Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Socializing and visiting with bloggers & new friends~~

We are scattered hither and yon out here in the Anza Borrego Desert's Rockhouse Road/Clark Dry Lake area, all lovers of the boonies and the peace, solitude, and beauty that surrounds us, all with our own little slice of desert pie.  Some park with friends, or gather in groups, while others like their own space.  We take our walks and meet our neighbors, compare stories and adventures from past visits. Many of us follow blogs and are excited to hear of a fellow blogger's visit and get the opportunity to meet them in person.

Scattered hither and yon~

The other day Nina of Wheeling It sent out a message saying she was having a boondockers' gathering at her place for folks to meet the super savvy Technomadia couple, Chris and Cherie, and tour their vintage bus conversion.  This young couple make their income on the road, writing books and developing apps and websites. Most recently they helped launch RVillage, a social website for RVers, published The Mobile Internet Handbook which led to their new website, RV Mobile Internet Resource Center, and a US Public Lands app for iPhone and Android systems.  That's a lot of very worthwhile and useful information for the RVing community!

Technomadia's very impressive bus

Cherie conducts the inside tour

How's that for his & her work stations!

Chris explains the bus's systems & yes, that is an outdoor movie screen~

Drinks and snacks were shared and we all enjoyed getting to know one another.  There had been tentative plans to watch the movie RV with Robin Williams but with temps dropping with the sun we soon said our goodbyes.


That's our host, Nina of Wheeling It, in the middle, and Kelly and Pheebs of the Bayfield Bunch~

Dan & Heather on the left, Dianne & Tom on the right...sorry, I can't remember everyone's name!

Howard with our neighbors and new best buddies, Heather & Dan

A group of rock-star bloggers here: The Bayfield Bunch, Geogypsy, and Wheeling It!

Large gatherings are great fun but it's hard to get to know everyone and especially remember names. So it was super special to have a visit with Al, Kelly, and Pheebs (their pup) of The Bayfield Bunch. I have followed their blog for years.  Al is a super photographer and writes with the knack that he's just sitting down every evening having a chat and letting you know how their day went.  They have also been lucky enough to find two locations to call home:  Bayfield, Ontario in the summer, and Congress, AZ in the winter, commuting back and forth in their 2003 Triple E MH, taking lots of side trips like coming out here for several days.  I feel like we have experienced our 15 minutes of fame, just being mentioned in his blog last night!  Great folks and instant friends!

Yay, they're here!

Al, sharing travels & stories


Al, Kelly, Jeepers, & the tail-end of Pheebs!

We knew Gaelyn of Geogypsy was heading this way to give her new camper a shake-down outing. Gaelyn, not being old enough to retire, works half the year as a park ranger at the Grand Canyon's North Rim, and lives in her wheelestate, a large 5th-wheel not exactly set-up for extensive travel and boondocking.  In the winter she moves the rig back to the Yarnell, AZ area.  The last few winters Gaelyn has explored South Africa with her friend and guide, Joan, tent camping in national parks.  I have followed her for years and, when we finally met in person, felt I'd known her forever!

Gaelyn is mobile in her new camper!

Last but not least of new friends we've made so far this winter are Dan and Heather from the Shuswap Lake area of British Columbia.  They married right out of high school, have 2 daughters in their 20s, and 2 grandchildren. They are contractors who work hard 8 months of the year, with no time off, so they can come here for 4 months of winter in the southwest. They are not bloggers nor internet savvy! They are avid hikers, bikers of both the street and mountain variety, pickleball pros, and just darn nice, fun young folks.  They are neighbors who live in a 17' toy hauler which they've completely remodeled, with its own deck for sunning and enjoying the views. Heather bakes bread in their gas barbecue and cooks scrumptious meals in their tiny indoor galley.  She has a feast planned for New Year's Day, and has graciously invited us over.  I plan to take lots of photos of their set-up, impressive indeed!

Dan & Heather enjoying their deck and view!

I'd say we're doing some fine socializing and we've been here for less than 2 weeks!












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