OUR LAST DAYS AT DARBY WELLS

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22/08

The clouds slunk in during the night making our last day at Darby Wells a rather gloomy affair. High winds rocked the motorhome as temperatures dropped throughout the day keeping us mainly indoors. We did retaliate with a campfire but even that had to be abandoned in the face of ash driven winds.
Cleaned some windows & straightened up the cab area of the rig in preparation for the mornings departure. Too windy to put the solar panels down so hopefully it will quiet down overnight.

Kelly had picked up a second book in Borrego Springs called, "Desert Solitaire, A Season in the Wilderness" by Edward Abbey. To-day I started reading that book & within the first 8 pages I knew I was going to like it because of the author's down to earth straight ahead approach & non conformist attitude. It's the true story of a man's 3 seasons as a Park Ranger in southeastern Utah. Mainly, the Arches State Park near Moab. We were at the Arches back on November 6,7,8,9, & 10th of last year & our photos can be found on those dates in our web album.... http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The New York Times described Edward Abbey as a rebel & an eloquent loner. Yep, I'm a gonna like this book alright!!

Both Kelly & I have been feeling sluggish & under the weather the past few days so we're hoping that we haven't picked up a flu bug or something. Water sources are always a concern while on the road.

And now................ time to vent a little!!!!
In our RV travels over the past few years we have repeatedly come across a problem in North America that totally infuriates me every time I see it at almost every campsite we've ever been too, including this one........BROKEN GLASS!!!!!!!!! The sides of many highways are littered with miles & miles & miles of broken glass & most of it comes from beer & liquor bottles. Tells you something doesn't it!! Nobody ever cleans this mess up & each year the broken glass just keeps piling up. One thing is for sure, wherever there are young males, there will be broken glass. Even on our hikes out into the seemly pristine desert, we always come across broken beer bottles. Every campsite has shards of broken glass somewhere & it's usually in the fire pits. It's an easy equation....Young males + alcohol = broken glass. No rocket science here, just plain immature male stupidity. I speak with knowledge on this subject because I was once one of those immature stupid young males, so I know all to well what goes on in that world of booze.
Next year on our travels I will bring my garden & fan rakes plus a shovel & take it upon myself to clean up each & every campsite we come too. I will make it my project to become part of the clean up solution. And, what about all the glass & trash along the roadsides?? How about getting all those thousands of people charged with alcohol offences every day, out along the highways to pick up there own inconsiderate & immature mess!!!!!!!
There, now I feel better:))))))))))

CHRONICLES OF GHOST MOUNTAIN....THE END

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21/08

Thanks to a good tip from my friend Bob in Kitchener, Ontario I was able to fix our broken flag pole to-day by inserting a steel rod in the center of the pole & using generous helpings of duct & electrical tape. Tightened a couple band-it clamps on too just for good measure. Workin gooooood:))

Took the dogs for a short walk & then went on a longer hike ourselves up & over some fairly rocky terrain. The rough stones are not always paw friendly. Another reading & relaxing, sunny & warm afternoon. I finally finished my Marshal South, Chronicles of Ghost Mountain book. Quite an accomplishment for me considering I haven't read a book from cover to cover for about 25 years. Tells you something about how much I enjoyed this book & the effect it has had on me:)) We are already looking forward to returning to the Ghost Mountain area of California in the fall of this year.

Decided to hike out into the desert after supper to take a few pictures of the big moon from atop a hill about a quarter mile away just in case it turns cloudy for to-morrow night's full moon. Good thing we took flash lights with us because it was a dark bit of walking & rock scrambling coming back. No easy task.......

Friday will probably be our last day here in the Darby Wells area west of Ajo. Saturday we'll pack up & head for Hickiwan Trails for one night & then we begin our long trek eastwards. To say that I'm feeling sad about our departure would be putting it very mildly. I have grown so accustomed to the peace & quiet & solitude of the desert that I'm going to find getting back into the old neighborhood routine at home.................very difficult this time!!!!

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY

SUNRISE & SUNSET AT OUR HOUSE

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20/08

We had so hoped to see the lunar eclipse to-night but it was not to be. Heavy cloud cover this morning gave way to clear sunny sky's this afternoon only to return minutes after the moon had broke over the horizon. I was able to get off one moon shot before it disappeared into the soup of heavy cloud cover....OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The sunrise this morning turned out better & the gathering clouds made for a fiery start to the day. Slipped out the door in my PJ's for some photos & carelessly got tangled up with a teddy bear cholla. They are sometimes called "jumping chollas' because if you get near them it seems the spiky barbs leap right off the plant & imbed themselves in you. I brushed against one of them & a spiky barbed piece pierced my left leg. Reached down to pull it out & the damn thing flipped around & plunged itself into my thumb. Wow, do those things ever hurt. Tried to carefully pull it out but it wouldn't come. Continued taking more photos trying to ignore the pain but after a few minutes I had to put the camera down & go get my toolbox. Was able to pull the fleshy green plant body of the cholla away with a pliers, leaving half a dozen barbs in my skin. They must have barbed hooks on them because even pulling with the pliers, they hung on & pulled the skin up. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!!!!" You have to pull quick because it's really painful the slower you go. Kelly had one of those barbs break off in her finger over 3 weeks ago & it's still causing her grief. As beautiful as those cholla plants are, they are a very nasty bit of prickly business.

A short hike this afternoon mixed with generous servings of naps & reading. The wind suddenly started gusting & we had to scramble to put our awning up. One of those unpredictable gusts broke our flag pole in half so that's the end of that. Maureen & Mike bicycled over for a brief visit. Big winds brought in heavy clouds & the temps went down so they headed back to their rig & we retreated inside for the rest of the day. So disappointed about the lunar eclipse. Was looking forward to taking a few photos. Oh well, it will happen again in a few years & hopefully it will be clear for this Fridays full moon. A full moon in the desert is like no other..................................

KELLY FINDS A SLEEPING SNAKE

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 18/08

Max's leg is coming along better & he's able to go in & out of the motorhome now with no problems. He still has a limp but it's not nearly as bad as a few days ago. He really wanted to go for a walk this morning so we took him for a short spin on the dirt path. He wanted to get into some serious hill climbing but we had to convince him that a few more days on the couch resting that ankle was in order. Little motormouse picked up a nasty pricker in her paw so we had to cut the walk short anyway & carry her home. She later pulled that pricker out all by herself.

While I was working on yesterday's blog this morning, Kelly went for a hike by herself up & over a few nearby hills. She stopped to put up a little Inukshuk & when she picked up a rock.........there was a snake underneath it!! She said the snake was sleeping, (hibernating) was small, & had a patterned greenish color to it. She carefully replaced the rock back over it & continued on. I would have liked a picture of that. We've noticed tiny lizards skittering about so it probably won't be long & the underground creatures will be awakening from their long winter naps & coming up out of the ground. We normally hike early in the morning & it's not until around noon when the temps are up around 80 that the critters may be stirring. Nevertheless, we will have to be careful. We don't want little Motormouse scaring the bee-jeebers out of the rattlesnakes with her little pug nose bat face......................

Our day was basically spent relaxing, listening to soft ambient music, (Sirius Satellite Radio Ch. 073) & reading. Never thought I would be able to do so much of nothing & enjoy it so much. The beauty & serenity of our surroundings just makes it all sooooooooo enjoyable. We are so fortunate:))

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY

NOTE: Hello to Casey & Karen in Windsor, Ontaro. Thanks for the note & hold on to those dreams. We did:))

A DRIVE INTO AJO, AZ.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 18/08

These are lazy days here in the Ajo highlands & I fear it is the lull before the long strenuous journey home, which will begin soon. I am outside again with the laptop watching the rising sun cast it's long cactus shadow fingers across the desert floor. The Gila woodpecker is at the grapefruit rind & it's loud call seems to echo off the nearby canyon walls. It is so quiet here that even the dropping of a pin could be thought of as noise.

I'm late getting this blog & photo upload underway. I normally do this at the end of each day but last night Maureen & Mike (fellow Canadians) invited us over to their site for a campfire. The nearly full moon & still night made for a perfect setting. Mike heaped the logs on & the fire leaped into the air. Despite the moon bright sky I was able to point out some stars & constellations but was unable to locate any satellites. We spent a couple hours sitting around the fire & by the time we got back to our site I was too tired to begin the blog & photo uploads. So, here I am, tilted back in a lawn chair in the early morning Arizona sun tapping away at the keyboard once again. There are now 3 Gila woodpeckers at the grapefruit rind & they are all doing some mighty fine tapping of their own.

Yesterday, we took a drive into the little ex-mining town of Ajo. Groceries, gas, & a stop at the hardware store were in order. Took a few photos of the pretty downtown & included 3 photos that I had taken last year when we were there. The quaint little Spanish flavored villa has fallen on hard times since the closing of the big open pit mine a few years ago. Many of the stores in the downtown western plaza are empty. It's really too bad because it's downtown architecture is truly out of the original southwestern past.....OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

As in the previous 2 days, much of our afternoon was spent reading & relaxing & by the looks of it, to-day is shaping up to be the same:))

A QUIET DAY IN THE SONORAN DESERT

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17/08

I am sitting in the desert to-night typing this by the light of the moon. Checkers is beside me keeping an eye out for wily coyotes. We hit the 80F mark to-day so the nights are getting warmer.

Max's ankle is about the same so we didn't encourage him to walk on it again to-day. We did have to pull some cholla prickers out of Checkers though. Those things really dig their barbs into whatever brushes up against them.

Lots of sunshine to-day under clear blue Arizona skies. I cleaned windows while Kelly did a bunch of vacuuming. Other than that, we had a very relaxing day again. Started a campfire in the morning & had it going all day. I am still reading my Marshal South book that Kelly bought in Borrego Springs last month. It's a very meaningful book to me & it's the first book in nearly 25 years that I've been able to stick with. The fact that we actually were able to climb up Ghost Mountain & walk through the remains of his family's small adobe cabin back on January 3rd in California will always remain a special memory for me. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy I can truly identify with this man's thinking & philosophies & as I sit here in the still night air of the Sonoran desert with a canopy of stars overhead & a big half moon to light my keyboard, I feel akin to a man I will never meet.

Checkers growls periodically at unseen soft footprints in the desert night. I can hear another RV'ers dog barking in the distance so there are probably coyotes afoot. We never see them but we know they are here.

To-morrow we'll have to go into Ajo & fill up our gas can again because I made a boo boo the other day. When we left our other boondocking site Thursday just the other side of Why, I checked my fuel gauge in the rig & it said we had a quarter tank of gas left. My well intentioned logic was to wait until we left Darby Wells in a week or so & fill up at that time. No point in driving these rigs with a heavy load of gas on board if you don't have to. Well, the first night here we started up the generator for a few minutes to run the micro wave. Generator ran fine for about a minute & then it petered out & wouldn't re-start. Of course I immediately assumed the worse & figured the engine had run out of oil despite having just checked the oil level a week ago. With dollar signs flying out the window I raced outside, lifted the bin cover & pulled the panel off the generator. Just as I unscrewed the dipstick, Kelly who was holding the flashlight behind me said, "do you think it ran out of gas??" BINGO!!!! Now I remembered........ as a safety feature, once the gas tank gets down to a quarter full, the generator will not operate. It's a safety feature so that the generator doesn't drain the gas tank completely & leave the motorhome stranded in the middle of nowhere without any gas. Did I mention I'm 63..............& male!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPLOADS ARE SLOW TO-NIGHT SO MAY HAVE TO DO THE WEB ALBUM IN THE MORNING.

HAD A GREAT DAY DOING NOTHING:))

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16/08

We had a great day of basically doing the square root of nothing. Upon awakening this morning around 5:30 I looked up out of the window & saw the star, Vega, shining brightly in the constellation Lyra. That immediately told me the previous day's clouds were gone & we had clear skies overhead.
The sun later broke over the mountain ridge to the east spilling color & warming rays across the desert floor. Max came out for about 20 minutes limping around the campsite but we didn't take him on our walk. This is going to be a long healing process but we are seeing improvements.

Our whole day was spent just relaxing & reading in our lawnchairs soaking up the sun's rays. Had a nice campfire going all morning too. I did go for a short hike to a nearby hill where at the top I found a large circle of stones with a higher pile of stones in the center. It was pretty clear that someone's treasured pet had probably been buried here. I found a similar site near by a couple of days ago.
While standing atop the hill I saw two fifth wheel rigs coming up the road below & heading for our area. Sure enough, they pulled into the only other vacant spot in the area about 3 stones throws away from us. Awwwwww nuts, there goes our beautiful peace & quiet!!!! I walked back to our site, sat down in my chair, & awaited the inevitable people noise. But, it never came. How could this be. Two rigs to-gether means at least 4 people & 4 people means a lot of people noise. But, it never happened. They have now been there about 6 hours & aside from a few dog barks, they haven't made any noise at all & we wouldn't even know they were there. Maybe it's 4 people like ourselves who are out here in the boondocks to enjoy the quiet nature & beauty of the area. We have our fingers crossed.

Kelly phoned her Mom & Dad to-day in Spencerport NY so I took a picture of her sitting in a lawn chair chatting with them,

Mike & Maureen bicycled over from there rig about a quarter mile away. This is their first venture boondocking & they are just loving the whole experience.

We have a big half moon hanging over us at the moment & the moonbeams are casting shadowy Saguaro figures on the desert floor. We're looking forward to seeing the mountains, valleys & canyons bathed in the light of the full moon a week from now. It's going to be real hard to leave here in a couple of weeks:((((((

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY. THE FEW PHOTOS I TOOK TO-DAY WILL BE INCLUDED WITH SUNDAY'S PICTURES.

A COLD & WINDY DAY

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15/08

It wasn't only cold this morning but it was windy too. We had a few patters of rain now & again in the night so there were large patches of heavy cloud overhead when we stepped out. Max's ankle is slowly healing & he was out limping around for about 10 minutes this morning before he wanted back in. We all felt bad having to leave him behind on our walk to-day but it's best for his ankle. He was pretty sad watching out the window as we headed out into the desert.Our objective was a large rocky outcropping near the rig. I always like to climb something near by to get a perspective of where we are. It was an easy climb except for the last 10 feet but I was no sooner up there & Checkers was right behind me. She has to be part mountain goat. Kelly made it up next & all of a sudden the the little Motormouse popped up over the ridge too. Don't know how they do it sometimes, but they do. We could see the rig far below & knew Max was probably on the couch sadly watching us out the window. Usually he would have been the first one to the top. Took a bunch of photos of the surrounding terrain before we started our descent. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy As I've said before, going down is always the hardest part & so it was to be for the little Motormouse. Checkers was fine but Kelly had to help the little mouse over the rough spot near the top. After that she was fine & her & Checkers bounced the rest of the way down the hill like a couple of ping pong balls. As we neared the rig we could hear Max crying. He was so upset that he couldn't come with us. Maybe in a few days, we'll see. The clouds became heavier & the temperature really seemed to drop so the Bayfield Bunch spent most of the day inside with the heater going. A few windy spatters of rain here & there but at least the weatherman is calling for sunny warm temperatures to-morrow. The clouds lifted a bit in the late afternoon so I grabbed my camera & took myself for a walk. Had spotted what looked like a coyote's den so wanted to have a little closer look at that plus there was another big rock I wanted to climb up on. Splashes of sunshine slowly swept across the desert floor in the distance making for some nice photo opportunities. Climbed a small hill & then scrambled up the large rock. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy The footing was a little precarious at the summit but I was able to kind of wedge myself between a couple of rocks & take some photos. Was also able to build a small Inukshuk while there as well. It was so peaceful there & I could see for many miles in all directions, especially the south where the Ajo Mountain range lay about 40 miles away. The big mining slag heap near the town of Ajo was visible as was the mountain whale maybe 60 or 70 miles away. The small fascinating mountain behind us looks like a fairytale castle & you will see it popping up in a lot of my photos. This land is sooooo beautiful & to sit high atop a rock & watch the sun filtering through breaks in the clouds & playing on the mountains & desert floor below is pure magic. These are memories that will last forever & as one of my very own favorite sayings goes...."The only thing better than right now, will someday be the memories of right now." As the heavy clouds began to give way to the late afternoon sun I came across some tiny flowers on the desert floor. I have no idea what they were but I took pictures of them anyway. It was after 5 o'clock by the time I reached the rig & Kelly was just putting some burgs on the barby. Nice way to wrap up a day. The setting sun cast a yellow hue over the mountains & valleys so I was able to take a few more photos before calling it a day. I know I should edit the photos down to about 10 a day or less but I'm not too good at picking out the best ones. To me they are all best memories:)))

FOUND OUR PERFECT RV SITE AT LAST

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14/08

Our recently warm weather has gone into the dumper as we woke up to a cold windy morning. Never even made it out for our walk. Max is still staying off his left ankle so it was a good morning for him to stay on the couch. Had problems uploading the web album photos this morning & we seemed to have some internet connection problems so we spent most of the morning trouble shooting.

We had planned on moving to a new RV site west of Ajo in a couple of days but after being at Mike & Maureen's last night on the Darby Hills road, we decided to pack up & move to-day. It's just too beautiful there to miss another day. Drove the 3 miles over to Hickiwan Trails, dumped our holding tanks, & topped up the fresh water tank & water jugs. Stopped in the office to help Ray with a few things on the computer & then we were on the road heading for Ajo. Arrived in the Darby Wells BLM land area about 2 p.m. Had looked at a site the previous night that was totally secluded so that's where we headed for & luckily no one was there when we rolled in. This is by far, the nicest RV site in the nicest area we have ever been at. Photos can't even begin to do it justice. We are sooooooo happy to be here & cannot believe our good fortune at finding such a superb site. Our friend's Mike & Maureen are our closest neighbors & they are out of sight about a quarter mile away. I will probably wear my camera out over the next couple of weeks taking so many pictures. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy We just can't believe our luck:)) No chance of some yakky doodle RV club moving in right next door either. So many new areas to explore, trails to hike, & rocks to scramble on. Nobody around us but birds & coyotes. I am so looking forward to total peace & quiet in the lap of Mother Nature herself. At last.........we may have found our winter home for years to come:)))))) Hmmmm, can you detect the excitement in the usually un-excitable guy...............................................

FLOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS

AM EXPERIENCING A FEW UPLOAD PROBLEMS SO WILL ADD PICTURES TO THIS BLOG LATER & WILL UPLOAD PHOTOS TO THE WEB ALBUM LATER AS WELL..................

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13/08
Just love to hear the sound of birds when we step out of the rig in the mornings here. Short walk with Checkers & the Motormouse because we still want Max to stay off his injured ankle & he gets a very sad face on if we all go out for a walk without him. Beautiful warm morning so we decided to head back to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Park & do the second of two hiking areas there. This is our 4th time on the scenic 21 mile Ajo Mountain road loop & it just gets more beautiful everytime. One of the things I like so much about mountains is how they continuously change their appearance with each hour of the day. Shadows creep into new areas as the sun arcs it's way across the sky. Clouds cast moving shadows across them like huge dinosaurs roaming the canyon walls. Sun & cloud cast hues of color highlighting the multiple stratus or rock. Greens & golds, mauve's & maroons. And to-day for the first time we see the hillsides alive with the orange & yellow desert poppy. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy It has turned into another one of those magical mornings as we pull over to the side of the road & I'm able to finally take some photos of mountain flowers. What a beautiful place this is. And, not a sound. The silence of the desert mountain ranges is overpowering. To stand amongst the desert poppies with the warm wind gently playing through the cactus & the sun washing over the desert valley floor below is something I will always remember. Once again I am reminded over & over how truly fortunate we really are to be here.

We arrived at the trailhead of the Estes Canyon hike to Bull Canyon & wasted no time in beginning our trek upwards . We had an 800 foot climb along a rocky & sometimes precarious mountain path. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy With a good mixture of huffing & puffing we made our way along, enjoying the large vistas behind us as we climbed higher & higher. Signs of early spring were evident with multiple buds everywhere. I imagine there will be an explosion of color here sometime in the coming weeks. Finally, as we crested a small ridge, a bench came into view overlooking the vast Bull canyon before us. We had reached our destination. It is so humbling to stand in the presence of great majestic mountains & vast panoramic canyons.
Kelly sat on the bench for a water break while I headed up a little further & built a small Inukshuk & took a few more photos. A solid cloud cover had moved in & the wind was picking up so we decided not to stay long & head back. The descent down the mountain path, although easier in one way, is much harder in others. The descent is usually where injuries occur because of the loose rock & different weight bearing position of the body. However, we made it down without incident enjoying the magnificent scenery all the way. The car seats sure felt good when we sat down. Headed out of the park to the highway & drove the 20 minutes north back to our sight. The wind had really picked up so we had to scramble around battening things down. Must be a storm front coming in.

Back in Quartzsite we had taken our screen door off because we were having some problems with it sticking. It had been attacked by our car port back home in Canada last summer. When I took the door off I was very careful to put the 9 screws in a very safe place that I would be sure to remember where they were when we wanted to put the door back on. We haven't see the screws since!!!! Loaded up the screen door in the car to-day & went to the hardware store in Ajo looking for new screws. Never new there were so many different screws in the world. Picked out 9 that seemed to fit, so we'll see.

From the hardware store it was over to the grocery store & then out west of Ajo to visit some RV friends who are boondocking for their very first time in the desert . This area is sooooooo beautiful. Maureen & Mike (from London, Ontario) had dropped out to see us in Why last week & had invited us for supper. They have a superb spot with no visible RV anywhere near them. We are so looking forward to moving over to that area in a couple of days because it has just become too crowded here. Mike barb-e-cued up a big load of hamburgers while Al spilt some Pepsi on the floor of their spacious 5th wheel:(( I am such a boob sometimes) Had a nice visit & will probably see them again in a few days when we move up into the area. It was dark by the time we left & of course we had trouble finding our rig when we got back to the BLM land with all the different vehicle tracks winding through the shrubs & trees on the darkened desert floor. With a whole lot of luck & a little bit of logic, we finally found the rig. The gang was sure happy to see us & Max was able to hobble down the steps by himself for a washroom break. Slight improvement but I think we're going to have to keep him off that ankle for quite awhile. We were both so tired that we were in bed before 9 o'clock. I didn't even have enough energy left to edit the photos or write the blog. The mountain trail climbing is the easy part. It's the visiting part that always knocks the stuffings out of us. Maybe we should have called ourselves The Hermit Bunch instead of the The Bayfield Bunch. Do ya figure.............................

A RELAXING DAY, & SOME VISITING TOO

TUESDAY FEB 12/08
Max (our blonde border collie mix) had a good night & as long as he stays off his left ankle he's ok. I carried him out for a washroom break this morning & he was able to hobble around a bit but wanted back in & spent the rest of the day snoozing on the couch except for another washroom break late this afternoon. He isn't in any pain & is able to put a little bit of weight on it but we'll keep him inside & off that leg for as long as we can & give the sprain a chance to heal. He's being a very brave little soldier & hopefully he'll be out roaring around with the other 2 ram jams before too long. But, I think we are going to have to put the sticks away for quite awhile.

Another beautiful morning in the Arizona sunshine so after a short dog walk with Checkers & the Motormouse we went for a bouncing bicycle ride across the desert floor. What a great way to start the day.
Slipped over to Hickiwan Trails RV Park & helped Ray with some email & website questions around 11. He's doing fine. Still waiting for some parts for the big Wifi antennae but the small router antennae is doing ok at the moment & pushing the signal out a couple hundred yards from the office. When I pulled in to-day, 3 people were sitting in the breezeway at a picnic table with their laptops. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy)

Through the RV-Dreams.com (http://www.rv-dreams.com/) forum we met another blog couple awhile back with similar interests in RVing & Photography. We had blogged & emailed with then now & again over the past few months & last week they headed down this way from the Phoenix area. To-day we got to finally meet Sandra & Gordon who are now staying over at Hickiwan Trails for a few days. http://hickiwantrailsrvpark.com/ Really nice laid back full timing RV couple who have been on the road since back in the fall of 2001. Check out Gordon's website photography at http://gordonwolford.com/ Great stuff!! We had a big RV chin wag for a couple of hours & it's always interesting to learn new things & pick up new tips from fellow travelers. RV friendships quite often are of short duration & as Sandra & Gordon departed this afternoon we knew we would probably never see them again because RV people are generally always on the move criss crossing the country in pursuit of their interests, dreams, & nomadic way of life. We wish you well, fellow Nomads:))

The nights are getting warmer so I spent some time outside under the stars to-night with my trusty binoculars checking constellations, stars, & American jet fighter jocks chasing each other around in the star filled black sky. Counted as many as a dozen blinking light aircraft in all areas of the sky from horizon to horizon. Bright yellow & slow descending flares were coming down over the Barry M Goldwater military range again & it was nice to sit by the campfire quietly watching all the shenanigans. To add some authenticity to the silent jets in the night sky, the coyotes were sure howling up a storm nearby on the other side of the dry creek bed.

We might head over to the Ajo mountain range in the morning to do the Estes Trail hike. Need a break from the RV people noise that has encroached on us here the past couple of days!!!!!

NO PHOTOS UPLOADED TO THE WEB ALBUM TO-DAY

ONE OF "THE BUNCH" IS INJURED:((

MONDAY FEBRUARY 11/08
So nice to step out of the rig this morning & hear birds singing. There are more trees in this area & where there are trees, there are birds. We didn't get off to a real great start though because one of the Bayfield Bunch suffered an injury before our walk even started. I was having a game of sticks with Max & Checkers while waiting for Kelly & the little Motormouse. While chasing a long thrown stick, Max either sprained or strained a left leg while bounding across a wash. He came back limping badly so we got him into the rig & onto the couch. This has happened before but it seemed worse this time. He stayed on the couch all day & right now is sleeping peacefully on his doggy bed. We'll see how he is in the morning before making any decisions.

Kelly spent most of the morning re-organizing all the kitchen cupboards which had all just been involuntarily re-arranged yesterday morning by a couple of big gully whomp ditches. I re-arranged all the bins trying to get the weight of the motorhome more evenly distributed. Beautiful morning for puttering & there's nothing like having a real live shady tree to putter under too. Temps have really gone up the past few days & even the wind was warm to-day. In fact it was even warm in the shade. We sure love the American southwest:))

We were sitting in the shade under our big old mesquite tree early this afternoon when a pick-up truck rolled in with the beep, beep, of it's horn. It was our RVing Canadian friends we had met in Utah who are now boondocked at Darby Wells west of Ajo. Nice to see Mike & Maureen again & we had quite a chin wag for a couple hours.

Not sure how long we'll stay here because a number of rigs have swarmed in fairly close to us now for some kind of rally. We just seem to have the worst luck in our quest for peace & quiet. If the people noise continues we will have no choice but to pack up all our stuff & move to a quieter spot.........if there is such a thing!! Very, very, frustrating:((

Beautiful starry night, but Mother Natures quiet solitude is trashed by the sound of running generators. Had a nice camp fire going but I gave up & came in:((((((((

I UPLOADED TO-DAY'S PHOTOS IN YESTERDAY'S WEB ALBUM

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

HICKIWAN TRAILS RV PARK http://hickiwantrailsrvpark.com/

YABBA DABBA DOOOOO, IT'S MOVING DAY:))

SUNDAY FEB. 10/08 WHY, AZ.
Finally, it's moving day:)) Beautiful Arizona morning as usual as we started packing things up for our move to the BLM lands just 3 short miles away. Tanks to dump, fresh water to load, bins to be packed, interior to be secured, etc. As a rule, moving days tend to be a bit stressful. I'm always inpatient & chomping at the bit to organize things & get the big wheels rolling. Well, you know what impatience leads to. Nearly knocked myself out when I hit my head on an open bin door, the water hose had a temper tantrum when I couldn't get it unfastened from the coach, the TV aerial put up a fight when I tried to lower it, my shoes were hiding on me, I would just get all the doggie's in the coach & they would be right out again, loaded up the 8 big firewood logs we've carrying since Boreggo Springs AGAIN, the automatic step wouldn't re-tract & then I tried to drive away with the emergency brake on!! Yup, another perfectly normal day in the life of an RV'er..........10-4 But, finally we were ready to go, and soooooo away we went:)) Picked up some propane in Why & drove the two miles south to the BLM lands. No sooner had we pulled in there and we took a wrong turn & got ourselves onto a nasty little road of sorts. By the time we scraped ourselves (Kelly was driving the car separately) back on the main road I had gone through some huge holes on the trail & a couple of bad gully whomp washes. I could hear the banging & crashing behind me as the coach rocked violently from side to side going through the gullies. Cupboard doors were being jarred open, cans of soup, pots & pans & just about everything but the kitchen sink were airborne & crashing to the floor. No point in stopping so I just soldiered on down the road until we had reached the campsite we had seen the day before. But, there was a problem!!!!! Somebody had beat us to the site:(( I pulled the motorhome over & dejectedly shut it down. The floor behind me was littered with everything kitchen oriented imaginable. I climbed over tins of this & boxes of that & exited the rig. Kelly had parked behind & we now had to decide on another site. Upon closer observation of the people on the site we had hoped to get, I noticed all they had was a blue jeep. Now I was really steaming!! To think somebody would take that perfect big rig space just to have a picnic!!!! Grrrrrr!! We pulled into another spot that wasn't nearly as nice a short distance away & shut things down. I did not have nice thoughts about the picnic people in the spot we wanted. Well, within minutes a tall older man came walking towards us. I thought, "oh no, he's gonna tell us to get out of here." I couldn't have been more wrong. This kindly man suggested we take the spot they were at because they were getting ready to leave anyway & that site was suited for a big rig like ours. Well, can you imagine the guilt feelings washing over me at that moment. Here I was thinking bad thoughts about these people when all the time this older couple were obviously having good thoughts on how they could help us getting settled into a nice camp site. Thankyou so much to the considerate & genuinely nice couple from Ajo, Arizona with the blue jeep:)) Boy, I sure got a lot to learn, & I'm only 63:((

Words can't express how happy we are to be back out in the desert boondocking again. We really lucked out this time & found a great spot beside a big old shady mesquite tree. Nobody close to us, lots of space for the doggy guys, & the site is perfectly level. We didn't even have to put the motorhome's jacks down. (I don't like those things anyway) So nice to open the door & leave it open for the rest of the day. So nice to sit in the shade of a big tree again & listen to the wind in the branches. Nice to hear birds flitting about from tree to tree & best of all, no people sounds. Aw yes, how sweet it is:))

Kelly slipped up to Ajo for groceries & I finally resumed reading my Marshal South book. First time since Quartzsite nearly a month ago. Beautiful night again with stars from horizon to horizon & a beautiful crescent moon. A fellow RV'er stopped by & told us to lock up our bicycles. The illegal aliens moving through the area at night don't bother anyone but they will take the bicycles if they are not locked up. When I was out for a walk with Max earlier & I saw a flashlight burst way out in the desert, & then another one & a few seconds later, another one. I figure it's a group of people moving north through desert near us. And yes, we have our bicycles doubly locked up...............................

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AND THE WAITER WAS PACKING A GUN!!

SATURDAY FEB 30/08
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The guy who served us breakfast this morning was wearing a gun. Yup, it's true!!

The days & nights are getting warmer & the last two nights we didn't have to turn our Blue Flame propane heater on. I even put on a short sleeve summer shirt finally. We didn't go to far on our morning walk because we wanted to take a drive over to some BLM lands about 3 miles from here & scout out a boondocking site for to-morrow. We were planning on moving to the Darby Wells area west of Ajo but I think we'll head out in the morning & set up camp at the area closer to Hickiwan for the week. That way we can still pop in & help Ray out with the computer stuff if he needs it. He successfully installed the Wifi antennae to-day which will cover the whole park. Only remaining glitch is figuring out why the website is taking so long to appear on the web. We'll probably go to Darby Wells next week.

There is lots of room in the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands with other rigs scattered about here & there. Not as scenic as Darby Wells but a nice area just the same & people have been boondocking there for years. It's 2 miles south of Why at mile marker 55 on the west side. We'll be sooooooooooooooo happy to be out in the desert again where the dogs can run free & we can leave the doors & windows wide open for the birds & bats to fly in & out:)) Might even have a lizard or two in for afternoon coffee. Nothing like waking up in the morning with a couple of tumbling tumbleweeds tangled up in your socks. Ya just gotta love it!!

On the way back from the BLM scouting trip we made a snap decision to drop into a little Cafe we had been meaning to try out in Why. Three RV rigs parked outside & a few cars. Well, the Cafe was kind of a typical little small western town kind of place. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy)
Sorta sparse looking inside & the windows were crying out for a couple gallons of Windex but there were about a dozen people there so we figured we would give it a whirl. A young fella with a big Arizona cowboy hat about 2 sizes to big for him arrived at our table with menus. The cowboy hat wasn't the only piece of western ware this guy was wearing though. Besides the well worn dusty cowboy boots he was also packing a gun under his green T-shirt. We heard the couple behind us inquire about the visible gun barrel & he told them that he owned the Cafe & had a lot of cash in the register. Told them 2 illegal Mexican aliens had held the lady next door at knife point while they ransacked her house, so he wasn't taking any chances. And he was serious too!! I figured this must have just happened recently so the next time he came to our table I asked him when that incident had occurred & he said about two & a half years ago. Ooookay, I thought. I was his age once & any excuse to wear a big cowboy hat, dusty boots, & a real gun & holster would have been totally super in my world too. Yep, I understood this guy real good:)) I did take some candid pictures of him & in one you can see part of the gun & holster sticking out of his T-shirt at the back. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy) Anyway, thought it was kinda neat in a way. Oh, by the way, the breakfast was great & I even took a picture of it. Would I go back.......you bet!!) I like cowboys with oversized hats & real 6 shooters:)) Well, it's the real west ain't it!!


Not much doing for the rest of the day but for the first time since leaving home in October we actually flipped on the air conditioner for awhile this afternoon & also had a fan going. Weatherman says it's going to be even hotter to-morrow. WOW!!

Because of the warmer night air we were invigorated enough to jump on our bicycles after supper & go roaring out into the twilight desert. Hadn't gone far when Kelly tried to shift gears & her chain came off. These ka-zillion million geared bicycles are a real complicated mass of multiple sprockets, chains, de-railers, mosmagators, & so on. After looking at the limp & jammed up chain I immediately figured it was the end of the world & we might as well throw the bicycle on the junk pile & walk home.............but, we always have an ace up our sleeve in these dilemmas. Kelly!! Without further ado, complaining, or listening to my doom & gloom junk pile idea, she patiently set to work getting the chain back onto one of the sprockets. I helped out a little bit & within minutes we/she had the problem resolved & we were up to warp speed across the desert floor again. Because I always carry my camera everywhere we were able to get a few nice sundown pictures before weaving our way back to the park in the dark amongst the saguaros, chollas, mesquite's & creosote bushes. (OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy) I've always had excellent night vision so we made the quarter mile bumpy ride back to the park without getting ourselves pin cushioned to a cactus in the dark. Noticed some fellow RV'ers had a campfire going & we heard the strumming of a guitar. A beautiful crescent moon hanging over the warming desert floor made for more great Hickiwan memories to take home with us once again this year:)))))))))

WE'RE STILL AT HICKIWAN TRAILS

FRIDAY FEB 8/08 http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy

They say a rolling stone gathers no moss but I'm beginning to feel a little mossy. We were hoping to have the wheels rolling this week but looks like we'll be here a few more days. We're still waiting for the Hickiwan website registration process to finish so we can make sure the website is up on the web & everything is running OK.

We are going to have to start keeping an eye on the calendar now because it is the third quarter of our travels & I can sense the vacation days beginning to wind down. Before this week it still seemed like we had endless days ahead of us but a month from now we will likely be starting the last long leg of our journey home to Canada from somewhere in New Mexico. Probably only have a couple more weeks in Arizona left before heading east to Columbus in southern New Mexico. (subject to change) From there it's up to Truth or Consequences to visit Kelly's sister & husband who are full time RV'ers working 3 months at River Bend Hot Springs. That will be our last stop before we make a bee line for home................. depending on weather conditions of course:((

To-day was a quiet day. Took our usual beautiful morning desert walk & this afternoon I helped Ray's brother-in-law set himself up a blogger account. Other than that, all was quiet on the RV front.

In yesterday's blog I had mentioned about meeting some fellow RV bloggers along the way. Kelly had a coincidental meeting with Froggi Donna a few days ago in Ajo. Kelly first came across Froggi Donna's blog last fall when Froggi D had posted a blog about vehicles she had owned. I noticed that I had once owned the same kind of vehicle. Might have been a Vauxhaul or something unusual like that. I put a comment on her blog & she answered. Froggi D also has a motorcycle & so do we & since then we have kept tabs on each other's blogs. A lot of the people who have dropped in our blog has come from Froggi Donna's site. Froggi Donna came to Quartzsite when we were there but we she had a very heavy schedule with the Escapee's Club & we didn't get a chance to meet her. A week ago she arrived in Ajo & was camped out in the desert with the boondockers. Kelly was in Ajo getting groceries when she noticed a familiar looking rig at a gas station filling up with propane. She wheeled in & sure enough it was Froggi Donna. Kelly had recognized Froggi D's rig from the pictures on her website. Kind of nice when things happen that way. You can find Froggi Donna at, http://myprimeyears.com/lilypad/
Drop into her website, say hello, & tell her the Bayfield Bunch sent you:))
The folks we met yesterday here at Hickiwan are Sandra & Gordon & their website is http://srmerrikinblog.blogspot.com/ Some people have commented on my photos from time to time but they pale in comparison to Gordons. Scroll down the right side of the blog & find "Sites to See." Look for "Gordon's Photos." Now, that is photography!!

We had a rare visitor to-day. A small blonde haired boy by the name of Zak wandered by & wondered if he could come in & see the dogs. We said ok so in he came & I took some pictures of him holding onto little Cora. I think he looks like Dennis the Menace. And if he was Dennis the Menace, I sure would make a good Mr. Wilson!!

Beautiful crescent moon to-night hanging low in the western sky...........................