~Monday, March 7, 2022~
Day 631 (Travel Day)
Funny how sometimes we don’t meet our neighbors until just before we leave, which was the case today. With unfavorable temps and everyone staying hunkered down inside their trailers, there’s less interaction for sure. If it were summer and awesome weather, things would be quite different. We met our neighbor Phil and his 2 pups before hitting the road. I guess he had been observing our breakdown methods, saying, “Boy, you guys really look like you have your system down.” Nice to know it appears that way anyway. We mentioned that we were headed to Loy Butte Road to which he was curious how we liked that type of camping. I guess his significant other has some definite reservations about dry camping mainly from fear of running into shady people or junky looking sites; not so much being without the conveniences of hookups. We told him she has a valid concern. But as long as you are smart and keenly aware of your surroundings, you should be good. Jeff and I have been known to pull into places, look around to get a feel for a place, only to turn around and move on to something else. At Loy Butte, there are very few junky looking rigs, and everyone we’ve run into seems very polite (except for the woman who went “agro” on us the other day). It seems we gave him enough good reasons to go check it out, so maybe we’ll run into him again.
Today would be the heaviest the trailer/truck has ever been. We had a full fresh water tank (350 lbs.), a full black and gray tank (700 lbs.) and 45 gallons of water in our collapsible water bottles (about 375 pounds) to bring to our next location. On our way out of Dead Horse campground, we jettisoned the black & gray tanks (eliminating 700 pounds right there) before our 20-minute drive to Loy Butte. Even with the ominous looking weather around us, we had a clear path driving to our next stop.
I could tell Jeff was concerned about finding THE perfect site since yesterday didn’t look all that promising. Many of the sites would fit the trailer no problem, but the issues were tight entrances or ditches near those entrances. They’d be suitable for a EuroVan or something small like that, not a travel trailer or 5th wheel. My hope had always been people deciding to vacate on a Monday morning instead of a Sunday, giving us ample selection. My theory proved correct. About 4 miles in, off the washboard road, we found it!
The entrance proved wide enough with a LARGE flat area and a fantastic view, though we were sharing the lot with a backhoe and a pile of red dirt. The positives far outweighed the negatives, so we decided to take it. We oriented the living side of the trailer towards the colorful mountains in front of us. These views are why we drive the extra miles we do.
And it looks like we’ll have a red dog instead of a yellow lab by the time we leave the place. There is cakey, red dirt all around us. It’s all good. I’m just happy to see her happy. Plenty of freedom to roam and room to chase those balls. And it looks like we’ll be sharing this lovely backyard with some bovine friends.
1 family of cows paid us a visit as they grazed on unappetizing looking grass. They didn’t seem all too interested in Sadie, nor Sadie in them. They must be used to dogs. There is a sign about a mile back that alerts visitors to free-roaming cattle. This is just the first time we’ve ever seen them.
The generator came on, late afternoon to charge up our devices and provide us heat from the fireplace, saving our propane for the middle of the night. Since we’re spaced far enough apart from our other neighbors, there was no guilt in having it run past 7:00 p.m, until a young couple showed up in their compact moving van next to our spot. Despite the sound of the generator (which isn’t all that loud), they still decided to stay. Come to find out after meeting them, that they secretly hoped we wouldn’t be running the thing all night, so we all got a giggle out of that one. Evidently, they had just flown into Phoenix from Maine, where they picked up a moving van as opposed to a much more expensive car rental (I like their out-of-the box thinking there), stopped in Tucson and are now touring Sedona. While they were setting up camp, Jeff proceeded to tell them all about the amazing hiking trails in the area and offered advice about the better “van” campsites just up the road. He figured they’d just stay put for the night since it was getting dark, but within 5 minutes, they were already packed up and moved on to snag a better site. 10 minutes later, they were back next door to us, realizing searching in the dark was not the ideal time.