Simple Living and Simple Travel

We picked up a little bluebird down in New Mexico. I think she got stuck on a piece of 3M VHB tape. She keeps pretty quiet, unless you reach up and squeeze her. Doesn’t eat much. Seems to get by with licking the bugs off her face. I was not able to receive NPR for the past month but finally got a chance to download the podcasts for ‘Wait, Wait…’. Great program. I always get a chuckle when I hear others share a story about ‘Wait, Wait…’. Ron, who I met during the summer I was working in Kanab, mentioned that he was listening to Wait, Wait one time while on a treadmill at the gym. He got to laughing so hard at something Paula Poundstone said that he fell/jumped off the treadmill. I can easily relate to that. Poundstone is priceless. Wish I was there—it ALWAYS feels good to see someone laugh so hard at something funny. Had a nice drive up rt.180 for about 90 miles and pulled off onto Sheridan Corral Rd. The road was a bit steep for a mile or so but once past the cattle guard (maybe ...

Had a headwind while heading back to New Mexico. Going and coming, go figure. Awful gas mileage—might as well get a class A. Oh well, had another podcast of ‘Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me’ to keep me chuckling. Purchase two new tires for the casita while in Bisbee. With the narrower cross-section and less rolling resistance I should get much better gas mileage. Yet another stellar spot for working at the bench. But—I don’t know—maybe a little closed-in? The first hummingbird of the year came by the other day so I mixed up some sugar water and hung up the feeder. Now there are a couple visitors in the morning and late afternoon. There was a raven nest up in the rocks, not 50’ from the camper at one place we camped. Didn’t see it until I had set up camp. Maintained a quiet, laid-back site while there, trying not to disturb the birds. Judging from their behavior, they were not the least bit concerned. It was a fabulous experience. Prior to this time I had known two di...

I don’t feel especially safe dry-camping down in Cochise county with all the UDAs passing through. I use to live in Bisbee and have just heard and read too many stories. This trip I stayed in a friend’s driveway. In the past I’ve dry-camped in the Chiricahua Mountains, east of Bisbee. No problem but I just felt on edge most of the time. I feel somewhat safer in the Dragoon mountains northeast of Tombstone. Drive out Middlemarch Road (a bit north of town) for ten miles and there are all kinds of places to disperse camp. There is also the Whitewater Draw National Wildlife Area, out in the Double Adobe area a few miles east of Bisbee on Central Highway. They allow camping there. I think it was free. No hookups. A few other places to check out for dry camping are: the Coronado National Forest south of Patagonia; maybe along Sybil Rd between St. David and Dragoon; off Charleston Rd by San Pedro River between Sierra Vista and Tombstone; and the South Fork of Cave Creek and Rucker Canyons i...

Tanya is a stellar person to work with. RVwest article ‘Following a free spirit’ Make room for yourself in your life—by keeping it simple. from Illuminations FOR INDEX OF POSTINGS GO TO JULY 2006

I broke up the drive to City of Rocks by stopping at Leasburg Dam state park. If you come at it from Las Cruces, definitely drive up rt.185. Really nice drive through farm country with very little traffic (it’s all out on I-25 off to the east a bit). Since Leasburg Dam is so close to an interstate I was expecting it to be pretty full of large RVs—and it was. Worth a try though, since it was so close to my route. I really need to stay away from this type of place. Got in on a Friday and stayed till Monday morning since I don’t like to move along the asphalt on weekends. We took a primitive site along the edge and M/O flew out the door when I gave them the okay. They were SO ready to get outside after our little stay behind Jerry’s. The trails here probably only add up to a mile but they are well designed and have a few informative kiosks along the way. It’s not a bad stop for an overnight but not a place I would like to spend time. Geez, City of Rocks sure had a lot more RVs and campe...

Not exactly my favorite dry camping spot. This is the year of the ox, my year, and it is not getting off to a stellar start. So far two chances to meet up with friends have both fallen through, the Cherokee’s transmission died, and my campground manager position for this summer will have my hours cut down from 40 to 20 a week. Maybe the gods are just playing around for a bit and the rest of the year will be fabulous. On the way from Brantley to City of Rocks, the Jeep broke down in El Paso. All in all, not too bad since it could have died miles down one of the dirt road we frequent and quite a ways from a decent size town. Good Sam Roadside Assistance once again proved a worthwhile investment and had a tow truck pick us up and take us to a mechanic, without any charge. I missed out on a good photo of the Cherokee sitting up on the truck’s flatbed with the casita hitched to the back of the truck. Hope I never have another opportunity to take the shot. Just down the road from Jerry’s ...

Crossed the Pecos once more, making it number nine for this trip and still no Bill. The park is 16 miles NE of Carlsbad. During the two weeks I stayed here last winter, there were only a half dozen RVs or so each night. Not so this winter, however. Quite a few more rigs but most of the electric sites are nicely spread out. The reservation sites are #1 – 29 and mostly empty except for the two hosts and two or three other rigs each night (kind of a waste). The other electric sites (#30 – 51) have been at least half full most nights. People generally only stay for one to three days. The disperse area, down by the water, does not have designated sites. One just sets up wherever. Sometime I’ll set up the camper where I took the shot of my bike. There are a couple trails for walking, as well as, a shoreline to explore. One can bike on the trails and ride down to the primitive camping area. You can also bike up the road in front of the park (north to the ‘T’, then left) to the old dam. It...