Before I complain too much, I do have to point out that brilliant sun that’s just coming up. The frost melted in about 15 minutes and it’s been warm and beautiful in the afternoons. We even played pickleball yesterday – it was perfect weather for that – sunny,calm, just a little cool.
“…The info you have on your website and in the newsletters has been a great new experience for me. Your easy teaching method and one-on-one help was just
what I have needed for a long time. The tutorial disk and the access to review lots of info when I forget helps too. The “fun” free program like Picasa you introduced me to has let me enjoy my camera more.” Pat
“Thank you again for all the time and expertise you have so generously shared and continue to share with me since we first got together at Peace River not much more than a year ago. With the knowledge and inspiration you passed along, my abilities with a computer have certainly come a long way over that time period. ” Greg
“I want you to know that I really appreciate the newsletters you have been sending. I always learn something from them. I make sure to read your blog and I enjoy the pictures. I also enjoy all your videos. Thank you so much.” Monique
“Thank you for your help, at 73, with only 18 mos. using a computer, I need all the help I can get. You’re the best!” Tom
Life is good. Now, where’s that wine?!
Except my down booties!
I am so glad I kept them. It’s been in the 30s every morning for the last week. I am having dreams of sunny beaches in Florida. If not for my down booties, I wouldn’t get out of bed!
We bought this motorhome in June, 2003. We bought it through eBay! The first thing I ever bought on eBay … my home. It had 53,400 miles on it. So, we’ve traveled almost 47,000 miles in 4.5 years. But, mostly, we’ve lived in it. It’s 30 feet long, 8 feet wide, and has no slides. Some people would say it’s way too small for two people to live in fulltime, but we love it! Still do.
I will admit that, the longer we stay parked, the smaller it seems to get. But, when we’re in travel mode we love that it is small and I love that it is a class C and comfortable to drive. And, I’m certainly fine with the small space to clean – although it sure does get dirty fast.
I’ve gathered pictures from the last 4 years that I think best show what life is like in ‘Oh Boy’ … that’s what we call it because that’s how we feel about living in it! You can see the slide show below, or you can go to the album and peruse at your leisure, including reading the captions.
Edward Abbey wrote a beautiful book called Desert Solitaire about the peace, tranquility, beauty and solitude that living in the desert can bring. He wasn’t talking about Quartzsite!
Lots of RVers come to Quartzsite in the winter, but they don’t come for the solitude! They come for the camaraderie, for the warm (warmer than up north anyway) weather and for the unique environment of boondocking (living off the grid – no hookups) in the desert. One person who boondocks in Quartzsite a lot is Ron Bunge – of HitchItch.com. We’ve communicated with Ron over email a few times, so when we noticed him nearby on the Datastormusers map, we figured we’d try to find him and say Hi.
It wasn’t hard, since he has the Datastorm on his roof – notice also the solar panels tipped towards the sun. He can live like this for months – getting electricity from the sun during the day and filling his battery banks. He sometimes has to supplement that with a generator at night. He can dump his holding tanks using a storage tank in his truck to take it to a nearby dump station, and another tank to fill up with water. He told us that it cost $180 to stay on this BLM land for 6 months!
Here they are, Terry and Ron. We had a very nice chat – and, as always when talking to other RVers, we learned something new. Like, how it is inappropriate to say ‘trailer trash.’ Terry said he much prefers the moniker, ‘RV Debris!’
You gotta love a town with a sense of humor!
And, here’s a long distance view of the boondocking area (all those white specks are RVs) – with the dramatic KOFA (King of Arizona) mountains as a backdrop. Ron tells us there are a lot less people here this year than in years past. Perhaps we’re headed back to Desert Solitaire after all?
Edward Abbey wrote a beautiful book called Desert Solitaire about the peace, tranquility, beauty and solitude that living in the desert can bring. He wasn’t talking about Quartzsite!
Lots of RVers come to Quartzsite in the winter, but they don’t come for the solitude! They come for the camaraderie, for the warm (warmer than up north anyway) weather and for the unique environment of boondocking (living off the grid – no hookups) in the desert. One person who boondocks in Quartzsite a lot is Ron Bunge – of HitchItch.com. We’ve communicated with Ron over email a few times, so when we noticed him nearby on the Datastormusers map, we figured we’d try to find him and say Hi.
It wasn’t hard, since he has the Datastorm on his roof – notice also the solar panels tipped towards the sun. He can live like this for months – getting electricity from the sun during the day and filling his battery banks. He sometimes has to supplement that with a generator at night. He can dump his holding tanks using a storage tank in his truck to take it to a nearby dump station, and another tank to fill up with water. He told us that it cost $180 to stay on this BLM land for 6 months!
Here they are, Terry and Ron. We had a very nice chat – and, as always when talking to other RVers, we learned something new. Like, how it is inappropriate to say ‘trailer trash.’ Terry said he much prefers the moniker, ‘RV Debris!’
You gotta love a town with a sense of humor!
And, here’s a long distance view of the boondocking area (all those white specks are RVs) – with the dramatic KOFA (King of Arizona) mountains as a backdrop. Ron tells us there are a lot less people here this year than in years past. Perhaps we’re headed back to Desert Solitaire after all?
I know, Christmas is still 2 days away, but there’s a brunch planned for Christmas day, and Carol and Dick will be gone. So, the feast was today.
It feels great to be back at ‘The Cabin.’ Over the four years that we’ve been fulltime RVing, we’ve accumulated quite a few home-away-from-home’s. This was our first one.
We were here for Christmas 2004 and 2005. Lynne and John were here those times also. Last year, we were in Florida and Lynne and John were here. This year, they’re in Florida and we’re here. Ah the lifestyle of the bi-coastal homers!
Frankie sets a pretty table!
Odie helps with carving the turkey!
Then we had a gorgeous full moon.
More photos on the web album – just click on any photo above and then scroll around. Merry Christmas everybody!
We put the flannel sheets on the bed yesterday. Just in the nick of time! We woke up to 36 degrees this morning. Flannel sheets, wool blanket and winter quilt, propane furnace and electric space heater, and I’m OK until I have to take Odie for a walk! I’m afraid it’s conservation-be-damned when this Florida girl gets cold!
We’re leaving today to go to Quartzsite for Christmas. Think it will be warmer there?
I’ve been wanting to visit Biosphere 2 ever since my good friend, Chris L. was there in 1992. She visited during the time when people were living in the Biosphere 2 and it was completely sealed.
Only in map-browsing, did I stumble upon the fact that the biosphere is just over an hour away from where we are. We’ve been here several times before, and I never realized it was nearby. Even now, it took the fact that my good friend Liz was visiting Tucson, to get us to make the trip. It has changed ownership a couple times in recent years. It is now part of the University of Arizona, and they’re reviving it as a research facility. It was actually in danger of being bulldozed for a housing development … what a waste that would have been.
It’s an impressive facility.
Here’s Liz and Stan in the rainforest area inside the structure. There’s a salt water ocean and a beach behind them on the lower level.
And, here’s our tour guide explaining the coastal desert region.
There was lots more. The living quarters, the viewing area for under the ocean, and the global warming research findings display. I’m glad we went. What I enjoyed the most is the warm air and humidity! My parched lips just soaked it up … ahhhhhh. Being a Floridian, I just dry up and crack apart in the desert. We walked inside the door to the rainforest area of the Biosphere and I felt at home!
The only problem was that I heard a lot of ‘overwhelm’ talk … “Oh dear, I’m so lost … this is a lot of information to absorb” But, when I told them that I would be cutting down the amount of material for the next class, they said, “Oh no, it was all such good stuff!” Music to my ears. I’m still going to try to cut it down some. I got to thinking about years ago, when I used to teach hands-on classes all the time. We would have a full day class just on Beginning Word Processing. In my current class we spent one session – 2 hours – on that topic. And, years ago, I was teaching office workers – they worked on a computer all the time. These ladies are new to the computer game. The complete outline of the class is on the Geeks on Tour webpage if you want to check it out.
What made it possible was my tutorial videos. Each student received the tutorials on CD and they used headsets to view them on their own computers – then I would give them exercises to work on – allowing them to work somewhat at their own speed. They all brought their own laptops … there were 3 on Vista and 2 on XP! I learned a lot too!
In the end, learning is all about attitude – being open to try new things and willing to take risks. These ladies were shining examples! And guess what? According to Dr. Perls in Living to 100, exercising your brain like that will do the most to add years to your life!
