Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the category “Daily Life”

06 Jan 2014
11 Comments

Moving Day

Actually, this is a couple of days before moving day, when I was doing laundry. Burros like the smell of unscented detergent, I guess. The next night, two of 'em curled up on the ground nearby to sleep.

Actually, this is a couple of days before moving day, when I was doing laundry. Notice there are five of them. Burros like the smell of unscented detergent, I guess. The next night, two of ’em curled up on the ground nearby to sleep.

I decided to change locations because of barking dogs, generators running, and people moving in closer. Fortunately, a short local move is a whole lot less of an ordeal than true Travel Mode, so it was no big deal to prep.

The "driveway" entrance to my very large new perch.

The “driveway” entrance to my very large new perch.

The entire available area of the Imperial Dam LTVA is stupendous, so I went touring and settled on a sort of peninsula that is sparsely-populated. It tested Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life and tagged
02 Dec 2013
13 Comments

Camp Swankie, LLC

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Camp Swankie offers amenities found only in the most exclusive homes.

The good life can be yours! The recent fad to spend big bucks for outdoor kitchens and living spaces for sticks & bricks residences has always struck me as odd. Why pay huge amounts of money to regress? You want to go outside – then go outside. Then I realized why as I viewed Camp Swankie, located several miles east of the Enterprise. Camp Swankie is the real thing: a true outdoor kitchen area, with a separate 3-season living area. Seeing this camp made those posh homes seem like they were struggling to get vestigial camping experiences built into them. Actually, I guess Swankie’s screened canopy qualifies as a 4-season room, because it is “location-adjustable”. To be able to comfortably use it in winter or summer, you change altitude.

But these amenities here are not just for show. Today’s exercise was to add Read more…

Posted in Daily Life and tagged ,
01 Dec 2013
10 Comments

Departing Quartzsite

One of two engine-powered hang gliders lazily makes for home at sunset.

One of two engine-powered hang gliders lazily makes for home at sunset.

I hadn’t planned on leaving Quartzsite for Yuma, AZ until mid-December, but upcoming cool weather is urging me to get rolling no later than Wednesday of this week (three days from now). After that point, overnight lows are predicted to be in the low 30s all the way down to 28.

The ’94 Gulf Stream Innsbruck is a “temperate weather only” trailer, which means that insulation is functionally cosmetic, and that some of the plumbing is exposed directly to outside temps. The Tankmin freshwater tank in the Ford can fend for itself simply by sheer mass, but the trailer fill hose and related fittings are prone to freezing and plugging up. Inaccessible, freeze-damaged plumbing does not appeal to me, so while most other RVers in travel trailers can easily brave whatever comes, I find it prudent to run for cover when temps approach freezing. I can stay quite comfortable, but it’s a damage risk I choose not to take.

Why so touchy about temps merely approaching freezing? My mercury and electronic Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Travelin' Man and tagged , , , ,
27 Nov 2013
14 Comments

Life at Rancho Begley

"A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Used to be, the thought of sitting outside for a half-hour or hour to watch the sun go down seemed like a peculiar waste of time. Sure, it’s nice. Appreciate it, take a mental photo and go on to the next thing. These days, I’m noticing that it can greatly change appearance in a mere minute – or less. My mind, as always, wanders and considers things, but is no longer “somewhere else” entirely.

Another translation of Proverbs 16:9 is, “We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it.” I actually only planned to live in a travel trailer that would be able to go from place to place as needed. The actual goal, in lofty terms, has been to widen my view of life, and determine my place in it. Most folks have this done by the time they’re halfway through their twenties. Me, I’m more of a late bloomer. Still, I finally feel as though I’m on track. Right place, right time, right life. All of it just feels right, and necessary.

The Strolling Amok blog is ostensibly about “mobile living”, or at least one form of it from one guy’s perspective. It is that, but don’t assume that Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Navel Gazing and tagged , , ,
23 Nov 2013
7 Comments

Camelot Lost

Van + cargo trailer + extra crap = pretty nice little camp!

Van + cargo trailer + extra crap = pretty nice little camp!

Intrepid vandweller Swankie Wheels got into nesting mode the other day and unpacked a canopy, screens, table, and chairs. She set it all up and added an outdoor rug to keep dust down, and had the perfect place to work on the rocks that she likes to rework and polish. Add a little folding table for a laptop, and it’s home. Another vandweller was in for a few days too, and had

Read more…

Posted in Campsites, Daily Life
17 Nov 2013
8 Comments

European Children With No Cigars

And I'll bet they don't have a nice humidor like this one, eh?

And I’ll bet they don’t have a nice humidor like this one, eh?

I’ve always enjoyed smoking, but now and then, I can tell that smoking cigarettes isn’t doing my lungs that much good after all, particularly in runs of cold weather. I’ve been rolling my own for the last year, since that drops the cost per pack from almost  $7 to a couple bucks or so. So, I’ve decided to quit. It’s easy. I’ve done it lots of times.

When I got the heave-ho last year and had to start grabbing my stuff, I also grabbed a very fine humidor that was a gift from some mighty nice friends to my ex. My ex-bride used to enjoy smoking cigars, and not the cheap crap I would smoke if I’d been buying them. There are a couple of $8.75 Cohibas in there, among others. $8.75 in 2006 equates to 72 cents in 1930, the era of the top-o’-the-line 50-cent cigar. She stopped smoking, and I knew the lot would Read more…

Posted in Daily Life and tagged , , , ,
10 Nov 2013
4 Comments

Just Waking From a Nap…

My "vision" while napping on the couch.

My “vision” while napping on the couch. The shaded black at the bottom is the side of the pickup.

Here’s a weird one: Oddly, I’ve been dreaming about RVing lately. Today I took one of those afternoon naps on the couch – a thing I am often fond of doing these days. I was having a rather confusing dream about RVing – driving around near “home” in a place that looked like Colorado, and of falling into an inescapable sleep while my RV motorhome was moving, yet being unable to wake up to take the wheel!

Fortunately, I never crashed, and when I actually did wake up after a few rounds of this, I found myself groggily gazing out the screen door with no wild idea where I was. I was “home” – thanks to the dreams – with the Mighty Furd parked nearby. But what was “home”? I had no idea where that was, but the sky just past my feet was so beautiful that wherever I must be sure looked okay. It was so quiet and peaceful that my wondering ceased. Naturally, I eventually wakened enough to figure out that I was in the desert near Quartzsite, but it took awhile. Sure was a pretty sky just past my tootsies! It quickly put me in a peaceful and well-rested frame of mind. I am one very fortunate person!

Update: And here’s one view of Arizona’s big sky and the Enterprise near sunset. Photo taken from Camp Swankie by the Swankster herself.

Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty and the Beast.

Posted in Daily Life
05 Nov 2013
17 Comments

Transportation Central

Bryce arrives and tries to get air into a confrontational tire.

Bryce arrives and tries to get air into a confrontational tire.

Simple goal – go for a bike ride to see the petroglyphs at Tyson’s Wash. Bryce hadn’t seen them and wanted to, so Charlene was going to take him over for a look-see. I was going to go with them as far as I could before my wrists acted up on the rocky ground. But Charlene’s bike tires needed some air first. The front was no problem, but the rear had a Presta valve, which is a fairly rare style. The good news was that it included a common Schrader valve adapter. The bad news was that it just wouldn’t let air in.

Bryce showed up with a hand pump that instantly adapted to either. It wouldn’t take air from his setup either. Our guess was that the Slime puncture-resistant goo inside had solidified enough to Read more…

Posted in Daily Life and tagged
04 Nov 2013
6 Comments

Rainbow Acres Exploration

The hills all around Quartzsite appear to be made up of rubble! Piles of rocks, sand and gravel.

The hills all around Quartzsite appear to be made up of rubble! Piles of rocks, sand and gravel.

The other day I decided to visit the odd, isolated little development I’d seen off in the distance. From far away, the buildings made it look like an industrial area rather than a housing development. I wanted to find out badly enough to spend the one or two gallons of diesel fuel that it would take. So I looped around to the north on paved roads from Quartzsite itself, went west, and then south to get there.

Rainbow Acres.

Rainbow Acres.

Turns out it was a small remnant of a failed housing development called Rainbow Acres. What was there was nicely done, but was only a small fraction of what had been laid out for it. I cruised the streets to find that each lot was ringed with low brick walls. Many were for sale, but at about $70K for a bare lot, these folks apparently were unaware of the housing collapse. This is fairly low land, and washes interrupt the lots here and there to allow storm water to Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Tourista! and tagged
03 Nov 2013
6 Comments

Solar Oven

A solar oven what am.

A solar oven what am.

The other day, I returned back to the Enterprise from a hearty (for me) bike ride exploring the nether reaches of my La Posa West Long Term Visitor Area, and was greeted with a chunk of banana bread from Swankie Wheels, who has been camping close by until she can hook up with some friends that are due in soon. That $180 LTVA seasonal pass can be a bit much for one person to swing, and that’s when you call in some buds to share the expense. Living in a van with a cargo trailer, she’ll eventually move to an area further down that has several outhouses scattered about. That’s a daytime convenience for people without holding tanks in their rigs, and officially, such RVs are required to camp within 500 feet of them here at the LTVA.

At any rate, I was a bit stunned to be handed a warm slice of banana bread by someone who barely has room in their rig to turn around, let alone bake!?! The “How on earth did you make this?” question led to a trip to her cargo trailer door. She opened it, then lifted out a square contraption, setting it on the ground. She unfolded and flipped several hinged and highly polished aluminum reflectors in a few seconds, and BAM! – solar oven.

I’ve heard of ’em, of course, but had never seen one. What impressed me about this one was that it wasn’t a Read more…

Posted in Daily Life, Mod Squad and tagged

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