Tucson on the Rebound

I've had such bad experiences in Tucson, I was kind of dreading the return, but the thunderstorms raged in Flagstaff and I had had it! I drove through two more storms on the way at one point pulling off on a "scenic view" and watched the water on the cement look like a raging river with winds blowing the bushes sideways. I kept chanting, "Another adventure..."  As I approached the town of Globe, Google News started flashing emergency alerts telling me no driving in the area unless you are escaping! Jeez! What do I do, park and wait to be washed away? I proceeded cautiously, but most of the water was gone leaving piles of debris. The devastation in Globe that flooded the day before was pretty shocking. (There is news footage if you are interested.) The thundercloud forming on the outside of Globe as I was leaving via Highway 77 was scary looking, like hell had opened up, and once the storm hit, it pounded with little visibility.

It only lasted about twenty minutes and I chanted while driving those highway curves slowly, "Another adventure...."

Then everything cleared! The sun shone brightly. The skies turned bright blue. The skies were beautiful all the way into Tucson. I arrived to 75 degrees and cool 60s at night!

The desert smelled SO GOOD! My campsite was still there looking beautiful as ever:

The Catalina Mountains and Oro Valley scenery were spectacular:

Now I remember why I moved here in the first place before PEOPLE tried to ruin it for me!

Bonus: sinuses started clearing up the moment I crossed county lines!

The Great Adventure comes to an end!

Arizona!!! Is it the End of the Adventure?

I spent a week writing this post and in a flash of an instant, it disappeared! I've had this happen before, but due to utter exhaustion I failed to remember how to rescue it and instead screwed up. The post is gone. So I'll attempt a short summary.

I left Colorado and headed west on Highway 160 repeating part of the drive when I headed to Arizona a few weeks ago. This time I kept going west for Flagstaff. I love this part of the country with the red-orange dirt, a variety of plants in many shades of green, and brilliant blue skies with huge mesas! As usual, there weren't many pull-outs or I would have taken too many photos.

I'd love to buy land here and build an orange cob house, but this is Navajo Nation reservation land and they don't sell to non-natives. The temperatures south on Highway 89 climbed to 85 degrees, but I could see the mountains in the distance!! Cool weather is ahead!

Humphries Peak - highest point in Arizona

Flagstaff cooled to a wonderful 72 degrees. I didn't realize there is BLM land for camping all over outside the city. I began sampling the offerings with first night at Road 222 and second night at Road 700. Lots of tall pine trees which made internet and solar charging difficult so the next three nights I headed down Mary Lake Road to Marshall Lake Dispersed Campground which was a little better. 

Marshall Lake Dispersed Campground for the first two days...
so beautiful, peaceful and quiet!

The third night 35% chance of rain was forecasted for 8pm. OK. Just one hour of rain. No problem. Between the clouds and the trees, I could barely get my solars charged so all of a sudden I had no internet and no way to prepare food. I figured I could brave it until morning then leave the woods for civilization.

At 3pm the lightning and thunder show started with hail the size of marbles! It sounded like glass snapping and I feared for my helpless solars! This was followed by "normal" hail the size of a small fingernail. Sound effects:

The rain and hail pounded all night and the thunder got so close it shook the van. Nights are hard for me anyway since they seem to drag on and on as I wait patiently for daybreak, but I've never had issues with thunderstorms. This one was rather scary as I imagined those tall pine trees falling on Big Blue. I'm guessing it lasted until 4am. I was excited for the new day as my doctor's appointment with my new orthopedic doctor was that afternoon!

Morning arrived and it didn't look that wet with maybe one puddle in the distance. I had to get out of the van to rescue my rat lights and it looked so dry I didn't even think to put plastic bags over my cast. The mud stuck thickly to the bottom of my shoe and cast and PTSD kicked in. This is how I fractured my ankle! OMG! But I didn't slip. I spent about an hour cleaning caked on mud off everything. 

Packed up and started driving out...I got about forty feet and my tires spun, the van slide sideways, and I was all of a sudden stuck in one foot deep ruts of mud! OMG! I got the bright idea maybe I should reverse, go back, and leave via the entrance to my campsite. Got stuck again and nearly slide into a tree. Now I'm about one hundred feet from the exit and gravel road. 

A homeless woman heading to the highway for some hitchhiking took one look at me and saw a free ride if she could help...nothing worked. She gave up and left me with the idea just wait until the sun comes out and it'll dry up really fast. I didn't think I had that kind of time as the doctor's appointment was that afternoon, but I thought that might be my only option. Then it started to rain AGAIN a half hour later. I felt like crying. I hobbled around with a plastic bag on my cast gathering anything I could use for traction...pinecones, tree bark, and towels. Eventually the plastic bag protecting the cast was sucked up by the mud...at that point I thought WTH? So what? PTSD be damned. I'm desperate. I'll be dirty. It can't be helped. I tried a variety of ideas and nothing worked. The more traction I gathered the more hopeful I became and then all of a sudden, the van caught hold and I regained forty feet before she slid sideways and spun helplessly. But forty feet! Hooray!

There was a woman (Amanda) walking up on the gravel road and she stopped to watch all of a sudden frantically waving her arms. I ignored her because if I hesitated, I would have lost traction. She thought I was going to hit the boulder close by. I thought I'd miss it unless I slid, but I bypassed it. She continued walking then returned telling me her husband was sick so she was walking down to where a missionary woman was (Tammy, who lives and travels to and from BLM land helping the homeless) to borrow a thermometer and this woman volunteered her traction strip. Amanda then spent the next hour helping me out of this mess. Her shoes ended up caked with mud, her hands filthy. I so appreciated her help if not just her encouragement and companionship at a time when I felt as any minute I would burst into tears. We made progress, maybe another ten feet, a little at a time, with me at the wheel and her running around the van adjusting the towels and the traction strip.

Then a pickup was driving up the road and we both started screaming and waving our arms. He stopped and with his teenage son continued to help by instructing me how to set the tires, reverse, then gun it forward with him and his son pushing from behind, readjusting the traction strip. After about four tries, Big Blue found freedom! When I reached the gravel road, I was screaming!!!! Literally! So very thankful and yelling my thanks as they jumped back in their pickup and left. I called Tammy because I wanted to clean off the traction slip before I returned it, but she said she'll just leave it out in the rain. Amanda volunteered to walk the traction strip back down to Tammy and I sent her off with $20 to give to Tammy for her missionary work with the homeless.

I made it to Flagstaff and my doctor's appointment absolutely exhausted, but with a clean cast!! It took about an hour to scrap, wash, dry, and then wash with rubbing alcohol, but that cast shone as if it were brand new! As I waited for the appointment, I started writing the day's events on this post and lost the whole post. I felt defeated, but I survived!

The next day I took Big Blue to the car wash. I had to pay for two separate washes to get all the mud off her and it had caked and dried in places especially the tires and around the tires. I used the pressure hose to clean the towels, hiking boot, and buckets that were brown with dried mud. The van is still a mess. It'll take a little more effort to get all the mud off everything! What a horror!

So the adventure is NOT over. Maybe it never will be until I'm in a house and out of the van?? Maybe I'll never be out of the van? I'll try to make more cautious choices in the future. I spent the night on cement at Walmart. I don't care how many beautiful BLM campgrounds they have here, I'll stick with cement!! 

I think I've had my share of adventure and now I want a peaceful existence. 

Please...

Colorado on Repeat

September 16, 2025 Happy to be back in the coolness of Colorado! I've got two weeks until my appointment in Arizona. I pray by then the weather in Flagstaff will be tolerable. 

After getting supplies at Nature's Oasis in Durango, I headed back to the Mancos Road 316 BLM Dispersal Campground (view from van at left). Lots of spaces, sunny, but cool. We'll see how long I last this time. I keep sneezing and my sinuses are still painful and bleeding. What am I allergic to here? Juniper trees? Or is it mold? I tweaked my left wrist. I think from overuse. I'm constantly using it to lift and lower myself so it's had enough of the abuse. I've been worrying all along if my left leg or knee will give out, or my back, or any number of aging body parts from being unusually used too much to compensate for the lack of right ankle.

I slept pretty good last night - no Olipops, but I did buy a box of Pamela's Gluten-Free Evil Things. Lately I have had NO willpower. I feel sorry for myself and decide I deserve a treat. So bad. I still slept fine. I heard it rain last night for a short time, but this morning it's partial sunshine with some clouds. Nice and cool. 

I looked online for property. Bozeman has acreage for sale...you can buy ten acres for a million dollars. Colorado is a little better where you can buy 80 acres for a million and a half. Yeah, a little out of my price range. Arizona still seems to be my best bet as there are lots for under $10-25K. My new plan is to buy land and use it as a base. I hope it comes with an address so I don't have to buy mailboxes for my mail which has become very stressful. Then build a 10 x 10 cob storage shed for practice. Then maybe the next year build a cob tiny house if I'm not completely exhausted by the process. I wonder if I'm being idealistic? Would I have the energy?

I'm also planning the van remodel. I think I'll get rid of the queen size bed and platform. Replace it with a twin size bed and add some storage shelves in the vacant space. AND get a composting toilet. I'm so tired of pottying in a bucket and constantly having to figure out how and where to dump it. This is the cheap/free option, but such a hassle.

I've told people I don't want a composting toilet because they would take up too much room. OK, right now I'm using a two bucket system. I pee in one using the female urinal (which I love for convenience especially now with one less foot for balance), then dump the urine in the coffee can so it doesn't spill. (Note: My fear is I drop the female urinal throwing urine all over the van especially in the middle of the night. Haven't done it yet!!) (Note: It amazes me how much liquid comes out of my body!! When you do this in a toilet filled with water, it's hard to judge.) (Note: The pee bucket that stores all these pieces I use for sponge bathing. Very efficient set up.) I poop in the other bucket which has layers of plastic bags and pine pellets. Common knowledge is you don't mix them which creates the very bad smell, but sorry, it all smells very bad to me without any mixing. My two buckets probably take up more room than a composting toilet! I have to research. I'm not sure where one empties a composting toilet and the maintenance sounds expensive. I wouldn't be happy if it's worse than having to constantly dump these buckets. Maybe the composting materials are saturated with chemicals? I can't be too careful.

Next day I moved to the Mesa Verde BLM Campground, site 12, which is on an incline. Nobody likes inclines so you feel like you are about to roll out of bed all night. I got tired of the RV that wasn't even that close blaring his music. So rude to be out in the country and imposing your noise on everyone else. Are they just so thoughtless they don't get it? This campground has more gravel than dust so my sinuses feel a little better.

I was reading online both Colorado and Arizona have late summer-fall allergens in bloom such as ragweed, sagebrush, and Russian thistle. Along with mold after a rain and then, of course, dust. Could be anyone of these things causing my misery? Supposedly it all goes away after the first frost and that is what happened last year in Arizona. It was all gone by February, but then everytime I camped out in the desert dust I'd feel worse whether it's Utah, Arizona or Colorado. I just don't know if Arizona is a good place for me, but everywhere else is way too expensive.

I'm reading The Keeper of Lost Causes the Q Department mystery series. About four chapters in I realized I know this story. I've must have read it before....

Next day...Friday, September 19th (can you believe it's almost the end of SEPTEMBER!!??) Sinus congestion is making it hard to breathe. Still parked at the Mesa Verde BLM only at site 2 which is very level and closer to the highway. Mesa Verde National Park is less than a mile away and across the highway. Better views from this site:

Depending on the position of the sun, it's really beautiful. This is where those awesome cave dwellings are. I saw them about ten years ago on a road trip and now I can't really walk the tour so that is out.

I'm now reading The Absent One, second of the Q Department mystery series. Every now and then I feel guilty for reading and doing so little to be productive, but at the same time, it's fun.

Next day, I read A Conspiracy of Faith, third of the Q Department series...I know this story, too!!! I've read these!

Sunday, September 21 I left for Flagstaff! Whoo Hoo! Western Colorado is UGLY:

But there is a view of Shiprock from the north:

Still doesn't look like a ship...

Back to Arizona...

New Mexico Detour

As soon as I crossed the New Mexico border, the roads improved from potholes and cracks to smooth as silk. Justifying my detour, I kept thinking, It's too soon for Arizona. Why not see more of New Mexico? It was high on my list of homesteading options.

 

"...Gallup, New Mexico..." Everytime I say that I start singing the song "Route 66". The city limits is spread out like a overgrown strip mall and very low income, but the downtown with part of the original Route 66 is very cool populated with vintage-looking tourist shops. I'm disappointed Route 66 has been cut up into sections due to the added Interstate 40. I hate Interstate 40. The scenery is horrible, the semi-trucks clogging the lanes are awful, and I'd rather be on a country highway without people forcing me to speed to save my life.

What brought me downtown was La Monzanita Co-op which is a health food store chain in New Mexico with stores in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. I'd been to the one in Albuquerque so I had high hopes for this one. This store is tiny, but packed to the roof with more than you could imagine. Still, it was lacking in a lot specifically fresh produce. Then I went to Hobby Lobby to buy a sketch pad and some cheap paint brushes. We'll see if I can creatively motivate myself.

I drove to the Three Mesa Trailhead parking area off Interstate 40 and Mentmore Road for the night. It's sunny, low 70s, and windy. Lots of hikers in the afternoon in and out, but as soon as the sun set, it was a quiet and peaceful night. (The write-up on iOverlander said it was prone to rowdy locals and noisy trucks going in and out the mine located on the same road...I experienced none of this.)

The next morning I headed east on Interstate 40 driving behind a semi-truck that was swerving all over the road! I then exited south on Highway 117 through the El Malpais National Monument which was spectacular featuring sandstone cliffs, arches and caves on one side of the highway:

And a bunch of black on the other side of the highway. What is that? At first I thought it was fire damage, but then I realized that is the Zumi-Bandera Volcanic Field (or the Grants Lava Flow):

There were lots of hiking trails I would have liked to explore. The highway was quiet and peaceful, but half way down the landscape turned a bit barren and ugly. I've often said New Mexico is the ugliest of all the states and provinces I've seen. Granted, every state has bits of beauty and bits of ugly, but I think New Mexico has more than its share of ugly.

I arrived in Pie Town, a miniscule town with a trailer for a post office that has a history of pie making and selling. I stopped at the little cafe that advertised PIES in big, bold, colorful letters and hobbled to the front. I noticed big signs stating "GET YOUR PIE HERE" with an arrow located at the far end of the building so I hobbled further only to find the door locked. On the way back a waitress passed me, "We are out of pie." PIE TOWN IS OUT OF PIE!?? Now, I had hoped they might have gluten-free pie although I was realistically doubtful, but NO pie at all to gaze upon! I was aghast! I stomped with my walker back to the van. Stomping with a walker or four extra aluminum feet is very satisfying and therapeutic. I can make a lot of noise when pie-less.

Population: 192...LOL!

I found the BLM land just behind the tiny town. Many of the dirt roads were pitted with water damage and large deep ruts. I avoided those, but I found a place and parked for the night among the juniper trees and ants...fucking ants.

I recently discovered a van-living danger! Someone asked on one of the FB groups about invection cooktops. Since I have one I gave my opinion. I like mine. Another woman said, "It's a fire hazard. Be very careful. I learned the hard way." WHAT? I asked her for details. It seems invection cooktops heat up and if you place it on a metal table as most people do, it will heat the metal and anything flammable touching the metal will ignite!!! OMG! She set everything on fire and nearly burnt the county down! For a long time I was cooking on top my metal table outside my van...sometimes there is dried grass or leaves on the ground. If I cook in my van, the table is on the rugs. I've been doing this for nine months without an issue. Why not? Why have I not burnt down my van? Then I remembered I've been using my glass plates underneath the cooktop to protect the table and the rugs!!! Glass is not heat conducive! Wow! The things I don't know....I'm a walking danger zone!

Zero sleep last night. My sinuses are still killing me and I'm taking way too much Afrin which can cause "rebound congestion" so I woke with a sore throat and lung congestion. If I don't take it every night, I can't breathe! I wish I knew why my sinuses hate the southern states. AND, I confess. I started buying Olipop Root Beer. On a hot day it just tastes good, but like any soft drink, healthy or not, it has sugar. Why do I torture myself? I know better and I buy and eat/drink junk anyway. Awake most of the night, I ruminated about the ants on the ground, too, worried they would get in my van. Ants all over everywhere!

Got up early and left (the ants) driving north toward Colorado. Every route I had planned toward Arizona is heating up to the high 70s and low 80s. Nope. Let's go back to the coolness of Colorado! I took a new route through New Mexico and it was only a four hour drive. The drive was boring. Again, New Mexico is still the ugliest state I've seen so far. Not much there to write home about (if I had a home).

BUT! I saw a herd of what I thought were antelope! Are there antelope in New Mexico? I have no idea, but they weren't deer. I got online and they were PRONGHORN!! That was cool.

As I approached the north, I started seeing the rock "cathedrals" floating in the desert. I kept asking, Is that Shiprock? It doesn't look like a ship. Is THAT Shiprock? Nope, that doesn't look like a ship either. There were about six of them. None of them really looked like a ship, but I took a photo of the one closest to the town Shiprock. According to the map, this should be Shiprock:

Doesn't look like a ship...

Worse, the poverty is astounding in New Mexico! Lot of manufactured homes and trailers as residences scattered all over the desert. Too many junky vehicles and garbage surrounding the homes. I'm guessing the only upper class areas are probably in Taos or Santa Fe? I've heard they are out of my budget.

Shiprock was shocking. Approaching from the south one is faced with a neighborhood of dirty, white, little, square rectangle buildings with a door and a window on each side, two dwellings per rectangle, flat roofs. They almost look like shipping containers only smaller and cheaply built. Clothes hanging outside, junk and garbage all over. These "homes" go as far as the eye can see, scattered in no discerning order, left where they were delivered, kaddywompasly situated. The stores and other businesses are run-down or closed-down. People milling all over the place, some offering to wash your windows for money when you get gas. One scruffy guy approached my parked van and asked for money. Lots of vendors selling out of their vehicles on the highway. During all my adventure, I've never seen any area this bad. It was pretty shocking. I kept praying, Please don't let my van breakdown here!" Crossing the Colorado border was like night and day...scenery became beautiful and the houses large, beautiful, and well-maintained.

Back to Colorado...

Down the Back Stretch! Arizona!

The colors of northwest Arizona are spectacular. Look at those clouds!
It's like a painting....

I feel torn about Arizona. On one hand, with all the stress and trauma, I feel relieved this adventure is over and I'm my way "home" or to where I started because I'm not sure if Arizona can be considered "home". On the other hand I feel dread. Tucson creeps me out. Tucson is the land of psychopaths and very bad experiences that slosh around in my brain too often usually in the middle of the night or when I'm driving. Driving affords one a lot of thinking time. Outside Tucson, Arizona is dry, dusty, and still too hot. I'm STILL just not sure that's where I want to land.

I headed west on Highway 160 and planned to go south to Shiprock. The horizon was black with rain clouds, but the view west was bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds! ? Make a choice! GO TOWARD THE LIGHT...then south on Highway 191. 

I read some posts on the lack of free camping in the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, but found perhaps the only one that wasn't a gas station: Wheatfields Lake on the border of Arizona and New Mexico. The warning was if it rains, it's deep in mud. Well, it's been raining here and the huge arroyo ditches and water-filled potholes made me hesitate. Big Blue trudged through the muck and we found a semi-dry spot. Hopefully it'll stay dry all night. The weather forecast for the next few days is sunny 66/68/69/70 high and 48/47/50/53 low, but it's raining right now. We'll see! I'm the only one here. It's nice with picnic tables, garbage receptables, and a bathroom...blocked by huge puddles of brown water. It's very quiet. Thunder and lightning all night with showers now and then. Then I woke up to a view of the lake and this:

COW CAMPING!

At first I thought there was only one until I threw some water out my side door and there is a small herd surrounding my van giving me the stare down.

On the Navajo reservation there are warning signs all over about cows and horses running free. I saw a few horse herds on the way. One beautiful colt that was white with black ears, mane, tail and feet. Gorgeous. Just wandering on the side of the highway. There was no place to pull over or I would have taken a photo of him.

The sun appeared and I drove to New Mexico via Highway 12 in hopes of finding sunshine and some food. The Navajo reservation does not have a lot of options. Beautiful drive with lots of mesas, rock formations, rock needles and rock walls. Towns are built around them.

Around the corner from this rock knob, I encountered a pothole as wide as the road and filled with brown water. Do I drive over? In Arizona we are taught DO NOT drive over an unknown depth especially if the ditches and arroyos are raging with water and they were. You might get stuck, or worse, you might float away or drown. Did I listen? No. The highway was about 50 feet on the other side! It was risk it or turn around and suffer the bad road coming in. It was damn deep, but I made it. 

Even though my ability to walk has been compromised, I'm still on an adventure. New Mexico is off the beat and path, providing a detour, but I have two weeks until my doctor's appointment. Why not?

Colorado: Land of Many Uses

August 26, 2025 "Land of Many Uses" must be the Colorado state motto. I see this sign everywhere. Such a strange motto when most states mottos have to do with beauty, community, or patriotism. I'm using Colorado to drive toward Arizona and stay cool so I guess the motto is accurate! LOL!

I headed to Denver early in the morning thinking I would visit a Whole Foods on the outskirts. Traffic was frightening. Then I realized Siri was taking me right into downtown. NO WAY! I reset the directions heading west on highway 70, but then Siri said a lane or a highway or the whole fucking interstate was closed and headed me off northwest. There was a sign for Boulder...

Do you ever wonder how one life decision could have changed your whole world? Boulder is that for me. When I was young and feeling adventurous after spending a year hitchhiking through Europe, I decided I wanted to move to Boulder. I can't remember who put that in my brain, but my dream was to live someplace health-oriented where people hiked, backpacked, cycled and camped. My little brother talked me out of it telling me I couldn't leave him. I was a sentimental fool back then grasping at any bit of family who showed me a crumb of attention. I wonder how my life would have turned out if I had left the Pacific Northwest and moved to Boulder? Probably the same. Or not. Maybe I'd be living in one of those giant cabins up on a mountain? Or maybe I'd still be living in a van with a Colorado license plate?

View from campground at Beaver Reservoir Road

So I headed to Boulder. Lots of cyclists all over. They definitely have a Whole Foods and I stocked up on groceries. I forgot to get water refills (which Colorado has, but they do charge for grocery bags!). I headed to the hills for some R&R because I'm tired of this constant driving, constant pain, and constant illness from the drugs. I plan to spend a few days up in the mountains as I'm feeling less afraid of being alone. Another deciding factor is every route I want to take has rain forecasted and flood warnings. So I figured I'd wait it out. Hopefully it won't flood up on this mountain. Gorgeous drive and on the way up I saw a public water well so I can get some refills. The communities up in the mountains seemed a little subversive with electic architecture and creativity. I get the impression they do what they want in the highlands!

I had a rough night. I think it might have something to do with being horizontal. Every night I have about five hours of excruciating nerve pain like I'm being hit with a cattle prod, stabbed with a knife, and my leg being put on a hot burner. Adrenaline rushes throughout my body. Yes, out of frustration I cry for the full five hours. Then it simmers down and just as I start to fall asleep I get another knife stab. Damn!

I also bought some charcoal and I thought I'd start back with the mold cleansing as all my joints are hurting again and the adrenaline rushes started back. It might be a mold symptom, but more than likely this is my mast cells activating out of control. It's a full-blown allergic-histamine reaction to the trauma which incites mass cell activity and mold just adds to the misery. I'm hoping this protocol would help with some of my ankle symptoms and recovery? I took one capsule after five hours of pain, went to bed, woke up thirty minutes later with my heart pounding out of my chest. It felt like an allergic reation, but I think it's just doing what it's supposed to as charcoal can make you sick if it's moving around the toxins in your body. I was nauseated for most of the next day.

The morning brought new insight. Rained last night. Raining again this morning. Once again, I forgot I can't just sit around on cloudy or rainy days without losing all power so I headed south. I opted to avoid Denver and Google Maps took me down the center of the state. OMG! Beautiful mountains, canyons, valleys and old historic towns like Central City, Black Hawk and Leadville. I really wish I could walk so I could get out of the van and walk the streets, look at architecture and windowshop...or hike!!! Unfortunately, the dark clouds covered most of the scenery, but every now and then I'd get a glimmer of hope and teased with the bluest of skies:

 

By afternoon the clouds disappeared and the solars were fully charged! Sometimes it just pays to keep driving. I had read at some point that if you want to be somewhere cool for the summer, go to Buena Vista...so I did. I stopped just north of Buena Vista at the Riverside (Miner's Camp) BLM right next to the Arkansas River. The dirt road in looked previously washed out in places, but it was easy to drive. I saw the river while driving, but once parked I could hear it, but I couldn't go near it due to the uneven ground and fear of falling with the walker. I stayed for two nights with clouds moving in and out, but sun most of the time. It was OK, but a little busy since it was a river access so constant in and out of kayakers and fishermen.

Ran out of food and water so I headed to Salina for supplies. The road beyond the campground was fascinating, with large bolders, tunnels, and rocks all over! 

If it wasn't for the winter snow, I could live here and use those rocks for landscaping!!

Hard to see, but tunnel after tunnel through the rocks.

Also, the door to my gas tank flew off! I stopped at the Ford dealership to ask what I should do. She was very nice and said it's protected from rain, but I'd have to go to a body shop to get it replaced. She thought most thieves aren't going to steal from a Ford van because one never knows if the owner on the inside is carrying a gun! I'll leave it for now even though it's ugly.

Next I headed to Natural Grocers. The parking lot was impossible for the size of my van let alone needing space to get out with the walker on the side so I parked right up front in the handicapped spot. I get in the store, sit in the electronic cart, and it doesn't work! They failed to keep it charged. This is one reason I seek out Whole Foods or other big grocery stores. These little stores rarely have working electronic carts if any at all! One shopper offered to shop for me and an employee offered help also. I told the employee, if cart had worked, I'd be buying a lot more!

Coloradoans (is that what they are called?) are very nice. Even the drivers are considerate. Very friendly people looking a little alternative, sporty, and/or hippie-ish. Lots of cyclists and kayakers all over. My kind of people. I think I'd like it here...

I was going to camp further south, but as soon as I left Buena Vista the temperatures climbed ten degrees or into the high 70s. EEEWW! I drove back to the road where I stayed the last two nights, but this time stayed at Cactus Fields BLM. Not on the river, but gorgeous views of the mountains and landscape. Very quiet, although it was full Friday night most left in the morning.

Love these white rocks all over the countryside!

It's Labor Day weekend! I didn't even realize it. (OMG! September is next week!) Holiday weekends are always a risk because these BLM campgrounds fill fast as even the locals are escaping for the weekend. The plan is always get a spot early on Friday and stay put. 

I notice Colorado has a lot of van nomads, more than any other state. I saw very few coming from the east. I spoke with a seasoned van-living woman from Texas and she opted to stay in Colorado for the whole summer. Later I met someone who said Colorado is the summer destination for a lot of Texans. I notice experienced nomads travel very slowly choosing one or two states to spend the summer. BUT in the beginning they do what I have done - the bucket list or a whirlwind tour of every place they can possibly go! LOL! Staying in one place saves on gas costs. Colorado is great for summer. The mountains and high elevations make it cool and comfortable. Good to know. I'll stay in Colorado until the weather down south starts to cool down.

Weird weather. Forecast says sun but it rained most of the morning. Then it's forecast as thundershowers and it's sunny. Then tornado winds started!! WTH? It's odd how the weather can say "it will rain in 4 minutes" and be spot-on, but then get it so wrong any other time. But the sun remained and my solars are fully charged so I am happy. Interesting fact: solars charge faster and better when the weather is cold, but sunny.

One aspect that is really hard about staying in place for more than a day or two is the garbage that is accumulated. How can one person in a small van produce so much garbage? I do LOVE throwing things away and I make a point to keep everything very clean to avoid ants and rats. But my need for organization feels cleansing and I know it gives me more room in this tiny space. More room feels like it's easier to breathe.  It amazes me how little I currently own even compared to the beginning of this adventure. I actually have a lot of extra room which will be good when I rescue my strorage stuff. It's all going in the van although I plan to sell a few more things!!

I nearly sliced off my middle finger with my butcher knife while preparing dinner. Gushed blood. Like I need another emergency visit! I just wrapped it in PANTY LINERS! They make the perfect bandage because they are thick and have adhesive on the back! I hope it heals fast. I can already type fairly well so that's a relief.

I made a thank you card and envelope for my Nova Scotia angel, Minou. I don't have a lot of art supplies and very few collage bits with me so I had to make due. It felt good to do something creative as it's been too long. This could be why I often feel depressed.

I made it a horror story with an illustration of the current condition of my leg. It looks dead with all the yellowy black and blue. Hey, Halloween is almost here! Then I worked on some Halloween cards.This was fun. I miss doing art. The last time was painting the top of my van in March. I need more creativity in my life. 

Woke up from third night of sleepless discomfort...it's cool, the sun is shining, it's beautiful, and I feel really good. I need to go to the store, but I don't want to....I'd rather relax and bask in the sunshine. Which is exactly what I did.

I deleted most of my women's van life FB groups. I am so tired of nasty, catty, judgmental, critical woman. I hate people on a good day, but these bitches drive me nuts. There is no benefit to membership.

Fourth night at Cactus Field BLM near Buena Vista. In the lower 70s during the day and down to 45 degrees at night with wind gusts. I woke up at 12:30am...awake all night, uncomfortable, restless, irritable. My sinuses are killing me which makes it hard to breathe. It must be dry, desert weather or some plant here in the south? OR it's the anti-mold supplements I'm taking! Never had a problem in the north or on the east coast, but I had been taking the supplements for months and I have now just started up again. It does usually get worse before it gets better.

At daybreak I did some grocery shopping, mailed mail, and dumped garbage. I don't know what to do about all the garbage. Gas stations and Walmart are fine with small "car garbage", but I had eight little grocery bags of garbage in just four days. That's a lot and I think it would be considered household garbage which would be illegal. But what do I do? I washed my throw rugs at Missing Sock Laundromat. They had top loaders and a very nice owner who helped me get in the doors with my walker.

Next day...sunny and breezy. God, it's beautiful here! I'll plan to stay for about four more days as I have a work project coming in so I'll get that done before I hit the road. Visited Lettucehead Food Co-op for some more vegetables I failed to buy yesterday. This one is right in Buena Vista. Nice little store with a little of everything (except an electronic cart!). Came back to campground and although my spot wasn't taken, the place is nearly filled with single men in RVs. My spot seems to have a lot of ants. I might move, but I'd rather not. Nights are getting easier. Still some discomfort, but much less. Freezing in the mornings, but sunny all day.

Rained all night and next morning. There is light tan mud dripping from my van like diarrhea in liquid mountains of goo. So gross. Especially since I can't wash the van! I left for cement ground and found it at the Poncha Springs Information Center. It has a dump station for RVs, bathrooms, garbage and large lot with large parking spaces for all sizes of vehicles. Quiet night. Unfortunately they only let you stay for 24 hours. I worked that afternoon and the next morning, washed my hair, then headed to Walmart in Salida for more cement although the weather cleared.

I was craving yogurt so I bought too many. My stomach has been hurting, probably from mast cells. I ate FOUR!! God, they were good. But they are high-histamine and I spent the night peeing nearly every hour. Other than that, it was a great night. Quiet, safe, and cement.

My incisions are peeling! It's weird. My skin is flaking off which is gross. My fat is dehydrating (?) leaving flabs of skin. The sock stinks so I switched it out. They only gave me three so I assume they should be changed every two weeks. I can't wait to be able to soak this foot in hot water. The bottom of my foot is still black and blue (or rather more green and yellow).

The next morning I went to Natural Grocers and their electronic cart died in the aisle. They still aren't charging them! Drove to park and made chicken with vegetables stir fry that tastes more like teryaki. Yum. Drove to the Missing Sock Laundromat to do another load of laundry because who knows when I'll find another suitable laundromat. I love clean clothes!

This photo was taken just before I realized after 20 minutes of sitting
there, I finally realized the "start" button didn't start. UGH!

As I'm waiting for clothes to dry I checked the weather. Everywhere except Buena Vista is in the 80s...I don't want that heat. I decided at the last minute to stay. I don't need to be in Flagstaff for two more weeks so there is no rush. Teaching myself to relax and take my time. Went to a different BLM: Arizona River Headwater Recreation. This is the traditional type BLM that I used to know with sites 100 feet apart rather than huddled close together like an RV park. Love it.

I hated the ants at the last BLM location and wondered if it was just that site or if they were all over. They are all over! I pray they don't want IN my van!

It was another horrible night trying to sleep. I worried all night if I could make it out of this gulch. The road in is a single lane, dirt, with deep, deep potholes all over and a drop-off cliff on one side. I can't imagine what I would do if I were in the middle of it carefully making my way up and an RV met me coming down!! Backing up this van is difficult on flat cement! Would I be expected to back up to the bottom and somehow not drive myself off the cliff? I left at daybreak and encountered no one! Excellent planning!

Dumped garbage back at the Poncha Springs Information Center, ate breakfast then headed to Montrose. Beautiful drive in the mountains until approaching Montrose then it's rather barren and brown. I pulled into the overnight parking-friendly Walmart but the loud traffic made me move to the local park so I could make some calls to medical facilities to get information they didn't seem to have. Then there is the 85 degree weather, I made some last minute plans and headed to the Million Dollar Highway (550) toward Silverton. 

Gorgeous drive! Looks like Switzerland only the mountain tops don't have snow (yet!). 

Ouray was beautiful, although a little touristy. The frightening twisty turn mountain pass was gorgeous although I was afraid to take my eyes off the road so a bit hard to see. Drop off on one side.

Continued just past Ouray to one spot, but the downhill, rocky, potholed single lane in the dark woods made me turn around at the first opportunity. I backtracked to the Million Dollar Highway Wild Camping that is this nice gravel road between the highway and the river. Lots of spots! And 68 degrees with a beautiful breeze! But the river is ORANGE??? Eeewww! Maybe it's the iron content in the hills?

View from my van...

This spot is a small-ish pullout with fire pits at each end. Good size for two vans or small campers. As dusk approaches and wouldn't you know it a MONSTER RV with a motorcycle and a trailer with a ATV squeezes into the spot next to me which is NOT a good size for an RV! What an asshole. Initially he backed that trailer right to the front of my van not even leaving me enough room to get out. Then I had the displeasure of listening to his generator for the next two hours. In the morning daylight I notice his license...fucking psychopath from Arizona! I left. It got pretty cold around 35 degrees in the night.

I drove to Silverton. OMG! The Million Dollar Highway is so beautiful especially in the morning with the sunlight streaming on the surrounding mountains. Twisty, curvy 10mph up and down the mountains and through the valleys that look so much like Switzerland.

It was difficult to get good pictures since I usually couldn't stop on the side of the highway. The one below was taken while I was at a construction stop.

Got to Silverton around 8am. It reminded me of Philipsburg in Montana only bigger. It had a paved main street but all side streets are dirt.  Lots of little shops and restaurants.

Look at those black clouds rolling in from the south

I tried in vain to find a restroom that didn't involve a mile hobble on the walker. Then all of a sudden a thunderstorm seem to come out of no where. I started off for Durango then decided I didn't want to drive wet twisty mountain roads in pouring rain. They are hard enough dry! I pulled off the highway and worked for about two hours until the sun appeared again. I started driving again around 10:30am. I remember this drive coming the opposite way hoping to visit Silverton about fifteen years ago. It was October and it started snowing! I recognized the exact spot where I turned around!

September 9, 2025 Got to Durango around noon. It's a lot bigger than I remember it fifteen years ago. People aren't nice. Did a little grocery shopping at the food co-op. No electronic cart at the food co-op. Nearly every shopper in the store walked in right front of me as I was slowly trying to get around. The food co-op was one big disappointment so I found Nature's Oasis which was like a Whole Foods only maybe better with much nicer people. It was 85 degrees. ICK! I drove back up Highway 550 to a turn off I saw on the way down for Lake Haviland that people profess has overnight parking. But it's so beautiful, I don't trust it. This is the view from my side door.  Maybe I'll get kicked out? I'm hoping to stay a few days. It's a little cooler here at 79 degrees. Praying the temperatures in Northern Arizona will start to cool in the next week.

Colorado doesn't disappoint with spectacular cloud formations!

Woke to gorgeous views of lake. Very quiet night with no one asking me to leave. My sinuses are so much better. Is it southern Colorado or is it still the anti-mold supplements that are kicking in? I know when one starts them, all symptoms should get worse before they get better. I don't know. Health is always a mystery. Ankle is less uncomfortable when sleeping and I'm doing gentle stretches everyday. I hope for a fast recovery with physical therapy. Temperatures are in the high 60s. Perfect. 

It rained all night the second night and plans to rain more. So I wrapped my cast in a plastic bag, put on a raincoat, and washed the van! I figured it was already wet and the rain would rinse it. I used only water anyway because I was so close to the lake so I'm not sure if it did any good. It was more like washing mud with mud. But it's pouring now! Fingers crossed!

Left for Cortez, but found a BLM in the San Juan National Forest on the way, turn right onto Road 316 and lots of campsites! Wonderful afternoon reading and relaxing. Then it started to rain. Hard. It rained all night and will continue for two days straight. If I stay I'll run out of power which means no reading, no internet, and no cooking. I wondered, Can I stay in bed for two days and do nothing? I did not want to leave. I wanted the rain to leave. I left. I have no idea where to go...

Maybe it's time to head south...to Arizona!