I’m camping for free on BLM land near Sedona. It’s indescribably beautiful. The drive here over highway 89A from Prescott was crazy, crazy fun and steeeeep: Elevation climb of about 2500 ft. (760 m) in about 10 miles (16 km) with switchbacks, blind corners, and I was towing my trailer – whooooohooo! I camped at the top of Mingus Mountain on National Forest Land (free) in the pines and fresh, fresh air, completely alone in that silence. When I woke up there were 8 big deer all around my trailer getting up on their hind legs to eat something out of the pine trees.

When I came down the hill to Jerome the next day, I stopped at a scenic viewpoint and discovered my brakes were smoking and stinky. That was definitely one of the scarier parts of this trip so far. My knees were weak at the thought of losing brakes on that steep downgrade with all the big cliffs. (brakes were fine, just hot – I’m safe and sound)

Jerome is a great place to visit, and thanks to my stop at the scenic viewpoint before I finished descending the mountain, I got the inside scoop on a parking place big enough for my trailer. That allowed me to spend a few hours hanging around taking some photos and looking at nice art.

Now I’m near Sedona in the Red Rock area on BLM land with the views below all around me. It snowed last night and today a little, but I’m staying warm and cozy. Hope the photos are okay!

I wish I could post more often and I could if only I weren’t so concerned about the colors, contrast, etc. on this little baby laptop – I hope these aren’t cartoonish colors or anything too dull. Whatever. Here’s what I’ve been up to in a nutshell:

I’m really taking to dry camping, with just a little 100W solar panel and being careful with my water, data, and electricity usage. It’s working out pretty well so far and best of all it’s either free or nearly so. Plus, I’m meeting the most fun people and seeing some remote sites.

Work is keeping me supplied with everything I need as long as there are no big emergencies, so I think  I can keep doing this for a while longer. It’s been great on my own, but I had an amazing side trip to Mexico and a few days of horsing around going on hikes and playing desert mini golf with … a man. That was pretty awesome. Now I’m camping next to a wonderful couple I met in Quartzsite. We went on a 7 hour hike practically straight up yesterday. It’s great having friends on the road.

I’m in Yuma, Arizona at the moment in a great little comfy coffee shop playing old tunes and hoping whoever is reading this doesn’t think my photos are overdone. Can’t wait to play with my big computer with its way better color calibration, but that will have to wait until I pony up for a site with electricity! All in all, feeling great out here.

Feel free to tell me all the bird names and I’ll update the post with corrections.

I’m finally able to post, thanks to Starbucks! I’ve been camping with about a zillion other people in the desert in Quartzsite, Arizona with no electricity, so it’s pretty much impossible to charge my battery more than just enough to do my (paid) work each day. Having a great time here, meeting many other RVers, getting great tips about everything, amazing coffee cooked over an open fire, evening campfire circles, and lots and lots of stars. I love being somewhere in January with warm temperatures and nice people!

These photos are from a couple of weeks ago, in Southeastern Arizona. I’m not a birder, but could easily become one now that I’ve seen these amazing birds. It’s a Sandhill Crane migration, with literally thousands of birds coming to take a rest here in January and February. I found a bit more info on this Audubon page. I don’t know what all the other birds are, but they sure were pretty. Actually, birders who were there told me, but of course I’ve forgotten. UPDATE: I’ve added captions with bird names. Thanks Karin <3

Have to post quickly but want to tell you that this is around Deming, New Mexico. I’m staying in a beautiful campground with a view of the Florida Mountains out my window and the brightest stars ever in the sky. This is only about 30 miles from Mexico – a big group of us went there for lunch and shopping and they all sang happy birthday to me! It was a fun and tequila-shot kind of day. I also went to a truly magical place called Gila Cliff Dwellings (please google it), and have some pictures for next time. No time to post more now because I’m headed to the next state over. Most of these photos in today’s post are from the City of Rocks, also in New Mexico. I plan on camping there someday. It’s only $14 and has the world’s best camp spots, I think.

These are from my walks in Fredericksburg and Midland. Midland is serious urban sprawl, but there is a beautiful nature preserve that’s very diverse, with desert plants, a marsh, and lots of birds. First time in a long, long while that I’ve spent so much time editing photos! (It was fun)

Well, I’m still in Texas. It’s a big state!

This little town felt like the Christmas center of Texas as far as merry shoppers, wine tasting, lights, and even ice skating (in 70-degree weather) goes.

I camped at a place called Lady Bird park, where there was a great trail with cactuses and turtles. I’ll post nature shots from that walk and a nice walk where I am now tomorrow (yes, really – will post again tomorrow :-)).

As far as RV stuff goes, I’m learning how to deal with the cold. It’s hovering around freezing at night. I have loads of blankets and bought a sweet little electric heater, so it’s okay. I need to watch out that the water hoses don’t freeze though. Off towards New Mexico and Arizona right after Christmas. I bet it will be beautiful.