THIS POST IS COMING TO YOU FROM CALIFORNIA’S MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE…….:))

 

This is Tuesday February 3rd 2015’s post.  No internet signal where we are tonight at ‘The Hole In The Wall Campground’.  I will post this as soon as we can find ourselves a signal somewhere……Wednesday morning & we just found a great BLM spot with a smoking hot internet connection:)))))

Rather than sit around twiddling our thumbs for another day we decided to head out for California’s Mojave National Preserve Tuesday rather than Wednesday.  Nothing holding us in Congress & weather looked good in the State’s San Bernardino County Preserve area.  Finishing up some last minute loading we had the big wheels rolling under clear sunny skies at 9:17.  But within minutes are route plan abruptly changed on us!! 

<<< MINUTES AWAY FROM DEPARTURE

We only had a quarter tank of gas in the Motorhome & that was not going to get us to Kingman Arizona.  Plan was to throw in $50 at the Congress gas station then head across highway 71 to 93 & swing north for Kingman.  But wouldn’t you know it……the gas station was out of gas!!!!  Fuel truck was not due in for another couple hours so we had no choice but to head on down to Wickenburg & grab our $50 worth there.  Gas station was right on highway 93 so we just hung a left out of there shortly after 10 & boogied straight north to Interstate-40 whereupon we hung a left & headed west.  We had never driven the stretch of road from Wickieup to I-40 before so that was some new scenery for us.

JUST NORTH OF WICKENBURG WE SAW THEM LIFTING THIS LARGE CENTER PIECE ‘COWBOY BOOT SPUR’ INTO PLACE AT THE CENTER OF A NEW HIGHWAY 93 ROUND-A-BOUT

NOTHING BUT BEAUTIFUL SCENERY WHEREVER ONE GOES OUT HERE IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST

Wasn’t too far until we rolled off I-40 & into a Love’s truck stop/gas station.  Reason we didn’t fill up in Wickenburg is we already had a full tank of fresh water & didn’t want the additional weight of a full gas tank when we knew we could fill up both the rig & Jeep at Love’s truck stop which of course was closer to our destination.  Plus we knew they also had a dump station there & we were needing to dump our gray & black tanks as well.  Also filled up our gas can because this was the last gas stop before reaching California’s higher fuel prices & there is no gas station in the Mojave Preserve anyway. 

REAR VIEW MIRROR SHOT OF KELLY GASSING UP THE TOWED JEEP AFTER I MOVED THE RIG FORWARD

THAT’S KINGMAN ARIZONA DEAD AHEAD

From Loves it was a short hop to Kingman for our next 3 stops.  We got lucky with our first stop in that McDonalds & Flying J were side by each so it was a couple Crispy Chicken Wraps, two coffees then right round the corner into Flying J for a load of propane.  We had thought Love’s had propane but they didn’t.  Lots of room at McDonalds (big dirt parking lot beside McD’s) for our 37’ plus Jeep length.  Tight fit for propane though & barely made a sharp 90 degree getting out of the there.  Back onto I-40 for a couple minutes to the next exit then off again to hit a very, very, crowded Walmart for a few groceries.  Lot of homeless folks wandering around the parking lot & I have never seen so many Walmartians in all my life.  This store was full of them.  Just like you see in some of those Walmartion photos on the internet.  This Walmart had em all & then some!!

HERE COMES KELLY WITH WRAPS & COFFEE

<<< TIGHT RIGHT HAND TURN AHEAD

We were soon back on I-40 again climbing & climbing up of the valley floor in one of the longest grades we’ve been on for a long while but at last we made it up to & over Mountain Springs summit in the Piute Mountain range.   Finally reached our Essex road turnoff & exited I-40 for the 20 mile drive north to the Hole In The Wall Campground.  We were now in California’s Mojave National Preserve.  Liked it right off the bat.  Gone was the traffic interstate traffic as we made our way along an old paved road which had seen better days.  Mountains all around & not another vehicle in sight coming or going.  Just the kind of peaceful landscape we have always enjoyed so much.  Mountains crept closer the further we went with Fountain Peak to our left towering to nearly 7,000 feet.  What a majestically quiet place.  Too late we spotted a Class C with a sliver Jeep camped just off Essex road to our left.  Going by we recognized it as Doug & Yuma’s camp from Miss Adventure Travels  Narrow road with sandy shoulders so no place to get stopped & pulled over so we just kept on going.  Sun was sinking fast & we wanted to make the campground before dark.  We’ll catch up with Doug & Yuma later.

  

THOUGHT WHEN WE SAW THESE HOLES IN THE ROCK IT WAS THE ‘HOLE IN THE ROCK’ CAMPGROUND…..NOPE, STILL HAD A SHORT WAYS TO GO & WE WERE SOON THERE

A great little campground here at Hole In The Wall & despite it’s twisty turny narrow one way roads we were able to navigate ourselves around until we found a spot.  Sun was just setting but I did manage a few quick photos.  What a beautiful area & campsites are spacious.  Even a few small pull throughs.  Lots of spots still empty & we have a good site for the night.  We’ll cruise around this area with our Jeep in the morning & scout out some other places on surrounding BLM lands.  Hopefully we can find a spot with an internet signal.  Here at the Park they have a dump station, pit toilets, & water.  With a Golden Age Pass it’s $6 a night.  Groovy:))

  

MAYBE A DOZEN RIGS SCATTERED ABOUT THE CAMPGROUND & A FRIENDLY HELPFUL MOJAVE PRESERVE STAFF MEMBER STOPS FOR A CHAT

Didn’t want to miss February’s full Moon rising so took my laptop outside & began putting my post together sitting at a picnic table.  It was 5:45 p.m. California time when that old devil Moon slowly hauled itself up over the distant Woods Mountains.  However it was not long before the night’s cold desert air descended like a blanket around my shoulders.  Finally headed inside for a hot steaming bowl of Chili.  Wasn’t long before Pheebs sprawled out on the couch after our long day’s journey & Kelly was in bed by 7:30.  I worked away on today’s post till about 9.  It was comfy warm in the coach & it was another fine day for the Bayfield Bunch:))

 

 

A BIT BLURRY BUT THAT’S ME AT THE PICNIC TABLE WITH MY LAPTOP & THE MOON JUST COMING OVER YONDER MOUNTAIN

In a world that sometimes seems to be running further amok with each passing day how refreshing it is to read a fellow Bloggers uplifting post simply entitled, Another Good Week.  John Shroeder from Just Finding Our Way is one of those fellows who with his skill set just gets out there & genuinely volunteers to help people wherever he can.  We met John a couple winters ago when he stopped by our Congress house to say hello.  It’s these kind of people our world just does not seem to have enough of.

 

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A tourist was admiring the necklace worn by a local Indian.  "What is it made of?" she asked.  "Alligator's teeth," the Indian replied.  "I suppose," she said patronizingly, "that they mean as much to you as pearls do to us."  "Oh no," he objected. "Anybody can open an oyster."

MY MORNING PROJECT WAS TO PLANT A SKELETON & ‘HATS’…WHO NEEDS EM

Took me some huffin & puffin this morning but eventually I had one end of my skeleton buried in the ground & the other end sticking straight up pointing skyward.  Good thing it was only one end I had to bury because this thing was heavy.  Easiest part was digging the hole with the hardest part being to stand the skeleton upright in that hole.  What made it extra hard was the fact it was water logged after our recent rains & weighed about twice as much as it’s normal dried out self.  I’m talking about a Saguaro skeleton of course & it was lying on the burning pile at our neighbors.  I knew it was there because I was the guy who put it on the pile last year while cleaning up the property.  Had dragged it to the burning pile after finding it on the ground, a place it had been for years if not decades.  Saguaro cacti have wooden like ribs in them & when a Saguaro dies all the green fleshy part of the cactus rots away leaving a wooden skeleton.  Saguaro skeletons are common in the Sonoran desert where mighty Saguaro’s grow tall & stately.

NEEDED MY 2 WHEEL DOLLY TO MOVE THIS BIG SAGUARO SKELETON AROUND

 

HOLE IS DUG & IN GOES THE SAGUARO SKELETON

THAT PIECE AT THE TOP IS ONE OF THE BROKEN OFF SAGUARO ARMS

Also dug-in a few individual Saguaro ribs in our southeast cactus garden as well.  Of course they serve no practical purpose other than to make feel people ask, ‘now why would he stick a couple pieces of wood in the ground.  Guess my answer might be, “well I got kinda bored & went out & stuck some sticks in the ground.”  How’s that:))

DUG IN SOME SAGUARO RIBS AT THE RIGHT

Been a long time coming but BIGDAWG AND FREEWAY are just now days away from realizing a long time dream.  Excitement is building as they happily approach an exciting lifestyle change.  We have followed these folks for many years now & it’s nice to see how they have finally managed to pull everything together for their retirement.

SNOOZING ON DAD’S CHAIR

Glad to see someone has written a post about the Cibola Wildlife Nature Refuge.  Located just west of the Trigo Mountains between Quartzsite & Yuma along the Colorado River it is a place Kelly & I have considered going but no one we talked to over the years seemed to know too much about it.  Reading Nina’s post this morning, A Watery Oasis I see it is a place we would very much enjoy & perhaps next winter we’ll see if we can slip into that area for a few days.

SO ENCOURAGING TO SEE THIS SINGLE CACTUS I PLANTED 2 WINTERS AGO SPROUTING NEW CACTI AROUND IT’S BASE 

Decided tonight for a change of pace I’d pull something out of my archive memories.  It’s called, ‘Hats….Who Need’s Em’!!  Wrote this in June of 2010.  I recently edited & updated the post & these original 2010 thoughts are still my same ‘hat thoughts’ today…………….

For over 60 years I got away with not having to wear hats.  Never did like the darn things anyway.  Always figured they made people look kinda silly & what useful purpose did they serve besides making people look....well, kinda silly.  

I never liked ball caps & that's probably because they were always popular & most all the guys were wearing them.  Curved brims, flat brims, big letters, flashy logos & whatever else could be dragged through the garden & put on them. Always liked Cowboy hats though but up in our neck of the woods in southwestern Ontario a feller runs the risk of being carted off in an unmarked white windowless van if he were spotted wearing a cowboy hat.  Kinda like Woody, the cartoon character in Tom Hank’s movie, Toy Story.  Ya just kind of stick out like a sore thumb!!

Never had to wear a hat until we started RVing back in the Fall of 06.  And, I say I had to because I sure wouldn't plop one of those clothy Mossmagators on my head if I didn't have to.....but here's my problem!! 

I'm pushing 66 (actually 71 now) & still have a full head of hair & it's naturally curly.  I can quickly look like a bushy wind blown Brillo pad on any given damp day.  I have a tendency to grow my hair a bit on the long side because I don't care for that shaved billiard ball look that is supposed to be so cool these days.  Don't want to be thought of as 'going with the flow' you know!!  Besides why cut off a full head of hair when I’ve already got a full head of hair.

But most of all my hair problem begins sometime in the night when I'm sleeping.  I go to bed looking reasonably civilized for 70 but by the time morning rolls around my head looks like the whole Chinese Army did a route march right from one side of my head to the other.  And, by the looks of it they all apparently wear hob nail boots too.  I’m quite a scary looking mess.  Think ‘Kramer’ from Seinfeld. 

THIS CACTUS, TRAMPLED 2 SUMMER’S AGO IS FINALLY RECOVERING & MAKING A COMEBACK
When we are home for the summer I can get away with this because I have a shower every morning & wash my hair.  I can get it wrestled down into some kind of controlled flattened pattern of sorts & if I mousse the dickens out of it enough the pattern might hold for the day thus preventing me from scaring small children & elderly folks.

OOOOPS DIDN’T GET THIS LITTLE FELLOW’S HEAD IN BUT THOUGHT HIS FEATHERS WERE NICE

Boondocking is our preferred lifestyle while we are on the road during the winter season & because of a limited water supply I am unable to have that daily morning shower or even wash my hair in a bucket.  Only option I have is to stick one of those wig like monkey caps on my head to cover up frazzled hair.

Luckily, in the American Southwest cowboy hats are the norm & preferred head gear for most locals out in the mountains & desert regions.  Big hats in a big land just seem to go hand & hand.  I blend right in with my big 22 ten ton cowboy hat & I am totally comfortable with that.  Besides as a small boy I was running around with a cowboy hat on anyway.  Weren’t we all.  However at this later age now there are some additional problems wearing a big round brimmed Mossmagator on my head.  We have a small Jeep & I have a big cowboy hat.  Only room for one of us in the Jeep at the same time with the hat either getting knocked off getting in or continually poking the back of my high seat pushing my head forward.  The wide brim interferes with my picture taking as well but then again so does the brim on a ball cap unless I spin it around backwards which by the way you can't do with a cowboy hat or your going to end up looking like the east end of a horse going west.

I tried wearing my black cowboy hat to work one day a bunch of summer’s ago.  (I drove a wheelchair mobility van part time back in 2010) There isn't a lot of room to maneuver around in the back of a mobility van & the hat kept falling or getting knocked off my head while I tried to fasten various floor belts to wheelchair frames.  The last straw came when I bent over to fasten one of the floor belts onto an elderly ladies wheelchair one day.  Hat fell off & landed in her lap.  She quickly beat it to death thinking she was being attacked by a giant black widow spider!!

QUITE THE COLORFUL PANTALOONS THIS LITTLE GAL IS WEARING

 

Now, here's the really scary part.  This winter time RVing hat habit of mine has now followed me home every year!!  First noticed back in 07 that I was beginning to wear those menacing head muffins even though we were home & I was back into my daily shower routine.  Now without even thinking anymore I just automatically reach for one of my goofy ball caps or straw hat every morning & head out the door looking unthinkingly silly which is what made me write this whole hat post in the first place.  You know, sometimes I think that bombastically big bald billiard ball look just might not be too bad afterall…………10-4 & them there’s my thoughts on hats:))   

GROANER’S CORNER:(( My son, a Naval Officer, came home from a three-month deployment aboard his submarine, and told us that one of the ways the sailors kept up morale was to make wooden cars out of kits and run derby races.  "What do you do for a ramp?'" my husband inquired.  "Don't need one," he said. "We just put the cars on the floor and then tilt the sub."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

WE SURE WEREN’T LONG IN FLINGING OUR DRAPES OPEN THIS MORNING:))

<<< I THINK THIS LITTLE LADY HAS ONE MIGHTY FINE LOOKING WHITE SKIRT ON

Can’t tell you how happy I was this morning about 5:30 when Pheebs & I stepped out the door under a big black beautiful sky with zillions of dazzling stars overhead.  Clouds all gone:))  Checking today’s 10 day forecast there is nothing but sunshine & 70 degree temps ahead.  We weren’t long in opening all our east side window drapes letting Sunday morning’s warming sunlight spill through & send our gray rain soaked spirits soaring:))

“"YOU FIRST – NO, YOU FIRST

Again taking advantage of soft earth from recent rains I decided to thin out & re-locate some small Joshua Trees on our back yard neighbors property.  Carefully dug up 4 trees & re-planted them at the head of his driveway right next to our south fence & gate.  If they grow they will look nice not only for our neighbor but us as well.  Of course by the time those trees reach maturity we will be long gone but maybe future property owners will someday enjoy my efforts this morning.  I also trimmed back Mesquite branches which were beginning to crowd our fence line as well as along our neighbor’s laneway.  Don’t know if we’ll see our Alberta neighbor this year but if he does come down from Canada his driveway will be clear.  But here’s an odd thing.  A car pulled up to our neighbor’s locked gate Saturday, 3 older men got out & walked up the laneway & had themselves a look all around the property & house.  We’re now wondering if maybe our absentee neighbor maybe has his house & property up for sale.  We’re hoping not because for 2 years now with nobody there it has been so delightfully quiet.

SURE HOPE THESE SMALL JOSHUA TREES TAKE ROOT & GROW

Well here we are at February 1rst already.  A short month from now & we’ll be into March already.  Again our winter season in the southwest seems to be passing quickly.  We will soon have to decide on which route we will take heading home.  Quickest way is Oklahoma City up through St. Louis but it is very unlikely we will go that way.  Just don’t like the big cities & besides we have no reason to hurry on home anyway as long as we don’t put off our departure until the last minute.  Maybe a little early for those travel plans but it’s just something to begin warming up a bit on the back burner.  We had talked about a route down through southeastern Arizona then east on over to Florida to visit Aunt Jean, Kelly’s sister & husband Becky & Norm, Peter & Leslie on vacation there, then up the eastern seaboard to Spencerport NY for a visit with Kelly’s Mother before heading crossing the border & home.  But after our long rough trip down last Fall we have decided the Florida route is just way too much of a long haul for Kelly’s health & for that reason alone we just head straight for Bayfield when we leave here in March.  We’ll see how the summer goes & maybe take a second look at that Florida route in 10 months from now on our return to the southwest for another winter season.  For sure October would be a much better travel month than March.

Not a whole lot else to write about tonight.  After my tree trimming & planting this morning the day just kind of slowed down to a crawl.  Tipped back in my chair near our birdfeeder for awhile this afternoon & watched the comings & goings of our backyard birds for awhile.  Managed to snag a few more photos.

I was just about to hit the ‘publish’ button tonight when Kelly ran into a major dilemma.  I heard a gasp from the living room & quickly hollered “what’s wrong” to which I heard a frantic reply, “I can’t get Downton Abbey, there’s something wrong with the PBS high definition channel”!!!!!!!  Well indeed it was an emergency alright.  The channel reception would come on for a few seconds then go off again.  Kelly was in absolute panic mode.  I right away suspected our satellite dish.  With recent rains I figured the tripod legs may have shifted slightly downward in the soft ground.  I figured right as I raced out of the house & quickly tilted the dish upwards by just a hair.  A happy holler came from the living room & all was well with the world again.  Whewwww, close call I’d say……………………

I’M THINKING THIS MIGHT BE A NORTHERN FLICKER

GROANER’S CORNER:(( An Octogenarian moved to a new town and joined the local Country Club. He went to the Club for the first time to play but was told everyone scheduled to play was already out on the course. He was so disappointed, the Assistant Pro said he would play with him and would give him a 12 stroke handicap.
The 80 year old said, "I really don't need a handicap. The only real problem I have is getting out of sand traps."
They both played well. Coming into the par three 18th they were even. The pro had a nice drive to mid-fairway and would be able to get on the green with the next stroke and then putt for a par with the following play.
The old man hit a long drive, and the ball landed in one of the two sand traps around the hole. Shooting from the sand trap on his second stroke, he hit a high ball which landed on the green and rolled right into the hole!
The Assistant Pro was stunned. "Nice shot, but I thought you said you have a problem getting out of sand traps."
"I do," replied the octogenarian. "Give me a hand."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY & DON’T COME BACK AGAIN TODAY!!

STARING STRAIGHT DOWN AT A 3’ TALL BARREL CACTUS…1 OF 2 IN OUR FRONT YARD

Rains returned overnight & heavy at times as it beat upon my bedroom roof.  Sure glad Peter & Leslie picked the week to visit they did & not this past week with it’s very wet ending.  Rains did end about 7 a.m. & our skies finally began a slow clearing.  While walking across our front yard at 8:43 this morning I suddenly became aware of something walking along beside me.  It was my shadow……..yaaaay, our first burst of sunshine in a couple days:)))))))

COMMUNITY BIRD BATH IN A BACKYARD MUD PUDDLE EARLIER THIS MORNING

Figured with all our recent rain it would be a good opportunity while the ground is soft & workable to get my shovel into the ground today & finish up my northeast property project.  So that’s what I did.  While digging along it occurred to me that unlike the soil back home in Ontario I have not come across one single solitary earth worm.  About a dozen grubs & one Horny Toad.  I took time to replace the Grubs & single Toad putting them back into their hibernating dirt environment from whence I had dug them up.  No harm done to any of those fellows hopefully.  And just when we thought we were done with all this rain we got clobbered with a totally unexpected fast moving 10 minute cloudburst about 1:30.  That caught us with Jeep windows down, an open tool box sitting out, Motorhome door open, & my shirt draped over the wheelbarrow too far away to worry about.

UNEXPECTED CLOUD BURST

 

MAYBE IT WAS A MINI MONSOON

Noticed we had another new Blog Follower in our Friend Connect box this morning.  We welcome the folks from Justkreuzin.com & thanks for dropping by Sondra.  Enjoy your time here in the southwest this winter.

MY RAIN SOAKED WORK GLOVES ARE IN THAT WET WATERY WHEELBARROW AS WHEEL

Here’s a new & informative website just up put together by the hard working RV team of Brian & Leigh from Aluminumarian.  This site called Campendium will center around finding places to camp & includes links to blog posts about RV Parks, public campgrounds, & boondocking spots.  To help grow this site folks are invited to participate & interact with their own camp ground reviews, links, & any information they can provide which will be helpful to fellow RV’ers.  And a reminder…..Nina from Wheeling it has just posted another segment of her 4 part series called Boondocking For Newbies Part 11 >> Prepping Your RV.

THIS PRETTY MUCH FINISHES OUR NORTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE PROPERTY EXCEPT FOR PLANTINGS

Well how nice to end our day under clearing skies.  What a great pick-me-up that always is after a couple gloomy rain soaked days.  Makes a feller just want to jump up in the air & click his heels……………………………..:)) 

 

JUST ONE HOUR AFTER TAKING THIS PHOTO LATE THIS AFTERNOON IT WAS POURING RAIN AGAIN…SO MUCH FOR JUMPING UP & CLICKING ANY HEELS:((

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Most of us have a bad habit we are constantly trying to break. For one woman, it's biting her fingernails.  One day she told her husband about the latest solution: press-on nails.  "Great Idea, Honey," he smiled. "You can eat them straight out of the box."

---

Two elderly women were fussing about their husbands over tea one day.  "I do wish my Leroy would stop biting his nails. That makes me terribly nervous!" the first one said.  "Oh, my Elmer used to do the same thing," the other woman commented. "But I broke him of that habit real quick."  "What did you do?"  "I hid his teeth!"