Winter in the Southwest

 

The fires started a seven month journey.  I ended up spending the winter in the Southwest.

Above, a rainstorm while driving south in New Mexico to Portal where I spent a week camping in my van at the one community open to visitors, that I was able to find, during the pandemic.  I had to leave Oregon, the fires were on the way, so it seemed like a good time to check out new places.  Two days after I left, the fire came over the mountain and everyone was evacuated.

I spent a couple of weeks with a friend in Los Cruces, New Mexico then I ended up heading to Tucson, where I knew people.  The first place I found, that appealed to my new desire to live comfortably with air conditioning and heating, was where I ended up living for 5 months, with Karen, who owned the house.  Because of the pandemic I couldn't do much of anything except drive around and learn my way around Tucson.

Karen's place

WRTR (Women's Rubber Tramp Rondeveaux) at Quartzite, AZ in January.  I only went for a weekend, below are a few women I met.   

My friend Mark is a stone mason but he makes these for fun.

Patagonia, AZ  free library book box.  The libraries were closed, so books were hard to find.  This little free book source was heaven sent.

Kaya at Patagonia Lake. When Kaya learned I was living near Patagonia she decided to pick me up and go exploring.

  When I decided to go camping around Arizona, I began getting my van ready.  

   I met several people at Fortuna Lake, outside of Yuma.  Wonderful birds here.

Big Bird, below, flying over on weekends.

I picked up a free tent and it became my toilet room.  

Quartzite, AZ   Spent a couple of weeks alone here.  Their library was open so was able to get on the internet.

My toilet tent was too much trouble to put up so I just threw it over everything.

I drove to Palo Verde, south of Blythe, CA and spent a week with Riny, who I'd met at Fortuna lake.  By this time I no longer used the tent. Too much trouble.

I spent a week camping at Dee's (her son's back yard) luxuriating with access to electricity and plumbing in Mesa.  By Friday, I had revived enough to head out to Pahrump, Nevada and it turned out to be one of the best places yet.  Below, this little cutie came to beg.

Lake Havasu, AZ  It was during my last week in Lake Havasu that I realized I needed to go back to the sticks and bricks life.  Tired of everything being so difficult - and dirty.

I was deciding where to go and what to do and called Zapata in Oregon.  That's how I ended up coming home to Oregon.  Same room in the same house.  I had been boondocking, camping free, on BLM land for two months.  I loved it at first but eventually I was craving electricity and being clean.  I'm good for a week at a time without plumbing and power but....  At least I know that if I HAD to live in my vehicle, I could do it.

Upwards and Onwards

I've been spending time spray painting murals on local fences during the pandemic.  This was my first time using spray paint as a medium.  It was fun.

The red face painting done by Sparrow, a local artist, started it all.  As soon as I saw that I began painting Grandma Agnes, above, using the photo on the cover of her book as my model.

I like drawing horses so these appeared soon after Grandma.

The dragonfly is a special request by Ivan.  Evidently this valley is known for them. A work in progress - bugs are hard for me.

Below, these horses are on Eric's fence.  After he saw the other horses, he wanted some too.

Eric asked me to carve something out of a piece of wood he'd had sitting in his yard. I carved a mermaid with a deformed tail, because the wood was deformed.

Eric tied the mermaid at the top of his stairs, as if she was the prow of his ship.

Lori, my wonderful book editor, wearing a lapis lazuli necklace I made from some of the beads I got at the Tucson Gem Show.  

The swimming hole, actually a river.  It's in books listing it as one of the best nude beaches in Oregon. Very popular in the summer.

One day, I was driving into town and these guys (below) were having a big gobble-off in the middle of the road.  Their girlfriends looked totally bored.  I drove by very slowly and they took off in huff.

I also met Tina at the RTR.  She stopped by to visit one weekend.

Once a week we have a Scrabble game.  These guys are good.  I only won my first game a couple of days ago,

Leeanna at home in her beautiful garden.

BAM!!!!  A very loud noise made us all go looking for where it had come from.  Below, a hoarder's home on wheels.  All the stuff he had inside moved forward and crushed him into the window (breaking his nose) when he hit and knocked over a large tree.  It took the firemen over an hour to get him out, then they had to helicopter him to a hospital.  So much excitement in the neighborhood.

I went with Zapata to Redding, California to look at some property and this is the shot I got of Mt. Shasta through the window as we passed.  It had a lot less snow than last year, I think.