The Boondocker

I have been terribly negligent for the last month in keeping up with the trip here. So here is the catch up. After picking up Mom at the airport we headed west to Death Valley National Park. For it being so late in the season we got lucky with the weather being only in the 80’s. YAY for cold fronts. The wild flowers were still blooming and gorgeous. The drive out of the park heading west was something of a surprise. I have never been so happy to have the power stroke diesel under the hood, now that was a climb!  Then we spent a few very pleasant days boondocking along the Kern River.

Next up was Sequoia National Park. Due to a late spring snow storm before our arrival, hiking was pretty much out of the question. We did manage some trips to see the trees and I have to say that the sequoias are amazing. We loved the park, ultimately though, we opted not to visit Kings Canyon National Park on this trip as planned as it was similarly snowed in.  So from there we headed on around to Yosemite National park. Luck was on our side and we were able to change our reservations and spend several nights in the park at the Wawona campground. It was an hours drive from the campground into the valley, but having seen how busy the valley was already this early in the year, we were satisfied to enjoy the relative peace of where were camped. Yosemite was beautiful to be sure and the Valley was stunning. My main disappointment (as with all of CA) was the omnipresent haze. They say the haze is ozone. Whatever it is, it puts a damper on the visuals. But that aside the Yosemite was spectacular.

Leaving Yosemite we then aimed for the Pacific Ocean. We spent two nights at Sonoma Coast State Park near Bodega Bay. From what they charge for non-electric sites California is very, very, very proud of their campgrounds. We had a tremendous time on the coast, and I suspect I will be going back, perhaps even with a bike. We drove up highway 1, and visited the Korbel vineyard which, surprisingly to me, turned out to be great fun. The next day we headed for San Francisco. Having no desire to navigate the city with my pickup, we opted to ride the ferry over. I have to say, I was impressed with the price and quality of service- two thumbs up! We were lucky enough to get tickets for Alcatraz and had a great time visiting the old prison. Once back in the city, we walked up to China Town and wandered into a restraint. Having never had pigeon we decided to give it a whirl. The fried rice was unlike any I had had before; it had a kind of smoky flavor that was really quite pleasant. To my surprise, the pigeon had a distinctive liver-like flavor. I don’t think mom was particularly thrilled that they brought out the severed head along with the rest of the bird, but so it goes. It was a great meal. Having feed our bodies it was time to wander the docks. There was plenty to see, but not really being city goers it didn’t take long until we had seen enough. With evening approaching, we hoped a street car (again two thumbs up!) back to the ferry docks.

After one more day, sadly, it was time for Mom to head back home. As always it was a treat to have her along as she is great fun and an enthusiastic traveler.

I was going to say more here, but I have been told what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Sorry.

The next morning, I got up and going in reasonable time. Destination: Chaco Canyon National Historic and Cultural Park.  The drive up 550 was pleasant; in the higher sections there was a good dusting of snow which was just gorgeous.  The dirt section of road into the park has been graded recently, which is a really, really, really good thing. If you have ever been to the park you know what I am talking about. Even with the recent road maintenance, there was considerable displacement of items inside the camper to deal with when I got into camp. So it goes.

The weather continued to be sub-par with cool weather and WIND.  There was an airstream in camp when I was pulling in, they were pulling out as I was setting up. After a lunch of Beans Ranchero, I hit the park proper getting out into the ruins.

Chaco is a place that really gives a nudge to the philosophic part in me. Here you have these magnificent structures, long abandoned and no clear idea about the people who lived here. A clear reminder that we are transient indeed.

Later: Had a great time out at the ruins. Chaco is a really hard place to get your mind around. Another Airstream pulled in during the afternoon but I didn’t get to meet the owners. The astronomy program was interesting and included

quite a bit that I didn’t know. The star gazing part, however, was a bust since the high winds meant no viewing with the scopes.

Last night was cold and windy again. I decided to pull out for Navajo Dam (where I am now) to spend the night and take care of the growing pile of laundry. I am sad to report that while my eggs survived the drive into Chaco, only four of them made it back out.  It is much warmer here, blue skies with fluffy white clouds.  I am not sure where I will go tomorrow; maybe Page to shoot Antelope Canyon or on over to the Wave to see if there are any lottery permits available. I apologize for the clumsy layout in this post, I am just starting to work with images in Wordpress and it make take some time to work out the kinks. More images from Chaco Canyon will be on my photography page when I get a chance to slow down and do some editing.

Got an early start out of Joplin which wasn’t all that much of an accomplishment since I was already hooked up an all I had to do in preparation to getting under way  was roll out of the rack and go into the store and buy a cup of joe. I didn’t want to leave Joplin before 7:30 as an earlier start would have put me in Tulsa during rush hour, something I was not keen to do.

I arrived in Lawton around 1:00 and decided to stay at the wildlife refuge. Those of you who have followed my past trips know what a neat place the refuge is. It is really the eastern edge of the west, you could easily film a cowboy movie there. I didn’t make use of the many benefits of the refuge as all I really wanted for the evening was a place to park the camper. At $8 bucks it is hard to beat, $16 gets you an electric site but there was no need for that. While in town I saw some good friends from the faculty and several of the men from the Lambda Chi Alpha colony. I had not seen any of them since last summer and most of them since last May. They are great guys and I am proud of them.

Departed the refuge at about 8:00 this morning and headed west. About an hour into the drive I hit fog. Fog of the pea-soup variety. Of course, the running lights acted up so I had to run 30 miles with hazards to the next town. I found a small repair shop to find the problem. I assumed a blown fuse. Wrong answer, somehow the fuse had come out! It took the mechanic about 5-10 minutes to find the problem and send me on my way. He wouldn’t charge a penny. Reassuring in this day and age I think.

Stopped for fuel at the Flying J’s in Amarillo, fair warning they have the RV lanes torn up doing some kind of work. By Tucumcari, I was a bit saddle worn, so I headed up to Conchas Lake SP for the night. Since I invested in the camping pass last fall the camping is free. I really have to admit I got my money out of the pass. I am boondocked right on the lake.  As I write this I am sitting in the door of the camper while the sun goes down listening to the waves lap against the shore.

From Conchas to Jemez was a fairly easy days drive. By keeping the speed around 60 MPH I was able to get about 14.5 MPG  which I thought was exceptionally good given the winds. Once in the canyon I was struck by how much cooler it was there compared to when I started out.  For convenience, I decided to overnight at the National Forest Service campground in the lower canyon. Once settled in, I headed up to Spence hot springs for a nice soak. As always, it was a pleasant and relaxing pastime. I have to say, the water did seem cooler than normal this time.  As I was about to leave there was a snow shower that lasted for a good bit. Overnight, temps dropped to around freezing- yikes! I had thought about going up into the Sangre De Christo mountains between Cimarron and Taos, but given the temps, forget about it- this guy is sticking to the low lands.

Not a bad first day back on the road. I only got started about half an hour later than planned- mainly due to my love of the coffee pot and internet in the morning.

It is amazing to me how fast everything has greened up. Saw farmers out working fields in southern Illinois which I guess is confirmation that spring is here even if it is quite a bit cooler than the 80 degree days of the past week.

The biggest thing of note today is I LOVE the upgrade to mobile Google Maps. I do not have a dedicated GPS unit, and as tempting as they are, I can never convince myself to shell out the bucks. Last year when I got the Blackberry, I played some with the GPS and it was OK, but the Google app, was so so. Now you can see your own maps (such as the campground project map, or special trip maps) search locally, ect. It even has an ETA function which I really like. I do wish it had counters for miles traveled and miles to go, but all and all I am really happy.

Tomorrow, I am off to Lawton, OK to see friends before getting into New Mexico for a few days.

By the end of the weekend my work in southern Illinois (the “s”  is silent by the way) should be wrapped up. So, on Monday I will hitch up and head west. I have to be in Las Vegas, Nevada eight days later. How I get there and what I do along the way is up to me.

I am giving some thought to hitting Lawton, Oklahoma to see some friends and then maybe Palo Duro Canyon in Texas which I keep meaning to visit again, but never seem to. From there I will likely push on to the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico for an overnight and visit to the hot springs.

After Jemez, the question is whether to head north through the four corners region and maybe a visit to Chaco Canyon and some fly fishing on the San Juan river, or to just stay on a straight line on I 40 and get out to the LV area and poke around. Knowing me the choice will be made at the intersection at the last moment.

Whichever way I ultimately select, I am pretty sure that getting back on the road again will be a good thing.

For the past several weeks, I have combined some business at Southern Illinois University and Eastern Illinois University with a shake down cruise to work out some of the bugs arising from dry-dock.

It looks like all changes were for the better. Having a ceramic toilet  is great, and the new water heater has transformed showers- not to mention having increased my water usage.  The only down side is I am running on electric only since I am still working on making flair fittings that don’t leak. The ice maker is great and I expect to be spoiled quickly by having all that ice on hand, but wow does it make noise!

The new gray water tank is great, however, I am starting to suspect that I left one of the plugs out. I am afraid to craw under the trailer and look for fear that I will have to take an axle out to put it in. EEEEKKK!

The centromatics are working well, it is obvious that there is less shake inside. So, I am pretty happy about the upgrades.

Early next week, I will be heading west toward Las Vegas. I am thinking about hitting Chaco Canyon and maybe Canyon De Chelly. There is so much to do between here and there that the problem will be choosing what I have time for.

Its been a long couple weeks bringing the new website online along with everything else that is going on, but at last it is up. I decided to push ahead and get the forums section up and going since camping season is upon us.

Like the site, the focus of the forums will be camping centered around primitive camping in choice locations as well as general fellowship.  Our focus is on the special problems/considerations facing boondockers.

I hope everyone will take a few minutes to look at the site and forums. If you are a boondocker or someone who is open to dry camping on occasion, I think you can benefit from the joining in the chat. I would also ask that you share the site with your friends regardless of the type of camper they use, the tent camping crowd is also welcome. I look forward to seeing you around the campfire!

Its been a long winter getting the camper ready for another season. Lots of repairs and some upgrades.

The major items:

1. Replaced the old AC with a new low profile Carrier AC with heat strip- that thing was worth the $50, it brings the temp up about 30 degrees which eliminates a lot of propane usage.
2. Installed new rock guard for the front window. These had been on back order for almost a year at Vintagetrailersupply.com so I was happy to get one.
3. New water heater with remote ignition.
4. Cut down the bumper extension a previous owner had installed.
5. Built a new bumper.
6. Replaced the power supply connections with a  marine grade system.
7. Installed linoleum floor in the bathroom.
8. Installed new toilet
9. Installed centramatic wheel balancers.
10. Replaced bathroom sink fixture.
11. Replaced several standard bulbs with LED lamps to conserve energy.

Still on the list:

1. Move propane lines to allow installation of BAL stabilizers.
2. Install Bal Stabilizers
3. Replace four windows with new glass (two curved, two flat).
4. Replace shower fixture.

Maybe:

1. Install small solar system for boondocking. I am looking at 80-100 watt expandable systems for now. I think in the long run it will take at least a 200 watt system. There is room for up to four panels which would give me a 400 watt system-now that would be watts of power – I had to. Hehe.
2. Purchase 50 gallon water tank for truck bed to haul fresh water.

New Toy for the coming season:

1. Ice maker. This year I will be carrying an Emerson counter top ice maker. We tried it out at Christmas, it makes perfect margarita cubes. I’m pretty psyched!