The Arctic Fox looks lonely out there in the desert. But if you look closer it's actually smiling.

I had planned going into town today and take some pictures, but since it was such a nice day I decided to stay at my campsite and go walking in the desert instead. Since I've got all my camping reservations over and done with, and have my freedom back. I feel much more relaxed and less stressed now that I can come and go as I please, and walking in the desert sounded more relaxing than driving.

Keep in mind that being "able" to come and go as I please doesn't mean that I "will" go anywhere. This morning I didn't even have the urge to drive into town 5 miles away. But knowing that I "can" is what gives me the feeling of freedom that I apparently crave.

I know that probably doesn't make a lot of sense to most normal folks, but to me, it's the difference between sitting in a prison cell or sitting in your home. You can sit in your living room for as long as you want without leaving and still be free because it's not the going that makes you free; it's the ability to make that choice that gives you freedom.

Now I realize you can't totally control everything in your life, but when you're retired, you have the opportunity to have more freedom, if you wish to take it. I'm always surprised at how few people use that opportunity of having more freedom, and continue to make rules and schedules for themselves to follow. I think that being a full-time RVer opens up more opportunities for being free. But to me best of all is being able to comfortably boondock long term, because that gives a normal person about as much freedom as anybody can realistically have.

I realize we're all different, which is a good thing. And I know there's as many very good and sensible reasons for living your life the same way every day as there are people living that way. I just don't understand why people that can, and are, able to shake up their lives, and do things differently every once in a while, want to grow old and decrepit, trodding the same deeply worn path, doing the same thing over and over, day after day, week after week, until finally their so enfeebled they keel over into the dust, and their relatives send them to the Andrew Cuomo Covid 19 Memorial Home for the soon to be deceased.

                                             theboondork

If you look carefully you can see five or six RVs scattered out across the desert. This is the way it normally looks in Quartzsite, until the Big Show comes to town, than it gets much more crowded.

Now these folks are doing it differently, not wrong, just different. They want to be in a group, and there's various reasons for that, maybe they've got a lot in common, maybe they belong to the same club, or maybe they get a feeling of safety in numbers. Whatever the reason, it apparently makes them happy and that's what matters.

The desert is covered in dry washes, their all over the place. Temporary rivers running through the desert washes bring a lot of life to the area, especially for the larger trees such as the Palo Verde that need the extra moisture to survive. But these watercourses change over time. And the lucky tree that got plenty of water and proliferated because it was close to the wash, one day wakes up and finds itself in the middle of the wash and during the next rainstorm, when the dry wash becomes a raging river the formally lucky tree is swept away to die with the rest of the debris in the desert.

Yes life in the desert is tough and merciless, it doesn't care if you're a human, an animal or a Palo Verde tree, one mistake, and you're just more desert debris.

I know a lot of folks will look at my current location and think it looks like some kind of a Hellscape, but to me it fits my life just perfect. Not a person in sight?... Check.    Level?... Check.  Peace and quiet?... check.   No trees blocking my solar panels?...Check.   Socially distanced?... Double check.

This morning I moved over to the Plomosa road boondocking area, about 3 miles north of where I was. It's not nearly as crowded as the place I was in, which is much more to my liking. And since my nearest neighbor appears to be at least half a mile away, I shouldn't have to deal with any more generator noise.

I think I'm going to put off going to the Parker Walmart for a while and stay away from the crowds that might be there for the next few days doing all their Black Friday shopping, and then for a few more days while the crowds return all the Black Friday stuff they bought. Then I'll go to Walmart next Tuesday during the geezer hour and play it safe. I sure would hate to catch the Bat flu doing something I didn't absolutely need to do, especially when there's a supposedly efficacious vaccine due out in the next month or so.

Other than going to Plomosa road for a new boondocking spot, I didn't go anywhere today because I didn't unhook from the Arctic Fox. I usually remain hooked up my first night at a boondocking location to make sure I don't learn something in the middle of the night that I wasn't aware of in the daytime that makes me want to go elsewhere.

I'm anxious to run around town and see what's changed in Quartzsite since I was last here when the Bat flu started. Almost every business in town is a mom-and-pop type business and probably doesn't have the wherewithal to survive an extended closure, especially when many are only open for six months of the year anyway.

I looked up the "Quartzsite Big Show 2021" on the Internet this morning, and sure enough, their having the show. They explained in detail what they're going to do to make it safe, and it's basically the same things every business in the country is doing, including trying to disperse the opening day crowds and talk them into coming later in the week.

I, of course, won't be going but only partially because of my Bat flu concerns. Over the years, I've found it to be simply uninteresting. To me, it's like walking through a tent full of infomercials, with hucksters selling miracle mops, dog grooming brushes, and other goofy things that you wouldn't buy if it were sitting on a shelf in a store...and charging you way more than it cost to have the same item delivered by Amazon.

 And since the Big Show is very popular with everyone but apparently... ME,  the town gets so crowded that it's hard to get into a gas station or restaurant, and the easy to get to boondocking areas start looking like RV parks... Not my kind of place, not my type of lifestyle, not my scene. So I shall be long gone before the Big Show hits the fan.

                           theboondork

My very temporary boondocking spot in Quartzsite... To crowded, I gotta  go.

It was a tough drive from the East side of Phoenix through town and out the other side towards Quartzsite. I tried making it a straight shot, but the traffic was so bad I wasn't getting anywhere, so I had to drop down and go South of Phoenix, take a belt Road around Phoenix, and catch I-10 on the west side of town to get to Quartzsite. The belt road was better but was still slow going.

I -10 was better still than the belt road, but it was heavy traffic in both directions going to Quartzsite. It appeared that the eastbound side of I-10 was even more crowded than the westbound side I was on. For the most part, the westbound side kept moving, although somewhat slow at times. In contrast, the eastbound side stopped and traffic backed up several times as I went by. It gave me the impression that there were a lot more people leaving California than going towards it.

There wasn't any fun involved in the trip, and it took 4 1/2 hours and several white knuckles, to make the 160 mile drive. I knew in the beginning that towing a trailer on the day before Thanksgiving was not the smartest thing I've ever done. Still, I got myself into that situation and fortunately got myself out with no more than proof positive I never, ever be driving around anywhere near a holiday again.



      So that was yesterday, and now it's Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, there's not much of anything going on today. Everybody in the boondocking area that I'm in seems to be where they want to be because nobody's coming and going. Many things are closed, including Walmart, so nobody's running around shopping;  that will all happen tomorrow.

It's a little early to tell, but the boondocking areas look a little more crowded than I thought they were going to be this time of year. I could be wrong because I just pulled in yesterday and haven't done anything except recuperate from that rather challenging drive yesterday, but there seems to be a lot of people here. Nothing like when the Big Show is in town, but more than I expected.

And the exact opposite was going on with some businesses. It seems like there were more businesses closed than usual. I didn't drive around town; I just got off I-10, turned right on Highway 95, and pulled into the first boondocking area I came to. So I haven't seen much, but the first thing I noticed was Sweet Darlene's restaurant looked out of business. And I thought I saw a sign that said "sold" on the fence.

Right now, I'm not exactly where I want to be, so tomorrow or the next day, I might move over to Plumosa road, since that's closer to Parker and I need to do some shopping. Where I'm at now is too crowded, there are RVs in every direction I look, and that's simply unacceptable to me while in Quartzsite.

Since it's Thanksgiving, I gave some thought to what I'm thankful for, and it didn't take much to figure it out because I'm thankful for these two things every day..... My family, and this incredible full-time RVing lifestyle that I'm living.

                                            theboondork  

The Superstitions...Land of legends. Cowboys, Indians, Miners, Spanish treasure hunters. all men that lived, searched, fought, and died, for the gold in these remote and miserable mountains.

The more modern mines in Goldfield used electric motors to pull the ore carts in and out of the mines.

A building that looks like this, and they still allow employees to go in it? Looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Kinda reminds me of the first house I bought when I got out of the Air Force, it was a fixer-upper.

Now this is a solid building. It cost more to build than a wooden structure, but it lasts a whole lot longer, and looks a whole lot better. I particularly liked the railing around the balcony.

My first night back in Quartzsite. I left here last Winter during the beginning of the Bat flu pandemic, and here it is Winter again and the Bat flu is still causing problems. Whatever happened to flattening the curve?

When I left here last winter, there wasn't many folks left in Quartzsite. Everybody, including myself, was afraid they were going to close the boondocking areas because of the lack of medical facilities in Quartzsite, and Parker.

 But here we are, back again, and to me it looks more crowded than usual.