Giving Thanks For Our Independence

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Thanksgiving has traditionally been a time that we spent with our families. Being so far away from them is especially hard during the holidays for me. Holidays are just not the same without them! We celebrate Thanksgiving a little different since we began traveling. The holiday is more then a day for giving thanks. It is now our Independence Day.  We left on our journey on Thanksgiving Day 2008.  Since then we have gained the amazing independence from the daily grind that we were originally looking for. It's true that freedom isn't free, but we find it to be very inexpensive. Our balance of work and play is still a little off balance. Even though play completely out weighs work our needs are met and exceeded.There is so much to be thankful for.

So today I'm thinking of my gratefulness towards our life together and our lifestyle. We're thankful for our family and friends' encouragement.  Thankful to be in good health and good spirits. Thankful that we are on our road to independence. Thankful that we made a drastic change.

I've posted this short essay a few time since I wrote it.This summer being the most recent. Since today is also our Independence Day I found it fitting to share it again. <>Nicole<>

October 13, 2008 
 
 We are about to embark on a journey. A journey of soul searching, of adventure, of uncertainties. There are some people in our lives who do not understand. Actually “some” is an understatement. Most people do not understand. They seem excited for us. They ask questions, and seem interested, but they think we are “crazy.” I guess living in an RV, and working seasonally is risky to some. We’ve had a hard time easing our fears, and accepting that we are making the right decision for our life. Well, that was until last week. I was always told that sometimes people come into your life to show you the way. I never fully believed it until we met Jack.

After months of searching for an RV, we began to be discouraged. It seemed like we would never find what we were looking for. Out of the blue a friend that we hadn’t talked to in a long time called and told us about an ad in a newspaper that we rarely read. This ad not only led us to our new home, but let us know that we are on the right path. The worries that we were making a big mistake were eased when we met Jack.

Jack and his wife were like most Americans. They worked good jobs, lived in the suburbs, raised a family, and dreamed of a life of traveling during retirement. They saved and sacrificed thought their adulthood for their “golden years.” Well, life doesn’t always work the way you plan it to. Jack’s wife got sick, and died a year after buying the RV. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jack himself was diagnosed with cancer a year after her death. He kept the RV for a couple of years, hoping for a recovery. I started to tear up when he told us that a recovery wasn’t going to be possible. Life’s plan had failed him.

I know some of you may be thinking, “wow a blog about buying a dieing man’s RV”. Jack has given us something very special. After telling us his horrible story, he looks my husband in the eyes and simply says, “Don’t wait. Don’t wait for the future. The future doesn’t always turn out the way you want it to.”

Right then we knew we were making the right choice. 

TV and LED Light Woes

After replacing our TV antenna's booster last winter we have been able to receive broadcast TV while in Quartzsite. Last year it was only a couple of channels that came and went. Boy was I surprised this year when the first scan of the airwaves revealed 20 channels, most in HD. My delight quickly turned to sadness as each night more then half of these new channels disappeared. As soon as it got dark each night these channels just would not come in. They would work fine all day, dark outside nothing......

StarLight LED Light

The funny thing is that by chance we discovered last night that the TV channels disappeared due to our StarLight Revolution LED Bulbs. When the lights are on we loose all TV signal. Turn the light off and a great picture comes right back. Since we purchased the light bulbs and the new booster at the same time our problems last year could have been from the lights also. It seems these lights are prone to causing interference with TV and radio signals. Of course I only learned this after researching the connection between our lights and loosing all TV signals when they are on. There is a way to fix the problem, but I think I'd rather find another brand of LED light that doesn't cause the interference for future purchases.

LED lights are still the way to go in my opinion. We won't be replacing these until they fail. Luckily, we didn't replace all of the light bulbs in our travel trailer yet. We were planning to before we leave Quartzsite this spring. Anyone have any suggestions? Hopefully we will find another brand of LED bulb to use.<>Nicole<>

Quartzsite 2012

When the RV park isn't full we can see Q Mountain.

The winter of 2011-2012 that is. We made it to Quartzsite this week, and are busy getting everything all set up. Ryan has already started working. It looks like I'll have another week off or so before my time comes. To bad LOL! So far we have only noticed small changes here in Quartzsite. The town politics were very heated over the summer. I was expecting more of the political craziness of last winter, but it looks like things have settled down. The library now considers DVDs with two disks to be two separate movies. I wondered how long it would take them to catch on. There are beautiful new signs when you enter town that say Quartzsite. Oh yeah at the laundromat/restaurant now serves dinner. I'm not recommending it though.

Quartzsite, AZ has become our semi-permanent home. We have spent all of our winters while on the road here. This will be winter number four. Why? The truth is we like it here. It's dusty, windy and barren enough for us to enjoy our time here. Just kidding, I don't like the dust, but this is a great place for us.

We usually arrive just before Thanksgiving and leave sometime in April. Since we know we are going to come back each winter, we bought a storage shed last winter. It sits on our little annually rented RV lot waiting for our return. In the past we always rented a storage unit during the winter so the bed of the truck (our rolling storage unit) could be empty for other uses. Since we usually pay for storage anyway, I'm happy to report that the shed payed for itself last winter.  This piece of personal property, and our continued migration to the same place, means that we have officially graduated into the realm of being snowbirds. My feelings on this change as often as the wind. Sometimes returning to the same destination each year seems to defeat our plan for full time RV living and traveling. Other times I enjoy the fact that we are able to wander and then return to something familiar.

We double our space in an hour. Quartzsite Nov 2011

Since we are pretty sure that we will spend next winter in Quartzsite also, we purchased a free standing sun awning. Our travel trailer originally came with the standard on-board type awning, but it met its' demise soon after purchase. Since then we have simply done without. Most of the time an awning is just not necessary for us. We've never had a sun issue yet that made us really wish we had one. Well that is if you don't count every winter while in Quartzsite. The sun here is brutal and bright even in the winter. The winds and blowing dirt can be even worse. We stay in a wide open gravel parking lot type RV park while here. Without proper shade we haven't had an area outside to relax during the day. We decided no more of that and built a free standing awning with side walls. We chose to do it this way verse a RV mounted awning because of price and that we wanted to be able to leave it here. In the future it can be fashioned into a vending tent for use at special events. (That is if we ever vend at any.) Planning and building were very easy. We finished the principle frame with roof in 30 minutes. The walls took closer to 45 minuets because the tarps were slightly to big.

Our front door for the next six months. Quartzsite Nov 2011

Awnings of this fashion are very popular here in Quartzsite. We bought everything we needed at K&B here in town. I'm sure it would have been slightly cheaper if we would have bought the supplies in Las Vegas while we where there, but oh well. Most of the vendors are just getting to town. As of yesterday, Tyson Wells and Rice Ranch are still ghost towns. I haven't been down Main St towards the Main Event yet, but I'm sure it's the same. Old timers talk of a Quartzsite where the markets where busy in October and folks stayed all season. Doesn't seem to be that way anymore. The RV Show in the big tent doesn't start until Jan. 21, so I'm not expecting huge crowds until the week before. I'm looking forward to January, as we have some friends coming into town. Though I wish they were arriving sooner, they will be here during the Rubber Tramp Renezvous 2012.  Lots of fun stuff coming in January! I know we will be working a whole ton yet again this year. Hopefully we still get to spend sometime with our buddies. It's funny that even in a seasonal traveling lifestyle we still have to worry about having the time<>Nicole<>

Walker Lake and Mina Rockhounding

Here's a old post that I thought had already been posted. I was wrong! Turns out I never actually sent it to press. Oh well. Just a month late!<>Nicole<>

Walker Lake 10-2011

October 16- We’ve just been moving right along exploring south western Nevada. We left Walker Lake on the 13th after spending five great nights there. We stayed there this past spring and found it to be most pleasant. We camped at Tamarack Beach both times. Our second visit was even better. With the addition of a Sea Eagle inflatable kayak to our ever-growing list of possessions, we were able to explore the lake this time around. Most of the days that we stayed at Walker Lake were sunny with little wind. Perfect for pattelling a big lake like this! We visited the Mineral County Museum and went grocery shopping in Hawthorne the couple of days the lake was choppy. Overall, we had a nice relaxing stay. I even used the lake as a great backdrop for photographing 20 or so pieces of jewelry that I made. I have actually been waiting for a few weeks for somewhere to photography the jewelry outside. Our campsite along the lake proved to be just the right spot.

After leaving Walker Lake, we headed only 45 minutes south to Mina. Mina is a tiny town along Hwy 95 that has very limited services. There is a small gas station, a couple of restaurants, and access to a large fossil field. We stopped in this area for a couple of nights last spring also. Rockhounding was our main activity during both visits. Dunlap Canyon is located just east of town and has a seemingly limitless amount of sea fossils. We spent three days searching for fossils in the Mina area. We found a few nice shells and plant stems. Just a warning if you go to this site to rockhound- Bones from vertebrates can occasionally be found here. It is illegal to collect anything from a vertebrate including fish, tracks and prints. We didn’t find any bones or fish. Just tons of shells and plant parts. We don’t really have a use for fossils besides as part of our collection, which we don’t really have room to start. Most rocks and minerals we collect are collected with the intent to make something out of them eventually. Fossils don’t work to well for jewelry or bookends. At least not the ones we found.

To reach Dunlap Canyon take Dump Rd (a well graded gravel road just north of town on Hwy 95) east of US 95 for approximately two miles. Turn right on a unmarked dirt road that is called Dunlap Canyon Road on some maps.  Follow this road for 3 miles to the begging of the collecting site. Fossils can be found in the blue-gray limestone of the hills to the south of the road.

The road to the collecting site.

One of the many shells we found in Dunlap Canyon.

Chalcedony

 

 

Fossilized coral from Dunlap Canyon.

Leaving Las Vegas

We're just getting loaded up to finally leave Las Vegas. We originally planned to only stay until Monday. I guess we've been having a bit of fun, and finally will be leave today. Our start date for work in Quartzsite is the 19th. Needless to say we still have a little time to kill. Since this will be our fourth winter in Q there is no need to hurry down. Not sure where we'll stop tonight. Luckily we've made this trip a bunch, and have a couple of spots to hold over. This is gonna be a short one (post). I'm suppose to be packing up! Shhhhhhhh Below is a extremly short video of a little fish watching the source of Blue Point Spring in Lake Mead NRA.<>Nicole<>

Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park October 2011

During the last few weeks all we've been doing is soaking, kayaking, and hiking to petroglyphs. We decided to change our travel plans due to weather, and head south soon then originally planned. We eventually made it to Stewarts Point on Lake Mead. We'll be leaving here tomorrow for Las Vegas, and then on to Quartzsite.

On Halloween we visited Valley of Fire State Park. The majority of our time was spent exploring the red rock for rock art. Off the beaten path tons of terrific petroglyphs can be found. Visitation was light when we arrived early Monday morning, so we were able to accomplish everything we set out to in a short amount of time. I'm just going to share a few of the pictures with you. The rest can be found in our photo albums. Valley of Fire is very close to Las Vegas, and a beautiful place to take a hike if you are in the area. <>Nicole<>

Valley of Fire NV 10-31-2011

Crystal Wash & Mount Irish Petroglyphs

Mount Irish Rock Art

The area around Ash Springs is full of Native American archeological sites. In a previous post I shared some pictures from the Ash Springs Petroglyph Site. We also visited Mount Irish Rock Art Sites and Crystal Wash Rock Art Site. while we were in the area. I uploaded pictures of both of the later petroglyph sites into our albums. Most of the pictures did not turn out very well. Petroglyphs can be hussy to photograph. Some can only be seen in bright light or not in bright light. Guess we were at these sites at a weird time of day.<>Nicole<>

Crystal Wash Petroglyph Site Nevada Mount Irish Petroglyph Site Nevada