theboondork's RV blog

I don't think I'll need any reservations for anything this winter

9/10/2023

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Old house trailer In Fairplay Colorado.

There are three family birthdays in September, so the three birthdays were celebrated yesterday and today, even though none of our birthdays are on this weekend... But that's the most convenient way to handle that many birthdays without putting too much stress on the folks having to plan and prepare for that many birthdays in the already very busy month of September.

I had a good time yesterday watching the kid's soccer game. Like I've said before, soccer is not my favorite game; there is just too much running back and forth. But watching the kids was more interesting because it was higher scoring. The kids weren't very good at kicking the ball in the net for a score, and at the same time, the goalie wasn't very good at keeping the kids from kicking the ball in the net. So, all in all, it made for a more interesting game to watch. As for scoring, nobody was sure what the score was, but I heard it was either 5 to 3 or tied at 5 to 5.

Last year, I made a reservation for three days of camping in Gallup, New Mexico, to watch the balloon rally. The year before last, I made a reservation for a few days at the Lost Dutchman State Park in Arizona, which is almost always full. But giving it a lot of thought, I believe I will forgo any reservations this winter.

I know there are many great reasons for making reservations; and in some situations, they're imperative. But I find them too constricting for the way I like to enjoy traveling. Because of my one-track mind, I like to do things when I'm in the mood to do things, and making reservations assumes I'm going to be interested in doing something a couple of months from now when I don't even know exactly what I want to do tomorrow....And I always want the freedom to decide.

So I think I will just let the reservations slide for this winter; I already have plenty of places to boondock in most of the areas I want to go, and in someplace like the Bosque Del Apache where there's no decent boondocking close by, there are still places I can camp without reservations.

So I think this winter will be more of a "decide where to go when I wake up in the morning" kind of winter because I got sorta cold hanging around northern New Mexico waiting for the balloon rally to start last winter, when I could have been in southern Arizona basking in the baking sun.

But who knows? A lot of what I do is based on the weather, and frequently that's unknowable till I wake up in the morning, so I find my life much easier if I can get up in the morning, make a cup of coffee, and sit at my computer on the Internet looking at the local weather, and then make a decision on where I want to be, and what I want to do that day.

Theboondork

My grandson in the back, running after the ball. it seemed like 99% of this game is running after the ball.

At least soccer is teaching my grandson to chase girls.

Hot and tired.

I was out there as long as my grandson was and I wasn't hot and tired at all. It looks like age has taught me not to run for an hour in hot weather. it'll take a while but he'll learn that In about 50 years.

With age comes knowledge.

The safest thing to do in soccer is stay as far away from the ball as possible... Nothing bad happens to the folks that are nowhere near the ball.

8 Comments

OFM

9/10/2023 04:23:42 pm

The last four or five years out west, I started making reservations for state parks in certain areas that were very popular. But I made those reservations only a few days or less in advance once I knew I wanted to go out that way. If they had a spot fine, if not my travels just changed a little bit. Speaking of travels I am really hoping I get to put in some travel time this winter. Be safe and have tooooo much fun.

Tom

9/10/2023 04:37:03 pm

I wouldn't mind making reservations if I could make them a few days ahead of time, I could easily deal with that. But having to make them weeks or months ahead of time just to be able to get into a place.... There's really no place I want to be to put up with that kind of inconvenience anymore.

And its not just camping. I won't stand in line at a restaurant for longer than 10 maybe 15 minutes, I figure my time is worth something, and I can always find another place to eat.

I'm always having toooo much fun Barney, Fun, just like happiness is in the mind, so I have fun at all times, and anywhere I'm at.

Tom

Glen

9/10/2023 06:01:44 pm

My favorite soccer story. The coach of a soccer team had the girls run through mud puddles if it was muddy and wet. The other team's girls ran around the puddles while his ran through them and usually won.

9/10/2023 07:04:34 pm

Good story Glenn, and it makes a lot of sense. If the girls would run through the mud, it probably shows they were dedicated enough to be there and tough to put up with adversity, and that spells winners.

Tom

Larry Worsham

9/11/2023 06:18:38 am

With no reservations you can follow the weather which is preferable to last winter. Our trip in Feb. last year was dictated by reservations (had to get from point A to B at a leisurely pace) and the weather was a constant interruption in plans. Adjustments on the fly were successful but required a lot of effort and subsequent stress. Takes the fun out of RVing.

SAFE TRAVELS!

9/11/2023 08:44:19 am

Larry I think, that "out West" is about the only place that anyone stands a chance of getting a campsite without making reservations weeks ahead of time. But keep in mind that I've been boondocking for so long that any knowledge I have of RV parks is extremely limited and out of date.

But it seems to me that there's so much boondocking going on out West that it takes some of the pressure off the RV parks so they're not quite as busy as RV parks back East or in the South.

As a full-timer, and having already gone to most of the places that RVers are supposed to go, my "plans" are based on where's a good place to boondock that's peaceful, comfortable, not crowded, relative close to groceries and a hardware store, the roads aren't too bad, and if they are at least there short, and what are the picture taking opportunities?

Most places I boondock won't have all of those things, Quartzite for instance nearest Walmart is 35 miles away, but it's got everything else so I can be happy there.

I don't know for sure but I'm suspecting that the weather is going to be even more of a motivator this coming Winter than it was last. And the future weather reports I've looked at appear to be saying that wide swaths of the West will be wetter and colder than normal. That may or may not be true but at least I have to be prepared for whatever happens, and I don't have a whole lot of room to store a bunch of winter clothes in the Lance.

Tom

Linda

9/11/2023 01:30:55 pm

When dealing with a place that requires reservations, I have been known to call about noon and make a reservation for that night. Places that require reservations far in advance tend to have last minute cancellations; I took advantage of those.

9/11/2023 02:15:52 pm

Ever since Colorado State Parks went to reservation only a couple of years ago, what few times I've camped at a Colorado State Park I have called while sitting at the State Park and made a reservation the day I needed to camp.... Thanks a bunch, Colorado for forcing me to make a reservation in a half-empty State Park and allowing Reserve America to charge me an extra five dollars for a reservation that I didn't even need to make.... Sorry about that Linda, every time I think of what's going on in Colorado nowadays it makes me mad, and then it breaks my heart.

But I haven't had to do that very often because to me the Colorado State Parks are so overpriced I don't want to stay at them, especially since there's lots of beautiful public land to stay on in Colorado for free.... At least for now.

Timing is everything; the biggest part of life is just showing up, and that especially applies to campground reservations. Instead of trying to beat the reservation system, I'm trying to just ignore it if at all possible and stay in places where reservations aren't required. Yes, I realize eventually I'll end up with no place to stay except "Q".... But hey, there are worse places in the world to stay.

Tom

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I don't think I'll need any reservations for anything this winter

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