Somewhere off Darby Well, near Ajo, AZ...

We scored a beautiful site though it wasn't easy.  ~4.5 miles south of Olsen's Market in Ajo, then west on Darby Well for a bumpy, dusty ~3.2 miles to the entrance to a narrow, sloping driveway off the Scenic Loop that leads up to a knoll where we executed a 20 pt. turn to get rearranged facing west, all the while fearing that various shrubs might be permanently lodged in our nether regions.  Follow that?  

Up we go!

Yes, there has been a fence installed along the Cornelia mine-side of Darby Well, but at some point it recedes dramatically, and that's where we found our way in.  In fact, we are conveniently positioned about 50 ft. from the fence with a commanding view of the mine tailings and surrounding mountains, green, lush Ocotillo, giant Saguaro, and more Organ Pipes than I saw in Organ Pipe NM.  We are far enough off the road for privacy and seclusion, yet off in the distance we can see a few others.

From our backside...there's a fire pit

Looking west..

And north toward the mine & Ajo Mtn.

One thing led to another the other morning.  We took our coffee outside.  There was a nip in the air and no wind.  Think we should build a fire and burn our paper?  OK, good idea! Wanna hotdog? Sure...

Hotdogs for breakfast, yep!

And so go our days...exploring washes, walking the back roads, communing with nature:

To name a few...

That's twisted, sister!

Taken on the fly,...or, what big eyes you have!

Just off the top of my head...

We headed out walking on the Scenic Loop Rd, then turned on Mica Mine Rd, to the Darby Well Cemetery, ~2 miles round-trip from our place.

Howard contemplates his exit strategy among the ghosts of Ajo's past and decides to run...

Seriously, exit strategies have been a big topic lately, especially for aging full-timers, such as ourselves.  (And when did that happen!)  I think we're the last of our friends that have not settled between one or two places a year.  Our problem is we're so itinerant that I'm afraid after a few months, we'd change our minds.  And after many years in real estate back in the day, I no longer feel that owning is the best way for us.  So when that time comes, we'd probably rent, at least to be sure.

We've had our share of health issues over the years, both had bouts with cancer, fortunately diagnosed early.  Our health care provider is Kaiser Senior Advantage of Northern California which we're extremely happy with, but it also poses the problem of living in a very high priced Bay Area community should we need care for the long haul.  The alternative would be to live in a cheaper area, and find another Medicare system.

So, in the meantime, we'll continue on this path which has served us well, and catch a few more sunsets before hanging up the keys.  We might even make it into town before we leave.  Who knows, we might even get out of our comfort zone traveling the Americas, as my granddaughter says.  Maybe one more sailing trip....

Kofa magic...

Boondocking at the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge was a first for us.  Amazing how much time we've spent in Quartzsite over the years, with drives to and from Yuma, and never landed in this magical place before.  So now, following those popular Bayfield folks, and intrigued with beautiful photos and Jeep drives, we finally got there!

Closest neighbor w/red trailer

Our site of choice (red arrow) was about a mile off Highway 95, on King Valley Rd, the turn off at the Stone Cabin.  It was a bumpy, dusty drive in but had all the amenities I envisioned:  our own Saguaro, a beautiful view of the Kofa mountains, a large graveled yard trimmed in greening desert, with Palo Verde tree and budding Ocotillos.  Add in a couple of good hikes, lazy afternoons of reading, and watching the shadows and light show play into the most brilliant sunsets imaginable, and you have the recipe for a magical few days.  4 bars of 4G was a pleasant surprise.

Now about those Jeep drives!...Sadly the old gal is suffering from terminal old age.  Our '99 Wrangler has taken us on backroads through the US, Canada, and Mexico since first purchased in '04 for our trip down the Baja. The mechanical issues are beyond what we're prepared to pay considering her tender age. Sooo..it seems a car purchase looms in our future, and the monumental decision as to what it shall be.

We did not make it to the mines and petroglyphs we had so been looking forward to and are grateful to Al and Kelly for their photos and commentary.  By our calculations the King of Arizona mine would have been approx. 25 miles or so, and we just didn't feel comfortable (arrow/red circle points to the mine).

On a grey, non-photogenic day we did make it to the horse tanks (red circle near our site), just a couple of miles away.  These are a series of natural water collection ponds that have been improved and enhanced by refuge managers.  Many species benefit from these water developments, particularly the desert Bighorn sheep, which sadly, we did not see on our drive, though did in Anza Borrego a couple of weeks ago. 

Not a great day for photographs

On our way to the horse tanks

The ranger told us there are cameras mounted to view animal activity

And we did make it up Palm Canyon (red circle north of us) on a gloriously lit late afternoon, then hiked the short but steep trail to the palm groves perched high on the mountainside, only to just barely catch the tail end as the palms faded into dark shadows!

Stately Saguaro along the trail

Love the contrast of colors here!

Palm grove soon faded into the shadows

Time to start back...

Modeling my new Tilly's hat

I've survived the new computer learning process so far with no major damage to it or myself.  I actually feel I've rather tamed the beast that is Windows 8.1.  The Start screen is more customized to our needs and I finally overcame the major hurdle of being able to turn the damn thing on and off without having to logon every time.  Many of you are laughing at what seems such an easy function...not!

We are now off to Ajo in hopes of finding the perfect site somewhere along Darby Well Rd.  We heard about the mine incident a while back and that many former sites where RVers parked are now fenced off, thus narrowing down the choices considerably.  

(Well, I'm now here to tell you that we scored!) 

Our week at Lake Cahuilla....

Or maybe the more appropriate title should be:  Crazy Woman Has Technology Tantrum and a forced data diet!

OK, I bought a new Asus Q550L laptop with the very different Windows 8 OS and have been going through a bit of a tizzie working with it and customizing the many screen options to fit our needs...not always successfully. For instance, I changed my Desktop theme to a personal photo and all the icons disappeared.  Not a major inconvenience as I can still use my Start (Tile) page, or my App page...but why, I ask?!  That, plus numerous Windows updates and downloading my favorite programs, sent my Verizon data plan spiraling.  Moving on....

Lake Cahuilla County Park is a lovely place to stay in La Quinta, CA and close to many desert city attractions, especially shopping.  It was nice to have water and electric for a week, and the beautiful ~3 mile walk around the lake made for some good exercise and photos.

Reflections of Lake Cahuilla

We did fun things.  A great afternoon was spent with Gail and Earl at their winter place in Indio, joined by friends we made in Powell River, BC in 2006; a blessed second start after a bit of a blip in our full-time lifestyle showing how uncertain and precious life can be.  Here is that story: 2006 Road Trip. 

Kathie (my mental guru who understands all my issues, and doesn't judge, like my friend Beth)...with husband Bob at the wheel, driving from San Diego, arrived about 5:30 PM on our last night.  We were sooo happy not to have missed them and entertained in grand style. How about cook your own hotdogs on an open fire, deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail, and sliced watermelon. Can you beat that, sitting outside on a warm winter evening by a roaring fire, with no wind! Sorry, no photos, but here are a few more reflections from my walks.

No major injuries were incurred during the course of this minor posting.  I have really learned to restrain myself.  

Happy Valentine's Day 2014

Dumping for fun, Bighorn sightings, an evening at Fonts Point~~

A necessary part of the boondocking lifestyle, about every 2 weeks for us, is a trip to the dump to do our business and take on fresh water.  We make a fun day out of it by going to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and for our $7 fee we also get a Day Use Pass.  Afterwards, we drive up to the large parking area at the base of the Palm Canyon Trail where there is plenty of room to park our motorhome, pack a picnic lunch, load up the gear and off we go.  Weekdays are best for taking the rig.

We start up on the green trail, returning on the blue

The Palm Canyon hike is approximately 3 1/2 miles round-trip with a 450' elevation gain as you head to a beautiful palm oasis.  We take the alternate trail up, which runs along the western edge of the canyon and return on the east side, for a more scenic loop. Early mornings seem to be best for Bighorn sheep sightings, and on this day we hit the jackpot.

There is a bit of rock scrambling and a few water crossings along the way, but seeing the Bighorn sheep amid such beautiful scenery was well-worth the price of admission and the short time it took us to put the motorhome in travel mode.

The other afternoon with clouds building in the west we took a run up to Fonts Point hoping to get some good photos as the sun set.  Located 4 miles off S-22, heading east toward the Salton Sea, the drive on mostly compacted sand is passable for most vehicles. Fonts Point is the crown perched atop the Borrego Badlands.  Millions of years of geologic history unfolds in this stark desert landscape and as the sun moves over mud and sand formations there is a light show of extraordinary proportions. We met others there with cameras and tripods waiting for the action.  This is also a great location for full moon watching and in years past we have joined friends and packed snacks, drinks, and chairs up for the party.

We're putting together a plan of sorts for heading out in a week or so for Arizona's Sonoran Desert. There may be a couple of necessary stops beforehand, though. My poor outdated Windows Vista laptop has finally given up any hope of handling the newer graphics programs.  I first had Google's photo editor quit on me and now, after downloading over 800 MB of Adobe Lightroom, being told my operating system was insufficient to handle.  Why, you ask, didn't I know that beforehand (slap up side the head)??  Oh well, it's safe and sound in my Amazon digital library.