A change of pace...

I decided I needed to get away for a while, to explore, take in new surroundings.  I’ve been in the desert for most of the winter and I was getting antsy to get back on the road and experience something new...

I packed my stuff, ran my errands, and headed north towards Prescott AZ.  My friend who just moved there would be needing help around the first of the month, so I thought I might find a new campsite in the area to enjoy until then.  What I didn’t figure on was the poor phone data connections and a cold snap.  I had a couple of areas in mind around the towns of Wickenburg and Congress, but when I stopped to check out the sites, I had a strong phone signal but zero data connection, so I moved on north to Prescott...

After checking out several campgrounds in the area, I settled into the Prescott Basin Dispersed Camping Area - Maripai Rd.  The dirt roads coming into the campground are very rough, and get worse the further back you go.  I took the challenge though and made my way back to campsite seven.  I actually dragged the rear bumper a bit on the drive in and I never had that happen before.  The site is situated on top of the ridge, the views are beautiful, and I had a good phone and data connection.  I leveled the van and setup for the night...

The site had a lot of trash strewn about, so I grabbed my gloves, a large trash bag, and collected most of the big stuff around the area.  After that I snapped a few pics and started working on some supper.  The next morning I was sitting on my stool in the rear of the van getting my coffee going when a park ranger appeared out my back windows.  I signaled him to go to the side doors and I popped out to see what was going on.  We chatted for a minute then he pointed towards the rear of van.  The garbage bag of trash I had collected the night before had been torn open and scattered. I apologized and explained that it was trash I had picked up at the site.  He was really nice and helped me to pick it all up.  I asked him if it was possible for him to take the bag of trash since I had no place to store it away from wildlife, and he said he would and threw it in the back of his truck.  He took a moment to remind me of the seven day limit for camping, told me the campsite looked really good and thanked me for picking up the site and told me to enjoy my stay as he got in his truck and left...

The next morning, as I was again sitting in the back of the van preparing breakfast, something caught my eye out the back windows, a group of deer were browsing nearby.  My phone was close by, I grabbed it and tried to take pictures, but there had been a few rain showers overnight which combined with the dust that was already on the windows, pretty much limited my view.  The phone would only focus on the dirty window, not the deer just beyond.  I didn’t think I had time to grab my camera so I was just enjoying the view.  Then some of them started moving closer, and I could see there were even more coming behind them.  I quietly moved forward in the van, grabbed my camera bag, swapped lenses, and got back in position.  There were a lot of evergreen oaks around me with a few acorns still intact and plenty of low growing leafy plants, they stayed around for quite a while, which gave me the opportunity to snap some pics.  In all there were probably fifteen deer that passed by.  The does we’re out front, the one buck I saw was warily staying in the shadows so I never got a clear shot to photograph him...

This place is so beautiful, the mountains in the distance, the pines, junipers, and oaks, huge outcrops of mossy boulders, just a park-like setting, this is one of my favs.  I’ll have to leave here earlier than anticipated due to a cold snap coming through in the next day or two, but it was well worth the trip...

Short trip to Prescott...

I made a short run up to the Prescott AZ area to see my friend Felicia.  I say short because I intended to stay longer but the cold weather and snow made me rethink my location...

I stayed at a campground called the Enchanted Forest Trail, and it truly was enchanting.  The road into the campground is dirt and has deep ruts.  The van does fine with roads like this but I watched other campers in larger RVs navigating the road and it wasn’t pretty.  They would suddenly drop off into an unseen deep rut and it almost looked like they were going to flip over.  I can only imagine how much of their stuff inside the RV that turned into projectiles launched across the room...

I found a spot that had a decent cell signal and was also relatively flat.  After getting setup I had to pick up the trash around the area and ended up with a large garbage bag stuffed to the brim with garbage, which I hauled to the dump after I left...

This area had quite a bit of activity, a popular place, but overall it was quiet and the views were nice.  You could tell that the forest area was being thinned out, the underbrush was beginning to thrive, and there were lots of trails with beautiful foliage and views of the mountains...

Like I said, I didn’t stay long, just a few days, but I really enjoyed my time there.  The day I left I met up with Felicia and we went out for breakfast to chat and catch up.  While we were enjoying breakfast it began to snow, my sign to move further south.  We checked out the location were she planned to live, after which I dropped her off and made my way back to Quartzite...

The ‘crazy’ lady...

I recently made a trip back up to Prescott AZ to visit a friend and on the trip back I had an interesting experience that I wanted to share...

I was leaving Prescott and knowing that gas stations were pretty scarce once I got on the road I pulled into a little station that caught my eye right at the edge of town to fuel up.  The layout of the fueling area was quite narrow and oddly inconvenient, the pumps were old and several were taped off, marked out of order.  This appeared to be an old full service station that had been converted to self service.  There was a small convenience store which appeared kind of dark and dated, converted from the old service station building.  There was only one other vehicle parked at the pumps at the time, and since I didn’t see it fueling, I assumed the owner was inside the store.  I popped out the drivers door and proceeded to swipe my card and fuel up...

After I got my fuel I went inside to go to the bathroom and to get a cup of coffee for the road.  Now I always move away from the pumps before going inside, but I didn’t see any other place to park, and the only other patron was already parked at the pump ahead of me, so I left the van at the pumps and ran inside.  There was a man and a woman standing in front of the counter having a discussion so I looked around for the restrooms but quickly realized there were none, and a quick glance over to the coffee service area revealed a standard home Mr. Coffee type coffee pot as the only option, so I make the quick decision to just find another place with restrooms and coffee, and I returned to the van to leave.  Now this is where things took a twist...


As I was working on enabling my google maps app to guide me back to Quartzite, the woman I saw inside the store came hurriedly out the door and straight up to my driver’s side window.  Now she’s a very small older woman probably not even five foot tall, long gray hair pulled back into a ponytail and dropping to her waist, wearing a big puffy well worn black jacket.  I rolled down my window to speak to her but she immediately got on me about parking at the pumps, what right did I have to block the pumps, that she has an alarm system that warns her when people park at the pumps for long periods, 'and she kept mentioning the alarms were going off.  At first I wasn’t sure how to respond, I was really surprised and taken a bit back.  I told her I just ran in to go to the bathroom and to grab some coffee, but she kept telling me that I needed to move, I was blocking the pumps and the alarms were going off.  Again I tried to explain that I had fueled up, then ran inside, I didn’t see any other parking spaces, but I just stopped trying to justify my position and told her I was sorry.  I apologized several times and was getting ready to leave when her whole attitude changed...

She began to apologize over and over, she mentioned the alarms again as if they had influenced her, and she said she didn’t realize I had purchased fuel.  She said let me make it up to you, I’ll get you a free cup of coffee and I’ll bring it out to you, all the time she seems to be beating herself up for the episode.  I thanked her for the offer but told her it was okay, there was no need to make anything up to me but she insisted.  At which point I figured it was best to accept, but I told her I would move the van and come inside to get the coffee.  As I pulled through the fueling area I found a couple of parking spots on the other side of the building, parked, and made my way back into the store...

All the time she was running in and out of the store, watching me, I guess to see if I was really coming back.  As I walked back in she continued to apologize while she poured a cup of coffee from the brewing pot.   She asked me how I liked my coffee and I said sweet and light, so she proceeded to grab the artificial sweetener, the only sweetener she had, to which I intervened, and told her I’d just take it black.  As she walked toward me with the open cup of coffee in her left hand she threw her arms open and gave me a big apologetic hug.  I hugged her back, being careful not to disturb the still outstretched arm holding the coffee.  I thanked her for the coffee as I took it from her hand, and reached for a lid, but she said they don’t fit, they’re too big, that’s all I have...

The entire time I noticed she seemed really anxious, over stimulated, almost like she couldn’t help herself, the way she had reacted, and she seemed to be aware of it, even if she couldn’t control it.  She seemed almost disgusted with herself and remained overly apologetic, even grabbing a small package of Oreo cookies and insisting I take them too.  I didnt refuse them, it seemed the best thing to do...

Now I’m posting all of this not to embarrass or harass this woman, I believe there is a much bigger story here, one that humbles me, one that stopped me in my tracks and made me cautious not to just take the situation at face value.  I did a google search on the station and what I found was not surprising, bad reviews, lots of comments on the ‘crazy lady’ from previous patrons, warning others to ‘stay away’, and I get it, I understand, but you know, I don’t know her situation, I don’t know what’s behind her perception of things, but inside of this ‘crazy’ woman is a heart of gold no one seems to take the time to see...

It’s obvious that her business is struggling, she may not be making ends meet, no help, and she’s just overwhelmed and maybe certain things, like the alarms, trip something inside her that causes her to react in a negative way.  We’ve all been there, we’ve all been so wrapped up in our own personal life's dramas that we steamroll over other people...

I am going to make an effort to stop in to see her every time I’m in the area.  I miss the days when people like this were not condemned but appreciated as ‘local color’.  I can’t walk a mile in her shoes, I could never gather enough information to understand, and I don’t need to, all any of us has to do is to understand that you can’t know, you can’t understand, so be compassionate, as you would want others to be towards you...

6 month update...

A video about my first six months on the road...

first of March...

Hey everybody…

My last day at Scadden Wash was Feb 28th, I had met my 14 day limit, so it was time to relocate.  I scouted a couple of other BLM camping areas around Quartzite after I left Scadden Wash and eventually decided to setup camp in La Paz Valley at the BLM Roadrunner area a few miles south of Quartzite.  I have stayed here before but just for one night, and I liked it at the time,  so now I have the opportunity to spend two weeks here to get a real feel for the place.  I can say that so far it has been really nice.  Not many people around me, very quiet, they have lots of trees and cacti, and I’m spending a lot of time with my artwork, music, and just kicking back and enjoying life…

Spring is just around the corner and the temps here are moving from pleasant to hot soon, so it will be time to get back on the road to experience new places and enjoy new adventures.  I’ll be following the weather mostly, finding places that have a good daily/nightly temperature ranges for comfortable camping, not too hot, not too cold…

I’ll share a few more photos of the Scadden Wash area I took since the last time I posted…

Sunsets can be quite beautiful...

My little crumb snatcher...

Just a couple more hummingbird pics...

My campsite...

Gambrel quail visitation...

The Roadrunner camping area is another 14 day limit camping facility managed by the BLM.  There are all size rigs in these 14 day areas, from RV’s the size of Greyhound busses, to people living in compact cars and everything in-between.   Many people seem to be over-wintering in Quartzite and like me, they just move to another site when their 14 days are up.  The OHVs can become menacing in some campgrounds, especially during weekends and holidays, but I haven’t noticed that many running about in the area that I chose to camp, and those that I have seen have been very respectful of the other campers, it’s been very quiet…

Here are some photos of the area…

I may be traveling back up to Prescott Valley after I leave here to see how my friend is doing and to hang out for a time, after that, I don’t know where I’m headed, but I will keep you informed and try to take lots of photos…

Thanks for stopping by…