Strolling Amok

Pops goes on tour.

Archive for the tag “Travel”

07 May 2013

In the Prescott National Forest

The stairway to heaven. The tiny red sign on the screen door says "Rest Room". It's tin and I suspect it's from the 40s or 50s.

The stairway to heaven. The tiny red sign on the screen door says “Rest Room”. It’s tin and I suspect it’s from the 40s or 50s.

Originally posted 4/19/2013

I’ve noticed that people who are familiar with RVs instantly spot me as a full-timer (and a cheapskate). The service guy never even hinted that I should have the suspension work done there, even though they already had all of the needed parts on display. He talked with the assumption that I’d be doing it myself. Back in time at the Smartweigh, the guy there, George, took one glance and offered, “I see you’ve got a working trailer.” He meant purposed for living vs recreational. Let’s face it, travel trailers and fifth wheel trailers are 99% recreational. Go camping for awhile, and then go back home, put it up on blocks, and winterize the plumbing system. They’re all big and shiny, and look new. Some commercial parks don’t even let in trailers that are over ten years old.

The remaining 1% are construction workers and full-timers like me. Let’s face it, the Enterprise looks like what it is. It’s 19 years old. Its external styling is dated. People don’t keep such old trailers in use – at least in use on the road. They’re usually consigned to sink into the dirt in back of the chicken house because the roof leaked and rotted the walls and flooring, and none of the appliances work anymore. Despite the past abuse and neglect to its running gear, this Innsbruck is still perfectly viable as a full-time home. But people can recognize Read more…

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07 May 2013

On the Road Again! Kinda…

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Originally posted 4/17/2013

I pulled out of the BLM area in Wickenburg, Arizona today, heading just 15 miles up the road to the Escapees North Ranch to boondock one night again. Why bother, when my next stop in Prescott National Forest is just a couple-three hours away? Dump is the word, my friend. Pay five bucks to boondock, and the dump station and fresh water are free. That’s half of what many commercial dump stations charge.

The above picture shows the trailer in the prescribed boondocking lane, headed north. Actually, it’s now turned around and headed south. A volunteer just now asked that I spin it in the other direction. I asked why, of course. Liability. There’s a shallow ditch on the far side for water runoff, and some yokel once gallumphed out of his/her trailer and stumbled into the ditch. Hell, I can do that without the help of a ditch, since my entry stairs are sagging and want to pitch you into a gallup when you exit the trailer door. Now the setting sun will require me to close the door when I move to the couch, like last time when I parked this way.

While I was working with the hoses, I was slightly disappointed to see that one of the older hub dust covers had baled out, probably on the washboard dirt of Rincon Road. I thought one seemed looser than I expected, and now I just learned another little lesson! I’ll be stopping by an RV place tomorrow on my way through Prescott to see if they have another that fits. For the time being, I’ve implemented the Universal Repair, and one which will certainly be a hit with my daughter. See the photo below. Can you tell what the temporary hub cover is that will hopefully keep out dust?

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That’s right! Duct tape!

There’s been a pretty blustery wind from the northwest yesterday and today, and with fuel economy in mind, I’m hoping it dies down tomorrow. Time to look up the Weather Guesstimate on the Internet!

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07 May 2013

Town Talk

Wickenburg is packed with remarkable street sculptures. This one is parked outside a jewelry and home decor shop. Every one is perfectly intact, which makes me wonder how that can be. Maybe would-be young vandals are too busy working and saving up for ATVs.

Wickenburg is packed with remarkable street sculptures. This one is parked outside a jewelry and home decor shop. Every one is perfectly intact, which makes me wonder how that can be. Maybe would-be young vandals are too busy working and saving up for ATVs.

Originally posted 4/16/2013

Monday in Wickenburg Arizona was a big day – and I didn’t even know about it! That’s what I get for not checking the town’s event calendar more closely. But, I still saw more than enough to fill my visual gullet.

Project One was to get one of the two 30# propane tanks refilled. I was going to simply do that as part of my town tour and grocery shop, but the 30# tank is tall and easily tipped over in the truck’s bed, so I had second thoughts about parking on a side street with the bed cover open and all the stuff in the bed exposed. So, I made a special trip into town to fill it and minimize the downtime for the refrigerator/freezer.

Uh-oh. Tow vehicle looks low, and there's a tow truck.

Uh-oh. Tow vehicle looks low, and there’s a tow truck.

Approaching one of the two wide washes that Rincon Road passes through, I saw a couple of ATVers in an unhappy situation. Their all-wheel-drive van and cargo trailer were stuck in the soft sand of the smaller wash. See? My paranoia about the nature of the sand here is based on what I’ve observed in my two weeks here, not mere imagination. One guy was taking pictures, while the other was talking to the driver of a towing service’s flatbed tow truck. The tow truck was in the road and, having conventional two-wheel drive, wouldn’t make it far into the wash. I drove past and then remembered I had a  Read more…

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07 May 2013

The Path Less Traveled

Well, it's a little easier to travel after a road grader has smoothed it out a little.

Well, it’s a little easier to travel after a road grader has smoothed it out a little.

Originally posted 4/12/2013

Today was working on writing, and then touring just a bit, and winding up doing laundry in town. Wickenburg is big enough to have numerous modern strip malls up and down Wickenburg Way. The laundry is a bit pricier than Quartzsite’s, but at the one I went to, all the machines were new front-loaders. It was a bit much to ask that my filthy grease-stained jeans would come clean, but they made a rousing try of it. This is actually my last pair of jeans, as the other three promptly disintegrated long ago, one right after the next. I’m still trying to figure that out. I still gots me some work pants, if it comes to that. The heat is such (90 today) that I’m actually starting to wear shorts.

The trail I’m on winds up a very high hill once you pass my campsite. I’d first planned to move the trailer to a primo spot a couple hundred feet away. With all the other campers gone (except for somebody in a TT like mine that parked a half-mile away this morning), I have my pick of the litter up here. Thing is, when I walked over to an even nicer spot, the drone of bees once again caught my attention. There was a constant whirl of them over by a cactus and they looked pretty preoccupied by swarming around, so I figured it was not meant to be. I can live with that, as it melds nicely into my lazy nature anyway.

From the top of the hill, you can barely see the Enterprise, a tiny cube next to a tree, just to the right of center.

From the top of the hill, you can barely see the Enterprise, a tiny cube next to a tree, just to the right of center.

So I climbed into the Furd and went on up the trail to see what I could see. The answer: plenty. It was a fairly steep climb in one section, and the rear tires were slipping a bit on the  Read more…

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07 May 2013

I’m…Somewhere!

It only took ten tries to get nicely wedged in for proper solar panel exposure.

It only took ten tries to get nicely wedged in for proper solar panel exposure.

Originally posted 4/4/2013

After a false start, I made it to a rather remote area that’s somehow just a few scant miles from Wickenburg, Arizona. I’m camping in the same area as Bob Wells, intrepid VanDweller, and three others. We’re up high on a ridge overlooking a wide wash where 4WD enthusiasts go to wear out their machinery.

The false start was to not go far enough down a rather interesting mix of pavement and washboard dirt in order to get to a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area. I had dutifully gone my 2.8 miles, watched an AWD station wagon have to get pushed out of a deep sand area (which I was about to descend into with the trailer) and turned around, figuring I had missed the turnoff. I really didn’t want to have to boondock again at North Ranch though, and didn’t want to try to locate Box Wash just a few miles away.

So, I cranked it around again and went for broke. Seems I needed to go  Read more…

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07 May 2013

Goodbye for Now…

Basically, it all fits only one way. I printed this photo out to use for reference for this week!

Basically, it all fits only one way. I printed this photo out to use for reference for this week!

Originally posted 3/31/2013

This may be my last post for a few days.

Tomorrow, Monday, begins the chores of hittin’ the laundromat with a BIG load, refilling a couple of propane tanks, filling the emergency fuel jugs with diesel, and securing the Command Deck (office area) for travel. That means placing things where they won’t be vibrated off to break during towing, and pretty much ends the use of the office until I locate and set up my next long-term campsite. The solar system gets unplugged at the end of the day, and every tire on this combo gets checked for pressure and adjusted.

Tuesday is a big day, labor-wise. It calls for dismounting and stowing those big solar panels into the passageway leading to the office, packing the truck bed to the brim with storage bins and fuel jugs, and basically stowing everything in the trailer to avoid breakage. I then tow the trailer to the camp’s Read more…

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07 May 2013
4 Comments

The Five Degrees of RVers

These are Park Models, which are towed to a location and then permanently planted. They're closer to a modular home than an RV trailer. I only mention them because you'll see them in some RV parks.

These are Park Models, which are towed to a location and then permanently planted. They’re closer to a modular home than an RV trailer. I only mention them because you’ll see them in some RV parks.

Originally posted 2/28/2013

In previous posts, I’ve mentioned just a few of the kinds of RVs that people can be found camping in. It’s probably time to underscore that although getting and using a recreational vehicle may seem to be a monolithic thing – buy something and go camping – the reasons and ways that people spend time in one varies quite a bit. Please note that nothing in this post is based on official data. It’s all just observation and opinion – which sounds nicer than “bias”.

Many people get a travel trailer simply to get away from home for several weekends during the summer. They get it out of storage, tow it to a commercial campground – particularly on holiday weekends – and essentially party. Their goal is to find a location they can hook up to for electrical power, water, and sewage, and they use it as a sort of vacation home. Some will forgo storage and simply rent a campsite all year, leaving the camper there. Then, all they have to do is drive to it and move in. Some RV parks particularly cater to this type of use, offering discounted rates by restricting how many days per month that you may inhabit your RV there. Most trailers used for this are connected to the tow vehicle by a common bumper hitch, which means that the RV can be towed by just about anything that can deal with the trailer’s weight. The cost per use of using an RV this way is obviously quite high. Essentially, the RV becomes just another recreational device, like a boat, ATV, or motorcycle.

RV parks in Quartzsite offer short and long term stays up to seven months of the year, before the summer heat kicks in. They are quite affordable compared to RV parks in Northern Illinois.

RV parks in Quartzsite offer short and long term stays up to seven months of the year, before the summer heat kicks in. They are quite affordable compared to RV parks in Northern Illinois.

Other people prefer to save up vacation time and use their RV to visit areas of the country that they haven’t seen before. To them, the RV becomes more of an adventure source. They may  Read more…

Posted in Navel Gazing and tagged ,
07 May 2013
1 Comment

The Petrified Forest’s Blue Mesa

The entry walkway to the Blue Mesa has some nice views all by itself. It's a long way down.

The entry walkway to the Blue Mesa has some nice views all by itself. It’s a long way down.

Originally posted 2/17/2013

The Blue Mesa area of the Petrified Forest National Park was actually my favorite section of the entire park. A one-mile walk takes you down between badland hills that vary markedly in color and texture, with a few chunks of petrified logs thrown in. It’s all paved, but it slopes and twists markedly in spots at the entry. Something like a blown heart valve makes for a leisurely, wheezing climb back up at the end, but such a trial is so worth it!

Rather than get into how it was formed, I’ll just show you a few of the many photos I took, and leave at that. I will say that although it’s about an hour to hike around and back, the variety of magnificent views all around each time you stop will properly extend your stay greatly. Two girls in their twenties started behind me, and snapped  Read more…

Posted in Tourista! and tagged
06 May 2013

The Party’s Over…

A club of Lazy Daze motorhome owners gathered for a few weeks in the LVTA, and recently thinned out to half in just one day. Movin 'on, I guess.

A club of Lazy Daze motorhome owners gathered for a few weeks in the LVTA, and recently thinned out to half in just one day. Movin ‘on, I guess.

Originally posted 2/4/2013

After a very heavily-attended opening weekend, with parked cars clogging the roadway shoulders and visitors clogging the Big Tent, attendance at Quartzsite’s Big Tent Show declined by half on Monday and was a trickle by Friday. You can refer to my earlier article to find out what the heck the Big Tent Show is about. Two days later, the vendors cleared out on schedule. The La Posa LVTA where I’m staying had a nice pack of motorhomes jammed into the northeast corner for easy access to the shows. That started to peter out after the show ended, and not too many of these extra vehicles are left a week later. I’m still seeing more campground action overall though, with RVs rolling in here or there to stay for a few days or a week before leaving.

At the busiest time, groups of campers moved in together, and then departed together. That's popular.

At the busiest time, groups of campers moved in together, and then departed together. That’s popular.

Also popular are ATVs or quads. They're all over out here, and now and then you'll see a conventional tube-frame dune buggy. They like to go out in groups to tour the area, and Quartzsite allows them on the city streets as well.

Also popular are ATVs or quads. They’re all over out here, and now and then you’ll see a conventional tube-frame dune buggy. They like to go out in groups to tour the area, and Quartzsite allows them on the city streets as well.

One thing that hasn’t thinned out is the airspace. Three ultralight fliers have been buzzing around for a few weeks, and appear to be encamped east of Quartzsite. Once every second or third day, I hear one or two buzzing the campground on its way to  Read more…

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06 May 2013

A Day in Palm Canyon

Palm Canyon is far from being a "One View Wonder". You'll find yourself with an eyeful of something awesome every time you look around.

Palm Canyon is far from being a “One View Wonder”. You’ll find yourself with an eyeful of something awesome every time you look around.

Originally posted 1/29/2013

Recently, I had a special day! Instead of dumping sewage, doing laundry at the laundromat, or wondering why some device appeared to be failing, my visiting sister and her victim husband came by to see something worthwhile in Quartzsite. In order to do that, one needs to leave Quartzsite, of course. In this case, we headed 18 miles south to see the Palm Canyon National Recreation Trail in the Kofa Wildlife Refuge. It has been been rated as “moderately easy”, so I figured it would be a cakewalk. Lemme tell ya, footing was uncertain in bits and pieces here and there, and for safety’s sake, we ditched my sister  Read more…

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