2003 – 04 . . . Second Leg - into 2004

Here it is well into the New Year and our travel journal entries have been minimal. This year's travels are very different from past years. We've visited many of the same places but our attitudes seem to be different and we perceive things somewhat differently. We seem to be seeking a "comfort zone" rather than adventures.

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Las Vegas spelled our last stay in an RV Park. Yes, RV Parks are nice and usually have all the amenities . . . BUT . . . and I'm not entirely sure what the . . . BUT . . . might be, except that being in an RV Park was not the "comfort zone" we were looking for. We stopped at Laughlin for a couple of nights but that wasn't it either so we moved down to AVI (south of Laughlin) where we had been last year and the year before.

Actually, this was starting to feel a little more congenial - there is a spirit we had missed in the other places we stayed. The daily morning coffee parade (I call it) where folks take their coffee, walk around, meet up with whoever else have joined the parade. They stand (or sit) around talking, comparing RV's, various systems, talk about places they have been, what they had done, what there was to do and on and on. Often the players change, but the daily ritual is repeated and repeated.

Sometimes you get to know people you may never see again, other times the relationships may last a few days or even into weeks and still other relationships extend over years. Because of the encouragement to use the free RV parking area and the location, AVI tends to be a stop off and meeting place for RV travellers going south, north, east or west. We managed to re-connect with people we have met over the past few years, find out where and how others are as well as meet new travelling friends.

We travelled down to Quartzsite with a couple who were on their way to Mexico, spent a wonderful evening with them at the Hi Jolly short term BLM (free for the allowable two weeks), just north of Quartzsite, AZ.

The next day they were off but we have stayed in contact with them. It wouldn't surprise me if we meet up with them again - this year - or maybe next year.

As we bid them farewell and good travelling, who should show up but a fellow who had been at AVI and then another. The first fellow is a Harley guy, a big hulk of a man, travelling on his own in a mid sized motorhome with his Harley in a utility trailer he towed behind. He and Fred worked on his latest acquired toy - a little gas scooter. (Please note Fred's new look)

The other fellow travelled in a small Toyota motorhome and had decided that everything was a conspiracy and everyone was out to get him. Every window in his motorhome was covered over and he actually had a security system for protection - we never did find out protection from what, although judging from his conversation, it was probably everything.

It takes a unique type of person to choose to park and spend time in the desert. The only common variable seems to be a spirit of independence and individuality and an aversion to imposed structure and timelines.

Their living spaces vary from monstrous motorhomes towing all different types of vehicles to 5th wheels, travel trailers and even tent trailers (it's interesting to see just how many different types of RVs travel the roads)

Each unit seems to carve out its own space in the desert and make it a home. Many surround their space with rocks and stones gleaned from a nearby wash (small gully created by water when - and if - it rains), others actually decorate their spaces, some with signs, others with ornaments and small fences

A number of years ago, someone laid the figure of Kokopelli in rocks behind our space at La Posa North. We didn't even know it was there until one of our neighbours pointed it out to us. I had no idea what it was so it became my research project.* I like him! He's kind of a neat fellow!

* Ko-ko-pel-li (ko ko pel' le)  Hopi "kokopilau" (koko = wood, pilau = hump) the humpbacked Flute Player, mythical Hopi symbol of fertility, replenishment, music, dance, and mischief. Found painted and carved on rock walls and boulders throughout this region, Kokopelli is one of the most intriguing and widespread images to have survived from ancient Anasazi Indian mythology. The figure represents a mischievous trickster or the Minstrel, spirit of music. Kokopelli is distinguished by his dancing pose, a hunchback and flute. His whimsical nature, charitable deeds, and vital spirit give him a prominent position in Native American mysticism. Kokopelli is considered a symbol of fertility who brought well-being to the people, assuring success in hunting, planting and growing crops, and human conception. His "hump" was often considered a bag of gifts, a sack carrying the seeds of plants and flowers he would scatter every spring. Warming the earth by playing his flute and singing songs, Kokopelli would melt the winter snow and create rain, ensuring a good harvest. Kokopelli often displayed a long phallus, symbolizing the fertile seeds of human reproduction.

Before we left, I enlarged Kokopelli's hump - after all, that is where he carries all his gifts!

The level of interaction depends on what you want. Some people spend a good part of their time visiting, others get involved taking courses or volunteering in the local community and still others choose total isolation . . . individual preferences are appreciated and respected.

We spend some of our time with a couple we met at Tombstone Territories last year including a food-filled, quiet Christmas with them at their RV park. We thought about moving into the RV park and then remembered why we didn't want to be in an RV park in the first place.

A couple from Alberta we met last year (around Why, AZ, after we left Mexico) found us, suggested we join them at another BLM area (La Posa North). They were very comfortable there and thought we might be as well. We moved from Hi Jolly to La Posa North BLM (just from one side of Quartzsite to the other), just in time to share a wonderful New Year's eve gathering with our new neighbours.

The BML offers no hook-ups and few amenities (but then the cost is minimal - $140 for 7 months or $30 for two weeks) and we are with a small group (mostly Canadian). some of these folks have been coming and parking here for years. The challenge is to make sure that you have enough water and power and used water storage space (holding tanks) to enjoy living a rather uncomplicated life with few rules or demands and yet enough of the amenities to be comfortable.

Our space is on the other side of the wash from State Highway 95. We have folks from Ontario on either side of us, Albertans further down the way and people from the Yukon across the wash. The Ontario crowd generally light a bonfire every evening and often people gather to compare notes, get information or just gabble about the days events or happenings coming up. We are close enough to walk to get groceries, visit the Big Tent or wander through some of the flea-market sites.

While we've had the solar system since we bought the 5th wheel and we got more efficient batteries last year, as well as the generator, we still had no way to empty the holding tanks and get fresh water other than actually moving the trailer to a place to dump and fill. The consequence of that was we moved fairly often and we didn't put up the add a room when we were dry camping (boon-docking). We really wanted to get the room on so, at first the RVs around us helped out by using their hauling systems to help us dump and fill without moving the 5th wheel. While this was great of them, it would be nice not to depend on others.

Now, we know Fred is a problem-solving type of a guy, but I didn't realize that ALL the fellows around here thrive on solving everyone else's' problems, as well as their own. Long story short, we now have a dumping system (a container strapped onto a dolly that is welded to a frame that fits into the hitch they built) and Fred picked up a very inexpensive plastic water barrel and we can fill and dump whenever we want.

There are a couple of travel companies here is Quartzsite that offer great tours, very reasonable (trip up on the bus, overnight accommodations and buffets for $5-$10.00 each) so we have toured up to Laughlin a few times. Doing that affords us a nice break and the opportunity to charge up both ourselves and all our electrical paraphalia that needs charging. It also gives us the chance to up load the web page and surf the internet for a while. We found out a lot about wireless interaction connections that we may be able to access, but that's a next year thing.

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The Phenomenon of Quartzsite

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The phenomenon of Quartzsite is not only the size and expanse of the Swap Meet, it's how fast it happens!!

For example . . . the following pictures were taken from our space on January 5th, January the 15th and January 17th just when the first show opened (the RV show).

Many associations, organizations and just people use Quartzsite at this time to have rallies, get togethers or just meet. It's hard to find your way around the desert and easy to get lost, so at almost every possible intersection on the BLM, you see markers and directional signs. And the traffic is unbelievable for the entire two week from the opening of the first show.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management - that manages all the dry camping public lands) estimate there will be 1.5 million visitors staying on the 8 public camping areas in and around Quartzsite PLUS there must be over a dozen private RV parks in and around Quartzsite PLUS the regular mobile home parks that also have overnight and short-term accommodations. Word has it that there will be about 2.5 visitors over the two months.

Quartzsite is a small town (maybe 1000 - 2000 people) at the junction of Interstate 10 and Arizona 95 that, somehow, has become known for huge-monstrous Swap Meets (shows and flea markets) that go on throughout January and February every year.

From March to December, it's a quiet, nondescript collection of

buildings and mobile home parks (it resembles a ghost town that never quit made it) sitting semi-deserted in the desert. Come November, the Snow-birds slowly start to arrive and the town begins to take on a whole new life of its own. RV parks start to open up, associations start planning their activities and a few venders' tents pop up here and there. December brings another influx of people and venders' tents but after the New Year, the place literally grows like weeds in an untended garden.

There are about five different market areas covering over 15 acres to accommodate the venders that come into Quartzsite during January and February. The original shows were rock and gems - you see hundreds of 45 gal. drums full of various types of rocks as well as other rocks and gems in various stages - some raw, some just cut, some cut and polished, some made into ornaments and jewellery. Some of the venders stay throughout the entire winter, while others come and go. There are literally hundreds of venders selling almost anything you could possibly think of.

The biggest show is the BIG TENT that covers over an acre and the show, itself, changes throughout the two months. They say it would cover the area of three football fields. I tried to capture the contrast between the empty field (January 5th), when they were setting it up and, finally, when it was all set up!

Yes, you do need to be a unique type of person to spend this much time boon docking in the desert. And Quartzsite phenomenon is something to be experienced ONCE!

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2003 – 04 . . . First 2003 Entry - Getting Back to Our Lives

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Well, my proposed two year sabbatical has come to an end. A lot of my anxiety about "being bored" has subsided and the yearly summer projects have helped me remember why I wanted to take the time in the first place. Certainly my attitude has changed for this, our third year out. Our travels ARE our chosen lifestyle. The fifth wheel feels like HOME and when we are not home, we stay in the Condo.

Our Summer 2003 was a rather not travelling summer. Again, we went to the RV Lifestyle Seminar in Kelowna but this time we were able to present a session (Relationships on the Road) following some interesting research over last winter. We always gain useful information there and manage to reconnect, as well as, meet new friends.

Our plan was to spend time up in the mountains . . . BUT . . . with all the fires, we got "invited out" the last week in July and the only other trip we took was to revisit Writing-on-Stone with Lifestyle Seminar friends to collect more petroglyph information and check out the old grain elevators that are quickly vanishing.

I did work on my "Manoeuvring the Career Lattice" E-manual and thought it was ready to go, only to realise (with help from my friends) that it really was just a hard copy version that could be downloaded and worked on the computer . . . so . . . scrap that . . . the next challenge is to make it a REAL interactive e-manual. There goes that learning curve again . . . JavaScript, Compiling an e-Book . . . and on it goes!! Fred spent most of the summer collecting all kinds of information for our next travel adventures.

firstep Human Resource Services officially suspended operations on July 31, 2003 and the work I've done has been on my own. My CPP kicked in August and we will continue this life as long as we can . . . as long as health and money permits.

We left later this year (and later than we should have) with the thought that we could extend our time in the spring . . . the weather was not co-operative!! Storms and cold before we left . . . cold travelling . . . all kinds of cold records set . . . COLDEST NIGHT IN HISTORY for that date in Dillon, Montana on November 6th.

Learned things:
1. Never wait til November to leave
2. Never pay attention to past weather statistics
3. Check the batteries in the camera before we leave.

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Revisiting Zion

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Somehow, Zion keeps calling us back. It is so spectacular and looks entirely different this time of year. Some of the leaves were just turning . . . yellows and reds against all the colour in the rocks . . . the shapes and the textures! WOW! There is no shuttle this time of year, so we were able to wander around on our own through the Canyon and over into the Kolob area (north west corner of Zion National Park).

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Virgin River

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We moved onto Virgin River Recreation area which is actually in Arizona (Arizona juts out in between Utah and Nevada for about 30 miles) and stayed there for a couple of days. We set up overlooking the Virgin River and our view was an incredible red streaked rock formation interspersed with cactus and desert brush - some that were still hanging onto their flowers. We made friends with this tiny, little chipmunk with a short fluffy tail (he loved the corn flakes we fed him and he was quite brazen about coming back for more) and the resident Road Runner who didn't seem to mind us invading his space and loved little bits of hamburger.

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Into Nevada

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And then there is Mesquite, NV. We stayed on the dry camping area at the Virgin River Casino and met some neat folks, as well as, a couple who actually live there. What, this is the third year I have tried to understand why we prefer the dry camping areas as opposed to the RV Parks and here we go again. Theres no questions "it's mainly because of the people"! It seems the people who stay on the dry camping areas enjoy socializing, helping and getting to know each other while the folks in the RV Parks tend to keep to themselves and stay inside their RV . . . I do enjoy the spirit!! Anyway, the food is good and cheap ($4.95 for Prime Rib) but it is loud, bright and noisy, so it was nice to leave, besides which we were starting to lose. We did manage to get out of there (three days including food) for about $3.00.

A couple of decades ago, Mesquite was nothing but a quiet little town just into Nevada. It had maybe one small casino. Today it's busy and bustling with four large casinos & hotels and more on the way. It seems to be a good stopping off place for folks coming from the north - the weather is usually very agreeable and a good place to warm up.

We missed the Valley of Fire again because the truck developed quite a vibration and we wanted to get to a place where we could get service, if we had to . . . so . . . onto visit with friends in Las Vegas. You know . . . it is almost impossible to NOT visit Casinos in Las Vegas. We stayed over the American Thanksgiving week-end and I absolutely shutter at the extreme commercialization - after Thanksgiving Day shopping push to start buying presents for Xmas. I get the image of the "hawkers" we have encountered in Central America and Indonesia. Here we have hawking, American-style . . . bombardment via radio, television, billboards, people handing things out on the streets, and on and on and on. Mind you, there are also some wonderful decorations like at the Bellagio.

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We'll be carrying on southward come in the next couple of days. I wanted to get this page uploaded while we have good access to the Internet!

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2002 – 03 . . . Episode 10 - Zion, at Last!!

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Zion National Park has a special significance for us. It was over three years ago that we had to forego our return visit to the park to get back to Calgary to start a project that we found out (when we hit the Canadian border) was put on hold!! It was that happening that set off this great adventure for us. I became overwhelmed with the sense the I just wasn't having fun anymore and needed to do something different!! Not that I didn't like what I was doing but I felt like I was being controlled by situations and circumstances that were beyond my control.

This is when we started getting rid of all our belongings (the stuff we had accumulated over the past 30+ years), put the house up for sale and started planning for a future to bring the fun back into our lives.

Zion is a National Park in Utah north-west of the Grand Canyon. The Virgin River is to Zion Canyon what the Colorado River is to the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon is absolutely awesome . . . Zion Canyon feels more intimate . . .

up-close and personal. Rather than the spectacular view from the rims of the Canyon (like the Grand Canyon), in Zion, you are in the Canyon looking up at the rims.

People actually climb mountains like this . . . straight up! Climbing is one of the favourite activities (No, we didn't try!!) and the hiking trails are everywhere.

When we were first there, we drove the Canyon road and up along the switch back highway towards Mount Carmel as well as the Canyon road. Because of the high volume of traffic, private vehicles are no longer allowed

   

along the Canyon and they have introduced a shuttle bus. The bus takes visitors up through the Canyon making about 10 interesting or scenic stops. At each stop you can get out, explore the area, take a hike or whatever and then catch another shuttle to take you further or back.

Our major hike and exploring was at the Temple of Sinawava, which is the last shuttle stop at the head of the Canyon. It's not a long strenuous hike but so much to see!!

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trail head starts at the narrows . . . then progresses into a marshy area along the river.

 

 

From there you travel along right up close to the rocks.  

Our little friends were there to help guide and entertain us.

Zion . . . our last but definitely not least adventure on this trip! It was everything we hoped it would be.

We happily travelled on back to Canada with only a horrendous wind (around Helena) and rain (Great Fall right into Lethbridge) to contend with.