Halfway to Cabello Lake...

Monday morning I rose up pretty early as usual, made the bed, put a few things away and drove up to the main store to go to the restroom and to get a cup of coffee.  Once accomplished, I had plenty of fuel so I jumped back on the interstate and headed east.

Side Note… That night at the truck stop I realized that I was really beginning to adjust to this lifestyle…

There is an adjustment period when you make a big change in your life or lifestyle.  I knew going in that it would challenge me on many levels, but as it is with anything, you slowly learn and begin not to just cope, but to actually enjoy the changes.  Yes, I had thoughts early on, what the hell was I thinking, but if you don’t challenge yourself, move past your current comfortable boundaries, push your limits, you become stagnant and cease to evolve as a human.  You become a cog in the machine, turning round and round on the same spindle, doing the same thing over and over, day after day, while life passes you by…

Pretty soon you’re laying there on your death bed wondering what the hell happened to your life… 

This was my push, my drive, to explore the world and get back in touch with nature and nature’s rhythm, but most of all this was my journey into the deepest parts of my being.  I wanted to discover more about myself, uncover the things I had buried deep within, and believe me, something like this, an abrupt change in your normal way of life, brings many deep seated emotions and deeply held beliefs to the surface for examination.  You don’t have to give them attention/energy, and you can always just push them back down into the depths and ignore them as you have in the past, but for me it’s the perfect opportunity to turn about, to face them head to head, embrace them, and to deal with them.  And I’m sure there’s more to come…

The journey to Cabello Lake State Park in NM was largely uneventful.  I did take some very interesting impromptu shots from the driver’s side window while driving (ummm… I know…) of a beautiful landscape with a train meandering along the track at the foot of the mountains.  I was so anxious to see if I had captured anything worth sharing.  But something happened to the camera…  okay… truth is… what happened was… I forgot to remove the lens cap…  Moral of story, don’t snap and drive…

Oh, and the Google Maps App is really awesome, and I wouldn’t want to be without it, but you can’t trust what that lady says.  For instance…  I was at a red light after just pulling out of a gas station, I thought I was supposed to turn right, but she said turn left, so I did thinking she must be right.  Next she tells me to go about 2 miles and turn right.  I was a little suspicious but okay maybe it’s a shorter route I thought.  About a block after I turned right, she tells me to turn right again, and now I’m beginning to understand.  Sure enough, after another right turn there I sat on the opposite side of the street from the gas station at the red light and she’s telling me to turn left. 

I just wish when you turn the wrong way she would say “Hey!  Dude!  I’m sorry, I meant for you to turn left out of the gas station and then turn right at the light, must be a slow cell connection.  You turned the wrong way back there!  Do you want me to find a way to get you turned back around or can you handle that?”.  But no, she assumes you’re a complete and total moron and she patiently guides you around the block back to where you started… 

And one more thing about Google Maps.  When the Google Map lady told me I had arrived at my destination, Cabello State Park, I was totally at the other end of the lake from the entrance in the middle of nowhere.  Why do I trust her…

Anyway, when I finally arrived at Cabello Lake, I stopped at the visitor’s center and talked to the lady there.  She was very helpful and let me look around the campground before deciding if I would stay or not, but t didn’t take me long to make up my mind.  I found this primitive camping spot overlooking the lake with a decent cell signal and I knew that was going to be where I camped.  



I drove back to the visitor’s center, paid $16.00 for two nights then drove up to Truth or Consequences, yep that’s the name of the town, to upload some photos and update the blog at the library and to get a few things I needed before I setup camp.

Truth or Consequences is about 15 miles north of the lake and it’s an eclectic mix of…  well I don’t really know what it’s a mix of…  an interesting place for sure.  I did find an organic store and coffee shop but she only sold herbs, spices, and nutritional supplements.  I was so disappointed…

I wandered through town and found the local public library, but the lady told me that they didn’t allow the use of memory sticks, so I didn’t get to work on the blog.  I kept wandering through town but found virtually no grocery stores to speak of.  There were a couple of small markets but I reserved them as a last resort.  When I reached the far end of town there was a Wally World, so I stopped.  Interesting, all of the parking spaces were covered, they had the roofs topped with solar panels.  It was a small Walmart, the parking lot wasn’t huge, but I just thought that was interesting.  Amazingly enough, I found some of the things I needed there, the most important items, so I headed back to the lake.

The view from my camping spot was spectacular, no one around me much, right on the lake and so close I could hear the water lapping on the shore all night, it was very peaceful.  There was a bathroom up the road within walking distance, and I jumped a coyote that night making a trip up to get water for my solar shower.  I kept snapping shots of the scenery as it changed throughout the day and night.  A very nice place…

The only negative comment I have is that it is a campground, and from my experience always means that there will be a thriving fly population, but it’s not terribly bad, just a nuisance really.  They come and go, the heat of the day seems to draw them out, the cooler periods of the morning and night they are barely noticeable.  It’s just part of the experience…

Not sure where I am going next.  I want to stay in the higher elevations until cooler weather sets in then I may travel more towards the southern lower elevations.  There’s about a 5.4 degree change for every 1000 feet of elevation, depending upon weather conditions, but as a rule of thumb, that’s true.  So if it’s too hot, move higher up and choose your temperature range based on your elevation.  Right now I’m about 4500 feet elevation, the temperature is 79 and feels like 79.  The high will be 82 and the low 59.  The sun is crisp and clear and feels wonderful, I just bask in it, but you can step into a shady area especially in the mornings and late afternoon, and you might need to cover up because it feels so much cooler. 

I’ll be updating the blog as soon as I can…  

On the road to New Mexico...

It was interesting to watch the changes to the landscape transform as I drove along.  I was leaving a desert region of AZ and as I headed east towards NM, the textures of the mountains, the lay of the land, the ecosystem, they all reflected the change in climate for their region.  We often think of a certain state being a certain way with a certain climate and a certain landscape, but there are no state lines in nature, no ecological labels, the structures of existence just transform gracefully paying no mind to their placement on our mental map. 

As I crossed into New Mexico I stopped at the Visitor’s Center, both to use the rest room and to get a few photos of the landscape.  I met a fellow from CA in the rest room, we just started talking and before long he was suggesting some scenic highways in northern CA, Oregon, and Washington.  I told him I wanted to make that trip when the weather was hot in the south, I would travel up north to keep cool.  He and his wife were just taking a little vacation to take in the sites.

I snapped a few photos and got back on the road.  You can tell a lot about the area you are in by just turning on the radio to see what stations are available, what genres of music predominate, and to listen to the tone of the DJ’s commentaries.  However I remember one place, I believe it was in southern Utah or northern Arizona where I turned on the radio and hit seek, only to have it cycle through the entire bandwidth three times without finding a single radio station.  I’ve never done that before.

I wasn’t planning on making the full trip to the state park in one day.  I could have made it if I pushed but why push…

So I saw the Saguaro National Forest sign and decided to give it a try.  It was about 20 miles off the interstate, but seeing a large quantity of the saguaro cacti might be a good photo opportunity.  So I headed for the park and when I got there I talked to them at the visitor’s center and they told me they didn’t allow any camping.  Guess I should have looked it up before I made the trip.  But it was beautiful none the less. 

There were Prickly Pear cactus lining the roadways and they were thick with their beautiful purplish-red fruits.  I really wanted to pick some to eat later, never had them but they say they are delicious, but the highway didn’t really allow room to get off the road so I made my way back to the interstate and headed east.  I wasn’t too far down the road when I realized I really was tired and wanted to crash for the night.  My camping apps showed nothing in the region for miles so I ended up staying at a Loves truck stop in Benson AZ.

Staying at a truck stop seems like a horrible place, but it’s really not bad at all, in fact most of the time I enjoy my stays there.  They are a handy place to stop for the night while traveling from one point to another and they are open 24 hours, have bathrooms, showers ($12.00 - never tried them but I’m sure they are a blessing for the truckers), eateries, and convenience style grocery with every impulse buying item you can imagine, and the people are usually very friendly and will help you any way they can.

I usually try to park off to the side of the parking area to save room for the tractor trailers.  As it worked out I happened to be parked right next door to a Motel 6.  So I booted up my computer to see if I could get internet access.  When I selected the Motel 6 WiFi, a login screen popped up requiring a username and password.  So for shits and giggles, I just typed in ‘guest’ and ’guest’ and boom, I had internet.

I wasn’t able to upload any pictures or videos because the upload connection was extremely slow, but I was able to catch up on some the YouTube video channels I subscribe to and check a few other things online.  I also want to mention that if you are on the road and you access a public WiFi, you should always use a VPN enabled browser like Epic.  That is your best protection against your date being hacked.

I ended up jumping off the Internet, pulled up a saved movie on my computer, stretched out on the bed and relaxed for the night.

Leaving Quartzite...

Saturday the 23rd I came to the decision that I would pack up the next morning and travel towards New Mexico.  I found a state park online that looked promising but it would be a pay camping site.

One of the YouTube channels I follow, CheapRVLiving.com, had a video about New Mexico’s annual pass for camping in their state parks.  The annual pass costs $225.00 and allows you to stay for free in any of their primitive or basic campsites anytime for a full year.  They do have a requirement that after 14 days you must move to another park for a week or so but then you can return if you want.  NM has about 35 state parks, many with showers, so I thought it might be something to check out.

I packed up the van and drove into Quartzite to get some things done before I headed out on the road.  I found the Quartzite Laundry, it too was mentioned in a video, which also has hot showers and a restaurant.  I hauled my laundry in and got three loads going (which included my bedsheets and blanket too), then paid my $7.00 and got a hot shower while the laundry was in the washers.  Now in most of the campgrounds that have showers, you have to pay for shower use by the minute.  It’s not expensive, but I seldom go over 6-8 minutes because of the cost and the aggravation of having to add more quarters while showering if needed.  Well this shower had a limit of 20 minutes for seven dollars, and they supplied a towel, a washcloth, and liquid soap.  The rooms were very clean and they stated that they were sanitized after each use.  I had a nice size dressing room with a decent sized shower stall and the shower head wasn’t too stingy with the water. 

I got my shower, got dressed, and moved my laundry over to the dryers, and about 35 minutes later I was done.  This is a very nice place, the laundry area was clean and had some 30 washers and driers, no waiting, the restrooms and shower facilities were very well done and the people was really friendly.

Now, for a human interest story…

While I was waiting for my laundry to dry there was a man who looked to me like a farmer in his late 50’s.  A small man, thin and wiry, tanned and weathered, he had on cuffed straight leg jeans with a western style belt, old work shoes, and a plaid long sleeved shirt.  He got his laundry out of the dryer and was at the folding table when this lady he was evidently with, a big tall woman, came over to him and started running her hands all over him.  Up his leg, grabbing his butt, leaning into him and whispering sweet nothings into his ear (my interpretation) but this guy, he never flinched, didn’t acknowledge anything, never looked up, he just kept on folding his clothes.  When he was done they went outside and got into his pickup truck and left, for a good lounging spot I assume.  The things you see at a laundromat…

Anyway, after I left the laundry I found a water dispensing machine and filled up all of my water tanks, grabbed a cup of coffee to go and hit the road.

I left the BLM open land site on Monday morning. I was comfortable there and could have stayed longer, but... time to move on...

On the way out I stopped in Moab UT to get a few things done, like laundry, grocery shopping, fuel, water, and to go by the library and upload some pics and videos. I have to say that I really like Moab, the people were just so friendly and welcoming, I didn't feel out of place at all. When I went into the City Market, a large grocery store in town, it was arranged almost like the Kroger stores from back in KY and they actually had a lot more variety and organic products too.

I was walking up front near the checkout lanes pushing my cart and suddenly this woman, a store manager I think, came walking right up beside me and just started talking like I was her best bud. She was evidently amused at another customer's request and she took no time on filling me in.

(paraphrased) "They said they were looking for salt with dirt in it? I told them we had salt, but no salt with dirt in it. I said I could go outside and get some dirt and put in there for you if you want."  Then she just laughed... and veered off to back to the customer service area, I laughed too, mostly over the oddness of the situation, but the story amused me and I still have no idea what she was talking about.

I left Moab about noon and headed for a place I found called Valley of the Gods in Utah. It was only a few hours away and it seemed like a great place to possibly spend the night. I noticed on the way down that my phone signal was spotty, more than usual, but when I got to Valley of the Gods road, and traveled back to find a good spot for the night, I had four bars, but no data service, only phone.

So I took some pics and a video of the beautiful rock formations but rather than to setup there I decided that I would backtrack until I found a decent signal and camp somewhere nearby. Well I had to travel back about thirty miles before I had any kind of data signal and even then every place I went into as soon as I got far in at all I lost signal again. So I kept looking for a place to stay but by this time it was getting late and I wasn't sure where I would end up.

I tried this beautiful place called Recapture Reservoir that had dispersed campsites just north of a small town called Blanding. Great views, great camping areas, but no signal. I only had time to snap a quick shot of the view, but when I topped this hill and turned the corner, I had to stop long enough to take a picture.

I left the reservoir area and headed north again. I found another campground called Devil's Canyon and turned in. It is actually in the Manti-Lasal National Forest outside of Montecello UT. By now it was getting dark, but I had enough of a signal that I thought I would be okay. I kept driving back until I found an offshoot road into the forest area. I checked it out and found where previous campfires had been used, so I crawled the van down into the forest and found a good level spot and crashed for the night. The signal I had gave me the chance to navigate my next day's journey and to check on a few things that I needed to do. Nice place, and I love the forest, but I like open land too, so the next morning I headed south again.

The night before I decided to plot my direction towards Quartzite AR and to take my time and enjoy the trip. There are so many scenic views literally everywhere along the way that I stopped trying to get photos and just took them in. Even though I am sharing a lot of pictures, a small few compared to the amount I took, they don't do justice to the subject unless you have seen it yourself.

Since my last day's journey was a bit convoluted and I didn't get as much rest as I wanted, as I approached Flagstaff in mid-afternoon I came upon the Coconino National Forest, and I had heard this was a good place to camp, so I turned in.

It didn't take me long to find a nice spot under the pines to camp and I had a good signal, so I settled in for the night. A very nice place, low traffic, lots of camping areas far enough away from each other that you felt you were alone, very nice.

I walked around the area as I do most places where I camp to take pictures, enjoy the views, the flowers and rock formations, but what impressed me the most was the girth size of those pines. The wind was really whipping around with some very strong gusts, but these pines had grown up here, they weren't thin and spindly, they were thick and robust. The wind blew but the pines just waved softly and gracefully as it came crashing through.

The next morning I packed up and headed for BLM Open Land in Quartzite, AZ. This is a place that I heard about from many nomads on YouTube and in the forums. Usually it's pretty hot during the summer months, but when it gets into October, the weather is pretty nice. It usually has daytime highs in the 70's and nighttime lows in the upper 30's to upper 40's. Sunny most of the time, but there are also infrequent rain storms and windy conditions, but it's free to stay here, for as long as you want. Most national forests and BLM lands have limits on the time you can stay, usually 14 days, but it varies.

This particular piece of BLM land openly states that they do not enforce the time restraints. Many nomads spend the entire winter here. Quartzite is a popular hub for RVer's year around but especially during the winter months.




I don't know if I will stay here for a while or continue to explore some other places like New Mexico until winter sets in, just have to wait and see...

September 14 - Found a new place to camp...

September 14

I woke up this morning in the Onion Creek Recreational Area, still tired because my night had been pretty active with the weather events, and I wasn't feeling really comfortable there so I decided to move to another site.  I got everything loaded and put away and hit the road...  

I had located another possible dispersed site just about 20 minutes NW of Moab and decided that I would take a chance, and I'm so glad I did.  The good sites can be hard to find, but well worth the hunt.  This one is BLM open land, there are campsites all around but the roads are very rough, access is limited, but that’s what makes it such a treasure…

I drove past most of the vehicles I saw, just kept going to try and find a site where I could really be alone and setup for a few days and with a little searching.  A mile to two back I found this wonderful campsite and I had fairly good signal on my phone on well, a big plus, so I decided to stay…

Now this is what it’s all about.  Alone in a beautifull setting, amazing views of the mountains and rock formations all around, finally a place I can rest…

I stayed here for several days, very quiet and peaceful.  I felt like it was home and I rested well and got a few things done too.  There were some weekend warriors that came in on Saturday night, but most of them were gone by noon on Sunday.  I really enjoyed my stay here...

September 13 - Utah

September 13

Man… it’s hard to keep up with the days of the week…  I mean… I remember everything that has happened, but without a time clock to punch, no Monday through Friday alarm clocks. no designated two days off on a weekend, no real structural time frame I must fit into… ‘time’ just doesn’t work the same…  just saying…

I stayed at a primitive campground last night outside of Moab called Onion Creek Recreational area.  It was fairly recently upgraded with flat parking pads, graded areas, picnic tables, a fire pit and an open toilet.  I had just returned from traveling about an hour away to check out another site nearby but it was not accessible and no camping was allowed.  So I turned around and headed back to Moab and to this campsite.  by this time I was really exhausted because I wasn’t planning on spending as much time as I did on the road, but that’s the way things worked out…

The view out my side doors...

There was only one other camper at the site when I got there, so it seemed that I could setup there and be okay.  But…

As soon as I opened the doors, a small army of flies invaded my space.  I did get my screens up pretty quickly but it seems I only managed to trap them all inside.  This seems to be one of the inherent problems when staying at a designated campground, but I dealt with it, it comes with the territory.  I went ahead and setup my awning and put up my shower tent and settled in to relax as best as I could…

I had practically no signal on my phone so I was unaware of a storm coming my way.  There were some gusty winds but not too unusual, and then all of a sudden this ‘tsunami’ wind gust hit and I was not prepared.  The awning was blown off it’s pole supports and flailed like a flag on a flagpole and about the same time the shower tent went partially airborne.  Fortunately I got to the tent before it took off.  One tent stake was all that was holding it back, and mind you the tent had all of my bathing and bathroom supplies already inside, so this wind was pretty fierce…

All I could do was to hang on to this tent kite and at the same time, do my best to break it down to that it would collapse and be less of a wind sail, which I managed to do somehow.  I then drug it around to the side of the van using the van as a windbreak, got it fully collapsed on top of all the stuff inside and headed back to the awning.  I threw the two support poles on top of the shower tent and finally got the awning rolled up and temporarily strapped down until the winds subsided later…

I was really tired, fighting a belligerent group of enthusiastic flies, lost my lounging area outside the van, and no place to shower or change now, and I really was looking forward to that shower, then a pelting rain set in along with a gusty wind… 

Earlier I had stopped at a Wendy’s to use their free WiFi, and I dutifully bought a spicy chicken sandwich and some fries to show my appreciation for using their WiFi.  Bad decision all around.  The WiFi was so slow it was useless, and now my stomach was rejecting this foreign substance I had dumped into it’s domain in a very abrupt manner.  In other words, I had to go to the bathroom, now!  And my toilet was buried in the tent when I collapsed it…

So feeling the impending disaster, I dashed outside in the wind and rain and managed to find the zippered door of the tent and slowly worked the toilet out of the tent door and ran back into the van.  I had that thing setup fast and furious. I barely made it to the seat before it hit.  Oh, and the resident flies really loved me now…

Sometimes all you can do is laugh, and I did, a lot…

After all of the extreme weather, the double rainbows seemed like the universe's way of saying things would be okay...

Another double rainbow...

Again, I made it through this new challenge, and once the rain stopped and the winds calmed down it ended up being a very nice night.  The flies must have gone to the two new neighbors who came in with lots of goodies right before the tsunami hit because they weren’t around.  The skies cleared up and I was able to sit outside and really enjoy the night.  I saw the milky way again, several meteorites flashed across the sky, and I was just totally immersed in this sea of stars, incredible view…

I put on some soothing music, parked the speakers at the side door, and stretched out on the picnic table to stare at the sky.  It was a wonderful night…

September 13

I made it through the mountains and stayed overnight in a BLM open area near Grand Junction CO.  This is a part of CO that most people don't see.  The view was awesome and I got to see the milky way in the sky for the first time in years...

On the way to Grand Junction I met a man named Steve at one of the rest areas, he works there, and we chatted for quite a while.  He's a photographer and knowing that I was looking for dispersed camping options, he recommended that I take a different route to Moab Utah...

This morning after leaving Grand Junction I took Steve's advice and went the road less traveled, and the views were amazing...

Here are some shots I took off I-70 just across the Utah border...



After leaving the interstate and staying on a small two lane road for miles, the scenery was gorgeous.  I finally had to force myself to keep on driving because I was taking all of my time pulling off the road to take pictures and videos...





and some videos...