Mar. 27
First things first: the Spanish beef pie that I described in my last entry is called “machaca”. I was remembering it wrong, and when I went back the next day to get another one for the road, I noted the correct name. And it isn’t a meat pie really. It is shredded beef wrapped in a flour tortilla; but this place has tortillas unlike any I have had before. They taste more like a pastry crust to me than most tortillas do. Really tasty, and reason enough to go to Yuma. Beyond that however, we liked Yuma a lot. It is a bigger city than some of the little towns we have been going through, but it doesn’t take long to get to the outskirts where you find the inexpensive little adobe houses with the great mountain views. And the fact that it is so close to the desert BLM’s is a great bonus.
The Bureau of Land Management land is federally owned “badlands” that allow “dry’ camping, often for free. “Dry” generally means that there is nothing there – no water, electricity, bathrooms, showers, nothing. So you can go there with your RV, but you can’t replenish anything when you run out.
As I write this, I am sitting in the BLM in Yuma that we went looking for. We found it, and it is even better than we expected. Some folks we met on the road 3 years ago told us about the place, and we have wanted to check it out ever since. It is terrific, if you are looking for an “off the grid’ experience, which we were. This particular one is not exactly “dry”. There is a small fee, for which you get water (not at your site – there are no sites) a bathroom with an outside shower (cold), and a dumpsite. There is no electric here at all, so everyone is powered by propane and deep cell batteries. The fee is $40 for 14 days, and as it is a federal facility, our “Golden Age” pass means we only have to pay half that! So you can’t beat the price.
The bonus that we weren’t expecting is that there is a reservoir here that we can swim in! (The reservoir is for irrigation, not drinking water.) This is the first BLM that we have encountered with a place to swim. We spent today down at the water with a few other people, mostly from Canada, some of whom had been here since October. The water was bracing, but very clean and inviting. A welcome relief from the 80 degree sun. Logan had a great time repeatedly fetching a ball that I threw into the water for him. We asked some of the folks what it was like here in January, and they said it was about 65 degrees. Not swimming weather, but great for hiking, which there is plenty of here. So we sat in our lawn chairs and went swimming at the beach. In March! I don’t expect we will stay the full 14 days, but for now, it is nice being off the road and just relaxing. Of course we do have to cook every meal here, as there is no going out to dinner, or grabbing a sandwich anywhere.

Mar 28
Last night, as we were making our dinner, we heard a funny sound, and looked down to the water below us and saw… a group of burros! It seems there are wild burros that live on this land, and they go to the water to get a drink. We didn’t see any more of them during the day when people are out by the lake, but at night we can hear them braying. Logan thinks they might be javelinas in disguise, as they have long been his nemesis. He is convinced that they pursue him from region to region of the country, assuming different shapes to suit the terrain. He has a very active fantasy life.

Mar. 29
No idea when I will be able to post this. There is no wireless internet service here at all. Lorraine isn’t even getting the 3G on her phone with any regularity. Today we traveled about 20 miles to the “Imperial Painted Desert” to go for a hike. We passed a small herd of burros while we were still in the vehicle, and they were curious enough to have stuck their heads in the window if we had given them a chance. The rangers said that they can bite and kick, so we politely declined their advances. The hike was great. We traveled through secluded canyons with not another soul in sight. It was only about a mile and a half; but Logan is beginning to show his age, and he struggled a bit. He was panting for most of the hike, and when we got back to the RV, he seemed out of sorts, and eventually threw up (in the rig). I think he had heat prostration. It was 95 according to the thermometer that we have on the vehicle, but it certainly didn’t feel like 95 does in NJ. I guess there is something to the “dry heat” concept, because I certainly wasn’t uncomfortable out there. And even if I had been, I would have had the good breeding not to throw up in the RV!

Mar. 30
Many of the people who have been here since Oct. are leaving, so the place is de-populating by the day. There are a lot of folks here who pay $180 to stay for 6 months, and they have to be out by Apr. 15. Actually, you don’t have to leave then, but the fee to stay goes to $40 for each additional 14 days, and you can only stay for 14 days at a time. You would then have to go to another location, pay the $40 there, and then you could come back to the original site and pay another $40 for the next 2 weeks. A lot more complicated than just paying the $180 for the winter and staying put. So most people leave by Apr. 15.
An inordinate number of these snowbirds seem to be from Canada. I guess the snow will be melted there by the time that they drive back. And true to the stereotype, they are unfailingly charming and polite. I’m confident that when we invade them, the occupation will go smoothly.

Mar. 31
Today we moved to another part of the BLM (which is huge) and this area has HOT SHOWERS! They are coin operated, 5 minutes for 4 quarters; so there is no time to ponder which conditioner will make my hair shinier. You pretty much have to have all the decisions made before you drop the quarters in. It felt great though after hiking in the 90 degree temperatures.
We have been here since last Monday, and there is absolutely zero opportunity to spend money. Quite a change, since when we are traveling, it is often $100 or so per day on gas, plus whatever we spend on lunch and/or dinner; to say nothing of provisions bought in Wal-Mart if we happen to be spending the night there. If we stay here until the first of the month when my check comes in, we just might be able to pay the credit card bill for the last month.
I am struck by how cheaply one could live in a situation like this if one really had to. Of course there are people here in the big RV’s that might as well be houses; but I see quite a few people who I would guess are subsisting on a Social Security check alone. The guy next to us where we parked for a couple of days was living in, and out of a VW van; and I would guess that all his worldly possessions were in it. As I said, the rent is only $180 for 6 months here. A trip into Yuma (25 miles away) every so often for food, which he cooks outdoors over his camp stove is probably the only other major expense he has. He is parked near the bathroom, and water is freely available. Not the most stimulating environment one could wish, but he seems to spend most of his days sitting in a lawn chair outside his vehicle, reading. For some people, I guess that is enough.