Simple Living and Simple Travel

Another hummingbird flew into the Nash through the cage window. The birds tend to just fly side to side across the back window, making things easy. I open the screens of the two bottom corner windows, put my hands close together and slowly herd the bird down towards the open screen. No throwing a towel over it as I had to do in the past when a regular bird flew in. In one of Janet’s emails, she wrote: “My Dad always signed off, "wake up happy" which is what his mom said to him before bed. I have been working on doing just that, waking up with happy thoughts. I know how easy it is to get discouraged when our bodies aren't at their best. Good luck and health I wish for you.” I’m also working on it. Thanks, Janet. As you can see, the owners accepted my bid. I wouldn’t doubt if I could have gotten the lot for even less. Most lots are tough to sell, but I thought my bid was a fair offer considering what lots actually sell for here. This lot would not hold much interest...

This is a photo taken out of the galley window, of a local family that I see from time to time. Another day, I was in the Nash working on my Mac when I heard turkeys. I looked out the back window, and there was a family. But a parent was watching me when I turned my head to look. Those of you who are familiar with wild turkeys, know that at that point, there was no chance of a photo. These birds are true survivors Timberon is an unincorporated community 32 miles south of Cloudcroft, NM, and 15 miles south of Sunspot, the National Solar Observatory. It sits at an elevation of 7,100’ in the Sacramento Mountains. The road from Cloudcroft to Timberon is paved and full of hills and curves, so it takes 45-50 minutes to drive from Cloudcroft to Timberon. Roughly 400 people reside in the 20 square miles of Timberon. Considering there are over 7,600 lots in the community, ranging from ½ acre to over 18 acres, and some 90-100 ranch acres, one can imagine how sparsely populated the area is...

It does not seem like a year to me, but last July 31st, was the start of, ‘here’s a little story,’ and all those bizarre photos. It sure feels good to be above the ground and still have both arms. In the area of the NM Sacramento Mtns. where I’m presently hard-wall camping, I was told there have been 45 mountain lion tags issued. I don’t know how many cougars they think are here, but there are suppose to quite a few. I wonder about this; I would think male pumas would be buttin’ heads over territory. A couple days after hearing this, I went off on a hike and mountain lions came to mind from time-to-time. The area is forested with quite a bit of underbrush; plenty of places for a cat to hide and get close to prey. It might be smart to carry something stronger than pepper gel on the hikes. I would just hope I could defend myself effectively if faced with a charging puma. Wouldn’t bet much in my favor. I wrote about what to do if faced with a predator back on the August 20...

This is where I’m presently set up. Going through quite a bit of sugar for the little fighters. There were no tracks when I first got here, but the truck tires are making marks. Bummer. Not going to be one of my leave-no-trace spots. That’s an important aspect of hard-wall camping. Parking across a slight slope was the only option. So, as I’ve done other times, I dug out two holes on the uphill side for the wheels to drop into and rolled the downhill wheels up onto three blocks to get the rig near level. Just another aspect of hard-wall camping. As you can see, there are some nice Ponderosa down the hill, but I can’t get the Nash down there, so it’s out in the sun all day. I really prefer shade in the summer. I was not up for driving north and scoping out a couple new spots up at elevation to hard-wall camp for the summer. But I needed a base to recoup and this is working out well. I’m definitely getting back into exercise. I might even nail Diana’s Sixty Minutes for Sixty yea...

They recently released a huge amount of water from the Glen Canyon Dam. This is a shot from standing a few miles downriver of the initial wave. Oh wait, no, maybe the photo is from Tó Mané Porto, Portugal. The coast is known for its huge waves. Awesome. This time of year I’m generally north, in a forest, and up around 8-9,000’. Change of plans this year. The medical problems went on for TEN! months. I wasn’t up for much driving. I’m presently up in the Sacramento Mountains in NM and might stay through the summer, focusing on getting back into shape. I am much weaker than when I left Moab. It’s pretty quiet here but at only 7100’, it’s hot. I leave all the windows and roof vents fully open at night and inside morning temps, during the first week, were 49-51 degrees, but lately, in the lower 60s, not good. By mid-afternoon, the inside temps are in the lower 90s. There is no shade for the Nash and I use as many of the techniques I wrote about on the June 2014 page, ‘stay cool,...

Russian thistle found its way to this country, and many others, from the steppes east of the Ural Mountains. Tumbleweeds are a classic sight out west. But they are not something you want on your property. Every winter the plants die and the stems become brittle. At some point, a stiff wind will break the stem and the plant will begin to roll, and roll, and roll; scattering thousands of seeds. Not good. Tumbleweed can be a big problem, piling up against fences, houses, whatever, clogging arroyos, and becoming a fire hazard (they are bone dry and filled with air pockets). Pretty much a worthless, no good plant. Easily spread and most difficult to kill. The Department of Agriculture in Washington first became aware of a strange plant in 1880. There were reports coming in from farms in South Dakota. There are accounts from some areas, in the late 1890’s that many farmers were driven from their homes on account of the weed. In only 20 years, Russian thistle covered an area of roughly 35...

I was surprised and pleased that I could hook up the WDH when I left Moab. I was concerned about being able to crank up the A-frame. Then being able to crank up the added weight to prepare for prying on the torsion bars. And finally, being able to pry on the bars. It all worked out well. No way, was I capable of doing this back in December. The next time I went to hitch up was more difficult. I left the pry bar on the bumper of the Ram when I pulled out of Moab. It was the factory one with curves forged in, to ease the procedure. Guano. I picked up a pry bar at Home Depot but I have to kick the torsion bars in when they are pried up high enough. Not the best time to be standing on one foot. Oh well, we’ll see how it goes. I listened to an audio book on the drive south, ‘Blue Labyrinth’ by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Really good story. What a great way to get through a long drive. Couples could play an audio book through the car’s radio (if they could agree on a book...