Wandering Spirit

I hope everyone is right where they want to be for the holidays…or almost there. This is a first for me, spending Christmas in the middle of the Mojave Desert, but it feels good.

It’s been a sweet time here at Sawtooth Canyon. Peaceful. Quite. Temps slowly rose to reach the high 60’s, from a few days of low 50’s. Starting today, they are on their way down again, but further down than before. High winds are forecast for tonight, with gusts up to 50 mph, slowly calming tomorrow (Christmas). We will be leaving on the 26th.

I did a little Christmas decorating outside here….a small wreath, and some red tinsel garland on WS and the Joel Pole.

The Joel Pole and WS all decked out.

Inside I have my Christmas lights, and Christmas music, plus a few bells and bows.

There are different places to walk every day, and Joy and Shiloh can be off leash.

Joy is quite the climber.

One morning when I thought they were waiting patiently outside for me to take them for a walk, it turned out Joy had gone down to our neighbors, Shirlee and Doug, and had pancakes for breakfast.

There are rocks here everywhere. Mountains of rocks. Boulders. Pebbles. Strange formations.

The kissing stones by my campsite.

Amazing colors close up.

Colors!

When I hold a piece of cold granite in my hand, I’m filled with wonder. What cataclysmic events occurred to form this beautiful stone?

We put a high monetary value on some rocks…diamonds, crystals,gold, silver, a beautiful granite slab for a kitchen counter, etc. But I think we only have a glimmer of an idea of their real value…so much we don’t know or are just beginning to learn about their power in healing, energy, communication, and what else?

As we contemplate the miracles of the universe….Merry Christmas, and may you be blessed with health, love, peace and joy on Christmas and always!

We leave Owl Canyon, and spend a short time in a small RV park. A flow of electricity is not to be underrated, and neither is an unlimited supply of hot water, laundry facilities, and a place to dump the tanks, all with in steps of where I’m parked. Whoo-hoo!

Leaving the RV park we stop in the town of Barstow to do a few errands. I need to check with the post office about ‘general delivery’. I’ve never used it before, so I get instructions. I make the inevitable Walmart stop. One of the things I purchase there is another 2 gallon gas can to hold gas for the generator. I have one, but with this cold and rainy weather, and going to another boon dock, I feel I may need more gas. I don’t want a 5 gallon can because it’s too heavy.

All of our errands done, we head about 20 miles south of Barstow to Sawtooth Canyon. If Owl Canyon was the moon, Sawtooth is the other side of it….COMPLETLY different topography, and only 30-35 miles away. This is where rock climbers come, and for good reason, however there are only a couple here now probably due to the weather.

Mostly I’m alone, except for the very kind camp hosts.

Until….here come Doug and Shirley! These are new friends from Owl Canyon, who decided to try Sawtooth Canyon too. I’m really happy to see them! They are confirmed Golden Retriever lovers, but they don’t mind my company either. 🙂

They invite the three of us for dinner and we spend a cozy warm evening in their 5th wheel talking about travel and dogs and everything else under the sun. Doug and Shirley are Canadian, and doing the snowbird thing this winter.

When we leave later the air is crisp, the sky is clear, and the stars are magnificent.

We really enjoy this campground! Such silence! Joy and Shiloh run free often and Shiloh makes frequent rabbit runs but doesn’t come anywhere near catching one. The fun is in the chase. No water here and we pack our trash out. However there are picnic tables, shelters, grills and fire rings…oh and the nice kind of toilets that never need to be flushed. 🙂
Internet reception is very iffy, and I’ll be lucky if I can get this blog posted. Pictures will have to wait till I’m in town.

A pre-Christmas wish for you: If at all possible, slow down and simplify. Focus on that ‘peace on earth’ that we talk about. Mostly, we don’t need a lot of ‘things’, and as we begin to understand that, we somehow find we have more Joy.

It’s a stark beauty. The colors are subtle, and more easily seen next door in Rainbow Canyon.

Maybe we landed on the moon?

Joy

Shiloh

Tired of walking

Such quiet drama!

I hope you aren’t getting tired of sunrises and sunsets. Each one is so individual…such majestic, awe inspiring announcements to the day and to the night.

Rain was in the forecast, so before we come in for the night I put things away in case it starts during the night.

Around 4am I awake to the sound of thunder in the mountains. Thunder in the mountains just rumbles on and on, never ending…gusts of wind through Owl Canyon gently rock us. No rain yet, but it’s coming. So cozy in here…I start to drift off… Then suddenly I remember the Joel Pole! It’s still up out there and where there is thunder there is lightening. Probably not the best idea to have it up and hooked into my tv antenna outlet….which means…I grab the flash light and the wrench and out I go into the night at 4:15. Of course Joy and Shiloh won’t have any part of staying inside with all the excitement, so I hook them to their tie out and they join me, sniffing the wind.

In a few minutes we are back inside. I unhook the tie outs and help Joy into bed. She needs a step which is also a storage container under the bed. I pull it out, she steps up. I turn and shut the door, turn off the flash light and get in bed. Shiloh had been sleeping in a dog bed near the door.

I’m in bed listening to the wind and feeling cozy. Fifteen minutes or so goes by, and I hear a new sound….I hear a dog bark. Could this be my first Coyote ? But it doesn’t found like a coyote…no…it sounds like…SHILOH! What the…??

I turn on the light and sure enough he’s not here. I jump out of bed and open the door and in he bounds! He must have gone back outside when I was helping Joy into bed, and since I was only using the flashlight I didn’t see that he was missing.

He gives me the saddest, most hurt and forlorn look he can muster. I shower him with many ‘ohhh, pooor baby’ type phrases, and he only looks even more forlorn. Not to be forgotten again, he jumps up on the bed to spend the rest of the night cuddling.

Taken as I write this

And yes, there is still room for me in there! 🙂

Not many words needed here. The reality was even more stunning than these pictures show, but this is the best camera I have, so they will do!

This is what I woke up to out my window this morning

When I stepped outside…

Ever changing…

Reflection on the back window

Joy and Shiloh take note

Morning has broken, like the first morning…praise with elation, praise every morning, Gods recreation of the new day. (Cat Stevens)

Sunday, December 7 we leave the oranges. I must say I’ve enjoyed the color and all the roundness. I wait until Sunday because I figure if Owl Canyon is a busy place on the weekend, folks will be leaving now.

We drive by Tahachapi and the windmills on the mountains, and deeper into the California desert area, past Mohave, and finally near Barstow where I take Irwin road and make my way to the Rainbow Basin area and Owl Canyon Campground.

There are thirty-something sites and 3 of them have vehicles in them. We set up camp! We walk, we talk to one of the neighbors. So far I see nothing eye-popping about the area. No rainbow colors in this campground, but there are interesting rock formations, it’s nicely set up, only $3 a night with my senior pass, and it’s quiet. There is a nice trail I’d like to walk soon.

During the night the almost full moon shines down on us and really illuminates things. I listen for owls and coyotes but I don’t hear anything. Nothing at all….except, a strange far away slow thumping…almost like a very slow heartbeat. Honestly, that’s exactly what it reminds me of.

The neighbor I talk to tells me that it does get busy here on the week end sometimes, even Boy Scout groups come here.

Today I plan to explore Sawtooth Canyon about 30 miles from here, and stop at the Barstow BLM office for more information. My plan is to be in this area for Christmas, but there are rules about length of time one can stay at a BLM area and how far one must go away if one wants to stay in another BLM area, and how long one must stay away from an area before coming back.

Sunset. My IPad camera doesn’t quite grasp the vibrancy of the colors

Oh, the other wonderful thing about Owl Canyon is that I have internet and phone reception!

As in ORANGES. As in Orange Grove RV Park, where I am now, near Bakersfield.

I think orange is my new favorite color. There are oranges everywhere in and around this RV park, and campers are allowed to pick the ones in the park.

I got carried away taking pictures of oranges. Aren’t they beautiful?

Something I wanted to mention….

Laura mentioned that there was a McDonalds ad here on my site. Sad Sad Sad! I don’t have control over what ads WordPress uses here and I don’t even see them, so I don’t know what they are unless someone tells me. Just so you know, I don’t endorse McDonalds.

I do endorse oranges though! 🙂

When we leave the oranges, we’ll be heading to the boonies! Yay!

Im late with Thanksgiving, but not really. There is no way to be late with thankfulness and I’m thankful every day. It’s nice to have a day to celebrate thankfulness though, isn’t it? AND, no animals were harmed for me in my celebration of thankfulness. It’s wonderful to have so many vegan choices, and I’m thankful for that too. Turkeys are beautiful, sensitive birds and I wouldn’t want to harm one.

I celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom, and later in Mary’s hot tub. Yay! That was wonderful.

Walking with the dogs I took some pictures of the beautiful day in Mary’s neighborhood. Nice to experience these things at the end of November.

In Mary’s yard…this huge palm tree.

Beautiful autumn leaves everywhere, and flowers blooming too. Then on my way to my moms, field after field of artichokes.

artichokes

Mary came home Saturday night and we had our own Thanksgiving on Sunday.

Today, Monday, December 1, I hit the road. I didn’t go far, only to Santa Nella, about 50 miles. I came here for a specific purpose though. I wanted to visit my aunts grave which is here in the San Joaquin Veterans Cemetery. I was able to do that today, and I’m thankful for that, too.

I’ll move on tomorrow, weather permitting. Possible big storms coming, and if they come my way, I’d rather be sitting still than driving.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written!

After driving up the Big Sur coast November 12, with a stop at Napenthe to enjoy the view and a cup of their wonderful coffee, we make our way to Salinas where I’ll be staying with my friend Mary. I park WS on the street beside her house, and stay in Mary’s extra bedroom.

Vegan pizza at Mary’s house!

November 15 I go with Jason and Mandy to Modesto for the engagement party her parents are giving them. Before the party Mandy and I go to the bridal shop where all the girls in her wedding party meet and pick out the dresses they will wear in the wedding. What fun!

With little time to spare we go to our hotel and get ready for the party, then take a taxi to her parents home. The sight that greets us when we arrive is about as romantic as you can imagine. It’s dark outside by now and the front of the house is lit with well over 100 candles, and there are white flowers planted for the occasion.

Can you say Romance!

Inside the house is also lit with candles, as is the canopy covered back yard. Seventy to eighty people welcome Jason to the family. There is lots of dancing and lots of champagne. Also a lovely cake.

Getting in practice for the next cake. 🙂

Inside, a nice picture of the happy couple.

We get back to our hotel about 3am!

Sunday afternoon I’m back in Salinas. Mary has taken good care of Joy and Shiloh for me and I appreciate that so much!

Monday the 17th I pack up WS and we head to Seaside, about 17 miles away, to stay by Terri’s house for the week. Back in the ‘home place’ again I have lots of errands to run, doctors to see (and the vet), and I visit my mom every other day or so.

My South Dakota license plates have arrived in the mail and friend Phil puts them on WS and JR for me.

Phil putting on the SD plates in such a way that they are not easy to remove.

I should be very officially from South Dakota now!

Saturday November 22 I hook up before the rain starts and head back to Mary’s house. She left this morning for a dream vacation to Hawaii and I will be house sitting for her while she is away.

Sunday morning Patty and I meet for coffee and compare notes on places we’ve traveled. She and her husband have been to some beautiful places in Utah and Nevada.

Later in the afternoon Laura and Joel (Pole) come over for a visit, and bring the ingredients for the most delicious margaritas with a syrup they made from blackberries they picked on Bainbridge Island in August. They also bring all the fixings for a wonderful vegan meal….and they prepare it. Joel has been gathering parts to fix the speaker system in WS, and that project now comes together and IT WORKS!! It was broken during one of my good bye parties so I’ve never gotten to use it….till now. It hooks up to my iPod and sounds wonderful!
Also, I just received a new wireless printer from Amazon and Joel programs that for me, and it works perfectly! Thank you Joel for all your help. (He is also the creator of the Joel Pole.)

You can see the Joel Pole in tis picture.

I shopped at Whole Foods the other day. I love to shop there!

Lots of dog walks, as usual.

The last roses of summer? Not really…not in this neck of the woods anyway.

My next project between visits to my mom (oh and a soak in Mary’s hot tub this morning:-), is to figure out where I go from here. Now I will be able to travel more like I had in mind from the beginning…take my time, spend longer in an area, and relax. I’ve been spending LOTS of money on gas, and haven’t really had time to figure out much about boon docking areas….until now! Last night and this morning I’ve been pouring over maps, and reading old posts from RVSue. Two years ago right about now she was in the area of southern CA, and AZ that I’d like to spend some time in, before I go on to the Tucson area.

This is fun, and I’m excited!

Not that I can capture Big Sur in pictures, but for some reason, for the past 28 years, I keep trying to! These pictures were all taken on November 12. The only exception is the first picture which is the Morro Bay sunset reflected in WS’s window on November 11.

The beauty and mystery is deep here, and this is just a tiny sample of it.

Morro Bay sunset

Such colors!

Magical Mystical Big Sur

Point Sur.

Fall color isn’t always on trees

The Big Sur River

I love this spot

Water running over stones

Joy and Shiloh