Wandering Spirit

We take an early walk this morning.  I take all the bird feeders down.  What seed I have left, I scatter on the ground.  I’ve been getting things picked up and put away for the last few days.

Had to think about how to pack up and hook up!  It’s been awhile!  Fred and Colleen come  up to help and double check everything with me.  Then Joy,mShiloh and I pile into JR and leave at 8:30am.  I go s-l-o-w-l-y down the 8 mile dirt road…it takes me an hour!

Ocotillo blooming and leafing on our way down the dirt road.

I drive about 150 miles to the KOA in Gila Bend….and now I have ELECTRICITY!  Whoo-hoo!

But…to regress…over the past week….it was a good, if not unusual week.

Ruth comes up for a visit with her horses Major and Rennie.

Another time she comes up and we had a campfire and a lot of girl talk.  She’s also reading The Clan Of The Cave Bear series.  Or, I should say, re-reading it. ( I’m on the last of the 6 books now..got it on Kindle).

We have a wine tasting party at the club house.🍷

Oh  gosh, and a couple of Margarita parties at Fort Kelly.☺️

I attend a Qigong class.  We’ll try and get that going earlier next season.

I do laundry.  Sometimes I do my laundry right at my own site…with a couple of buckets and a plunger!  Hey, you should try it sometime and you will REALLY appreciate you washing machine!

I clean out the shed and try to mouse-proof it.  I use Steel wool, Irish Spring soap, dryer sheets…and even lights.  I put 2 strings of solar led lights inside, with the tiny solar panels outside.  I suppose they will use the dryer sheets for bedding, clean up with the soap, and use the lighting to find their way around easier? 😁

I try to take the views into my being…including the beautiful sky.

Each day is such a gift and I try not to take them for granted.

The older I get, the more I realize there is a limited supply of these gifts.

I don’t want to be complacent.

Then Wednesday, my last full day at CLR is….interesting.

I am busy inside WS when Shiloh began barking outside.  Not a typical playful bark, but more a warning…more a protecting bark.

I hurry out to see what’s wrong and find him barking menacingly at a young man, who is stopped in his tracks approaching our little home.  He carries a small backpack and his shoes are worn.  He is very thin, looks exhausted, and right now, frightened.  He has ‘illegal alien’ written all over him.  I call Shiloh off, and the young man sits down on the ground and begins to cry.  The only English he seems to know is “help me”, and he repeats it over and over.  I bring him water and tissues and eventually get him seated at my outside table with crackers and peanut butter.

While inside WS I also call Tim on my emergency Verizon phone and tell him what’s happening.   At the same time I’m calling Tim, Don, another neighbor, rides up on his 4 wheeler and tells me Boarder Patrol has already been called and he will stay here till they arrive.  I am relieved that he will be here.  He tells me that a few of the men here saw the guy coming up my hill, and were aware and watching.  A minute later I get a text from Fred who is in TOWN 50 miles away, to warn me as well.

Wow, talk about a Neighborhood Watch!  I am impressed!

A couple of minutes later Tim arrives on his 4 wheeler and he speaks some Spanish.  It turns out the young man is not Mexican.  He is from Venezuela, and basically starving.  Tim goes home and returns a few minutes later with burritos and some juice, and gives it to the young man. (Maybe 20ish.)  Then Tim leaves again to meet the Boarder Patrol when they arrive and guide them to us.

That happens shortly…two of the familiar Boarder Patrol trucks…white with a green diagonal stripe on the side…come up my hill.  The officers are polite and kind.  They talk with him and let him finish his meal.  He seems relieved to go with them.  It beats starving, freezing, and burning up while being lost in the desert.

This happens here occasionally…rarely.  This is the first time I’ve been involved.  I feel sorry for the young man, proud of Shiloh, and pleased that my neighbors were so aware of the situation.

Seems a strange way to end my time at Caballo Loco Ranch this season.

To go.

Look, the Ocotillo are leafing out!

I do feel torn.  I feel it’s about time to leave CLR and I want to head out, at the same time that it hurts to leave this simpler way of living.  This energy.  These people.  These views. (NOT that I’ll mind having electricity again, and easy internet access!  Who-hoo!)

Sunrise yesterday.

I’m such a water person it seems strange that the desert here draws me so strongly.  There is something special about this place…right here….for me it’s a sacred place.

But, it’s time, and, there is going to be a lifestyle change coming up, at least for awhile.

The plan is to spend the spring and summer at least, in the ‘home place’ near Monterey, California.  Actually more precisely in Mary’s home place.  She’s had her trial run in her Prius RV and loved it, and now she’s ready to go for an extended trip, but doesn’t like the idea of leaving her house empty for a long period of time.  Meanwhile, I’m feeling the need to settle for awhile, so it works out really well for Joy, Shiloh and I to stay at her house while she hits the road.

Sooo…we leave Thursday.  Yup, this Thursday.  We will have a short visit in Prescott with our friends Kerry and Annabelle, and then travel on to Mary’s.

After summer….then what?  I just don’t know at this point.  Is my spirit done wandering?  I don’t think so, but only time will tell for sure.  I have thoughts of taking an extensive trip through California, and the Oregon/Washington coast still calls to me.  I might like to try Glacier National Park again.  (We got smoked out last time and the time before that I had a bad back injury).  I still haven’t visited the north rim of the Grand Canyon….there is so MUCH out there to see and experience….

But right now, I want to go home.  I want to walk Delmonte Beach with Joy and Shiloh,

Sit on the patio at Napenthe with a South Coast Margarita, absorbing the incomparable view and energy.

The view from Napenthe.

Hike in Molara State Park where the Big Sur River meets the ocean.

Maybe Patty will give me another Big Sur Lighthouse tour!

I’d like to have breakfast at my favorite place ever to have breakfast, Deetjens Big Sur Inn.

I want to see family and friends in a leisurely way…not rushing to see everyone in a short time.

I’dlike to walk on Asilamar Beach with Jason and Mandy and reminisce about their wedding.

Hey, I wouldn’t even mind a trip to San Francisco ( the big city!😀), and try out some nice vegan restaurant and go sit on a bench I know of with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge. 😊(hi Laura.  Hi Ulf!)

Yeah, home sounds real good right now.

Nice sunsets from the Monterey Peninsula too.

Ohhhhh…Big Sur….I do love you, and miss you!

So, we are getting ready to go, and I will keep blogging.  One step at a time here!

Once upon a time….actually about a month ago, we returned home from a campfire down at Ruth’s place.  It was a fun evening sitting around the campfire…keeping warm….visiting with friends. About 9pm we returned home, and I went to unlock WS’s door, but the key wouldn’t work.  I tried and tried with no luck.

The culprit.

This isn’t unheard of among Casita owners, in fact it happens way too often as evidenced by stories on The Casita Forum, that I’ve read over the years.

Because I had read these stories I had a vague idea of what was going on and what to do about it.  Still I was cold and tired and not very happy about the situation, as you might imagine.

There is an escape window on most RV’s.  It’s supposed to be used as an emergency exit, from inside.  On Casita’s, besides the regular window lock, there are two latches on the inside of this window, and when they are opened, the whole window frame can be opened outward, from hinges on the top.

One of the two latches on the inside of the escape window.

View of the escape window open fully, and being held in position with a piece of wood on the left side.

Folks who’s locks have failed are very adamant about never locking the emergency window, but of course there are times when one wants to lock everything, so, what to do?

Standing there feeling frustrated, trying to open the door, I was hoping real hard that my emergency window wasn’t locked, and half afraid to go check, because if it was locked, then I have a whole new set of problems.

Of course, I went and checked and YAY!, it was not locked!  Next I get a flashlight from JR and go to the shed where I keep a ladder.  I stand it by the window, and though it’s short, it’s tall enough.  Much to the puzzlement of Joy and Shiloh, I climb the ladder, open the window and screen, then reach inside and unfasten the latches.

Now I’m very happy that it’s dark and therefore no one (except Joy and Shiloh) can see me squiggle and squish  this body into the window…head first…and land on the bed.  I put a pillow from the bed between my stomach and the lower window frame to make the process a bit less painful…and feeling like Winnie The Pooh In A Tight Place, I begin my journey.

Thankfully no pictures of this!

Finally, I’m in!  But the dogs are out, and as I suspected from reading the adventures on the forum, the lock won’t open from the inside either, so now I’m locked in.  From the inside, while trying to make comforting noises to the dogs outside, I take a screwdriver to the damn thing, working through the small opening in the screen door…while I try not to panic.

Calming dog pictures.  Joy above.  Shiloh below.

It’s difficult but I finally manage to loosen the lock enough so it will disengage.

In come the dogs and I bungee the door shut for the night, not wanting it to actually close,  in case somehow we manage to get locked in again.  Except….

The night brings with it strong winds, which manage to blow the door shut tight again!  And it locks…. I kid you not!

I discover this at 6am, and feeling rather angry at this point, I take a small hammer to the lock and manage to break it and we get out.

Foolishly I suppose.  I order a new lock from Casita.

In the meantime, Tim, a very kind neighbor, loans us an extra lock he happens to have, and puts it on for me.  It doesn’t fit properly, it’s too small for the hole in the door, but with the help of some white duct tape, it works just fine for a temporary replacement.

Soon, I receive the new lock from Casita.

Its the same wrong size as the one that Tim put on.

Old broken lock on the left.  New wrong sized lock on the right.

I make a call to Casita in Texas and tell them they sent the wrong size….and they tell me it’s the only size they have.  I make more calls, search on line, and visit some RV places in Tucson, but no one seems to have the original size lock.  Maybe thas a good thing…..

Anyway I talk it over with Fred and Colleen, and they have some ideas.  Fred does some measuring, and a few days later comes up with some templates that he made.  The new lock fits in the templates, and the templates, fit in the holes in the door.  Tim comes over and removes his lock and fits the template and lock sandwich on the door!  It all fits perfectly!  Then he seals it all up with silicone and I’m all set!

So…advice?  Keep a screw driver and hammer in your RV, have access to a ladder,  and when possible, keep your escape window unlocked.  Especially, if you have a Fastec lock on the door.

On the more fun side of things, Colleen had a surprise birthday party for Fred and she asked me to help her.

We really do think he was surprised.  That’s Fred on the right.  He was bringing the mail to the clubhouse, unaware…and that’s Dennis on the left, who kept him busy all day without giving away the surprise.

Colleen and Fred standing in front of the board Colleen put up with lots of pictures of Fred and company, over the years.  I even wrote a poem called The Fred Poem, about some of the highlights of his life with info from Colleen.  The more amazing thing though, is that I stood and read it at the party.  Waaaay out of my comfort zone but I did ok!

Colleen and I with one of the cakes.

it was a fun time.

And here’s another pretty sunset to close with.

As you may know, early last year I leased a boondocking site at Cacallo Loco Ranch, a Ranch in the desert for RVers, about 40 miles southwest of Tucson.

The road that leads here is sometimes crowded, nobody wants to moooove,

And, you might get some attitude from your fellow travelers.  😊

There is no electricity and no phone lines.  (Verizon works pretty good most of the time though).  Any power we have is produced by a great big generator, which runs from 9am till 9pm daily throughout the cooler months.  (In the summer it’s run once a week).

The generator brings power to the clubhouse, the library/game room, the laundry room…

The office, lights for the bathroom down front, and the full hook up sites.  At least from 9am till 9pm.  Other hours you are on your own.

Where my site is, and most anyone else who stays for any length of time, you are on your own for power 24/7.

Water is supplied by some very deep wells in the desert.  It is piped to the buildings mentioned above, the full hook up sites, and also the bathroom/showers in the boondock area.

There is a pump house near the shower room where the boondockers can get water.

That little white thing is what I call the pumphouse.  The boondockers bathroom is the red building and if you notice the white picket fence, that’s where the dump is.

My power setup is among the most simple of the boondockers.  I have 40 watts of solar on top of WS, 1 twelve volt battery and a Honda 2000 generator.

At least 95% of the time my 40 watts of solar along with the battery take care of our needs.  Some others here have large battery banks, many large solar panels, and they have satellite tv and many other conveniences.

I rather like my set up…I like to keep it simple.

Water is another story.  Without a little (a lot actually) Of help from my friends, filling my water tank would be quite a chore.  Last season my routine was to take many one gallon containers and some larger ones, to the pump house, fill them, then bring them home in the truck and fill my water tank one gallon at a time.  Water is heavy!

This season Fred built his own water wagon, with a 60 gallon container.

Fred and his water wagon, filling WS’s water tank.

He tows it to the pump house with one of their four wheelers, fills it and shares the water with us, bringing it up our hill as needed.

Fred has two filters and a pump on his water wagon.

About once a week I empty my black tank into my blue boy, which is actually gray.

I hook it up to the hitch on JR and tow it down to the dump.

Fun fun.

When I empty the black tank, I also empty the gray tank….down the hill to water the Palo Verde tree and some cactus.

Propane is sold here for the going rate which is $2.30/gal right now.

Oh and I can even get NPR on my little transistor radio…at least sometimes.

The bird watching is great!

Sometimes I have 6 or 8 Cardinals at my feeders at once.  (I have many feeders)….along with 50 or 60 other sweet birdies.

And the scenery is amazing.

Cactus with a silver lining.

Sunset with a view of one of the ranch water tanks there on the left.

Cozy home.

Who needs the big city? ❤️

Does anyone have anything they would like to recommend?

Out here with basically no internet and no tv, I read.  A lot.

This is the series I’m reading now.  It’s called Earths Children, but better known as The Clan Of The Cave Bear series. I’m on the 4th one, The Plains Of Passage.  There is one more after The Shelters Of Stone, which I don’t have access to right now but I will.  I read these books long ago…about 25 years, give or take.

I love these books, and these are all available here in the library at CLR.  I have no problem with re-reading books I love.  I’m enjoying them even more perhaps, with this second reading.

Are there books you feel this way about?

What about books about rocks, or rockhounding?  I’d like to learn about rocks.

This is one of my favorite rocks in my ‘yard’.  Below is a closer view.

It’s like marble with green crystal in it.

Amd the rock walls of the wash we walk in intrigue me.

And some closer views…..

But any books that you’ve read and you have loved, I’d be interested in hearing about!

Before I start the subject above, I want to mention that one reader who is a friend and subscribs to this blog told me via email that she recently received another blog post since the Valentine’s Day one.  She said it appeared, briefly, without pictures, then when she went to the website, it was not there.  I haven’t written a blog since the Valentine’s Day one, and I’m wondering if anyone else has seen a more recent blog supposedly from me?

On to the weather!

We’ve experienced all of the above in the past week.  (Cold, wind, rain and snow, that is). The cold is relative, I understand, but fairly cold for southern Arizona, with lows in the 30’s at night and highs in the 50’s.  This forecast continues for the next week at least.

I’m heating WS with the Little Buddy because the furnace fan uses too much battery power in a boondocking situation like this.  I don’t use it at night so in the morning the temperature inside is around 40 degrees of late.  That’s ok because I’m snuggled under 2 sleeping bags, wearing sweats and 2 pair of heavy socks, but it’s getting up to start the heat flowing and the coffee brewing that is rather painful.

I brought the reflexes out and put it in the windows to help keep the heat in, as well.

The good news is that this is the kind of weather that Joy and Shiloh like, and also that since rattlesnakes don’t like it, they will remain in their underground beds for awhile yet. Yay.

There’s always a bright side!

We had soft, gentle rains,along with fog, for 3 days straight.

So good for the thirsty earth.

Heavy cloud cover.

Much rain was absorbed, instead of running off in the washes.  So much in fact, that the guys were able to make some headway  smoothing out the rocky, washboard 8 mile road that leads to the ranch.  It’s really noticeably better, and I for one, appreciate it very much.

Winds for Tucson were forecast for gusts of 35 mph, but here on my little hill I’d wager they were a good bit stronger than that.  I put away, or tied down, everything that might blow away…chairs, dog beds, toys, rugs, and even the table.  I attach a cement block to it permanently.

I put most of the bird feeders on the ground among the rocks, and I  parked JR on the southwestern side of WS to deflect some of the wind, as well.

The next morning we woke up to snow and ice, but it had melted by 10am.

Snow covered steps at 6am.  One dog print.

Snow covered cactus.

JR and Snow.

This after the month of January was quite lovely with temps ranging in the 40-70 range and only one day of rain.

The dogs love the cooler weather!

A romp in Banner Wash after snow.

Joy has been doing remarkably well recently, but with the colder temps she’s been outright frisky.  That’s her in front, above.  Not bad for 14 1/2 Years.  Shiloh rarely has a down day at age 11 1/2, but the cold weather has him bouncing and running all over the place.

And there are always the beautiful sunsets…..

So much more to say…..coming soon!

If nature provides all our needs, why do we find ourselves in the state we are in?

Are all the modern conveniences really more convenient?

Or is that just bred into our thinking?

Does the fact that we are wrecking our world by using them, make them less desirable to us?

What if there are no more fish in the ocean, only plastic and oil spills?

What if our love and dependence on engines and eating meat pollutes our air supply beyond breathability?

What if the toxins we put in the soil year after year after year, create more poison than we can handle?

What if the superbugs we create with overuse of antibiotics get the upper hand?

Where are we going with all of this?  How did we get on this destructive path?  Would we get off of it if we could, or have we become too nonchalant to care enough?

What if our petty differences about skin color, gender identity, illegal aliens, boarders, conservative vs liberal, what we wear, and how we worship are not as important as we think they are?

What if medical treatment was affordable?

What if we considered that our way might not be the only way to live and be?

What if it’s really all about treating all life and creation with compassion, kindness and respect?

What if it really is, all about love?

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Love and peace and joy to you. 💕

”Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you’ve imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

Marys Prius

Mary wrote in the comment section of the last blog post , with a little more info about camping in a Prius, and about where she gets her info.  If you had questions about that, please check it out.  Also see my blog post “Camping With Mary” in probably July of 2015.

Mary’s set up

JJ’s Sports Talk

Also in the last blog post I mentioned my sons new podcast called JJ’s Sports Talk. In that comment section he added a lot of links through which you can listen to it.  I have to say he’s really good!  He went to school to learn about sportscasting and even his teacher has mentioned him on HIS program!  I know Jason would appreciate your support and encouragement, so give a listen!

Jason

Correction

A couple posts ago I mentioned that Roger Kelly built Fort Kelly at CLR in the 1980’s.  I was WAY off!  He built it about 2000,which put him in his mid 70’s while building!

Fort Kelly

More soon!

If you have been reading here awhile you may remember that Mary is my friend from California who graciously allows Joy, Shiloh, and I to stay at her house when we periodically visit the home place.

Mary has recently retired and has started traveling too, but using her ‘Prius RV’.  You might be asking, what is a Prius RV?

Well, it’s a Toyota Prius, in this case a 2015.  Mary has done a lot of research with bloggers and pod casters who who are camping in their Prius.  Though she has a Toyota Sunraider motorhome, she decided to take the challenge and go for an extended camping trip in her car, and she’s loving it!  She is especially loving the money she saves on gas.  She has her little home all set up with everything she needs including a comfy place to sleep.

So anyway Mary came here and parked at my very large site at CLR and we had 4 days of visiting and fun.  We shopped and lunched in the artsy town of Tubac.

Our Margritias were an important part of lunch!

We attended happy hour at Fort Kelly, and a Margarita party at the same location.  We joined a campfire at Ruth and Joyce’s place, and made  popcorn at our own campfire under a magnificent moon one night.  The premier adventure though, was a 5 hour desert excursion with Fred in the side by side 4 wheeler.

Ready to go!

He had us pack our lunches and gave us a fantastic tour that included Sunshine Mine,

Sunshine Mine where gold and silver were found back in the day.

the old Marble Mine,

Mary and I sitting on a gigantic chunk of marble.

an old adobe building,

Mary and Fred.

And a grandfather saguaro,

“Grandpa” on the right.

not to mention so many beautiful views and the bumpiest, wildest ride over the washed out trails you can even imagine!  Whew!  Hold onto your hat!

Pink Prickly Pear cactus!

While all this was going on, Colleen came to my house and babysat for Joy and Shiloh.  Do friends get any kinder than this?

It was sad to see Mary leave so soon, but she has much exploring to do and needed to get on her way.

My friend Sharron planned to visit next, however she got 3 miles down the 8 mile dirt road here and decided she didn’t want to bring her rig farther on this road!  Lots of people bring rigs here and they do fine, but it’s a decision you need to make…it’s not for everyone.

******************

Some Exciting News!!

My son Jason has just started his own podcast called

JJ’s Sports Talk

http://www.Spreaker.com/user//jjsportstalk

If you are interested in a sports discussion or you would just like to hear his velvet voice, give a listen! 😊⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If this won’t link you can copy it and find him.  Spreaker.com is the main source but he is also on ITunes, YouTube, Twitter, SoundCloud, and maybe some other places.

Jason, if you read this, is there a way to make a real link here or could you put one in the comment section?

*********************

The moon rising recently over my site….

And then the moon setting the next morning.  Wow.

No, this isn’t a tourist attraction near Tucson that I’m recommending.  Not at all.  This is the Fort Kelly only known to the folks at Caballo Loco Ranch.  I probably don’t have all the dates correct, but it’s a fun story I wanted to tell you.

Fort Kelly at Caballo Loco Ranch

If you are a long time reader of this blog you may already know that Caballo Loco Ranch has been here a good long while, and back in the 70’s and 80’s it was known as Wild Horse Ranch.  Back then it was mostly rockhounds who frequented this place, and the love of rocks is still evident everywhere you look around here.  The happy rock hounds built rock retainer walls, various enclosures, and walls and just about anything you might think of, out of rocks they found locally.  I’ve posted  pictures here in the past.

But the most interesting structure standing is what is now known as Fort Kelly.

Complete with turrets.

it was built back in the 80’s by Roger Kelly who still lives here at CLR now, at around age 90.  He’s moved his living quarters to another site and Fort Kelly is now a community project.  The grounds have been spruced up and a shed was moved ( by the excellent shed movers around here!) next to it.

Notice the shed behind the fort?

Someone donated a deluxe grill,

Someone built a bar while someone else donated old bar stools and yet another person  spiffed them up with some new Naugahyde.

This is the potato canyon.  This was part of the original fort and they say it still works, so don’t come by unannounced.  JUST KIDDING!

There is also a fire pit and Christmas type lights for night time activities.

No fort is complete without the flag, and this one now has a solar light hooked up to it so it’s lighted at night, good and proper.

Lots of us went together to lease the site.  Pretty nice, huh?

We’ve always used it for ‘happy hour’ aka ‘social hour’ but now it’s also used as an option to the clubhouse for whatever party anyone can think up.  The most recent addition is a hitching post for those who arrive by horseback.

It’s got a nice tree inside it for some shade.  Look at that stone work!

C’mon in!  Dogs are allowed too!  Yay!