“Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
In whatever comes our way
Yeah, darlin’ gonna make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild.”
― Steppenwolf
Monday morning Bonnie was having trouble with her solar system. She brought over a portable solar generator/battery and I charged it for her. A month ago, my solar batteries got more and more depleted each day due to lack of sunshine. It was nice to have enough excess to charge someone else’s batteries for them. When she left I smiled to myself. I love having good neighbors and the ability to “go next door” and ask to borrow a cup of sugar (or a few hundred watts of electricity). She got another neighbor much more versed in solar power to help her trouble-shoot and I headed over to Quartzsite to visit my friend Everett.
When I arrived, he had gone to do laundry but left me coordinates and I found his rig easily. I settled in and we got caught up. Unfortunately, he and his friend were parked very close to the main entrance road to LaPosa South. Even though it is not prime time for the snowbirds to be in Quartzsite yet, there was a constant flow of traffic. The main road has pit toilets and if you aren’t fully self-contained, you must park within 500 feet of a toilet. Thus a lot of car campers and tent-dwellers are set up there and there were generators running all day and all night (even though there is a rule not to run a generator between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.) With the government shut down, there are no rangers to patrol, and I’m not sure if they would be bothered to enforce the no generator rule anyway.
So Tuesday morning, I apologized and told Everett I just didn’t like being so close to a main road, with so much traffic, dust and noise. I think he may have had his feelings hurt, but I knew I would not be happy staying there. So I drove deeper into LaPosa South, up into the Magic Circle and pulled into a spot I’d scouted the last time I was there. But before I got set up, I looked across the wash and saw a huge spot, right next to a walking trail and a bench for the public to use. I drove back down the road and it took me several tries with the roads being so convoluted, but I found the spot and settled in.
Cosmo and I explored a bit. We are on Avenue A- (Avenue A splits in two as one moves farther down the road). I suspect as we leave and come back, snowbirds will gradually move in, but there are LOTS of spots, some designated by a rock outline and a campfire ring, and far down where it dead ends there are some ideal spots. I think when we leave and come back, Avenue A- will be a pretty good bet to try each time.
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Wednesday, I happened to be out adjusting solar panels when a red van pulled in and continued down Ave A-. It parked at the dead end. I saw him leave later in his side by side (It is unusual for a van to be towing anything, let alone an 0ff-road vehicle.) I saw him come back when I was sitting outside and he was gathering rocks into the back of his little off-road truck. I waved and he came over and we talked for nearly an hour. He invited me to come down and visit and later that afternoon, Cosmo and I did just that. He has a very nice set up with a large EZ Up enclosed tent which makes an excellent outdoor room. He built out the van himself. A contractor by trade, it is clear that he has some major carpentry/cabinet-maker skills. The inside is gorgeous. We visited for a while and as I was heading home for dinner, he invited me to come up to his campfire after dark. I did and once again we talked for hours about where we came from, how long on the road, which states we liked best, etc. Typical “Nomad Introductory Talk.” Before I left he said “There is another spot across from me. Someone will surely take it. I’d prefer it be you if you have any interest in moving down here.” So Thursday, I walked down and checked it out. Prime real estate. Matt came out and said, “You coming down?” I said I was if the invitation was still good. We both agreed it was a way to “keep out the riff raff” (present company excluded) by spreading out at the dead end. I set up my tent and when I go back to Ehrenberg, I will leave the tent, a table and chairs and some solar lights so it looks like the whole camp at the dead end is full. He said he’d move his side by side (off roader) over next to the tent. When talking we both laughed about how we are “van snobs.” We love to camp (for the most part) with other van people, and hate when a big rig crowds us in. He said “They have a million-dollar rig that takes up 10 van spaces. If you can afford that you can afford to stay at a campground that is set up for big rigs instead of pulling in on top of a van.” I laughed. How often I’ve said that exact same thing. So together, at least for awhile, we’ll spread out and make it look like a family re-union is happening at the dead end of A-. We’ve both put up a line of solar lights so even someone coming after dark can clearly see the space is occupied.
Here’s a map. The red circle is where we are.
By Saturday, it had become a daily ritual to go visit Matt in the morning. Then we go our separate ways, eat, shower, whatever and often he texts to see if I want to go for a ride. Sometimes he drives us down to dump our trash, other times we go into town to pick up a thing or two. His side-by-side makes it so easy and fun. He mostly stays off the paved roads, and we take “the back way” through washes and up and down steep, windy passes. There is an element of Road Warrior to it, and it makes me feel like I’m a young, wild, hippie again. (Well, I guess I am, except for the young part.) At sunset, he usually builds a fire and I walk over and we sit and talk for hours. It’s been very nice to have a camping buddy again.
This is my campsite at the end of Ave A-. Matt’s site is on the right, mine on the left. Matt has dubbed it “The Compound.” He put solar lights around the perimeter and it is just amazing after dark.
Lessons From The Road: I’m gloating a little this week. I followed through on my promise to not stay in places that don’t make me happy. I was glad to see Everett, but I really didn’t like the spot. He is in a larger rig, with separate bedroom, in the back. I suspect the road noise wasn’t an issue for him. I, on the other hand, dealt with it for one night and knew it wasn’t going to work for me. I’m much happier deeper in, and away from the masses.
My neighbor Matt has a side by side (new term for me). It’s basically a gas-powered golf cart with big tires and 4-wheel drive. He asked if I wanted to go with him for a ride the other evening, just about sunset. We drove out of La Posa South, and crossed the main road into Tyson Wash. There were campers here and there, but it was largely empty. We rode on extremely rugged, single wide roads, up steep hills and around sloping curves. Matt said he’d been off-roading his entire life, and it was noticeable. He drove slowly and deliberately. We went deep into the desert and I discovered parts of the Quartzsite desert I had been unaware of. I enjoyed my adventure so much that my hatred of off-road vehicles changed drastically. I realized it is not the vehicles, but the drivers that irritated me in the past. Matt was cautious and considerate of others on the road, stopping to let an old man walking a dog pass before proceeding slowly down the road. When he drives through the campground, he drives it like a golf cart in a gated community. When we get out in the desert, it’s a bit more of a thrill ride.1
We stopped at an abandoned mine (Quartz mine?) on a hill overlooking town.
It was such a beautiful ride to take at sunset. I’m glad Matt invited me.
When he dropped me off at my van parked in the space adjacent to his, he said to come join him later when he built a campfire. So after dinner, I walked over and we sat and talked until midnight. I mused that campfires are the desert’s truth serum. Strangers can sit in a circle, mesmerized by and focused on the fire, and will often tell their deepest secrets, somehow knowing they will be respected in the stillness of the desert. After 4 hours sharing stories of the past with Matt, it feels like we grew up together and just happened to reconnect.
I’ve managed to change my brain a little this week. I’m getting better at realizing that packing up and tying down is not really a big deal. Somehow, in the past, I’ve managed to make it seem to be such a monumental chore to pull everything back into the van, tie everything down, and put everything away securely. Even if I have my tent set up outside, and my bike off the rack, it takes less than half an hour to pack up and move on. If I know I’m moving the following day, some things can be packed up the night before, making it even easier to move. And I plan on being more mobile this winter. I don’t intend to go far, but I intend to go much more often.