My Trails

Waffles hold more syrup!

Sometimes you have to make compromises. I love maple syrup and buy it whenever I can get one of my relatives to take me to Cosco. That didn’t happen the last time I was in town so I had to resort to imitation syrup. Even at Cosco the pure stuff is still expensive but way more reasonable than most supermarkets. I have been carrying this syrup for a couple months now and opened it just this morning. I feel good that I’m using it because I hate to carry around anything I don’t use.

I’m leaving tomorrow for a trip to Northern AZ. I may spend a night or two in Petrified Forest NP and Canyon de Chelly NM, and then probably mosey over to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. My apologies to everyone that I wont be at the party this weekend; it is just too hot in the Valley of the Sun for Minnie and me. It has even hit 80 here the last two days

This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just felt like showing you a photo of Karen and Kenz(Noahs girlfriend).

One of the nice things about being mobile is the ability to move on if you feel uncomfortable with any location or circumstance. Sometimes you will meet someone that doesn’t share the same outlook you have. That’s what happened when I found a campsite at Oak Flats. It’s not that I didn’t feel safe or was threatened in any way, but I felt a little uncomfortable when my neighbor stopped to chat.

He started by telling me he was a disabled veteran on total disability and spends a lot of time helping other vets get money by claiming disability. There is nothing wrong with vets that need help getting it, but I had the feeling he likes to work the system. He told one friend that had a terminal illness to get a lot of credit cards and run up a bunch of debt. I guess I’m being kind of judgmental. I don’t know what his disability is. He may have a mental illness from the war, but it made me suspicious when he said he was on his way to California to do some surfing. He’s also hoping to hook up with two Mexican girls later on this week for threesome sex. He asked me if I wanted to travel with him and sell his headlight cleaning solution he invented.

When I was at the Salt River I met a guy that I had a lot in common with. I really enjoyed the two evenings we spent talking in the shade of my camper, discussing travel plans and talking about the philosophy of traveling alone. He had lost his wife to cancer four years ago and I think he may be on a healing journey. One thing that keeps this life interesting is the people you meet.

I’m not going to avoid meeting people but I pretty much stayed out of sight the rest of the afternoon. I’ll slip out of here by myself tomorrow. No Fooling!

I was sound asleep last night when Donna knocked on my door with news that there was a Mesa Police Officer at the door. We learned that there has been a rash of tire slashings in the area, and I had been targeted. Whoever is doing this punctures one tire on the vehicle and randomly moves on down the road to their next target. I park my van in the street and sometimes worry that it is more vulnerable to vandalism and theft, but even cars parked in driveways were hit.

Tires are not cheap! I have been pinching pennies lately, trying to live within a budget, saving for dental work this spring, and this is not an expense that I was planning on. With some of the violence we hear about, I guess it could be worse – that’s something to be thankful for anyway. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Worth a thousand words!