Itchy Feet

I’ve been pretty much stationary for three months now, with just one four-hour drive from LA to Quartzsite to break it up. Part of me is feeling like I’ve forgotten how to van life. I haven’t, of course, but I’m out of practice. I’ve had good reason to stay put while I have. I’ve been enjoying the communities of people I’ve been getting to know. But the one constant in the universe is change, particularly for nomads.

One by one, people in my camp have been leaving to continue their own adventures. I was going to go to Yuma with Yellow Wolf next week, but work and other projects (more on that soon) have kept me needing known-good internet as well as the time to devote to them, so she’ll be going on her own.

I’m starting to get the urge to get on the move again myself. There’s a ham radio convention in Yuma in two weeks, which will be the perfect excuse to go check the place out. (I’ll buy and install a more permanent mobile antenna solution while I’m there.) I’ll find somewhere in town to spend the night of the two-day convention. There’s no way I’m paying $30 to camp on-site for one night when there’s a Cracker Barrel in town, where I’ll have a good meal and still spend less money.

[Update: Boondockers Welcome has led me to an even nicer overnight stay than Cracker Barrel.]

After that, I’ll head to the Imperial Dam LTVA to see what that’s all about. It’s been on my to-do list anyway since the permit I’m using at La Posa South is also good there, so I might as well.

From there, I’m not sure. It’s not warm enough up north to start heading that way, even to the higher elevations in Arizona and New Mexico. Maybe I’ll look for some interesting places to explore at lower elevations. Maybe I’ll look up the friends I seem to be collecting around the Phoenix area. Maybe I’ll head back to LA and ride motorcycles with my friends there. Maybe I’ll check out Van Life Campground near Joshua Tree, then go explore that national park as well. I’ll probably end up doing all of these at some point. It’s just a matter of figuring out when and in what order.