North, it is

I chose to head toward Parker, AZ.  The closest from where I was.  I'm actually in Big River, CA.  Yikes!  CA! 

This is BLM land, and so far, pretty quiet.  There is another camping area, Shea Road BLM site.  This sounds to me like Thanksgiving at Ehrenberg, at least according to one of my neighbors. 

Glad I came here. 

North, South or East?

Now that Christmas is over and New Year's Eve holiday weekend, the partiers are starting to move in.  Add to that the RUMOR that the BLM is going to start handing out tickets, I'm getting my stuff ready to leave. 

The closest easiest place to go is Parker, AZ; about 45 miles North of here.  I would like to spend New Year's Eve somewhere I don't have to contend with idiots on 4-wheel ATV's.
The Walmart in Parker allows overnight stays.  I'm thinking about staying there New Year's Eve.  It won't be quiet, but that's ok. 

I could go East in the general direction of Show Low, but it's pretty cold at night there.
I would like to at least walk the property before I buy it!  :)

Then there's Yuma.  South ... it's about 10 degrees warmer there, and there are plenty of places to camp, and 4 Walmarts, 2 Home Depots, a Lowes and a Harbor Freight.  A boondockers dream.  Now if you're one of those boondockers who wants to be as far away from the things of man as you can get... No, it's not.  But it's Southern AZ.  There are many many places that are "Miles from Nowhere".... Lots of choices.  Especially if you like the heat. 

Merry Christmas

I wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas. I would like to say "Happy Birthday" to my Lord Jesus. Thanks for taking what Luci Shaw called "The Risk of Birth".

I hope we all find a way to be a real blessing to someone else today. I think that would be a nice birthday present for He whose birthday we're celebrating.

Love,

Pat

Bob Wells and his followers

First, I'd like to emphasize I have nothing at all negative to say about Bob.  Especially in this post.

This post is about some of his followers here in Ehrenberg, AZ.  There are all kinds of rumors flying about.

To provide some background, in the past, the BLM has had a history of not being very strict about enforcing the 14-day limit...  this limit  applies to almost all federal land where dispersed camping is allowed.  This has has been a poorly-kept secret . Bob even posted a video from this January's Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR) where a BLM ranger says so.

Now to the current slice of time:  This area, and Bob's forum, are abuzz  with stories of the BLM "cracking down" and kicking us all out.  Supposedly they stopped and told many people they had 14 days starting at that time (this Tuesday, 12/19/17)  .

This has been attributed to all kinds of things.  The theory put forth by many was that it was because of trash.  It's a good thing no one believed in human sacrifice; it could have been time to burn a witch!  Boy, those darn Middle Ages!

Even though I'm no longer a member of the forum, it is still readable.  For everybody.  What I noticed was a distinct lack of anyone who had actually talked to a BLM ranger.

So....
I went out in my truck yesterday and actually talked to people who were camped right on the main road, asking them if they had been told to leave. I talked to 5 or 6 people before I found the ONE GUY who had been told to leave. He even admitted it was probably because he got a little snarky with the Rangers. Remind anybody of anybody else??? :) He told me where the story went from there, and that fit in with all of the hysteria on the forum. I'm sometimes still amazed at how people will pass stories on without bothering to check facts.

What really bugs me about this is that many people were blaming Bob.  Most of these people would not even be out here if it wasn't for Bob Wells and his website and YouTube channel (CHEAPRVLIVING) ... That includes me.  Listening to him encouraged me to hit the road and live in my 6x12 cargo trailer.  And AT NO TIME, did Bob ever say it would always be Rainbows and Moonbeams.  It's REAL LIFE, there are ups and downs and barriers to overcome.

Land

There's a possibility that I may end up buying a tiny piece of land (1 acre) in the boonies outside of Show Low, AZ.  Two of my friends are in the process of buying some there, and if it works out, there are other lots that I could use.

It's definitely not suburbia, but the price is right and the financing is trivial, the main thing would be to have permanent homebase, that I could spend time at if I needed to . 

Who knows?  Not me.

Where's the Wind? I know, you can't SEE IT.

It's been blowing pretty steady for the last week or so.   I heard they even got snow in Texas!

This morning, it seems like the wind is taking a break.  Time to get busy.  I find trying to get any work done outside to be unpleasant.  And since I'm not squatting in a friend's trailer, I feel no sense of need to get things done.  But still, I do have things I want to accomplish while I'm here.  And hanging in the trailer because the wind is blowing is not one of them.

I've been collecting gizmo's from K&B Hardware in Quartzsite that make it easy to use electrical conduit to construct things like awnings and canopies.

Picture of the kind of thing I'm using

I plan to start putting what I have together today.  It was just harder to do when the wind was blowing.  Of course, now I'll have to wait till the next big winds to see if I did a good job of setting them up.

I'm confident I won't have to wait too long!  :)

Me on YouTube babbling about Fringe Dwelling

Those of us who live on the road, especially full-timers, are people I call "fringe dwellers".
We live on the fringes of what is considered "normal" middle-class living in America. Most of us are NOT homeless , we tow our home around with us.  Some of us have brick and mortar homes and apartments where we maintain a living space and /or permanent residency.

But we love the freedom of living on the road.

"What are you going to do today?"

"Huh... I'm not sure.  I'll let you know what I did today tomorrow".

So, here's me babbling on the first YouTube video I've posted in a while.

Me on YouTube