Tag Archives: travel

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: Colorado River Sunset

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A late afternoon photo from this year’s campsite.

I managed to get an excellent campsite right along the Colorado River backwaters for this year’s December vacation with a friend. I must have arrived within a short while of the previous occupants’ departure — the tire tracks leading out were still fresh when I arrived. This is the site I’d been hoping to get; I can launch my kayak right from the site.

Backwaters Sunset
This is what Sunday’s sunset looked like from our campsite. The body of water is one of the longer backwater channels along the Colorado River; the water level rises and falls with water releases from the Parker Dam 50+ miles upriver.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: The Cold

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I battle a cold while I travel.

There’s not much that’s worse than having a cold when you’re on the road. Having a drippy runny nose and a mild cough when you’re forced to cover hundreds of miles in less than perfect driving conditions. Feeling your nose get raw as you try to soak up all that watery snot with whatever paper products are available. Feeling ever muscle in your body ache when you get out to refuel. Ugh.

That was me on the second day of my trip. The drip started slowly but was in full faucet mode by the time I reached Las Vegas and set up “camp” at the KOA. The only medicine I had was Benadryl and I took it. I got plenty of rest but the cold was worse the next day. I drove with the tissue box beside me.

My first stop in Wickenburg on Thursday was the local CVS pharmacy. That’s where I bought my preferred cold remedy: Alka-Seltzer Plus Day/Night. Plop plop fizz fizz. This stuff calms cold symptoms so I can do what I have to do during the day and sleep like the dead at night.

Plop Plop Fizz Fizz
Armed for cold fighting. CVS also had my very favorite tissues: Puffs with Vicks. I absolutely love the eucalyptus aroma.

And I really did need this stuff. On arrival in Wickenburg, I almost immediately had to set up my jewelry booth at my first show of the season. When I was finished near sunset, I went back to my camper, dosed up, and passed out — which is exactly what I needed to do.

The next day — Friday — my cold peaked. I could tell it had reached its absolute worst point. At one point, I actually fell asleep sitting in my booth. I had enough energy to join my friends for grilled salmon at our campers before repeating my evening ritual. I was dead asleep by 8 PM.

I was over the hump on Saturday with a nasty headache but clear sinuses. Ibuprofen with my daytime dose had me fully functional for the second day of the show. I was even able to make three pendants, including a custom pendant for a customer.

As I type this Sunday morning, I’m back to 90% of what I should be. I’ll continue taking it easy for the next few days to avoid a relapse.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: At the Colorado River Overlook

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I stop at an overlook for a look at the river.

I left Vegas on Thursday morning and started the final leg of the drive to my first destination: Wickenburg, AZ. This meant a lengthy drive down US 93, including a segment that I used to think was the longest, straightest piece of road in the world. (I’ve since driven on longer, straighter pieces of road, including just the day before.) I wasn’t in any big hurry, so when I got to the Colorado River overlook just before the turnoff to Willow Creek, I pulled in for a look.

Colorado River from Overlook
It was a beautiful day and the view down into the gorge to the river was clear.

I remembered all the times I’d flown up the river on my way to Vegas. This stretch had always been my favorite: the canyon narrowing down after the oh-so-boring Lake Mohave basin. The twisting turns, the nearly bare rock walls, the sudden appearance of the Hoover Dam. Things are different now with the bridge appearing before the dam. I remember the first time I overflew it while it was still under construction. My thought was WTF? I didn’t even know the bridge had been planned.

Penny at Viewpoint
Penny reluctantly posed for a photo on the short wall between the parking area and the view beyond.

There were only two other groups there when I arrived. One was a guy in a compact car who was apparently videoing the view with his phone (in portrait mode, of course 🙄). The other was a huge truck bearing two airplane wings and support vehicles for its wide load. The drivers were gathered to chat. Perhaps they were waiting for the rest of the plane? Or taking a break before the long, boring drive ahead?

Got Wings?
Got wings?

Of course, I also took the obligatory shot of my rig parked beside the big truck. I’m really happy with the way it’s working out. The trailer tows like it’s nothing and really helps me keep my living space under control. I think I might add a little air to the truck’s rear air bags the next time I load it up. It’s riding a tiny bit low in the back.

My Rig
Truck, house, and garage. Living small and mobile for the winter.

Snowbirding 2020 Postcards: “Camping” in Las Vegas

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I make my last on-the-grid stop count.

I spent my second night on the road at the Sam’s Town KOA Kampground in Las Vegas. This has become a bit of a tradition for me. Since this is usually the last night I have an opportunity to plug in, get water, and dump my tanks before spending two more more weeks camped out in the desert with friends, I always opt for a full hookup campsite. This particular campground is convenient and usually — but not on this trip — cheap. This time, they hit me up for a very long drive-thru campsite that was a lot bigger than I needed, claiming shorter sites weren’t available. That turned out to be bullshit so I’ll probably look for a different destination on future trips south. $60 is a bit rich for an overnight stop.

I should say up front that I hate KOA-style “camping.” It’s not camping at all. It’s parking with a connection to water, electricity, cable television, and a sewer hookup. The sites are so close together I don’t know why they even bother with the narrow island of dirt and trees between sites that face each other. People who claim to be “camping” at a KOA are deluding themselves.

KOA
Here’s my rig parked between two others at the KOA. My space was over 70 feet long; all I needed was about 40.

But my site was about what I expected and it met my needs. I arrived long before sunset and got a chance to glimpse the sky’s changing colors through the field of RVs around me.

Sunset
As you can see in this photo, the weather cleared that afternoon and evening in Las Vegas. It was nice to see blue sky for the first time since my departure from home.

After taking Penny for a walk — her first since departing Glenns Ferry that morning — I hooked up power, sewer, and water and went in for the night. My nose had begun running earlier in the day and it was becoming apparent that I’d caught a cold. Although I did toy with the idea of going into Sam’s to look at their Holiday light show and maybe get some dinner, I recalled how sick I’d gotten after the last meal I had in their steakhouse. I decided to stay in for the night and was dead asleep before 8 AM.

In the morning, I felt rested but no better. I made and ate breakfast, walked Penny, took a hot shower in the otherwise empty shower building, put on clean clothes, and took my time about packing up. By 8:30 AM, with waste tanks empty and fresh water tank filled, I was ready to hit the road again for the last day of my drive.

Snowbirding 2020: The Big Plan

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I prepare for my annual migration south, this time with a mission.

Posts in this series:
– The Big Plan
– The Drive Plan

This week I’m busy packing for my annual 3-month journey to points south. That means not only packing my truck and camper for the 1200-mile drive to central Arizona, but prepping my new used 12-foot cargo trailer to haul gear and work as my mobile jewelry shop. If I do everything right — and can fit everything I need into my limited storage space — I’ll have a comfortable and productive trip where I can enjoy warm weather and abundant sunshine and get to see a lot of old friends.

Trailer Inside
Here’s the inside of my trailer as I pack it. The drawers will hold materials and tools for making jewelry. The shelves in back are for my display tables, solar panels, and other necessities.

This year is different from other years, though. This year I have a mission — I plan on seeing if I can do well enough selling my jewelry at art shows to continue doing art shows. It’s a sort of make-or-break run at what could be my fourth career.

And no — despite the rumors being spread around by one of my friends (who I really do need to talk to) — I have no intention of giving up flying any time soon. But let’s be real: I can’t fly forever. It would be nice to have another career to fall back on when the time comes that I can’t make a living as a pilot anymore. If you look back, you’ll realize that I set up my flying career long before my writing career faded — and that was a very fortunate thing for me. And I didn’t exactly dive into my writing career before setting the stage during my finance career.

The Shows

So my goal this winter is to see how many shows I can do and how much money I can net doing them.

That said, I applied for ten shows covering a total of 31 days from late November through February. I was accepted to eight of them covering a total of 28 days. Of those, I accepted seven for the same 28 days. (It’s pretty common to apply to multiple shows at the same time in case you don’t get into one; I actually got accepted to two on the same weekend.) Although most of the shows are on weekends, two of them are 10 days each; for one of those shows, I’ll actually be spending 3 days at another show. Sounds confusing? It is. You can see my schedule here.

I also applied for another show in February and two more in March; I haven’t heard whether I’m in or out of any of them. I’m hoping I get the two March shows, which are both in California. It’ll give me an excuse to visit some folks I know there on my way home. If I don’t get them, I’ll apply for another show in Washington, much closer to home.

My two long January shows are weird. They’re in Quartzsite at a venue where vendors camp with their booths. I have a tiny space there to keep my costs low and I’m not quite sure that everything will fit. But the benefit is that I won’t have to move for nearly four weeks and I’ll have a full hookup for my RV that whole time. I don’t expect to sell much there — did I mention that it was a weird venue? — but I’ll be staying near friends and close to where I can stock up on stones and other supplies. Oddly, I like Quartzsite in January.

Tyson Wells and RV Show
Here’s a 2018 drone shot of Tyson Wells and the RV show across the street. I’ll be one of the vendors camped out this year for about four weeks.

Some R&R

Of course, the first half of the trip will have lots of leisure time. Although I may start with a short show in Wickenburg, I’ll be heading out to the River after that. My friend Janet and I camp out there every December and it seems that we’re getting an earlier start every year. I’m hoping to get a good site where we can camp right on the river. My kayak and fishing pole are already packed.

Campsite
This is the campsite Janet and I shared in 2017 — the year I brought my boat with me. We were there just two weeks.

I do have a mid-December show in Phoenix to attend; I’m planning on leaving my rig at the campsite with Janet and spend the weekend at a friend’s place in Gilbert. I might even coax him out to the river for a few days. We’ll see.

And I have to admit that I’m not a 9 to 5 vendor in Quartzsite, either. Although I’m open on weekends, I tend to goof off during the week, going out on photo or shopping trips in the morning and opening my booth around lunchtime. I’m sure Janet and I will play hooky at least once for a trip out to the river, too.

The Tucson Trip

After January in Quartzsite — and another show in Gilbert that I might or might not get into — I’ll go down to Tucson for about a week. I’ve signed up for four jewelry making courses with Vivi Magoo. I’m very interested in learning new things that can expand my capabilities. The classes I signed up for should do that.

I was in Tucson for just three days last year and wound up parking with my camper in casino parking lots at night. This time, I booked a week in a campground in town. I’m looking forward to being able to drop my camper while I take my classes, check out the rock shows that will be all over the city, and maybe do one or two day trips to Saguaro National Monument and the Pima Air Museum.

This is the second vacation portion of my trip, but I plan to keep pretty darn busy.

Finishing Up

The second half of February has me in two weekend-long shows in the Phoenix area. I’ve done both shows before and they were both worthwhile for me.

And that’s all I’ve got booked.

I did apply for two California shows — one in Palm Springs and the other in Borrego Springs. I applied kind of late for the Borrego Spring show last year and didn’t get in. My friend Janet did, however, and since I’d promised her I’d go there with her, we spent a few days before the show hiking among the flowers in a truly amazing superbloom. This year, with luck, we’ll both participate in the show and then I’ll head home up California’s Central Valley.

If I don’t get into either of the California shows, I might make my way home by way of Salt Lake City where I have friends I’d like to visit. Or Reno where I have other friends to visit. I can always find someplace to go or someone to see on my way home.

Prepping for the Trip

So now I’m home with just a few days left to finish packing up for my long trip. I’ll be selling jewelry locally at Pybus Public Market this weekend, so I can’t pack everything yet. But I can pack what I don’t need for that show, which is quite a few things.

Meanwhile, I’m also cleaning my house. My house sitter will be here on Monday and I like to start him off with a sparkling clean place so he rewards me with a sparkling clean place on my return. Whether I return in the beginning of March or the middle of the month depends on whether I get into those two California shows and how much I goof off on my way home. He’s prepared to stay until March month-end if necessary.

And I think that’s what I like most about my life these days. With the exception of about three months in the summer when I’m stuck at home for cherry season, I can make up the rest of the year as I go along. What’s not to like about that?