I drove around some of the boondocking areas today to see if I could find some odd RVs to take pictures of, but apparently living in the Lance has given me a different outlook on RVs and what I use to see as odd now looks pretty normal. But if I had more free time to devote to the effort I could probably take more pictures than I did.

Since I'm going to be heading for Yuma either tomorrow or the next day, I stayed at Scaddan Wash boondocking area which is closer to Highway 95 which is the way I get to Yuma.

I'm a little leery of Yuma since it does have a lot of illegal alien problems, [this video comes on muted with no sound, so you have to unmute the video] mostly due to overcrowding and no place to put them. But I'm going to head down there anyway mostly because its a little warmer than just about any other place in Arizona.

There's a Walmart in Yuma not too far from where I'm going to be boondocking, so I don't have to buy any groceries before I leave Quartzsite. I already filled up with diesel this morning so I can leave anytime the mood hits me.

The day after New Year's is generally when RVers  start heading towards Quartzsite. They like to spend the holidays with their family and then head towards Quartzsite before the Big Show. It usually starts as a trickle, but a week before the Big Show starts the RVers line the roads. So I've always found January is a great time to go places where there is usually too many RVers, because now they will all be in Quartzsite.

Theboondork

These folks are having a professional install there solar panels. I always install my solar panels myself for three reasons, it's cheaper to do it myself, it's very easy to do, if you don't have trouble getting up on the roof, and if I install them myself I know what everything does so I can fix it myself if it breaks.

Volkswagen camper Van. Some people love these things, but personally I can't tell the front from the back so I never know if they're coming or going.

This looks like an ordinary boondocking class "A", but it stuck out to me just as soon as I saw it. The roof is covered front to back, side to side with solar panels.... I LOVE IT!!! It looks like a class "A"  but it's a serious, comfortable, long-term, boondocking machine.

Just goes to show you that you can live small and simple while still being comfortable by having your own shower and, or, bathroom.

I've seen several of these schoolies that have what I figured was a emergency exit on the side. But this one also obviously has an emergency exit door on the back.

Giving that some thought, maybe that side door is some kind of handicap entrance, maybe there's some kind of a lift mechanism behind the door.

I don't know much about schoolies but I do know that almost everyone I see has a chimney sticking out of the roof. Nothing beats a campfire right in the living room.

And last but not least, the Lance boondocking at Scaddan Wash boondocking area, with a few of my neighbors in the background.

With New Year's day fast approaching, I decided to sit it out in Quartzsite and not move down to Yuma until it's over and the power drinkers have sobered up.

There's little going on here in Quartzsite now, but when the New Year's holiday is over, thousands of RVs will start rolling into town to find their favorite boondocking spot.

And speaking of favorite boondocking spots, I think I solved one of the great boondocking mysteries that has baffled me for years. And the mystery is, with all of the available room in some boondocking areas, why do some people boondock right next to me? I always looked at it as my magnetic personality, but how did they know I had a magnetic personality since these strangers had never met me before?

But while sitting here thinking about the days when I used to come to Quartzsite to see the Big Show, I remembered something that had happened back then that I thought was odd but never associated it with other random boondockers parking right next to me.

I was camped in the Scaddan Wash boondocking area and had been so for three or four days when this middle-aged couple pulled up in a fifth wheel and parked right next to the Arctic Fox, close enough that it was like being in an RV Park, even though there was acres of empty space all around me.

They were nice folks, which I found out rather quickly since they were parked so close to me, they were farmers from somewhere in Mid-America, and they came to the Big Show every year. They told me that where they just parked was their favorite spot right next to the big Saguaro cactus with three arms.

Now, in all the places I boondock, there are only a couple where I have a preferred spot. And that preference is based on something important, like, there's no shade to interfere with my solar panels, or I have to face in a certain direction to get the most sun on the panels, but in a big wide open desert, none of that applies, and my boondocking spots are chosen based on its proximity to other people, their barking dogs, and loud generators.

But it just now occurred to me that when I'm whining about some random boondocker driving up and parking right next to me, which I've blogged about in the past, maybe it's because that's where they always park, and that's their favorite spot.

That never would've occurred to me because I always thought that other than parking with a club like Escapees, or friends, I thought boondockers like spread out. But maybe the rut there in follows them everywhere they go, and having that special spot is more important than having some empty space around them.

Theboondork

I woke up before daylight this morning and crawled out the door, looking for predawn pictures to put on the blog. But unfortunately, there were too many thick clouds in the sky to make a pretty sunrise, so I got little for my effort except what you see here.

The weather has been partly cloudy and back to the mid-60s again, so it's not too bad; but I do miss those 70s. The ten-day weather forecast for Yuma, Arizona, looks like there are more days in the 70s than there will be in Quartzsite, so I know I'm going there; I just don't know what day... And If I did know, I wouldn't tell myself because I can't keep a secret.

One of these days, I need to get motivated enough to drive around Quartzsite and take some pictures of some of the different kinds of RVs here. Of course, I don't spend much time in RV parks, but I believe I see more weird and unique RVs while boondocking than I would normally find in an average RV Park.

Now that could be because there are more weird and unique people that boondock than spend time in RV parks. Of course, I feel that we boondockers are exceptional and independent, but judging by some of the RVs I see, in some cases we tend to live in what might be considered strange, odd, peculiar and maybe even bizarre RVs... But one man's bizarre RV, is another man's mansion.

Theboondork

Sunrise picture of I-10 and the East end of Quartzsite. This seems like a lot of traffic for 7 o'clock in the morning. I'm thinking this must be holiday traffic heading for parts unknown. It took a little walking to get this picture, but I've got a flashlight, and its too chilly for sneaky snakes to be slithering around.

I know it's hard to tell, but this is the main street in Quartzsite. Apparently Quartzsite doesn't have as many lights as the strip in Las Vegas.