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Category: life

23 November 2021

Winter is coming, even in Arizona

trees sunrise clouds Skull Valley ArizonaWinter is coming to Arizona and that brings beautiful sunrises at a respectable hour

OK, I’ve been “retired” for a month and a half, have a beautiful place to live and park the 5th-wheel, and now winter is coming.  Yes, even in Aridzona there is winter.  And you all know how much I dislike cold weather.  My current location in Skull Valley, Arizona is about 4500 feet so will see some winter, not like buried in feet of snow or sub-zero, but anything below 40° overnight is cold to me.  So it’s getting close to time to head further south with the truckcamper and enjoy the Sonoran Desert for a while.

Like always there are chores to be done because winter is coming, the 5th-wheel roof repairs finished, and calendars mostly mailed.  Now that I have a new physical address and post office box I’ve notified all who need to know.  What used to take 10-30 minutes over the phone talking to a paid employee now takes one to three hours online with some automaton that doesn’t understand my question.  Does anybody except Amazon really care where I live?

hawk & kestrel on poles Skull Valley Arizona

Kestrel bird on pole Skull Valley ArizonaTalk about taking time.  I love living rural.  However, when I went to Wickenburg last week it was an all day trip with an hour drive on each end, lunch, groceries, fuel, thrift store, and the last visit to paid mail service.  Bonus was seeing what I thought was seven hawks along the drives.  I live in hawk country with open fields full of rodent meals.  As I drive I note how many hawks are seen roosting on poles, hawk one, hawk two, hawk three…  Just so you know, these shots were taken on a back road barely driving at all.  Then when I zoomed in, I realized one of these birds is an American Kestrel.  I have seen them before although they are noticeably smaller than most hawks and fast in flight so I’ve never gotten a photo before.  Made the long day worth while.

grass trees boulders reverse sunset clouds moon Skull Valley ArizonaNot quite full on Tuesday

grass bushes full moon setting Skull Valley ArizonaSaturday setting

Was cloudy on Thursday so didn’t see the almost full moon rise.  I also didn’t plan to be up all or part of the dark cold night watching the eclipse, difficult to photograph almost straight overhead.  Did happen to wake up about 3am and took a gander outside to see a hazy white orb.  Being much warmer in my bed, that’s where I went.  If I’d been camped in a warmer place maybe I’d have seen more of the eclipse.  Instead, I caught the moon setting Saturday morning at a much more doable hour.  Maybe next month I can capture the full moon over Saguaro cactus in the desert.

trees mountain clouds Skull Valley ArizonaI’ve watched November temperatures go from high 70s and 40s to mid 60s and high 30s.  That should be my cue to head further south as winter is coming.  Yet it’s so nice to have a home base that it’s not so easy to leave.  As I walk around the ranch, the Cottonwood colors have taken on a tarnish and the carpet of leaves becomes more dense.  Definite signs that winter is coming.  I’m sure the cold will chase me south sooner than later.

trees sunset clouds Skull Valley ArizonaI don’t travel over holidays, or really celebrate them much either.  But I did buy an organic duck to cook, my family’s traditional holiday meal over turkey.  Every day, I am thankful for what is given me and grateful for what I already have.  That’s easy because life is good.  Well, except that winter is coming.  I’d love to live perpetual summer with a little spring and fall thrown in.  What’s your favorite season?

I am thankful for all you readers who keep me motivated to continue writing even when there isn’t a whole lot happening like this last week.  I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Arizona, life chores, cold, moon, Thanksgiving, winter 34 Comments
30 December 2020

Goodbye 2020…and good riddance

mt lion 6 ft distancing stickers Bryce Canyon National Park UtahJust about every person in the world, on this planet we call home, Earth, a mixed bag of species and environments, with all the differences and similarities, yes just about every human is ready to say goodbye 2020.

Let us all welcome and embrace the new decade, bringing the positive change we’d like to live into reality.  As a rather young species on this rock, a mere 200,000 years or more, we have so much to learn about self and surroundings and each person might get 100 years, if we’re lucky.  When I quit learning I’m dead, or at least not paying attention to my spirit.  Makes me sad, lost, confused, frustrated, and depressed even.  Any of those sound familiar?  Feel free to add to the list.  I don’t like living in this haze, nothing to do with dust as I have a tiny house full of that.

talks cancelled signs view S hoodoos clouds Sunset Pt Bryce Canyon National Park UtahAs a claimed intelligent species, we—including myself—are not taking care of our planet and selves in the healthiest ways possible.  Do I have all the answers?  No.  But sometimes looking back helps me learn.  So this is a look back at the craziest year of my life, and probably yours too.  Are we ready for goodbye 2020?

Saguaro cactus Palo Verde desert Palm Canyon Rd BLM Kofa NWR AZI wrapped up 2019 after almost three months of PT (physical therapy) so my broken wrists would move and do what they should at 70-80%, it got better.  This also included RV parks, spoiled with hookups, and all the noise that goes with being parked, IMHO, too close to the neighbors.  And so on the second day of the new year I ran away to the healing desert apricity south of Quartzsite, Arizona, the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).  Yup, been there more than a few times.  I looked forward to continued personal healing in 2020.  I had never been so broken and learned to be more mindful about my physical movement.

Before continuing further south I went to Parker, and back to Congress dealing with a propane tank problem.  I note that because it took so long to resolve and I am still unimpressed with the entire design as a 5-gal tank will NEVER take more than 3 gallons though should take 4.6.  Manchester blew this newest model to meet new legal requirements about something that wasn’t broken and didn’t need fixing.  Except the old tanks couldn’t be recertified, so no choice.  I really should write to them.  Was this a sign of 2020 to come?

trees Saguaro cactus mt drk clouds Darby Well Rd BLM camp Ajo AZBy the end of January I was settled in to a favorite piece of BLM Sonoran Desert sandwiched between Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Cabeza Prieta NWR, Tohono O’Odaham Nation Reservation, and the town of Ajo.  The density and diversity of this environment continues to absorb me, draw me in, and blow me away.  I attended activities in Ajo, art gallery and fiddle music, lunch at restaurants with friends.  Remember those kinds of public entertainment?  I will try not to take these things for granted so much in the future.

Saguaro cactus desert last light Kofa Mts full moon rise Palm Canyon Rd Kofa NWR AZ

trees CO R sunset clouds reflection Ox Bow Rd Ehrenberg AZ

desert Kofa Mts Palm Canyon Rd Kofa NWR AZA call from the February full moon rise drew me back to Kofa once again.  Stayed at Shady Lane RV Court more than once, had the refrigerator repaired, and a meetup with Sue and Mo in Quartzsite.  Then back to boondocking not far west of Quartzsite before stocking up in Blythe and trying a new location along the Colorado River, south of Ehrenberg, Arizona for a few days.  And then back to the Kofa once again, this time further up the road and I moved around a bit over a couple weeks and into March.  Travel was still happening and I wasn’t alone.

late light yellow Brittlebush flowers Mohawk Valley AZLupine & Brittlebush flowers desert mt Puerto Blanco Dr ORPI NM AZ

water drops Ocotillo leaves BLM Darby Well Rd Ajo AZThis time, after a little rain woke the desert growth, the earliest of wildflowers called me back to the Ajo area desert.  March, a time when we Americans started thinking more seriously about COVID19, or at least that’s when it really dawned on me how many people were affected and dyeing.  Isolating is something I do very well during winter in the desert, then add distancing and masking when in buildings to shop.  Plus, the end of March is when I start thinking of returning to work in the spring.  And with all the flowers blooming I knew it was spring.  I might have still been in denial about what 2020 would bring.

Poppies Vulture Mine Rd AZ

desert Date Crk Mts sunset clouds crespuscular rays BLM Ghost Town Rd Congress AZInto April as I started a slow journey northward to Wickenburg and Congress.

trees mt sunset Walnut Grove AZI could feel the warming temps of summer before the end of the month so moved up in elevation to visit Mary and Jerry in Walnut Grove, north of Yarnell.  They put up with me and extended hospitality into May as I continued to wait for the back to work date.  Not even sure if the park would be open, to the public.

Couch Ranger badgeAs I continued northward from there traffic was limited to almost exclusively semi-trucks, presumably delivering essentials.  Not so much toilet paper (TP).  Who knew there would be such a run on TP in 2020.

masked Ranger Gaelyn Sunset Pt BRCA NP UT

Rangers pointing at me VC plaza BRCA NP UTFinally back to work in May, or at least masked training outdoors while otherwise going through 14 days of quarantine.  And June, we’re open for business, mostly providing information outside the visitor center and starting a few Ranger programs, the first park in the nation to do so.  Procedures changed almost daily as we all learned on the go.

light & shadow hoodoos valley Earth Shadow moon Navajo Loop trl BRCA NP UTJune

hoodoos full moon Navajo Lp Trl BRCA NP UTJuly

hoodoo moon Navajo Trl BRCA NP UTAugust

That also included photographing the monthly full moon for me.

smoke Mangum fire from Yovimpa Pt BRCA NP UTNo wild fires in Bryce, yet we watched the smoke and haze change almost daily from fires all around.

Wall St Navajo Lp Trl BRCA NP UTThe peak summer months were weirdly wonderful, and not overly busy.  No international visitors meant the numbers were way down, and many Americans were still staying home.  I didn’t travel far from Bryce for most of the summer other than to shop in Cedar City.  It’s unusual for me not to explore the surrounding area over the summer.  But even though I was in a national park I felt guilty about traveling away from ‘home’.  Those with a travel bug will be more than ready to say goodbye 2020 and hope we can get moving again in 2021.

highlighted hoodoos BRCA NP UTAfter a couple pay checks in the bank I splurged on a new camera body that fits my old lenses.  I am happy with the D5600 but now wondering if the lens is bad or my eyes are out of focus.  Actually, I know my eyes need checking, new glasses, and it might be time for cataracts to be taken care of.  But 2020 is not a great time for any doctor appointments.

hoodoos rainbow storm clouds light BRCA NP UTIt was mostly a nonsoon summer with barely a measurable amount of rain.

Astro Rangers lazer lights milkyway stars BRCA NP UT by Valerie FazenDid make for a lot of clear skies for star gazing.  And although we didn’t bring out telescopes the Dark Rangers put on constellation tours with laser lights that were booked four nights a week.

light shadow hoodoos BRCA NP UTWe all survived summer one way or another masked and in some cases gloved, using buckets full of hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol.  I hope nobody was drinking that stuff, but there were days…  We held on tight to get through Labor Day weekend knowing visitation would slow down afterwards, but it didn’t.  It just got busier and busier.  Minus the people just not traveling at all, it was time for my tribe of retired folks in RVs and young people without children.  But many children didn’t physically return to school.  And many families piled into the (often new) RV to travel national parks while home-schooling.  I might have done that too.  But the crowds were crazy with lots of people new to national parks and somehow lacking the understanding and respect for the parks.  We need to talk Leave No Trace in 2021.

Thors Hammer hoodoos valley full moon rise Earth Shadow Navajo Lp Trl BRCA NP UTWell, I survived September and the countdown past the middle of October.  Even lead my first full moon hike into the hoodoos.  Managed to stick around long enough to see the Aspen go gold.  And left before the snow fell.

trees Pink Cliffs valley Navajo Mt sunset clouds BRCA NP UTGoodbye 2020 summer season at Bryce Canyon National Park.  See ya’ in 2021!

Palo Verde tree shadow Ghost Town Rd BLM Congress AZ I then began my winter journey southward like the warm weather migrator I am.  I hung around the Congress area in November and got the calendar done.

Saguaro cactus desert last light Kofa Mts clouds Palm Canyon Rd BLM Kofa NWR AZAnd in December, I haven’t journeyed far from the Quartzsite area of southwestern Arizona.  The last month of the year. I am feeling a little guilty traveling at all with the current lockdown stay at home.  But I am at home.

Saguaro cactus moon Palm Canyon Rd BLM Kofa NWR AZYes, I, like most of us, am more than ready to say goodbye 2020, and good riddance.  Yet even though I will look for positive change in 2021, I will be realistic, with no huge expectations that change will come overnight, because change is the slowest thing I know.  Just ask this procrastinator.

So what’s on my 2021 list?  Well, pretty much the same things as were on my 2020 list with more mindfulness, they just haven’t happened yet.  What kind of change would you like to be part of?

 

Goodbye 2020

Happy New Year!

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31 December 2019

Ramble on to 2020 New Year ahead

I’m not one to make New Year resolutions but am ready to ramble on to 2020.  Big changes in life can happen any time I choose.  Well, almost.  Naw, what the hell.  Who am I to think I’m in control?  I AM!  Or at least I try.  Death occurs.  Accidents happen.  I have less control over them than they over me.  How I react is in my control.  Maybe not if clumsiness causes an accidental trip over a wire then falling down and breaking both wrists.  However, I did have control over my attitude about healing and tried to stay as positive as I could.  There were days when you wouldn’t have wanted to be a fly on my wall.  Yet I am healing.  Yesterday was my last PT and assessment with the left, and most severely injured, at about 65%, and the right at 85%.  I will keep working it completely on my own now.

Over the last decade just posted about, I feel incredibly fortunate having traveled so much, meeting amazing people along the way.  I am full of gratitude that I can still live the way I want in my nomadic lifestyle.  Though it is getting more difficult to find free, remote, uncrowded, boondocking on public land.  The word is out on how wonderful RV living really is.

I am rambling on and gone astray with this post, having lost direction.  Maybe that’s because I’m not sure what direction to go.  Wouldn’t be the first time.

Gaelyn's Disney glasses Never Grow UpMy Disney glasses

Still want to follow my travel dreams which haven’t changed much in many decades except the list keeps growing.  Although as I age my physical abilities change.  I recently slowed down but don’t want that to stop me.  I have gotten physically lazy.  The longer I sit inside, the less I want to go out.  Yet once outside, I am happiest.  What the hell is wrong with me?

There’s healing going on, physiologically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually…

I turn 66 years young in March and start to collect social security, yet I don’t know about living on social security.  Seasonal Rangers don’t earn government retirement.  I really don’t have a Plan B.  And I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be if I grow up.

Now it’s time to look forward and ramble on to 2020.

tree boulders moon reflection Watson Lake Prescott ArizonaI want a new camera and not sure what the budget will allow.  Breaks my photographer heart to think of all the DSLR cameras that were bought and little or never used and probably sit in the original box in a closet.  Maybe after I get back to work.  I want to try more night photography.

I see some coddiwompling in the near future to enjoy the healing apricity found in the desert.

My rent at North Ranch is paid until January 2nd.  Though I could extend that.  It’s been nice here although I really didn’t mingle or get my lazy ass outside enough.  I’m thinking next stop will be boondocking on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge south of Quartzsite, Arizona.  Perhaps for full moon. And if the nights don’t drop below 40°.  Then slowly work west to Joshua Tree, California to meet up with a friend during the third week of the month.  From there who knows.  Do I stay in expensive California?  I’ve become comfortably spoiled with electricity providing heat so will see how boondocking goes and how low temperatures go.  My mind and body don’t deal with cold.

As usual, I am open to suggestions, friendocking, and company.

Gaelyn at PT Wickenburg ArizonaMe at PT making a fist and twisting my wrist

Thanks for letting me ramble on.  And thank you for leaving comments so I know somebody is listening.  You long-time readers know a lot about me, and I a bit about some of you.  But if you’re not a blogger, I don’t know much about you.  Feel free to introduce yourself.  If not in a comment here maybe go to the contact tab for a private message to me.  Social media is a conversation which to me is easier if I at least kind of know who I’m talking with.

May 2020 bring the most positive energy to us all!

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life, New Year's Eve, RV life health, life, life journey, travel, winter 32 Comments
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Hi, I’m Gaelyn, the Geogypsy

I retired after 29 summer seasons as a Park Ranger, traveling solo for 40+ years. My passions include travel, connecting to nature, photography, and sharing stories.

I started exploring US National Parks in 1977 and 20 years later became a seasonal Park Ranger.  I’ve lived full-time in a RV for 30 years working summers and playing winters.  I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow old, other than grow up.

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