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[maki2]

@ Maki2    Why don't you just go to Taos N.M ?      Almost the same elevation?

Oh Oh...

https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/carson/alerts-notices/?aid=66540

Yep big forest fires in New Mexico as well. No point in heading there. No doubt I will be dodging forest fires even in the West all summer. But I wanted to go to Seattle in September anyway. My son will be done with chemo then so I can feel safer for his sake to do an in person visit including hugs, it has been almost 6 years since I have seen him.

I can camp in WA state forest and National Forest and Olympic Forest dispersed for free as I am a Wa state resident and have a lifetime National Park pass as well. Plus 50 % off at Wa State Parks. I know safe places to urban boondock in Seattle.But my plans are not firm, I just live one day at a time. Today was one of the days when plans suddenly changed. I had planned to go to the area just north of Taos in a couple of weeks after visiting the south rim of the grand canyon for 2 weeks.

 

[Gypsy108]

Yes.....to see your son would be a priority  :heart: :heart: :heart:

 

[desert_sailing]

yaa.
Have a detached office that for the past several years has had baby black widows move into a couple of the back corners of the bathroom.

I see the first has moved in... woohoo!
I was just wondering when they would show up. I must know the season.

I really enjoy them. They just sit in their spaces and try to exist. I watch them grow from a little fleck into plump ol' gals. Usually have 2 most of the year sometimes 3.

Only thing I don't like is not being able to sweep up the carcasses of their meals without destroying their webs. I just let em pile up til they move out.

They are kinda like pets, I guess. I do miss them when they gone.

 

[user 30781]

Years ago my ex found a black widow in the garage/shop. Middle daughter went out and got it and made a 'habitat' in a gallon glass jar and put it on the sideboard in the dining room. Which was all fine and dandy until mom wove an egg sac. We had to nuke the habitat then because we didn't want a house full of black widows.

The area where I live is a very spidery place. I don't have them in my apartment though because I have house centipedes instead.

 

[nature lover]

I had a black widow living in my house for 40 years. Then she divorced me.

 

[maki2]

Big smile on my face, saved from making  a decision about where to camp next, back to the Pacific Nortwest or up. To Zion area.. I went to town this morning to get water, ship out orders and do laundry. As I was folding laundry I just joke with a woman who was watching her clothes in the dryer how when you watch them it never seems to quit running. Fortunately I am not painfully shy and can strike up a conversation. This time it really paid off, I made a new friend and was invited to stay a week, possibly longer, in my trailer on their 10 acre property a half hour north of Williams.  Plus we do have dollhouse building in common so that helps with plenty to talk about. Plus I have some ready made thank you gifts on hand. She likes doing cardstoock things for her dollhouses. living one day at a time with no concrete plans or fixed time schedules is great for taking advantage of this kind of chance to have fun with new friends. Plus I will be much closer to the Grand Canyon so that is back on my list of possible day trip excursions now.

But now lunch break is over and the packing up begins. First chore stretch wrap the cabinet door frames together. Then take down my screen room and get everything fit into the car. I  will tire quickly on this fairly hot day so it can't be done as fast as I would like. Lots of mini breaks will be required.

 

[crofter]

Stay cool & great luck with finding a camping host friend!
-crofter

 

[bullfrog]

Glad to hear, go slow and stay well! There are lots of good people out there.

 

[travelaround]

WHAT??  I've never heard such a thing.  I keep 2 bottles of my tap water next to me and drink all the time.  Next time I'm in town and pull up next to a patrol car at the light like I did this morning I'll get his attention and take a big swig and see what happens and report back.

Do be careful about that. The law changed in 2017. I was aware of it because at the time I was living near the Idaho/Washington border and frequently drove into Spokane Valley.

About drinking water (or anything) while driving in Washington state...
Eating, Drinking, and more considered DUIE in Washington state

 

[maki2]

Bullfrog when I was looking at the map this morning I saw where Bullfrog is located. I might head in that direction...one of these days ...as I did want to check out that area. Only lake water I have been around this year is at Lake Havasu where I did go and spend some time looking at the lake and the mini sized lighthouses.

I do miss walking 50 steps from my last sticks and bricks and being on a sandy beach on Puget Sound in  Seattle.

 

[bullfrog]

^^^Fall and spring are the best times to visit. We do have nice sandy beaches but they are as much as a mile from the water as we are down almost 150' in elevation at the lowest water levels since the lake was created in the 1960's. We don't get as hot as Havasu but almost. It was 106 degrees today and has been over 100 degrees for over a week now. The Henry Mountains are nearby at 11,000' but rough country and still had some roads impassable due to snow a couple weeks ago. There is a lot of beautiful country and tons of free camping all around. In this part of Utah it is hard to find places you are not permitted to camp and National Parks bordering National Parks with BLM land all around. RV Sue used to do spring around Green River Utah and fall around Bluff Utah and had some really good threads on her web site "RV Sue and her canine crew". Day trips are more like 2 or three day trips as things are so far apart or time consuming getting there. A well maintained vehicle is more important to have out here. It is a long way to supplies and here at Bullfrog is about the only internet although new towers are going up as Covid 19 has shown how important internet is for education. Mail takes a couple extra days and the post office is open from 10AM till 2PM weekdays only and the rates seem inflated to me! Lol!!! UPS and FEDX make runs most days as well. Everyone is welcome to PM me if you get in the area, I'm always happy to answer questions or help out if I can.

 

[maki2]

At the new camp on the private land. No one is home but I went ahead and sorted out a place to park, did my first thank you chore and cleaned up a pile of debris including nails and the remains of a sack of concrete. Good thing I travel with a shovel, rake and magnets for picking up nails. The small debris pile was in the way of where I wanted to park. The host are working on lots of projects so the place is not all that tidy. At least I won't have to ask what I can do to help out in exchange for camping. It is very obvious what needs tidying up and organizing. I dont mind, its not that hard of work.

Verizon signal here is useable for posting text, but not sure I could do much in the way of streaming a video.

 

[travelaround]

Good to hear you're at your new improved location, Maki. I am trying to film a video and had a frustrating hour trying to get my printer to work. Got a visit from the RV guy who will make a list of more things I need to order for my build. Glad he isn't giving up on the project! Wouldn't it be amazing if eventually it all came together into a livable little home? Well, I have to keep trying.

 

[maki2]

My new location is not an improvemment over dispersed camping in the forest. Not even close to being as nice. I love being among the tree¤s. It is also a 25 mile drive to the closest place to mail a letter. Closest decent grocery store, a Safeway, is 40 miles away. But I am fortunate to have it as I would have to drive about 5 hours up to Itah to find other good boondocking places. Quite iikely I might still end up having to do that.

Big thunderstorm came through late this afternoon and it included some heavy rain. A free car wash, I needed that!

My host husband is very touchy about privacy so I doubt I will get to stay for long. But I hope to do a day trip to the Grand canyon before I have to leave.

 

[travelaround]

Sorry to hear there are drawbacks. People are so much harder to get along with than trees. There are plenty of trees left here in the Klamath National Forest. Dispersed camping rules are that you can camp anywhere in the forest for two weeks, then must drive 25 miles and can camp there another two weeks, and then no more welcome mat.

Personally - I'm glad you're out of the forest when there's fire danger. When we had our fire last year it was a miracle we lost only two people. With people camping in the forest - who would even know? That fire moved so fast.

I've been working on a new video this afternoon and evening. This hobby is so time consuming sometimes. I had to film the entire thing twice.

 

[nature lover]

Bright sunshine, reasonable temperatures, and a nice breeze blowing in central Pennsylvania. I’m leaving the farm today and going back up into the mountains. I Posted about little brother going on hospice care last Monday. He didn’t last long he died yesterday. No plans made yet, the widow doesn’t want to have anything public because she doesn’t want questions about their estranged son and his whereabouts, which we don’t know. That might change soon I don’t know. My “partly estranged” Half brother Showed up on his doorstep a few minutes after it was over. Now if his son would just show up. I got to get up into the woods to get the ability to handle all this. “I look on the hills; from whence cometh my strength? My strength comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

 

[user 30781]

I'm sorry to hear this, nature lover. I hope it was an easy passing for him.

I am gearing up to tear my place apart looking for my Melitta coffee supplies. I quit drinking coffee back around 2008 when I was having heart issues over running out of estrogen. Yes, that's a thing. I went on beta blockers for a year and dropped coffee for green tea. I was all sorted out within 6 months or less, it was just my body getting used to no more estrogen, but I stuck with green tea. Lately, I've been craving coffee again and I like Melitta drip coffee. Plus, the kids and I are going on a camping trip in late September in memory of their dad and it's a great way to make camp coffee.

 

[maki2]

I of course do not know if the husband host is hard to get along with. It could be he just truly craves privacy which is why he bought 10 acres of land. they are doing what many  nomadics have turned to doing even before Covid.. They bought off grid property, put up solar and a water tank. Put an functioning RV on the land, in this case a 5th wheel for going to southern areas in winter. This area gets snow in winter.Then brought in some storage shed that are of a size where no building pertmit is required. Two of the sheds are insulated and used as dwelling areas, one is likely the bedroom, the other kitch and living room. Plus a few other sheds for storage of of tools and misc.

If you follow the youtube channel Pandamonium she and a few friends purchased land near Williams AZ. The terrain and vegetation look much the same here. In this whole area north of Williams on hwy 64/180 you can see RVs with some outbuildings and often shipping containers sitting along various dirt roads leading out from the highway. From where I am camped I can see about a dozen such places but only 2 sticks and bricks houses. i have no idea what the cost of such land is. It does not matter at present but maybe one of these days I would consider that setup for a summer camp with storage.

Time to get out my cutting machine , an order came in and I don't have any inventory cut for one of the kits. Lots of solar today, I was at 100% by 7:30 as no trees shading my panel. I need to deply my shade cloth on the south facing side so I an not sitting inside an oven this afternoon. The closest post office is 25 miles away in Grand Canyon Village. So that is where I will be tomorrow morning!

 

[user 30781]

^^ I think this is her property at 7:24



Edit: wow, I did not realize how close Williams and Flagstaff are to the Grand Canyon.

 

[shadowmoss]

If it's not one thing, it's another.

Most of my energy the past couple of weeks has been helping Mom move from her apartment into a new to her 5th wheel rv.  Lots of stuff to get rid of.  Last night at my motorhome I opened the fridge and the top of the door came loose.  I got it back to where it would latch closed, and opened it a couple of times to put stuff in and out.  This morning one of the guys here in the park came over to help me see how to fix it.  As I opened it the bottom bracket broke completely off.

There are a few other issues with the motorhome so I sat down for a few minutes and decided it is time to seriously look for a different rv.  A half hour later I had committed to buying my park manager's Pace Arrow motorhome.  It sits not being used as he doesn't have time to get out in it and his family lives in the house in site.  He made me a good deal.

If anyone who is handy at fixing things is interested, I will make a good deal (cheap!) Selling my current motorhome.  Front air conditioner quit working, but I have a portable split unit I'd throw in and the rear air conditioner works, the generator doesn't work, fridge works but needs a new door.  Newish tires, new brakes, motor runs well and I just had the roof coated.  Just need rid of it now.

I knew it would be quick when it was time to change RVs, just didn't realize how quick.