Boondocking in the Desert

Boondocking in the desert is a new experience for Chorro and me. Nope, it is not grammatically correct to say, "for Chorro and I." :-) Neither of us has ever done this before. Chorro is happy in the desert.

The desert is huge and still and seemingly lifeless. We are surrounded on all sides by mountains. They are gorgeous. Chorro and I wander away from our campsite to appreciate them all and imagine prospectors slowly ascending them with burros, Apaches racing through their passes on horses, perhaps Aztecs winding their way through them on foot to trade with other tribes to the north.

We see the Plomosa Mountains and the Harcuvar Mountains to the north, the Eagletail Mountains to the northeast, Painted Rock Mountains to the east and southeast, Kofa Mountains and Dome Rock Mountains to the south and west. I am not sure where one mountain range begins and another ends. I imagine the sunrise pictures you will see are over the Eagletail Mountains and the sunset pictures are of the Dome Rock mountains.

Boondocking was a new term to me when I began to look at RVing opportunities. I remember my younger sister Jan as a teenager playing Billy Joe Royal's, "Down in the Boondocks," over and over again on our record player in the sixties and my tiny toddling son singing the lyrics with her. The boondocks were the outer edges of civilized living. Boondocking in an RV is living on those outer edges, usually rural, without the conveniences of electricity or water.

Well it isn't really a matter of dire deprivation since an RV carries its own water supply, holding tanks, and generator. Showers, clean dishes, music and computer are all available to me while boondocking. But we are far from town or houses.

We are not boondocking alone though, we are part of a rally of RVing women, 105 to be precise. As the day passes, more and more RV's pull in nearby until we have created a little village of houses on wheels.

Here's the view out my front window.

The sunlight fades.

Sunset comes to the desert.

It colors the eastern sky.
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The center of the evening is a campfire.

And yes indeed, the coyotes howl throughout the night.

Today was a good day.