenanigans.

We may stay a little longer here in Quartzsite than originally planned. Still no other rigs near us, weather's good, we've got a great dogfriendly site, big RV travel & leisure show coming up in a few day & we haven't seen all the sites outside of Quartzsite yet. No point in being in a big hurry, we are just beginning the second half of our 5 month journey.........

Had some inquiries about the battery placement for our solar power system so I have included some photos of the 4 new 6 volt Trojan batteries. Also some photos of the 2500 Watt inverter. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy Also, a couple pictures of our awning case. When the awning goes up it is rolled inside a protective case that protects it from the elements. At home we live in a pine forest so that will protect the fabric from pine sap drippings in the summer.............thanks for the questions folks:))

KELLY SELLS THE STUFF

SUNDAY JAN 12/08
With yesterday's major success in removing the tub chair & dinette from the motorhome I thought I'd try measuring, cutting out, & mounting some sunscreen material over the high windows above the drivers & passenger's seats. It all seemed to go alright until we realized that we had the wrong kind of velcro tape for the installation. That was the end of that project for to-day.

We loaded the tub chair into the Santa Fe this morning & Kelly headed into town to do a little wheeling & dealing. She likes that kind of stuff & I totally hate it. Plus, I knew she wanted to do some more of that browsing & shopping stuff so it was a no brainer for me to stay with the rig. Good thing I did!! I had just finished doing a little favorite puttering, sat down with my coffee & book & felt the wind pick up a bit. And then it picked up a little more & within minutes we started getting hit by heavy wind gusts from the north. No problem, except our awning was down. Scrambled out of my chair as one wind gust really rocked the motorhome & sent ripples through the new awning. It had been years since I had put an RV awning up but luckily Kelly & I had went through an "awning up" procedure this morning just in case. Well, now it was the case, & I was able to get the awning up & secured in time, just like we had practiced.
We bought this rig last May & had never pulled the awning down. Last year we had a 5th wheel trailer for 7 months & never once had the awning down on that one either so the last time I can remember putting an awning up or down was about 3 years ago when we had a Class C. In fact, I'm not even sure we ever had the awning down on that one in the short 5 months we had it either. But, I do remember for sure having the awning down on a travel trailer we had about 5 years ago.

Kelly was back by 3......without the tub chair. Kelly had sold the chair & talked one of the used furniture dealers into buying our dinette set as well. She's quite a wheeler dealer. We'll load up the dinette sections in the morning & take them into Quartzsite. Gonna be a couple trips because with cushions, table, etc. it's a bit much even for our roomy little Santa Fe. Now, about that totally uncomfortable couch with it's absolutely unsleepable pull out bed........Hmmmmmmmmmm!!

Those high wind gusts haven't diminished at all & in fact seem to be increasing. Kelly said everybody else she saw on the way to Quartzsite with solar panels has them up so I guess I just have to trust that the solar installation guys anchored em down real darn good. But, it still worries me like nuts with all those sounds going on up there.

I'm still surprised at the lack of RV's in the area. Thought for sure a bunch would have rolled in this past week-end but only saw 5 rigs in the distance heading off the highway. I hadn't really been looking forward to coming to Quartzsite this year because I thought there would be a mass of RV's & people everywhere but this site has turned out to be one of the best sites we've ever been at. Nobody near us & we can leave our door open all day long for the dogs to go in & out. No people chatter, no ATV's, no generators running, no annoying loud music or drinking, & no puffing diesel engines. Just the wind in the cactus by day & the coyotes howling by night. Thanks Quartzsite, I owe ya one:))

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY

RENOVATION DAY

SATURDAY JANUARY 12/08
"WOW" That about sums up how I felt about our first night with our new Legacy blue flame heater. No noisy furnace turning on & off in the night & no blower draining the batteries. The heat has humidity in it & feels a whole lot warmer. I'm not a cold weather person & this has finally solved my "feeling cold" problem. The heat radiates everywhere & Kelly actually got up twice to turn the thermostat lower & lower. And, we're told, it uses substantially less propane than the inferior furnace. But, the one thing that really sold us on it was the fact that it is completely enclosed & there is no open point of ignition to worry about such as a dog's wagging tail catching fire from a hot brick, open flame, or heated coil. And here's the kicker.........these heaters are only made in Canada & are CSA approved, but guess what.........you can't buy them in Canada!!!! You have to buy them in the States. They are made in Mississauga, Ontario which is part of Toronto. Don't figure, do it!!

Didn't take us long to start the interior renovations this morning. Ever since we brought that desk/table home yesterday I've been anxious to start on the changes. The small uncomfortable & little used tub chair beside the door was the first to go. Four large bolts secured it to the floor but I surprised myself by actually getting all the nuts & bolts out without incident. Not normal!!
The next to go was the dinette, http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy & all the Robertson screws had to come out by hand because I had forgot to bring my battery powered drill thingy. Took about half an hour & to my growing amazement I was able to once again complete the task without incident. No stuck screws, bruised knuckles, no loss of patience, & I didn't even have to have myself a little tantrum or two. We had found the dinette very uncomfortable to sit on & it had two large metal legs underneath that were hard to navigate knees & feet around.

When Kelly had first spotted the desk/table at La Mesa yesterday she thought it would make a good dinette table for us but once we got it home & made a few measurements we realized it would make an even better computer station desk.
No problem getting it in & within minutes we had it in place & not long after we had modem lights blinking, router dials twinkling, laptop humming, & the mouse squeaking. I was batting a hundred to-day. Now, why can't everyday be like that!!!!
That's 2 of the 3 things we wanted to change in here so the couch will be coming out next but not sure when. After leaving Quartzsite next week we'll head over into the Phoenix area for a few days & have us a look in the big Ikea store there for some comfortable & practical replacement stuff. Changing out RV furniture in RV's is a common practice for people who actually spend any length of time in them. Maybe the higher end coaches come with comfortable stuff but these mid to lower range rigs sure don't!!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing & contemplating what to do with the RV furniture we had removed from the motorhome. You know, kinda like....shoot first & ask questions later. We'll slip into Quartzsite to-morrow & see about peddling it to one of the places that sells all kinds of new & used stuff.

Got us a little campfire going & for the first time since leaving home we sat outside & ate supper. At Borrego, the sun set early behind the mountains & by 6 at night it was totally dark out. Here in Quartzsite it's closer to 7 before it's dark. It's plenty warm here during the day but as soon as the sun goes down the temperatures plummet like a rock in minutes. Too cold to sit outside.

That was about it for the day (and Kelly never even went into town) & as I sit here typing beside our little roasty toasty blue flame fireplace (sweating) I'm a happy guy knowing I don't have to go through the "thawing out process" in the morning:)) Aw yes, some days is just better than others...................................

(The photo of the two chairs & a table with a Mexican table cloth is just a temporary set-up)

Note to Helen in Woodstock......... Had sent you an email awhile back but maybe your spam filters blocked it because of the Hotmail address we use on the road. We can receive with our aboss account but we can't send from it:((

A BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITY THIS MORNING

FRIDAY JANUARY 11/08
The first time the phone rang this morning it was the installer guy (Grandma's Heaters & Fireplace, Quartzsite) for the Blue Flame Propane heater we purchased yesterday, calling to say he was on his way & could I meet him at the highway. Finding someone out here in the desert can be a real chore because there are no formal roads, streets, or numbers & telling someone your right next to the double Saguaro cactus on the other side of the gulley where the Palo Verde tree is, just doesn't cut it. So, I drove out to the highway & led Glen, the installer back to our campsite. He looked things over, took some measurements down, wrote up a parts list & headed back to Quartzsite to load up the necessary materials.

The second time the phone rang (minutes later) this morning it was the installer guy for the new 16' side awning we had purchased http://www.bestrvinc.com/ a couple of days ago, calling to say he was on his way & could I meet him at the highway. Finding someone out h..........ok, you know the routine.
It sure didn't take the two young guys very long to haul down the old ripped awning & replace it with a new one. Forty minutes start to finish. We went with a solid color acrylic awning as opposed to a striped vinyl one. Acrylic cost a bit more but it is a superior product to vinyl because it will last longer, is scotch guarded, & comes in it's own outside roller which protects it from wind, rain, & harsh sunlight. We chose a "fern" color to sort of match one of the green stripes on the motorhome. While all this was going on, Glen returned with the heater parts & began the installation. Lot more to that than I thought. Top of stove had to come off, copper lines & fittings installed, propane hose under sink leading to an outlet & heater, etc. I am not a mechanically inclined person so things like this have to be done by someone else & I have a whole lot more confidence in a professional persons work than I would with me trying to do something like that. I'm still get confused changing a light bulb.

Alas, the awning was done & the heater hooked up & somehow in this beehive of morning activity we even managed to wolf down some bacon & eggs. The place was a bit upside down by the time everybody left so I was able to con my way out of going to town with Kelly by saying I'd take care of the clean-up. It worked, & as I watched the Santa Fe disappear across the desert headed for town I happily settled back into my most comfortable gravity chair under our nice new shady awning, coffee in hand, & cracked open my favorite Marshal South book. And, there I remained until about 4 in the afternoon, reading & dozing, dozing & reading:)))))

Kelly returned about 4 & naturally had found something in Quartzsite again that she wanted me to come & look it. Of course, being the good husband that I am, (ya right) I gladly agreed to go, but unbeknownst to Kelly I had an ulterior motive. (dollar hamburgers)
We had decided quite awhile ago to replace some of this impractical & uncomfortable RV furniture in the rig, so Kelly (the scrounger) had located a used & workable kitchen table plus 2 chairs at a large RV dealer in town. (Le Mesa) Price was really right so we grabbed them. Then, I casually mentioned something about supper & hey, how about that dollar burger place just around the corner:))))) Minutes later we were gobbling down burgers smothered in onions again. Now, let me see, to-morrow night if we were in town around 4 & just happened to be near tha..........oh forget it!!

To answer a question from yesterday's blog.......that material hanging down the side of the motorhome is a piece of burlap & I hung it up there to cast some shade on the motorhome where the refrigerator is located. Helps keep it a tad cooler thus using less propane to keep the fridge cold.

Whewwwww, sure is warm in here............. I think we're gonna really love our new Blue Flame heater.

AN AVIATOR WAVES FROM THE SKY

THURSDAY JANUARY 10/08
Do you remember the days years ago when the sound of an airplane overhead would bring you running out of the house to stare skyward. I do. As a young boy in a small southwestern town in Ontario, Canada I was always fascinated with airplanes & would wave at them as they flew overhead. They never waved back but I never gave up & to-day after all these years, a strange aircraft flew low overhead, I waved............AND THE AVIATOR WAVED BACK!! It was a young boy's dream come true at last. The aircraft was an ultra-lite suspended underneath a large canopy & the aviator sat in an open cart affair with wheels & an engine on the back. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy Not exactly a bigger winged airplane but it was a wave from the sky nonetheless. I had been sitting outside reading when I heard the whine of a high pitched engine coming & as I got up to look, the aircraft came in low from the northwest & made a slow banking left turn. (must have seen our Canadian flag) He was low enough & close enough for me to see he was looking down at me. I instinctively let go with a big wave, & was thrilled to see the aviator let go with a big wave back............. Yes Toto, a little boy's dreams can come true:))

I caught myself a good break to-day. My presence was not required for the day's browsing trip in Quartzsite so Kelly headed off about 10:30. solo. Aw, how sweet it is!! Made myself a coffee, situated a comfortable lawn chair in the path of the sun, grabbed myself a book, & comfortably spent a big part of the day enjoying something I haven't done in years. Reading. It was a week ago to-day that we hiked our way up to Marshal South's homestead & to-day I began reading the book about this man, his family, & their life & times on Ghost Mountain. A nice way to spend a relaxing day in the desert. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

Kelly was back about 3 & we returned to town to look at a Blue Flame heater for the motorhome. These are 99.9% small efficient propane heaters used by many boondockers instead of the RV's propane guzzling furnaces. From there I did a mandatory 30 minute browsing tour awaiting the time piece on my wrist to lock onto 4 p.m. Why 4 p.m.?? .............. Dollar hamburger time:)) We were at the head of the line at the little hamburger stand where they have hamburgers for a dollar after 4 in the afternoons. We got 5 burgs & Kelly ate 4 & I had...............ok, ok, I had 3 & Kelly had 2. Good burgs smothered in onions.

We returned to our temporary home in the desert & that was about it for another day. No big plans for to-morrow but if I can get in some reading time with my Marshal South book I'm a goin to be a happy guy.................:))

P.S. It's 9 P.M. right now & I'm still burpin onions!!!!

STRAPPIN ON MY, "SHOPPING LEGS!!"

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 9/08
During our 2 weeks in Borrego Springs the motorhome's front end faced west & we could watch the sunsets every night. In Quartzsite we are facing east so it's a nice way to start the day, with beautiful fiery sunrises coming over the distant mountains & right through our big motorhome windshield.
The desert is greener here than in Borrego & we are back in the land of the Saguaro cactus. Instead of sand we are now on hardpacked stones & gravel. Nice to see the bigger Palo Verde trees.

First on the agenda this morning was to hoist our Canadian flag & I figure if somebody comes over complaining about it again I'll just tell them it's not a flag at all, it's just a red & white directional air speed indicator:))

Big sunny day as we drove the short 6.5 miles into Quartzite. First stop was the Chamber of Commerce for local information, street maps, etc. Found a cheap breakfast place & then headed out to find the RV awning company that had been recommended to us. No easy feat considering there are acres & acres of vendors with everything from soup to nuts for sale. And lots of soup & lots of nuts too. Big RV companies are set up here, an airplane fly's over towing a large advertising banner, hot air balloons will be in the air when the crowds begin to arrive in a few days. Those hamburgers I said were 25 cents in yesterday's blog are actually a dollar so I'm going to have to cut my order down. We eventually found the awning place, looked at some samples, & hammered out a deal for our awning to be replaced this coming Friday. They will come out to our RV site to do it. Takes about an hour. Walked around looking at a ka-zillion million things but didn't buy much, just a few necessities here & there. Days like this are not my favorite because I have a short attention span for walking around & around & around looking at stuff. And, I don't have, "shopping legs." Walking slow, looking, standing, walking slowly a little more, looking.......... soon takes a toll on my legs & they begin to stiffen & ache. Hiking quickly up a steep mountain trail is much, much, easier. Shopping has got to one of the hardest physical tasks for men that I've ever experienced!! It's not only physically grueling, it can be downright depressing for us guys.

We were back out to the peace & quiet of the desert by 3 in the afternoon & the rest of the day was spent reclined in a lawn chair, soaking up some Arizona sun & thinking of better uses for my..............................."shopping legs."

No idea what we're doing to-morrow, but...........it could be more of the same:((
Oh dear...............................

With to-day's photos I have added 4 balloon pictures that I took one year ago to-day when we were at Hickiwan Trails in Why, Arizona. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

HELLO TO QUARTZITE, ARIZONA

TUESDAY JAN. 8/08
Well wouldn't you know it. The morning dawned clear with the clouds & mist in the mountains totally gone. Would have been a great day to drive out to Split Mountain but we were committed to our departure for Quartzite this morning so we'll just have to do that mountain another time. Our good RV neighbor Butch & another neighbor came over to say good-bye. Although I have a tendency not to socialize a lot I somehow always feel sad saying good-bye to RV people we've spent a little time with because I know that I will probably never see them again. It was that way with Butch. He took us on some great hikes & we all hung out a little bit. He lives in the desert by himself in his 5th wheel trailer with his dog Capeche. I hope he will be alright.

We headed into Borrego Springs to dump tanks & take on water. We hooked the car up in the same place just off Christmas Circle we had unhooked it waaaaay back on Dec. 21/07 when we first arrived there. We will always remember Borrego Springs as one the most favorite places we've been & definitely hope to come back again. Completely surrounded by the Anza Borrego State Park, this little town is a true diamond in the rough. Bye, bye, Borrego...........thanks for the memories & we're sure gonna miss you.

We were on our way by 10:15 heading east for Salton City & then north for Interstate-10. We took a little shortcut at Mecca & followed a quiet paved road east for quite awhile before finally connecting to I-10. The trip to Quartzite was uneventful but we did wonder why we saw so many rigs heading west when we figured most RV'rs would be heading east into Quartzite & not out of it. Every January thousands & thousands of RV folks head for this tiny little town to camp in the desert & be a part of the largest RV swap meet in the entire United States. We were here last year for 4 days about this time & it's quite something to see. Normally we would avoid any kind of large gatherings like this but we've made an exception with Quartzite. We're hoping to get our ripped awning replaced & have us a look at some ceramic RV heaters.

We exited I-10 at Quartzite & headed south on the Yuma highway for about 5 miles until we reached the area we had stayed last year. It was a relief to see only a few rigs scattered about here & there so it was easy to find a totally quiet spot for ourselves. We should be ok here before the bulk of RV'ers roll in this week-end & the desert really begins to rock & roll. Don't know how long we'll stay here & that will depend on how crowded it gets I guess.

We had good luck with setting up the satellite dish again & we were on the internet in a matter of minutes. Same with the television signal. So nice when things work well. Managed to get the 2 solar panels up before the sun slipped behind the mountains & it wasn't long before the Bayfield Bunch was all squared away in their toasty little motorhome in a new location, awaiting to-morrow's new adventures. I hope they still have those 25 cent hamburgers after 4 p.m. everyday. I'm a goin to eat me 50 of them:))

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY

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OUR LAST DAY AT BORREGO SPRINGS

MONDAY JAN. 7/08
When we lost our satellite television signal last night & then the internet signal, I should have known what was happening, but it wasn't until later in the night that I clued in. And, that clue was a growing patter on the roof. Rain!! Heavy water laden clouds had obviously moved in overhead blocking our satellite signal earlier. Rain on the motorhome roof always reminds me of tent camping years ago & it's always a soothing little trip down memory lane to the early days. That same sound on the roof also means something else...........oh geeeeez, what have I left outside that is going to get soaked. Well, let me see...... 3 folding wood tables, camera tri-pod, bicycles, 2 lawn chairs, um, are the cars windows up, did I bring my coat in........ well, you get the idea. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

We had hoped to drive out to Split Mountain this morning but the clouds that had been sitting on the mountain tops the past couple of days were now sitting right on the desert floor at the foot of the mountains. We wouldn't be going anywhere again & besides, it was still raining:((
Kelly headed off into town with a load of laundry & I busied myself with the early stages of packing up the campsite.

We had decided yesterday that it was time for The Bayfield Bunch to move on to our next destination.....Quartzite, Arizona.
We will leave Tuesday morning.

Secured the bicycles on the back of the motorhome, re-arranged some bins, locked the solar panels down, soaked up some cloud strained sunshine, loaded up some firewood, did some serious puttering, & once again, took a whole bunch of mountain & cloud photos.
The big storm in northern California has produced weather patterns in this area that are rarely seen & I have been kind of mesmerized by the overall beauty of it all, so once again I've uploaded a lot of mountains & clouds photos to the web album. I tried to edit them down to maybe a dozen but in the end I just simply uploaded all of them because it's not likely I will have another opportunity to see this kind of beauty again anytime soon & thought you all might enjoy seeing them too. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

As usual, I'm feeling kind of sad about leaving in the morning. I think I grow too attached to all the great memories we usually end up creating. But, mixed with that sadness is the feeling of excitement to be heading off on new roads, seeing new vistas, & finding new destinations. And of course......the new anxieties:(( Will I rip the CB aerial off on a branch again, or catch the air conditioner on a low tree limb, how about backing into a stump or getting the wheels off in some soft sand. Will the solar panels come lose while driving & did I put all the pins in the hitch towing the car. Did I put the car in neutral, did I double check to make sure the leveling jacks are up, & that reminds me........did we put the television aerial down?????????? Aw yes, the trials & tribulations of RVing. Ya just gotta love it:))

BIG WINDS & A COLDER DAY

"Hey Dad, do ya need some help there"

SUNDAY JAN. 6/08
The winds picked up in the night but our rig was parked facing head on to the blow so buffeting & noise were minimized & we didn't lose a lot of sleep.

We had talked about taking the car over the mountains to San Diego this week & checking out some RV friendly furniture at Ikea but one look at the mountains this morning squashed that idea. The fog on the mountainside was right down to the deck in spots & the mountaintops were obscured by heavy gray clouds. Not a good driving day at all so we just hunkered down to wait out the high winds sweeping across the desert floor. We'll maybe check out Ikea in Phoenix later when we are in that area.

It's days like this when the internet & television really come into their own for us, especially the irreplaceable internet. Having the world's library at your fingertips on a cold windy day in the desert (or anywhere else) is pure magic. We can communicate with friends, we can research areas where we are headed, & read about places we've been. Photos are uploaded, blogs are written, emails come & go constantly. We have friends we've never met. We are on various RV forums & help is only a keyboard away. And best of all, we are occasionally able to reach out & help others as well.

In my opinion, the internet & RVing go hand in hand to make this whole RV experience a safer, easier, & more enjoyable experience than it has ever been. For us, a single satellite dish that accesses both television & internet is working well & especially for the internet. However, if I'm uploading pictures the same time Kelly is watching television, it usually breaks up the television image bad (only happens with uploads) so we have had to make some compromises. No big deal, we're working it out. And, as all RV'ers well know....................there are always things to work out:))
NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY

RELAXING RAINBOWS

SATURDAY JAN 5/08
We stepped out of the rig this morning into 63F temperatures & that is the warmest start to any day we've had since leaving home back in late October. Heavy cloud cover overnight held the daytime desert temperatures in. Now, why can't the desert be warm every morning like this!!

Because we are on the southern edge of a huge California storm right now, the clouds over & in the mountains here have been spectacular. Large brooding clouds moved slowly over the mountain tops dripping mist down the mountainsides. Sunlight slipped quietly through here & there lighting up areas in the hills & valleys. Cloud shadows played across the canyons. Periodic light rain showers were enough to bring out faint rainbows over the dry lake bed just to the north of us. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy
I sat in a lawn chair for hours watching the rainbows interact with the clouds & mountains. In fact, we spent the whole day just relaxing, reading, & watching the mountains. Ambient CD music by John Huling, Robert Haig Coxon, & Coyote Oldman set the mood for the day.

Boondocking, basically is RVing & camping somewhere without an electric or water hook-up. The idea is to be totally self sufficient & independent. From what we had read about boondocking over the past few years we new it would be something that would interest us & it was something we have been working towards......& finally achieved. We are on our 20th consecutive boondocking day & while sitting here quietly in the desert to-day, we knew that decision was definitely the right one. It's going to be hard for us now whenever we have to use an RV park again & I'm sure it's going to have an affect on our lives back home in Bayfield when we return. This kind of life grows quickly on those who let it, and we have been happily letting it:))

OUR MYSTIC & MOODY MOUNTAINS

FRIDAY JAN. 4/08
We had planned to head off to Split Mountain & the Wind Cave this morning but wisely decided we should just take a hiking break & have a relaxing day around the motorhome. Beautiful sunny morning so I decided to do a little clean up around the rig. Saw potatoes sprouting out of the dash so figured it was time to get that dash wiped off. There's a lot of dust & dirt in the windy southwest & with 3 dogs coming & going, things can quickly look like a plowed field in here.

Kelly headed into town to do some errands, with one of them being a stop at the Borrego Springs library. We were so taken with the Marshal South hike yesterday that Kelly found a couple of DVD's on the South's life plus a couple other DVD's dealing with the Anza Borrega State Park. She also bought the book, Ghost Mountain Chronicles, the complete collection of Marshal South's writings. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey was a second book she purchased.

I'm an old Rock & Roll guy from way back but the music I enjoy most now is ambient. However, I also have a an old country & western side so while Kelly was in town to-day I had the old Hank Williams tunes just a barkin & this old rig was just a rockin:))

There are big storms happening over on the other side of the mountains right now but right here we're fine so far. I watched as heavy ominous clouds moved in on the mountain tops late this afternoon as the sun slipped into the gray mix on it's way to the sea. The mountains took on a mystical & moody look so I grabbed my camera, snapped on a 135mm lens & took a few photos which I will upload to the web album...... http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

I think we're in for a couple days of rain so the blog & pictures may be a little thin for Saturday & Sunday..................... was that a big collective sigh of relief I just heard out there:)) Toodles

MARSHAL SOUTH & GHOST MOUNTAIN

THURSDAY JAN. 3/08
The name Marshal South didn't mean anything to us until we stopped into the Anza Borrego visitor center a few days ago. We were inquiring about hiking in the area & the park ranger suggested Ghost Mountain. Well, anything with the words mountain & ghost in the same sentence is going to perk anybody's imagination so we bookmarked that one to do.
Thursday we did that hike & it turned out to be one of the best days on our trip so far.

Here is a short background on Marshal South, his wife Tanya, & their 3 children.

In February 1932, while the country felt the grip of The Depression, Marshal and Tanya South came to this mountain to build their home and live off the land. They raised their children here, wrote magazine articles, grew vegetables, gathered native plants, and after 16 years decided to call it quits.
Yaquitepec, or Ghost Mountain, still carries the reminders of South's homesteading adventure. The steep, mile long walk to the homesite will give you a breathtaking view of the land the South family called home. Look for signs of the ingenious water system with its cisterns and troughs. The adobe structure is quickly becoming a victim of the elements.
Living off the land proved difficult. Supplies had to be brought by Model T from Julian and carried up on foot. Tanya South tired of her eccentric mate's life-style and the family split up, leaving Yaquitepec to the sun and the wind.
The stories of the South family fade with time in the pages of old copies of Desert Magazine but the melting adobe and the garden terraces will remain atop Ghost Mountain for years to come.
For seventeen years (1930 to 1947), poet, artist, and author Marshal South and his family lived on the remote, waterless mountaintop in California's Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and is referred to as "Ghost Mountain". For nine of those years, Marshal South chronicled his family's controversial primitive lifestyle through popular monthly articles written for "Desert Magazine". The articles reflected his passion for the desert while praising its early inhabitants and their lifestyle. An acrimonious divorce ended the "experiment in primitive living" and with Marshal's death in 1948, fifty years of silence and speculation followed. Family secrecy, altered names and dates, lost and burned records and letters, left Marshal's grand experiment in obscurity, hidden from even his surviving family members.
More on Marshal South http://www.dzrtgrls.com/yaquitepec/yaquitepec.htm
http://outdoors-magazine.com/spip.php?article244
The drive from Borrego Springs to Ghost Mountain is a twisting, winding, roller coaster, & scenic ride through the mountains to a place called Blair Valley. The old Butterfield Stagecoach used this route back in the 1800's. A turn off the highway west of the little town of Shelter Valley headed us out onto the desert floor & around a large dry lake bed. The road is bumpy with hard & loose packed sand, but is ok. Spotted here & there were a few RV's snuggled up against high rocky ridges. Ghost Mountain doesn't really have a peak on it & we were at the trail head before we realized it. There is a cairn there with a brief description about the South family & their time on the mountain.
Right from the start it's obvious that this is going to be a totally uphill 700 foot climb on a narrow & rocky pathway that is a 2 mile round trip. Good hiking footwear is a must. One of the first things I noticed was the many & multi-colored rocks along the way. Vegetation also increased as we climbed higher. Algava, yucca, cholla, ocotilla, hedgehog & barrel cactus are but just a few of the plants that dotting the landscape. Because of the steep incline, the path had many switchbacks zig zagging back & forth. Wasn't long & we were huffing & puffing a bit. Sleeves got rolled up. The view back down & out across the Blair Valley was beautiful & we could see the sandy roads snaking across the desert floor. Can't imagine how Marshal South made the trip in his old model T to the town of Julian & back for supplies 14 miles away across this valley & along hazardous gravely mountain roads. About 20 minutes into the hike we reached a plateau with a panoramic view & we could see for miles & miles. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/49JAN3MARSHALSOUTHGHOSTMOUNTAIN#Ahead, the path disappeared amongst a mass of boulders leading even higher to another ridge line. We picked our way along the narrow path up & over the fairly easy rocky terrain. Only a bit of rock scrambling here & there. In some places I'm sure large rocks had been moved to form steps. And all along the way are the beautiful desert plants. It was Mother Nature's desert landscaping at it's very best. Just about when you think your legs are not going to go any farther, your there. It was about a hundred yards over that ridge, nestled in the rocks that I first caught site of the homestead ruins. A couple sections of adobe wall, an old iron bed, weatherworn window & door frames, a water gathering cistern system, a smaller iron bedspring, a few upright wood supports & some old rusted cans laying in the sand where the kitchen once was. That's about all that is left of what once was a family of 5 living here for 17 years back in the 1930's. It is incomprehensible how & why Marshal South chose this spot. Every nail, every piece of lumber, every rain barrel, & every bit of building material had to be physically carried up from the desert floor 700 feet below, along that steep rock strewn grueling narrow path to the top. Everything!! But, standing there among the ruins I can kind of understand his reasoning, although it be a little harsh. They were totally alone on a mountaintop, far from the maddening crowds & civilizations far below & far away. In many ways I can identify with this man's feelings. It is an unending view for miles & miles in all directions from this site & I can only imagine how beautiful it must have been on those warm clear summer nights with the stars stretching from mountaintop to mountaintop. As I looked around I tried to imagine the children playing on the rocks, the family sitting down to meals, Tanya grinding seeds in a mortero we found near the house, & Marshal South working on his water system or sitting on the rocks writing his articles for, The Desert Sun. It's a quiet place now with only the wind rustling through the cactus. This is truly a special spot & one that we will always remember as we walked among the ruins, the rocks, & the abundant desert plant life. We were fortunate enough to spend a quiet half hour here before the tell tale sounds of human voices began to drift up from the pathway below. People were on the way so it was time for us to go. It's not likely we will ever pass this way again so it's always with a bit of sadness that we leave a place, & especially a place as peaceful as this. A last look back as we began our descent, & wait......was that Marshal South I saw standing tall on a rock looking over the valley, did I hear the children laughing & was that Tanya by the door watching the children play........maybe, just maybe.
We picked our way down through the boulders passing half a dozen people on their way up. I jokingly told them they only had another 8 miles to go. Kelly picked up some tall yucca stems complete with dried flowers on the end. We also picked up a few small colorful stones. Sometimes the descent down a steep grade can be more difficult than the climb up. It's easier to slip on loose gravel but we finally made it down ok & it was a great feeling to open that car door & sit down on a soft comfortable car seat.
From the Ghost Mountain trailhead we headed south a couple of miles to the site of an old Indian village site where we found many morteros in rocks where Indian women had spent countless hours grinding seed pods, beans, & lentils. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy The morteros are the only visible sign that there had once been people here & it's hard to comprehend how these women could grind these holes into solid rock using nothing more than another solid rock. Again, wandering amongst these huge boulders, one can only vaguely try to imagine what life must have been like a few hundred years ago in these parts.
The overcast sky was turning dark to the west so it was time for us leave Blair Valley. I turned & said good-bye to the Marshall South family, the Indian families at the mortero site & Ghost Mountain itself. Good-bye & thanks for making this a memorable day for us.
The park's signage is very poor & as we headed off across the desert floor we weren't sure which way the highway was. Sandy roads criss crossed here & there but we stayed on the one that looked most traveled & I felt we were headed in the general right direction Probably took us the best part of half an hour before we saw some vehicles moving along a road in the distance which indeed turned out to be the highway. Always a nice feeling to get un-lost:))
Because the little mountain town of Julian was only 12 miles away we decided to go there & pick up some dog food & a couple of much needed coffees. This is a quaint little village in the heart of the mountains. I think they might have got a bit of snow last week too. The scenic 28 mile trip from Julian back to Borrego Springs was uneventful as I once again got to feel like a Grand Prix driver gearing up down on the tight mountain curves & grades. Just as we reached the Borrego valley, the sun poured out of the clouds lighting the valley floor ahead & it felt like we were home...... even though we've only been here a little over 2 weeks.
This California place is truly remarkable & filled with lots of adventures & wide eyed wonderment & we've come to love it. It will be with sad hearts when we leave her in another week or so.........................:(( (A lot of pictures for the web album so they might not be uploaded yet)

CULP VALLEY HIKE

WEDNESDAY JAN 2/08

Another clear & sunny California morning. This sure is a great area for consistently great weather. Night time temps drop to about 40F & the day time sunny days get up into the high 60's to low & mid 70's.

Butch & another RV neighbor, Keith, dropped over for a chin wag around 9. Butch, Keith & his wife come here every winter so it's always good to talk with people like them about the ways of the weather in these here parts. We're always a little concerned about the wind & the weatherman says we may be getting some wind & rain over this coming week-end. If we feel it's going to be a little rough we'll slip into an RV park in Borrego Springs to get out of the winds. We found one to-day that is affordable just in case.

Headed up Montezuma's grade later on in search of the Culp Valley campground. That Montezuma's grade is quite a road twisting & turning through the mountains. Found the campground at mile marker 9 & pulled off the highway onto a bumpy dirt road into the campground. No problem for the sure footed Santa Fe though. This a really nice & private RV campground hidden away in the rocks of Culp valley. Only a couple of small truck campers there. The hardest part is getting an RV up or down Montezuma's grade to actually reach the campground. There are scenic hiking trails here & one took us up onto a ridge overlooking the valley floor below to the east. We could see all the way to the Salton Sea & beyond to the Chocolate Mountains. Between the Sea & the Mountains is Slab City but we didn't see anyone we remembered from the Slabs:)) Kelly busied herself building half a dozen Inukshuks & we left one of our Bayfield Bunch internet cards under one of them. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy Maybe we'll get an email from the park's, Smoky the Bear now.
Another trail led us down the mountainside towards the Pema Springs, but we didn't make it. It was a steady downgrade, the sun was beginning to sink towards the mountain tops, this was mountain lion country, & it would be a tough hike back up to the car, so we only went about two thirds of the way to the spring before turning & heading back up to the car. We built ourselves up a good sweat on the upgrade though.

Back down the mountain into town, a quick stop at the grocery store & back out to the desert. Kelly got a campfire going & that was about it for another day in the life & times of.............. The Bayfield Bunch:))

To-morrow we head for.........Ghost Mountain!!

Note: To answer Vito's question about the Slabs...... We left the Slabs a couple of weeks ago so don't know anything about that Slab City Talent Show on January 26th. Sorry Vito:((

THE RITZY SIDE OF BORREGO

TUESDAY JANUARY 1/08
I said a quiet, "thank-you," to our unseen RV neighbors last night about 5 minutes after mid-night. Thank-you for no horn blowing, thank-you for no gun shots into the air & thank-you for no drunken hollering & yelling. I had been sound asleep but woke up about 11:45 concerned about the dogs if there were going to be loud bangs. We have about 30 or more large high end motorhomes parked near us in a group & I was worried they might get a little boisterous. They didn't. They all have Jeeps so I assume they are members of a Jeep club. I also assume they are older mature folks which would explain the quiet New Years Eve.

Bit of a cloudy morning as we headed out looking for a hiking spot about 8 miles down the road which in the end, we didn't find. Drove back into Borrego Springs & took a drive through a high end park model estates settlement (Roadrunner Club) which is built around a scenic golf course. Beautifully landscaped grounds with a really neat & well looked after community. Some of the homes were for sale so we stopped at one. Price was $35,000 but the monthly landlease fees were over $600. The community is built around a rambling golf course. As we drove around the streets I took photos out the window....http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy This is a really cozy place.

After the Roadrunner Club, we drove up to the north end of town & stopped at the Anza Borrego State Park Visitor Center. This is an exceptionally nice visitor center that is made of native stone & built into the side of a small hill & blends right into the surrounding desert. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy More photos:))

From the visitor center we stopped into Borrego Spring's most popular little eatery, the Red Ocotillo. Nice place located in an old army Quonset hut.

Headed out to the east side of town where we could see a lot of palm trees & orange orchards. Beautiful homes, so I was busy with the camera again. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy Saw one house for sale so stopped & picked up a real estate brochure in front of the house. It's the photo in the web album with Kelly walking up to the house. This place featured an indoor swimming pool & was selling for $599,000. There were homes here that would easily have gone for a million or more. And, this whole community was centered around a big golf course as well. A lot of the swanky-dooo homes backed onto the golf course. Borrego Springs is a good example of how people can do things right & make things nice if they want to. They turned a flat, dusty, scrubby, desert into a beautiful palm tree lined community with superb landscaping & beautiful golf courses. What a great place for folks to retire.....especially if you like to golf.

From scenic waterfalls, manicured flower beds, majestic palms, emerald golf greens, placid ponds, quiet streets & million dollar homes we headed back out to our flat, dusty, & scrubby little spot in the desert. Awwww yes, home sweet home.
Got us a nice campfire going & sat by the fire watching another big beautiful fiery sunset. No indoor pool here, but we'll be alright........:))

BORREGO SPRINGS & A GUNNERY RANGE

MONDAY DEC. 31/07
Checked the onboard propane tank a couple of days ago & noticed we were down to the quarter mark so figured we had better head into town & get that tank filled up because things will be closed on New Year's day.

Moving one's house is not always an easy task. First, the solar panels have to be secured. While on the roof I take the flag down. Internet cords have to be disconnected from the modem & the television cord is unhooked from the receiver. Both the living room & bedroom slides have to come in. 13 basement bins have to be locked & secured. TV aerial comes down & leveling jacks have to be retracted. Things have to be secured inside the coach. A final check around the rig to make sure nothing is underneath, leaning against, or sitting on top of, & away we go. But, you know what, no matter how thorough you are, there is always that nagging doubt in your mind that you have forgot something, so I am always glued to the rear view mirrors looking for something amiss in that first hundred yards or so. At least with boondocking you don't have to worry about ripping out attached electrical cords, garden or sewer hoses.

Borrego Springs is a short 5 minute drive from where we are camped in the desert so it didn't take long to reach our first stop. Propane, $63 worth. Next we dumped our gray & black water tanks at a facility behind a gas station & took on fresh water. Put some gas in the motorhome but only, some!! Gas in California is very expensive & we had to pay $3.75 a gallon this morning. Dropped off our garbage at a container downtown & took a few photos of Christmas Circle. Borrego Springs is a well looked after clean little town with one easy going main street & no traffic lights. Things can be expensive here because it's an upscale little getaway in the desert. It has some pretty ritzy RV parks but it also has some pretty down to earth little shops & eating places too. An all round nice place complete with an artsy mall & an artsy feel.

Picked up some groceries & headed back out to the dusty desert & re-set up our home away from home again. A little siesta in the lawn chairs & then we took a drive in the car down the valley to the north of us. At the far end of the valley is Clark Lake, but it's not a wet lake, it's a dry lake bottom. Only in the heavy rainy season is there some water here. Starting back in the second world war this area was used for aerial gunnery training. Targets were set up at the far end of the lake & aircraft would make strafing runs on these targets while coming in over the lake bed. Countless thousands of 50MM machine gun casings were ejected from the aircraft over the lake bed. People are still picking those shells up but despite our searching to-day we didn't find any. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy The valley was an active gunnery range up until the 60's when Anza-Borrego State Park took over the range & it is now under the Park's protection.

Something else we have noticed about the desert is the misperception of distance. Objects that appear close, may in fact be miles away. The desert definitely has a way of projecting optical illusions & it's easy to understand how people get into difficulty while hiking.

As usual, it will be a quiet New Year's Eve for us. We can't even remember the last time we ever stayed up to celebrate the new year. Might have been back around the time Columbus came over on the Mayflower. (it was Columbus on the Mayflower wasn't it) I remember last New Year's eve when we were in Tucson, Arizona. We were in an RV park sound asleep when we were jolted awake by gunfire. Gunfire is not something Canadians are used to!!!! I think most of these American RV'ers travel with all kinds of artillery in their rigs & last year they came out of their motorhomes at midnight & opened fire on the night sky. I sure hope that doesn't happen again to-night because it really traumatizes the poor dogs & totally wrecks up the following day for us. I wonder how they would feel if I were to step outside our rig & open fire on the night sky.....with my slingshot!!

All the best to everyone in 2008 & a big thanks to all the people who have left many favorable comments & emailed us since our leaving home back in late October. We appreciate the feedback. It's not always easy to keep a positive spin on things out here on the road but those little comments that come in at the end of a day sure go a long way in easing some of those difficult times. Thanks:)) See ya next year......................................