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travelaround
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travelaround said:
I never "see" southern california - too busy dealing with traffic!
travelaround
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There was a lot of parking on the freeways around LA. At times traffic was very slow. I preferred those times. My GPS seemed a lot more concerned about the "fastest routes" than I was. That must be a big issue in this corner of the universe.
The last time I was in a big city was when I went into Phoenix last spring in Cammalu's car. Her husband was doing the driving. I rode along so I could go to Office Depot and Joann's craftstore. I needed shipping labels and cardstock.
I just stocked up on those in Flagstaff as those stores are there. Much smaller town than going into a major metro area. Yuma is not too bget around in, but a fair amount bigger than Flagstaff.
I am camped near Flagstaff this week as I needed to pick up a couple of Amazon orders. I like Flagstaff, not a big city but bigger than a small town. Much nicer for supplies than Parker, Blythe, Lake Havasu City or Yuma. Good place to work on a build except on rainy days...
I just stocked up on those in Flagstaff as those stores are there. Much smaller town than going into a major metro area. Yuma is not too bget around in, but a fair amount bigger than Flagstaff.
I am camped near Flagstaff this week as I needed to pick up a couple of Amazon orders. I like Flagstaff, not a big city but bigger than a small town. Much nicer for supplies than Parker, Blythe, Lake Havasu City or Yuma. Good place to work on a build except on rainy days...
travelaround
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I took that photo while I was in a "slow down" high on a "crossover" ... I'm learning new vocabulary on this trip. This area near the border seems very nice.
crofter
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I would rather drive on city streets than the top deck of a freeway. There is one in Las Vegas that is so high up you get vertigo.
-crofter
-crofter
Travelaround, so glad you made it to your sisters OK.
I am feeling restless this afternoon. Looking forward to a change of campsites. I do not think I want to spend the whole winter in Quartzsite I will be therr a f air amount of time. But I think I will do more roaming around in southern Arizona this coming winter. Fortunately I will not be stuck waiting until late April in the heat like last spring.
I got curious about the mushrooms I have seen here in the Coconino foredt near Flasgstaff. Of course I realized having seen some mushroom hunters out that some were edible. it turns out the big orange ones that I found under humped up areas of pine needles are called lobster mushrooms. A mold spore turns the mushroom species bright orange and it makes them more flavorfull as well. So highly prized by the hunters. Plus one site says they are excellent for drying out for long term use. The mushroom season for them is just about over but If I am here again in September I plan to try eating them and if I like their flavor enough perhaps dry preserving some for use over the winter.
I am feeling restless this afternoon. Looking forward to a change of campsites. I do not think I want to spend the whole winter in Quartzsite I will be therr a f air amount of time. But I think I will do more roaming around in southern Arizona this coming winter. Fortunately I will not be stuck waiting until late April in the heat like last spring.
I got curious about the mushrooms I have seen here in the Coconino foredt near Flasgstaff. Of course I realized having seen some mushroom hunters out that some were edible. it turns out the big orange ones that I found under humped up areas of pine needles are called lobster mushrooms. A mold spore turns the mushroom species bright orange and it makes them more flavorfull as well. So highly prized by the hunters. Plus one site says they are excellent for drying out for long term use. The mushroom season for them is just about over but If I am here again in September I plan to try eating them and if I like their flavor enough perhaps dry preserving some for use over the winter.
Stayed in the Coconino forest a couple times passing through. There are some great spots in area to camp. I assumed though there are times it’s pretty busy around there.
Heading towards home here tonight (Sunday)... drop youngest daughter off at her place in Salt Lake City and mosey across Wyoming. Met a diesel mechanic just inside of Nebraska once that I may look into for advice... otherwise keep heading back.
Traveling Around, I used to have a sister living outside of LA, I’d stay at her place and head in like 4am if I had business in that area. Usually Costa Mesa. Last time I was in San Diego I delivered a rowing shell to Fiesta Island. I found it interesting how dog friendly it was. There was a dog sitting next to a camper so I parked a bit down from it. But the dog was right there ready to play with my newer to me then dog. They played and played, got super wet and Sandy. I dried mine off best I could and combed most the sand out. But it got into everywhere. Never saw a person at the trailer... door wide open. Last I saw was the dog going inside all wet and sandy.
Heading towards home here tonight (Sunday)... drop youngest daughter off at her place in Salt Lake City and mosey across Wyoming. Met a diesel mechanic just inside of Nebraska once that I may look into for advice... otherwise keep heading back.
Traveling Around, I used to have a sister living outside of LA, I’d stay at her place and head in like 4am if I had business in that area. Usually Costa Mesa. Last time I was in San Diego I delivered a rowing shell to Fiesta Island. I found it interesting how dog friendly it was. There was a dog sitting next to a camper so I parked a bit down from it. But the dog was right there ready to play with my newer to me then dog. They played and played, got super wet and Sandy. I dried mine off best I could and combed most the sand out. But it got into everywhere. Never saw a person at the trailer... door wide open. Last I saw was the dog going inside all wet and sandy.
The Coconino foreest camping gets busy on thebroads that are recommended on the ree camping referrence sites. But after school starts in mid August there are plenty of choices even on the weekends. Of course the further away from towns, resevoirs and tourist attractions the better the avaiilabilty of great spots.
I am gretting ready to hitch up today. I do not anticipate having trouble finding a new campsite as everyday this week there is a pretty sue chance of thunderstorms. In fact it is raining right now. But the first thing I did this morning while it was dry was go out and hitch up my trailer and get all gear inside. Now all I have left to do is strap a few things down, put food and dishes away, etc. I got new windshield wipers the other day, so thast will help today's drive West to slightly better weather.
I think I will go to Pharump in 10 days or so and join a HOWA caravan for awhile and meet some new full time people this fall. I do not know if I will enjoy that experience or prefer to continue camping mostly solo. But I won't know unless I try it out. I am not an introvert or extrovert, just an ambivert. Meaning I can deal with social time or alone time with a moderate emotional reaction to both situations. But my primary incentive is the change in weather, getting colder at nigjt now now in the high elevations and moving down into the sunny 80s for a daytime over towards Pahrump, Nevada. Time for new places and faces and my mood for today is one of looking forward to the changes.
What I can't do is camp a lot of miles away from a place to send out mail or go to places without cell signals, at least a signal a short drive away. So not sure how the caravans will work for me. But there is always the LTVA option and/or solo camping if they don't meet my needs.
I am gretting ready to hitch up today. I do not anticipate having trouble finding a new campsite as everyday this week there is a pretty sue chance of thunderstorms. In fact it is raining right now. But the first thing I did this morning while it was dry was go out and hitch up my trailer and get all gear inside. Now all I have left to do is strap a few things down, put food and dishes away, etc. I got new windshield wipers the other day, so thast will help today's drive West to slightly better weather.
I think I will go to Pharump in 10 days or so and join a HOWA caravan for awhile and meet some new full time people this fall. I do not know if I will enjoy that experience or prefer to continue camping mostly solo. But I won't know unless I try it out. I am not an introvert or extrovert, just an ambivert. Meaning I can deal with social time or alone time with a moderate emotional reaction to both situations. But my primary incentive is the change in weather, getting colder at nigjt now now in the high elevations and moving down into the sunny 80s for a daytime over towards Pahrump, Nevada. Time for new places and faces and my mood for today is one of looking forward to the changes.
What I can't do is camp a lot of miles away from a place to send out mail or go to places without cell signals, at least a signal a short drive away. So not sure how the caravans will work for me. But there is always the LTVA option and/or solo camping if they don't meet my needs.
user 30781
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^^^ I'm not THAT big. :/
lol
edit: I see my comment about tiny houses was discussed earlier. Never mind.
Just got back from our camping trip. Weather couldn't have been better, it was quiet and
peaceful, I had all four of my kids with me and we had camp robbers.
I grabbed about 6 or 8 pound of nuts and dried blueberries to feed chipmunks and
we ended up feeding camp robbers out of our hands all weekend. My kids had
never seen them before so you should have seen their faces the first time I stood
there with some peanuts in my hand and a bird flew out of a tree and landed on my
fingers. It was priceless. lol
lol
edit: I see my comment about tiny houses was discussed earlier. Never mind.
Just got back from our camping trip. Weather couldn't have been better, it was quiet and
peaceful, I had all four of my kids with me and we had camp robbers.
I grabbed about 6 or 8 pound of nuts and dried blueberries to feed chipmunks and
we ended up feeding camp robbers out of our hands all weekend. My kids had
never seen them before so you should have seen their faces the first time I stood
there with some peanuts in my hand and a bird flew out of a tree and landed on my
fingers. It was priceless. lol
Back at my favorire Grand Canyon campsite. Glad I had those new wiper blades as there was some heavy rain coming north on hwy 180 out of Flagstaff. Not a lot of traffic going north. I stopped to top up my fuel in Valle, AZ and my trailer sttracted it usual set of comments about did I have it custom built. Always fuun to watch the reaction when I tell them it is 50 years old. One woman wanyed to know if I was a member of the woman's camping group "Sisters on the Fly". I do know about them but the fees to join are kind of pricey. I do know how to fly fish and used to do that when I lived in Alaska.
Cloudy this afternoon, some blue sky showing here and there at my special, blue hole, hill campsite. I got enough solar today to fully charge my battery but that did not happen this morning as it was socked in by Flagstaff. Too tired to jump up off my lounge chair and set up my screen room. Maybe l will get to it before sunset or maybe not. I will go into the national park tomorrow and do trash, water, shower, post office and if not raining too much I will walk along the rim for a while. Too bad the showers are only open in the mornings, I would love to have a long hot shower right now but will have to make do with a couple of tylenols instead.
Cloudy this afternoon, some blue sky showing here and there at my special, blue hole, hill campsite. I got enough solar today to fully charge my battery but that did not happen this morning as it was socked in by Flagstaff. Too tired to jump up off my lounge chair and set up my screen room. Maybe l will get to it before sunset or maybe not. I will go into the national park tomorrow and do trash, water, shower, post office and if not raining too much I will walk along the rim for a while. Too bad the showers are only open in the mornings, I would love to have a long hot shower right now but will have to make do with a couple of tylenols instead.
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I'm a newbie - haven't even left yet however I'm packed and ready......anyone know of any caravans in the east ?
Sent from my SM-A115U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-A115U using Tapatalk
nature lover
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Hello again K31962. I hope you saw my other answer in your Post. I’ll repeat it here again in case you didn’t see it. there is a thread on here called “calling all East Coast nomads”. Sorry for repeating myself but I wanted to make sure you saw this.
And to all my other nomad friends on this thread: I’m alive. Things have not been the best but then again my best years are over
. No I’ve got a lot to look forward too I’m just dragging along the bottom of the pond for now. Still in the van but connected to electricity at a friends farm. I’m hoping it doesn’t get real cold up here in the north east until my wings and feathers are completely developed to get to Florida. God bless the nomads each and everyone of them.
And to all my other nomad friends on this thread: I’m alive. Things have not been the best but then again my best years are over
. No I’ve got a lot to look forward too I’m just dragging along the bottom of the pond for now. Still in the van but connected to electricity at a friends farm. I’m hoping it doesn’t get real cold up here in the north east until my wings and feathers are completely developed to get to Florida. God bless the nomads each and everyone of them.Turned out to be a lovely day. Pretty much spent it being lazy. Sometime this week I will get around to making sawdust and cut poplarvwood trim pieces for the trailer interior. I am starting to look forward to doing a bit of build work time.
Some nice color in the sunset. I do not have a sweeping view over long distances in this campsite as there are a lot of trees around and the terrain is one of rolling hills and washes among them.
I did take an amusing photo of the local wildlife today. I will get around to editing it for posting tomorrow or the day after that.
Some nice color in the sunset. I do not have a sweeping view over long distances in this campsite as there are a lot of trees around and the terrain is one of rolling hills and washes among them.
I did take an amusing photo of the local wildlife today. I will get around to editing it for posting tomorrow or the day after that.
Cammalu,... most likely next week. It really depends on the weather report. I do not want to drive in strong crosswinds or heavy rain. Much easier to sit out a strong storm in campsite than to travel in one. It is not as if I have a firm deadline to be someplace. I have insulation and heat, a few 32 degree night time lows with daytime highs in the 60s is not an issue wort wkrrying about. That tempetature range is certainly not unusual in Quartsite in mid winter.
Not sure if I will be in the LTVA this winter or hanging around on the 14 day camping areas. But I will see you in Q. : )
Not sure if I will be in the LTVA this winter or hanging around on the 14 day camping areas. But I will see you in Q. : )
user 30781
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We got lucky in our choice of campsite last weekend. We had our own water source right between the two sites we got (and not right on the road) and the water was some of the best I've tasted since I lived where there were springs in North Idaho. The toilet was only about 4 sites away and it was a flush toilet rather than a vault toilet like most of the other ones in the campground. The camp hosts (and firewood bundles) were right behind the toilet building. And they are old hippie types living in a skoolie. Had a very faded string of prayer flags across the grill of the bus. I walked over there Saturday and gave them a new, beautiful string of flags I'd ordered off Etsy but hadn't used yet and gave them to them and thanked them for keeping up the campground so nicely.
They have camp hosts for every loop of the campground, I forget if they told me 5 or 6. So each camp host didn't have a huge area to keep up. It's such a beautiful campground and we were in the best of the loops. Huge, old trees and lots of them so the sites seemed very private. The vine maple had already turned flame colors and there was plenty of that here and there. Lake Kachess. It's about 6 miles from a convenience store and 20 miles from the nearest town.
Oh, and the fire restrictions were lowered the week before we went so we were able to have campfires. We went through a lot of wood, like 8 or 10 bundles. Gotta make those s'mores. lol
They have camp hosts for every loop of the campground, I forget if they told me 5 or 6. So each camp host didn't have a huge area to keep up. It's such a beautiful campground and we were in the best of the loops. Huge, old trees and lots of them so the sites seemed very private. The vine maple had already turned flame colors and there was plenty of that here and there. Lake Kachess. It's about 6 miles from a convenience store and 20 miles from the nearest town.
Oh, and the fire restrictions were lowered the week before we went so we were able to have campfires. We went through a lot of wood, like 8 or 10 bundles. Gotta make those s'mores. lol
Gypsy108
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Sounds soooooooooo wonderful Wanderingsoul !
I had a conversation a few days ago with my daughter.....i don't talk to my kids about my problems/issues.....but i opened up to my daughter about some things going on....and told her i was planning on leaving soon and will be living in my car.......now she thinks i am mentally ill......then she told my son my plans....and now he also thinks i'm mentally ill.....my daughter said "only mentally ill people live in their cars". Well... my son called his father about me wanting to leave & live in my car....so now the cat is out of the bag.....and i feel VERY uncomfortable now that everyone knows my plans...
I am also saddened and heartbroken that my kids think i'm mentally ill........
It will be a while before i leave....i still need to get my car checked over for this long road trip...................
I had a conversation a few days ago with my daughter.....i don't talk to my kids about my problems/issues.....but i opened up to my daughter about some things going on....and told her i was planning on leaving soon and will be living in my car.......now she thinks i am mentally ill......then she told my son my plans....and now he also thinks i'm mentally ill.....my daughter said "only mentally ill people live in their cars". Well... my son called his father about me wanting to leave & live in my car....so now the cat is out of the bag.....and i feel VERY uncomfortable now that everyone knows my plans...
I am also saddened and heartbroken that my kids think i'm mentally ill........
It will be a while before i leave....i still need to get my car checked over for this long road trip...................
When taking to family break them into concepts gently. It always mztters howy ou present things. Present it the wrong way and you will get a negative reaction.
An example of the right way...
I am heading to the desert in Arizona to spend the cold months of winter with a group of women friends. We plan to do a bunch of camping time in a safe area that is part of the town of Quartzsite. There are both rangers and local law enforcement. As well as water, trash and showers would have been sufficient information. Telling them I am going to be living in my car... well of course that does sound a bit like mental illness issues to a great many persons. Not at all a surprising reaction because there really are a lot of people with mental issues living in vehicles, especially in urban areas. Just revisit the conversation again with them, try a different approach, they likely will calm down. Invite them to come down and camp in the desert for a week or two this winter.
Avoid telling anyone you are living in your vehicle. Just say you are on an extended camping trip, being a snow bird heading to the Southwest for winter warmth, sunshine and fun. Do not present it as a major lifestyle change to living in a vehicle. .
An example of the right way...
I am heading to the desert in Arizona to spend the cold months of winter with a group of women friends. We plan to do a bunch of camping time in a safe area that is part of the town of Quartzsite. There are both rangers and local law enforcement. As well as water, trash and showers would have been sufficient information. Telling them I am going to be living in my car... well of course that does sound a bit like mental illness issues to a great many persons. Not at all a surprising reaction because there really are a lot of people with mental issues living in vehicles, especially in urban areas. Just revisit the conversation again with them, try a different approach, they likely will calm down. Invite them to come down and camp in the desert for a week or two this winter.
Avoid telling anyone you are living in your vehicle. Just say you are on an extended camping trip, being a snow bird heading to the Southwest for winter warmth, sunshine and fun. Do not present it as a major lifestyle change to living in a vehicle. .
