We didn't get much snow today, it was mostly a day of cold, not Fall cold, but winter cold.

We're told tonight is when the snow will hit and it will be anywhere from 5 to 10 inches. But it's supposed to get out of here pretty quick, starting Sunday afternoon.

Predicting the weather in and around the mountains is difficult at best, but the weather guessers got it right this time; they said it was going to be cold, and it is cccold.

Fortunately, I got the things done I needed to do, especially putting the slides in on the Arctic Fox, which was important. So now all I need to do is relax in the warm comfort of the Lance as this Fall cold front does its best to force me into heading south.

But it won't take much forcing. As soon as Halloween's over, first thing Wednesday morning, I'll put on my traveling shoes and head south as fast as I can without blowing the Lance out of the truck bed.

I could give some thought to where I'll be heading, but until I drive away my destination for the day is unimportant as long as I'm heading south. The weather will be nice, at least for a while, in New Mexico and Arizona, so I can go whichever way feels right when I get to Albuquerque and have to make a decision to turn right or go straight.

And remember; I'm not going on a vacation, I'm not sightseeing, or going someplace for R&R. I'm not looking for an adventure, and I'm not on a journey or a quest to see every National Park in the country. I am simply looking for a place to live a perfectly normal life, for a brief period of time, while living in a tiny house on wheels.

 I've still got time left on my annual New Mexico Parks pass, so I'm leaning towards heading that way, and I do have a hankering to spend some time at the Bosque Del Apache in New Mexico and see what kind of bird pictures I can come up with.

But I would also like to return to Laughlin, Nevada, and boondock in the casino parking lots for a while. I always enjoy that, and there's usually something interesting going on at the casinos.

And to get to Laughlin I have to drive right through Lake Havasu, which is a unique and beautiful place to be, it's usually warm in the winter, very picturesque, and surrounded by some of the best boondocking around.

And speaking of picturesque, I've always thought the City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico Is a real picture taking opportunity, especially for sunrises and sunsets, and I always look forward to boondocking there.

And boondocking at Wickenburg, Arizona, this time of year is also good for taking pictures. A lot of the world champion Team Ropers stay in Wickenburg to practice up for the world championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, held during December. Wickenburg is overflowing with Team Roping venues and is a favorite place for Team Ropers to hang out before the championship.

Ben Avery Gun Range near Phoenix is also one of my favorite places to be. Being able to do some shooting and hang around in the warm Phoenix weather for a while is always enjoyable, especially because of its proximity to a couple of Walmart's, Home Depots, and some good restaurants.

And then there's Quartzite. I don't think I've ever been in western Arizona without boondocking in "Q." There's plenty of desert for huge clubs and groups of RVs to get together, and endless desert to get off by yourself. It's a boondockers paradise, and it's all free.

And how could I forget Tucson and the Pima County Fairgrounds? There are so many interesting things going on there on weekends. I usually end up staying there longer than any other place I go......

Except maybe Elephant Butte State Park in Truth or Consequences New Mexico, lots of boondocking, especially on the beach.

And Storrie Lake State Park in New Mexico has great boondocking. And since the boondocking areas are almost limitless, I've never failed to boondock there when I'm in the area.

And boondocking at Whitewater Draw, with 20,000 Sandhill cranes in the lake right next to where I'm boondocking is an incredible experience, and there's more than a few possibilities of taking some great snapshots..... And there's more!

 I have so many choices I'm still determining where I will go first. But wherever it is, I will arrive happy, I'll be happy while I'm there, and I'll be happy thinking about the places I'm going next.

 How is that possible? Simple! Happiness is not a place; it's a state of mind, and when you're living the life you love and loving the life you live..... how can you be anything but happy?

Theboondork

The highest temperature we had today was in the high 20s. They say before the weekend is over we will see some single-digit temperatures at night.

It's good to have this happen every once in a while, it refreshes my memory of why I don't live here year-round. I get used to warm temperatures in Arizona during the winter and it takes some weather like this to remind me how thankful I am for the full-timer life I'm living.

I swear when I walked past the Arctic Fox I could hear it saying, "please take me back to Arizona... please?"

This was a long blog post today....sorry about that, but it was cold, snowy, and I had nothing else to do while sitting in my tiny home trying to stay warm.

Now that I've got my problems figured out dealing with the upcoming cold front, I can concentrate on other things I need to get done before I head south.

The cold front hit Last night, the winds picked up substantially, and nighttime temperatures were right around freezing. Today brought chilly daytime temperatures in the Low 50s and nighttime temps will be well below freezing.

The interesting days will be Saturday and Sunday, with an 80% chance of snow on both days, daytime temperatures below freezing and night time's in the teens.

But I don't have to worry; as long as I'm plugged in, I can deal with just about any weather situation.... Except for tornadoes, tornadoes scare me.

Meanwhile, I've got things I need to do to the Arctic Fox to prepare it for the winter; the main thing is to bring in the slides. That sounds easy enough, just a push of a couple of buttons, but in this case, there's no battery in the Arctic Fox hooked up to provide electricity to bring the slides in.

But I'm working on that. I had my lithium iron batteries under the bed in the Arctic Fox, but since I've moved all the batteries over to the Lance, I'm now moving the battery connections out from under the bed back to where they belong in a cubby on the side of the Arctic Fox.

But that project got stalled when I found that I didn't have any battery lugs on hand to fit the 3/0 wire I used for battery cables in the Arctic Fox. And I'm waiting for them to be delivered from Amazon today so I can hook up a spare battery in the Arctic box to bring in the slides...and this is as time and weather is quickly closing in on me. But that's the price we procrastinators pay for making the most of our relaxing time, and putting off everything till Mañana.

theboondork

My slides go in and out on the Arctic Fox using 12 volt motors, so there needs to be a battery hooked up to get my slides in and I need to do it before It snows on the slides and makes life difficult.

Right now I'm waiting on the large wire lugs to be delivered this afternoon so I can hook up the battery.

This is the widely acclaimed and renowned ''Mother Goose'', and she has many stories to tell.  I sat in silence, waiting for her to bestow on me the gems of wisdom she's famous for.

I sat for quite some time, shivering in the cold, waiting for her to tell one of her famous tales, and all I heard were a couple of honks..... how could she do that to me?..... I left feeling empty and betrayed.

 Golden Rose. below freezing weather will be here tonight, so what few remaining flowers there are left won't last long.

What's wrong with that stupid Goose? just because she's a mother she thinks it gives her the right to ignore the people around her. I don't think she knows any stories.... I denounce her as a fake and a charlatan.

  Bi-colored Rose.

The few remaining Rose blossoms are being cut off today and put into vases because tomorrow they will be frozen, and when they thaw out they die.

That Goose, if she really is a Goose, which I doubt, has a lot of nerve tricking little children into believing her inane stories. I never believed her stories, and when I get back to Alamosa next Summer I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!  because I don't believe she's a mother, and I seriously doubt she's even a Goose! But she will rue the day she ever saw me shivering in the mud waiting to be entertained by a Mother Goose wanna be.

A pair of Sandhill cranes talking to each other as they leisurely float along on the rising thermals.

So... A cold front is on the way; most of the time, it will be below freezing at night, daytime temperatures will be pretty chilly, and it is supposed to snow this weekend...The end of the world?  Not hardly! But it will require some changes.

I enjoy boondocking, and not just so I can stay away from RV parks; I like being self-sufficient, taking care of myself, and living off grid, which is a big part of self-sufficiency. My family would be perfectly happy with me plugged into their house so I didn't have solar charging problems during the Fall, but they already do so much for me without asking for anything in return; I don't want to run up their electric bill by using their electricity when I can manage most of the time living this full-timing life that I've chosen for myself.

But sometimes things don't work out the way I hoped, and I feel very fortunate to have a family that will help me out when all of my options aren't that great, and that's what happened this time.

A very simple solution to this cold-weather problem coming up is for me to move the Lance over to another one of their driveways, which has a 110 electric plug on the outside wall of the house that's only about 20 feet away from where I would be parked, plug in the camper... And suddenly, all my problems disappear.

Plugged into the house, I can drag out my little home electric heater, which I use when plugged into a state park somewhere. And the Lance is so small I have to put the heater on its lowest setting to keep it from being too hot inside. I have no problem leaving the electric heater on at night, so I don't have to dress like an Eskimo when I go to bed or crawl out of bed in the morning when the inside temperature matches the outside temperature.

And, of course, since the Lance has a converter, I will no longer have a problem with the lack of sun on the solar panels because the converter will charge my batteries. And all my 110 AC plugs in the Lance will work just like in a house. So I'll have a functioning microwave, which is always handy, and I can use my computers as much as I want. I know that sounds quaint to most folks who are always plugged into an RV park somewhere, but long-term boondockers have to learn to live like a boondocker and do without some things, making us appreciate the small things that most people take for granted.

So what that means is I'll be able to live in another one of my family's driveways, plugged in just like most folks would be at a campground, and I'll be snug, warm, and comfortable as the temperatures drop into the teens and the snow rages around me... Okay, maybe it won't actually rage, maybe it will just sprinkle, but it doesn't matter; it's snow, and I don't like snow.

theboondork

My new camping spot. I'm plugged in to a receptacle outside the house so I have all the comforts of home....especially electric heat, which in a few days will be indispensable.

the Arctic Fox looks awfully lonely sitting there by itself.

Notice the shade that the large trees in the front yard cast on the trailer. That's what's been happening to the Lance during the late Fall. It's pretty hard to keep batteries charged up when It's shaded like that for a large part of the day, and unlike for most campers....shade is not my friend.