“Well, it’s a marvelous night for a Moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes.”
-Van Morrison
My terrible neighbor who pulled in in the middle of the night last Friday was joined by his even more terrible relatives on Saturday. There was a young couple with two small girls, both under 6 years old. The girls figured out early on that they could get Cosmo barking by running toward my van and screaming. I put up with it for a couple hours and then as they got braver, and came up to touch my van, I shouted out the window “Hey. Get out of here!” They looked shocked, and within seconds their lower lips pouted out and they ran back to mom and day crying. I waited for mom or dad to come over, but they were smarter than I gave them credit for. The mother did however, “take walks” and nonchalantly, walked by my van, getting closer and closer each time. I don’t think she was baiting me into a confrontation as much as she hoped I’d come out and befriend her. I didn’t do either.
When night fell, they all had flashlights, and the little girls figured out once again if they shined their lights in my van windows, they could get Cosmo to bark. I’d just about had enough of that when the whole family walked past my van, under the guise of “exploring the opposite end of the campsite.”
{Just for context, it is considered extremely rude to get close to any else’s campsite, car, or RV. It is common courtesy whether in a paid campground or a BLM site that if someone is occupying a site, you find another. If it is a large site, which mine was, it is OK to pull in and ask if the person already occupying the spot would mind if you parked at the opposite end. These people didn’t do either. Their even being there was rude; constantly invading my space and being within several feet of my van was over-the-top aggressive.}
As they passed by on the way back to their tent, the girls decided to shine their lights in my bedroom window. I was ready for them. I have what was advertised as “Military Grade Torch Light.” It is an extremely powerful flashlight with a sliding focus that can shine a bright beam on a mountain a mile away. When they shined their light inside my van, I pulled out my light and shined it in the father’s face. He immediately threw a hand in front of his eyes to keep from being blinded but said nothing as they all picked up the pace and hurried back to their tent. The lights went off as soon as they got there and didn’t turn back on for the rest of the night. I guess he got the message of how annoying it is to have a flashlight shined on you.
Fortunately, the couple and daughters left fairly early on Sunday morning. “Pop Pop” continued to pack up and put everything in his van and left. Well, not everything. After he left, Cosmo and I walked past where they had been. They left several souvenirs of their toilet in clear, 5 gallon bags. They had set up a “shower tent” with a bucket inside which they used for privacy when they needed to relieve themselves. Normally, people who do that cover their waste with cocoa coir or potting soil and take it with them to be disposed of properly. These people used each bag one time (I’m guessing. I didn’t really do a thorough inspection but saw that they left 3 bags of piss and shit on the rim of the wash adjacent to their site.) This always makes me so angry. This is government land. The government doesn’t do all that much for us, so when they give such a gracious gift as allowing us to stay in such a beautiful spot, it not only feels very ungrateful to trash it, but also risks losing us the privilege in the future. I was so glad to see them gone.
I once again had the huge space to myself and Cosmo even let out a sigh of relief before bringing his new toy (Thanks Barbara and Lark) to me wanting to go outside and play fetch.
The entire time I’ve been here, fewer than a dozen vehicles have passed by each day. The road is gravel, and two cars can pass in opposite directions, but just barely. It is used only by off-roaders, campers (few) and whoever lives on the ranch at the end of the road. But Sunday afternoon, at 4:30, a lot of cars started passing above me. And then a lot more until there was literally a traffic jam on this back, dirt road. At one point, a large RV was part of the caravan and had to pull over as far as he could to allow a car to pass in the other direction. It brought the line of vehicles to a halt and there was horn honking and fist shaking. Hundreds of cars passed by until they thinned out about 5:30. I still don’t know why. I looked on Google maps to see if I could find a traffic jam but couldn’t find any explanation. I am guessing an accident on I-17 must have caused a detour, but I guess I’ll never know.
Monday was an “inside day” due to high winds. I sat, caught up on e-mails and watched Netflix. But mostly I just looked out the windows and was so glad to see my football field size space empty except for us.
On Tuesday, I had a nice phone conversation with my friend Ginny. She often texts to wish me a happy new moon, or happy full moon, and since Tuesday was not only a full moon and a super moon, but was also a partial lunar eclipse, we felt it appropriate to catch up by voice. It was so nice to talk with her. As the moon rose over the horizon, there was a shadow at the top edge, as if it were wearing a stylish beret. My photography skills have not fully moved into the digital age, so I didn’t get the moon shots I wanted, but I did get some shots of me celebrating the full moon/eclipse.
The weather was nice all week allowing me to shower outside, and I took some time to work on Cosmo’s ever-growing nails with my Dremel. I also moved up from the end of my campsite to the middle, making it much more obvious that the site was occupied and discouraging any weekenders from joining us.
Lessons From The Road: “The cusp” of autumn and spring are reminders to practice both patience and prudence. In the fall, I’m anxious to get south for the winter. In the spring, I’m reluctant to leave. The trick at both times is to pay close attention to the weather forecast (not that it is always accurate.) This time of year, moving south has to come in increments. The weather forecast for here (halfway between Prescott and Phoenix) is for highs in the 70’s this coming week. But south of me, it is still hitting triple digits. And lest I take the cooling here for a signal that it’s time to move, the extended forecast for Phoenix and Quartzsite is triple digits for the next 10 days. I remember last year thinking I could move south in early October, but in reality, had to wait until nearly Halloween to go through (Actually, I go AROUND) Phoenix. My next stop is BLM land just north of Phoenix, and after that I’ll visit the hot springs just west of Phoenix. Neither can happen until Phoenix cools down, at least enough to be safe from the excruciating heat. I’ve seen posts that some of the early snowbirds are already arriving in Quartzsite, where it will reach 107⁰ on Wednesday. I suspect most of them have larger rigs, and adequate solar to run their built-in air conditioning.
And speaking of heat, I talked with Bonnie, my neighbor when I stay in Ehrenberg. She informed me that two people she knows (and who I knew casually) died in Ehrenberg over the summer, due to heat. I’m not sure why they didn’t leave when the temps got up to 120⁰ at times, but staying turned out to be fatal. A good reminder for me not to go south too early and not to leave too late.