Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!


WELCOME to our new Followers!

Cathie, who has been traveling with her husband, Al, in their fiver since July.  His mom, Martha (almost 92) is in a lot of the posts I read, she was she traveling with Al's brother and SIL, what a cutie she is!  Theirs is a new blog, check it out!

Lauren Miller, who is showing no information at all, but I love her Avatar, the rose.  In my rose garden in San Diego, I had that beautiful variety.  I don't know the name of it, but it was beautiful.

Jenny Johnson, who also has no information listed.  Sometimes people don't put their blog names down, or don't have one yet.  If you or Lauren have or start blogs, let me know so I can check them out.

Sheila, who has been showing dogs since 1979.  According to her profile, "My Alaskan Malamute, 'Miles', was the dog 'Indiana' in the 'Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'."  That must have been pretty exciting to be a part of!  Sheila said she loves her motor home and hopes to some day be a full-timer.

First night boondocking

Short blog today - I had solar panels and a catalytic heater and some other things installed yesterday, and Katie and I had our first real boondocking experience last night.  We went to Buckeye Hills Recreational Area.

Beautiful sunset along the way

We got there about dusk, and it was dark when I found somewhere to park.  Not having been in one of those kinds of areas before, I wasn't exactly sure how it's done, where to park, etc.  There were no signs, except this one on the way in:


There wasn't a sign of life, no animals, birds, people or RVs.  We drove two miles down some washboard roads, past the police target range, into the desert, and finally saw what looked like camp sites.

The Palms parked at the end of the site driveway

I parked The Palms and walked to the end of the driveway to see what was up there, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a road and that there weren't any big rocks in the way.  All was clear, so I drove in, turned around so we were facing the road, and we were there.  I was a little apprehensive, since I had no idea where we really were, and it was so "out in the middle of nowhere."   

I was looking forward to waking up in the morning to see where we were.  Here's the area in the morning - sorry the photos are so dark, but it was cloudy and the sun was just peeking out:

 View out the kitchen window - the sun is just rising, but it's cloudy.

 View from the truck cab. 

The Palms at Buckeye Hills Recreation Center.
This is about 7:00 am, still kind of dark.

I decided to pack up and leave and head toward the sun.  No point in having solar panels if there's no sun, but that's seems to be a difficult task today.  This whole area, Highway 8 headed toward Yuma, seems to be under cloud cover for today. Sunshine is expected tomorrow, I think.

This is the area as we are driving out

We don't have any Thanksgiving plans this year, just a turkey frozen dinner that I'm looking forward to.  I won't be with my family, but I called everyone this morning, and I'll be thinking about them.   I want to find a place we can hang out for a few days, or longer, to test out our new equipment.  

This year I am thankful for my two wonderful kids and their spouses, Tom and Trish - and - Kristy and Matt, and all my grandchildren - Kennedy, Drew, Gavin, Lauren and Graydin. There just couldn't be a better bunch of kids.  

I'm thankful that I have good health, without which I couldn't be living this life of full-timing and enjoying it so much.

And I am thankful that this Thanksgiving I have The Palms to take me to new, beautiful, exciting places in complete comfort, and Katie to keep me company on the way.  I couldn't ask for much more, but I do, in fact, have a lot more.

From Me and Katie, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  :)

19 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving to you from Lauren and David Miller. We don't have a blog and finally filed in the profile. We enjoy reading your blog and your beautiful photos.

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving Barbara! I hope you get to where you can check out your new boondocking skills! I'm looking forward to reading about it. Scritches to Katie too.

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  3. Happy Thanksgiving! The site where you parked looked beautiful. Looking forward to reading about your boondocking experiences.

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  4. Lots of good boondocking spots near Yuma. You might also want to check out Holtville, CA and the LTVA hot springs boondocking area. The sun never really did shine up here in AJ. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Katie.

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  5. Barbara, I'm so glad to read your post. That is exciting to be off the grid now! It is so encouraging to read of your travels and your independence. You and Katie are incredible.
    --Jool

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  6. I am having so much fun reading about these adventurous ladies traveling in their rv's. So glad I have found you and rvsue. I would never have the guts to do what you are doing.
    Thanks so much for reading my little blog. Wrote it thinking friends and family might be interested in our great adventures, and now I have new friends reading it. So, now I will really have to get my butt in gear and keep it up to date.

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  7. What a beautiful sky to see so early in the morning.
    Must have been exciting....1st boondocking.
    Happy Thanksgiving to you 2.

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  8. I sure enjoy following your blog.
    When you were at the casino parking lot and didn't write for a few days I was worried about you and Katie. The pictures you post are fabulious. Keep it up please, you are living the life I would love to try. I don't have a blog.

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  9. I love your blog. Read it every day. You are doing so great in your new RV life. Your photos are fabulous. A kiss on the nose of the sweet little Katie. Gail

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  10. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Katie!...looked like a great boondocking spot but too bad the weather didn't co-operate!!

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  11. Oh you are far braver than I am. I haven't boondocked yet where there was absolutley noone around.

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  12. You might want to try Senators Wash about 20 miles north of Yuma on BLM. They have good water and dump station. Interesting community there during the winter months. They even put out a newsletter.

    Happy Thanksgiving

    Jim

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  13. Happy Thanksgiving Barbara and Katie. If you make it as far as Borrego Springs, CA, there are LOTS of wonderful boondocking just off the Hwy between Salton Sea and Borrego Springs. We were there today just looking around and we loved it. Lots of sunshine too. I'll post my pictures tomorrow.

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  14. You sure are a gutsy lady! Good for you. Happy Thanksgiving to you and I hope your dinner was tasty.

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  15. Happy Thanksgiving Barbara and Katie.
    Can't wait to read how long your batteries last now. I think the entire State was under clouds today but it sure was a nice mild day.

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  16. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Katie! Thanks for the warm welcome. Yes, it does seem like we have similar stories. I love what you have done with The Palms ...I really love my little kitchen in the back too...love baking in it! Glad you got your solar all set up. Enjoy your new boondocking experience in The Palms. We can't wait to hear how it all works and to see the beautiful places you find.

    Have fun and be safe, Sandy

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  17. Barbara..You are so right!..My dad was with us every step of the way yesterday!..We had an awesome day.

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  18. Hope you and Katie enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving Day...we certainly did. That's a great idea to find some sunshine. We did yesterday, for sure. You would enjoy the area around there where we were. We're going to be in Yuma for a Gypsy Journal RV Rally with Nick Russell in March. We are looking forward to that. Keep warm, and give Katie a big smooch for us!

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  19. Sounds like the solar install is complete. Hope you took a bunch of photos of the installation and the final setup. Looking forward to hearing how it went and how your system is working.

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