My Trails

I just received a text from my daughter Karen wondering if I was still kicking around. She has been checking my blog from time to time to see if anything new has been posted. I guess I should write an update to prove I’m still here in the real world. When most of my days are filled with isolation, parked in the forest surrounding Flagstaff, watching the days go by from my RV, it takes some of the fun out of being retired. 

My knee has been getting progressively worse. Hiking used to be one of my great loves and that is becoming harder and harder to do. I try to stay active as much as I physically can. I bought a metal detector, a hobby I had years ago , and that gets me outside and moving when it’s not too hot. It seems like I can always find something to do to either fix or improve things on the RV. Just packing up and moving every two weeks is work to load and unload everything. 

I make a trip into town at least once a week to buy supplies. I’m careful to mask up every store I’m in and I carry a small bottle of sanitizer in my pocket. I guess there is no 100% method for protection against this virus, but I’m doing all I can short of living under a rock. 

Daryl, Donna, and Richard & Dianna are all living in Phoenix suburbs of Tempe and Mesa. Donna lives in almost complete isolation so she stays clean to visit Brian, Carrie and the kids. Richard and Dianna bought a house in Mesa and they have been remodeling, reorganizing, improving and otherwise making it into their nest for the future. They took their trailer to Texas to use as a vacation home when they visit family there. Daryl has been busy helping Richard with project on their house and also helping his son, Derek and Derek’s fiancée move into a new house. Don still lives in LA, working from home during the pandemic. Don’s wife Betty has been in and out of the hospital with some medical problems and we wish them well. 

That’s about it. Not sure what the future holds but have to hope for the best. 

For the last two months I have spent most of my time hiding from the Covid 19 virus. When everyone started getting serious about the widespread and devastating effect of the illness, Richard, Dianna and I were camping at the Imperial Dam LTVA near Yuma. The virus seems to affect the elderly and those with health conditions the most, so we were extremely determined not to come down with the bug. 

The temperatures in Yuma were getting too warm to camp without AC so Richard and Dianna moved into a rental site in the foothills of Yuma where they could plug in, and I headed north to find cooler temperatures with altitude. 

Yuma seemed like a good place for R&D to ride out the Coronavirus. The case count was low in the city and the stores even offered parking lot pickup for groceries. They have even patronized some restaurants by getting drive-through orders of food. Everyone’s future is uncertain in this time of pandemic but at least we have our basic income and haven’t been affected with a lost job. 

I first moved back to Quartzsite. The temperatures were getting up into the 80’s but that doesn’t bother me as much as some. As long as I have a shady spot to sit outside, and I don’t have to work, I’m plenty happy with 80 degrees.  The LTVAs actually close April 15 but they were not making people leave. They did however, shut off the water and close the dump station. I had emptied my tanks and filled all my containers with water so I was able to remain a week after the LTVA closed. 

From Quartzsite I moved to Sedona for two weeks. I found a nice camping area on a forest road half way between Sedona and Cottonwood. The only problem was that the area was also a shooting area and gunfire was a constant annoyance. If I ever go back there I will know to park back in an area where they don’t shoot as much. 

With my hand washing system I had extended my clean/dirty clothes pile for over a month but it was time to hit the laundromat. It was sad to see how many customers at the laundromat and even in Walmart that were not wearing masks. I didn’t go anywhere unless I really needed something and always got in and out as quickly as I could. And I always wore a mask and carried a small bottle of hand sanitizer everywhere I went. 

Yesterday, May 4, 2020, I moved up near Flagstaff. I know of several spots to disperse camp within a few miles of Flagstaff and my plan is to spend the summer here. I know a couple people here but we are all keeping our distance from each other. The temperatures are perfect, high 70’s days and nights in the 50’s. I have to go into town to get propane and more water soon. I heard from a friend that stayed here that said those things are still available. 

I fear it’s going to be a summer of lonely existence. Luckily I have texting to stay in touch with family, several forms of entertainment, and all my basic needs met. I am quite comfortable with myself. For some that have lost jobs or can’t stand the isolation from their friends, this time will be devastating for them. With the death toll in this country almost 70,000, and some predicting maybe twice that by Fall, I will gladly live this life of quiet isolation than become one of those statistics. 

I bought the washing plunger a year ago so I could wash out a few things by hand and extend the time between trips to the laundromat. It’s been working well but still requires more work than I like. 

The main thing I don’t like is wringing clothes out by hand. I don’t have the strength to twist them to get all the water out and there is always a little soap left after a rinse or two. 

I saw these hand wringers like grandma used to use on Amazon but they were always too expensive. With COVID 19 on the loose, I rationalized that I didn’t want to spend time in laundromats with people fondling virus ridden clothes from washer to washer. This would maybe get me through the dirtiest of days. Go ahead and laugh now. 

After a nice stay at Pancho Villa State Park I moved 100 miles north to Percha Dam State Park. I still had a few days left on my 14 day limit but I wanted to move before the Easter weekend crowds hit the parks. It turned out to be a good idea because Percha Dam filled up with many campers and day use weekenders.

Percha Dam State Park is quite pretty. The camping area is filled with trees and there are some grassy spots. The grass is mostly starved for water so brown and thin and filled with little weeds. The place I chose to park has many goat heads around my rig that constantly end up in my rugs even though I always take my shoes off when I come in.

This is one of the New Mexico parks located on the Rio Grande. Two lakes north of here hold back most of the water this time of year so only a trickle is coming down here. They say that on May 2nd they open the dams and let the river fill up. It would be nice to see that but we will be moving to higher and cooler ground long before then.

My friend John has been camping in the area and it was nice to see him again. We take a walk each morning along the river to exercise and look for birds. John is pretty involved with birding and takes some great pictures which he posts to his blog. Google RVJohn to see his photographs and find out what he’s up to.

Two days after I arrived at Percha Dam, Donna joined me for a caravan around the state to find and enjoy some of the New Mexico State Parks and attractions. Yesterday we journeyed south to checkout Leasburg Dam State Park and a historic site called Fort Selden. Because Leasburg is so close to Las Cruces, the camping sites are always full. The ranger told us that every site has been occupied since last October. The campground had nice private sites but the terrain was just rolling hills of desert brush.

We drove another mile and paid $5 to walk through the visitors center and crumbling remains of old Fort Selden. Fort Selden only existed for a few years, mainly to protect the settlers and travelers from Apache raids. The soldiers saw little action from encounters with Apache, and in fact, more men died from fights among themselves, illness, and suicide than Indian fighting. It was interesting to learn about the desolation living conditions for the soldiers and their way of life. One interesting fact was that General Douglas MacArthur lived there with his military family when he was a very young toddler.

We will probably move up to Bluewater State Park in a few days. It may be a little chilly there in the mornings but probably better than the 90’s predicted here next week. On our way we may go through Datil Wells, Pie Town, and the VLA. Lots of things to see.

I moved down to Imperial Dam LTVA, twenty miles north of Yuma. This has always been one of my favorites places to stay during the winter months. I can usually depend on good weather through February, it’s close to the city and Mexico for anything I need, and this LTVA has enough resources to keep me comfortable. I’ll probably be here until after the New Year.

When I first arrived at the LTVA, I found out that Barbara Dewell was camped nearby, so we met up with for a visit. We hadn’t seen each other for several months and it was nice to catch up on our travels over the summer. Barb needed to visit her dentist in Los Algodones and I needed to pick up some meds there, so we decided to go together to save on parking fees. We were done with our chores before noon and left Mexico before the long lines formed at the border. After our visit to Algodones, Barb headed back to Quartzsite and I drove west into California to see what the boondocking on Ogilby Rd looked like.

I heard different stories about the BLM area near the Algodones Sand Dunes now designated off-limits because of the desert tortoise. One person told me the only place legal to camp was near signed roads, and the rangers had removed all the road signs. Some others said that no one had said anything to them. The fact that there were only about four rigs camped in the area where there used to be hundreds, leads me to believe that they are enforcing the no camping rule. There are no signs saying no camping and the 14-day limit signs have been replaced by limited-use signs.

I drove over to the area along the Sidewinder Road to discover many rigs parked in that boondocking area. I have talked with some that say places along the Sidewinder Road belong to the American Girl Mine and are not enforced by the BLM. Some full-time RVers stay out there all winter.

I drove back through Yuma the next day, picked up more supplies, and laundered some clothes. I’m now back at the Imperial Dam LTVA, enjoying the weather and holding down the fort until Richard and Dianna make their way to Arizona after the holidays.