A WINDY PAJAMA SCRAMBLE IN THE LATE NIGHT DESERT

STARTING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

The California Express hit us last night about 11:15. We had been asleep about 2 hours when the big southwest wind gusts started slamming into the back of the motorhome. Once again we had been caught totally off guard as we heard things flying around outside. The sounds inside an RV in heavy wind gusts is absolutely frightening. I immediately thought our solar panels were being ripped off as well as the slide awnings. We scrambled to get shoes on & head outside in our pajamas to do battle with the great wind monster bent on blowing us clear over into the next State. Kelly was the first out the door as the wind ripped the door out of her hand & slammed it against the side of the motorhome. Lawn chairs were nowhere in site as sand & bits of branches went tumbling by. Kelly quickly rescued a camera tri-pod as I became entangled in a long dog leash tied to the hand rail near the steps. Didn't seem funny to me at the time but Kelly said it was pretty hilarious seeing me in my pajamas, dog leash entangled around my legs, jumping up & down, hair standing straight up on end & hollering nasty things at the "stupid dog leash!!!!" I had locked the bicycles to-gether earlier so they were ok as they huddled against the motorhome underneath the bedroom slide. Remembered I had folded the lounge chairs up earlier so they were still in their place storage place. The car was still there too as we struggled to get back into the rig & get the door closed. The winds continued to rock the rig for another hour or so & then it was gone just as quickly as it had come. It was only then that I was able to go back to bed & eventually drift off to some completely windless & peacefully quiet valley somewhere. Sort of like inside a stuffy library late on a Sunday night.

An email came in first thing this morning from an RV couple who had been following our blog. They were in Yuma & wondered if we would like to get to-gether for a chin wag. We had planned on going into Yuma this morning for some groceries so Kelly called them on our Skype phone & made arrangements to meet at McDonald's in the Wal-Mart store near Yuma's airport at 11:30. It was a good thing we left early because when I drove into Yuma to where the Wal-Mart store was a few days ago........it wasn't there. How could that happen!! Drove around & around in the heavy pre-Christmas traffic until we had to finally stop & ask a fellow where they had moved the Wal-Mart store to. Well, turns out, they didn't move it afterall. It was still in the same place but our car just didn't seem remember where it had been...... or something like that.

HEY, MY HAT'S BIGGER THAN YOUR HAT!!

It was lucky that we met Doug & JoAnn at all because they were on Arizona time & we were on California time, meaning 11:30 was really 10:30 for them & 11:30 was really still 11:30 for us or was it 12:30......or something like that. We grabbed ourselves a bite to eat, some coffee, & sat ourselves down for a good old RV 40 minute chin wag. Truly nice folks & we felt at ease with them. http://www.mytripjournal.com/ourdream
Kelly's better at meeting new people than I am but I was able to overcome a few of my insecurities & flop myself into the conversation here & there. Most guys are mechanically inclined, love sports, follow politics, & know everything there is to know about absolutely everything so I often get left in a trail of dust when it comes to manly conversations. Therefore I am a little hesitant about meeting new people so am content to sit out here in the desert pondering over simple little things like the mysteries of the Universe on windy days!!

,HAD WE STAYED ANY LONGER, McDONALD'S WOULD HAVE CHARGED US A SITTING FEE

We were back to the rig by 1:30 & spent the rest of the windy afternoon recovering from our lack of sleep from last night's wily wind monster episode. It seems the older one gets, the longer it takes for a person to recover from anything out of the ordinary. Especially lack of sleep...............................

No photos for the web album to-night.

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

P.S. Noticed when we got home to-day with all our Wal-Mart stuff that 5 of the items were actually......."Made in the U.S.A." Been a long while since we've seen anything that wasn't Made In China at Wal-Mart!! Do you suppose this could be a positive sign of....................the long road back:))

CLOUDY COLD DAY WITH AN AIRPLANE LANDING IN THE DESERT

SUNRISE OVER THE DISTANT GILA MOUNTAIN RANGE

The day started out fine with a nice sunrise but it didn't take long for the entire sky to cloud over, and at this time of year in the desert, no sun means basically a whole lot less heat. So, for us rough tough Canadians from the frozen north, that meant back into our winter clothes as the temps plummeted to the mid 50's. Ya, ya, I know. So much for the rough tough part!!

We didn't stray too far from the rig all day. Cleaned up the campsite a bit & that was about it. While raking up some stones I heard a small plane engine approaching from the north. It was louder than normal so I knew he was low. Did a slow pass over our rig and around the area. Swung back into the north but then noticed he did a tight turn to the right loosing altitude fast as he headed back in our direction. Another turn to the left & he slowed the aircraft into a steady descent. Grabbed my camera & got a few shots of him as he touched down on the hard rocky desert floor about a half mile away. Saw him roll to a stop & swing the plane around. Decided to grab my binoculars & by the time I got them out of the case I heard the engine winding up & he was rolling again. Seconds later he was into the air & headed off in the direction of the Cargo Muchacho mountains. No idea why he landed & took off right away again. No smooth & paved airstrip out here in the desert. This guy came down & did a somewhat risky landing on a stony uneven surface interspersed with small trees & shrubs, not to mention a few RV's parked here & there too. He was on the ground for about a minute & then he was off again across the bumpy rock infested surface & up into the air again. Maybe he just landed long enough to pick up a few gold nuggets lying about on the desert floor. Maybe picked up a couple of Mexican Banditos. Or, maybe he was in really bad need of a quick washroom break. These are strange lands down here, with strange happenings, strange discoveries, & sometimes, even stranger people..........like the rough tough Canadians who jump into their winter clothes when the temps drop below 60F. Just don't figure, do it:))SMALL PLANE LANDING FROM THE LEFTSAME SMALL PLANE TAKING OFF FROM THE RIGHT

I added to-day's photos onto the end of yesterday's photo
album...http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ASTRANGEPLACEINTHEDESERT

ARE WE CUTE OR WHAT!!!!

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

MOVING DAY.......BUT NOT TOO FAR

MOVED TO OUR NEW SITE TO-DAY

The site we were camped at just off Ogilby Road was ok, but since taking a liking to the area over this past week we decided to look for a better spot & stay longer. It's a big area with lots of wide open spaces to park so we drove around in the car this morning looking for our next newest campsite. Spent about an hour & put on about 20 dusty miles driving up & down rough gravel roads through gulley washes, up dry creek beds, around tight turns & through thickets of creosote shrubs. Finally, we found ourselves a nice quiet spot.........about 500 yards from where we started out!! We had actually walked through this area last week but had forgotten about it. Oh well, it was a nice way to spend an hour & see other parts of the desert we wouldn't normally have seen. TAKING ON A LOAD OF PROPANE AT PILOT KNOB

We are into our 11th boondocking day & figured we'd better get some tanks dumped, take on some fresh water & pick up some propane. Packed up the motorhome, took down the solar panels, loaded up the doggy guys & headed back towards Yuma to a place called Pilot Knob where a Shell Service Station alongside Interstate-8 had dump facilities, water & propane. Didn't take us long to get our business taken care of & we were on the road again heading back to Ogilby Road & our new campsite. Picked up the car on the way by our old campsite. Our new site has a few trees nearby & is more private than our other site where we had a 5th wheel parked about a quarter mile to the south of us. This spot just felt more like home & already had a big firepit in place. Took the bicycles off the motorhome for the first time & had us a short ride around the rig. Yep, feels like home alright. Nearest visible neighbors are about three quarters of mile north of us. That is an acceptable distance for boondockers:)) We'll keep our fingers crossed that no one moves in between us & causes an overcrowding situation!! STRANGE PLACE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT

Yesterday after leaving the Tumco mining town site we drove north on Ogilby road about 10 miles & hung a right turn onto a gravel road leading off into the desert. We had heard there was petrified wood up this road plus a narrow canyon. The area was called, Indian Pass. Drove for quite awhile but the mountains just seemed to be getting further away so decided to turn back. Just as we did we noticed another short road leading to some kind of open air structure. It was odd to see something man made out here in the middle of nowhere. We cautiously drove in to what almost looked like a lemonade stand. Very odd. Then we spotted what looked like some kind of tent & large open wooden structure built in a wide circle around a single tree. The only tree we had seen out here for miles & miles. Shut the car down & got ourselves out for a look see. Bags of garbage had been torn apart by some animals, full water bottles laying on the ground, tables set up & a small sheltered cooking area complete with two pots on a grill. One pot was empty & the other one had a lid on it. Carefully lifted the lid & peered in. Looked to me like it might have been some kind of stew at one time but it was covered in mold. Very strange I thought. Everything was set up as if people had just been there minutes before, but mold in the large pot suggested no one had been here for a long time. We hollered a couple "hellos" at the tent across a gravely wash, but no response. Slowly approached the tent area & noticed a low semi-circle stone wall around a large deep firepit. Just beyond that was some kind of tent affair made out of tarps, old blankets, & just about whatever else could be thrown over the frame. Some of the blankets & pieces of material had slipped down & we could see inside as we approached. Nobody there. Stuck my camera in an opening & snapped a picture. Just a pile of stones in the middle. We walked around the site trying to figure out what this was all about. Valuable tools, like axes & picks were scattered about on the ground. Some tools were stood up against the shallow stone wall. Another tent like structure had been under construction with all the wooden branches carefully lashed to-gether with binder twine & rope. A very large circular structure made out of trees & limbs completely ringed the single tree. This was a large area & reminded me of a smaller version of Stonehenge, only in wood. Best way to describe all this is for you to have a look at the pictures I took while we were there.... http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
Maybe an alien spaceship came down & beamed everybody up..................................................A STRANGE CIRCULAR WOOD STRUCTURE

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