Remind me where I am.

Tonight, before I fall asleep, I will remind myself where I am. I've been on the road with a mission lately, and now I'm just back to relaxing.

Datil turned cold and gray while I was there without heat, and cheered itself right up on my way out of town. The good part was rain.

I'm back in T or C for a while.

Staying overnights in the cabin was good; it helped me see clearly what needs to happen next. [It's a bed.] My driveway is bad - too bad for me to drive - and I'm stuck at how I would get it from wherever the delivery person left it into the cabin. Shadowmoss suggested a portable bed, and that would solve the "getting it inside" problem, but it doesn't quite solve my craving for coziness. Oh well, I'll let that one simmer itself done.

Q: What do you get when your important travel papers fall into the campfire?

A:

Flagstaff, AZ to Datil, NM.

The Slide Fire is not yet contained. The wind must have shifted yesterday to give Flagstaff breathers a break.

Have you seen this new blog? I like to think she has started writing because I kept saying she should; everyone knows how effective nagging is.

I'm in a rare situation: I have a schedule. This aberration will end when I arrive back in Truth or Consequences and meet up with my friends David and Annie, where I will housesit. Today, I'm going to Datil to unload some things I will bring back from Flagstaff. I can't stop over anywhere because there will be nowhere to sleep in Spud. It makes me dozey just to think about it.

Edit: Breaking kitty news:

Tigerlily

April 1997 - May 22, 2014

We love you, Original Grumpy Cat

Datil to Flagstaff (cough)

I had a good birthday! I drove through to Flagstaff (5.5 hours at my speed) and saw my cousins; I brought a cake and sparkling cider (kids) and wine (not-kids) and ice cream (human race). I was hesitating about visiting because they would feel like they had to make a big deal, and Sue suggested that I provide the party. Great idea!

The Slide Fire is currently at 1000 acres. Air quality in Flagstaff is officially Craptastic, and even the light is weird. Some folks here inside the house are suffering eye irritation and respiratory distress; I can't recommend visiting Flag right now if you have other options. I'm feeling fine, and I also have options, but I'll probably leave tomorrow.

The word is that this fire was human-caused.


It seems mawkish; just the same, I want to show you the lovely gravesite The Cousins made for Bob.

 

Penny and Bob were a bonded pair, and I was afraid for Penny once Bob left. But, she has become social, and she hangs out with people now instead of hiding in a bedroom.

I came across New Mexico and into Arizona on 60. I passed a grassfire almost under control.

There are higher continental divides, but this isn't them. Pie Town, NM.

Some of you think nothing of a five- or six-hour driving day. I don't think much of it, either. I'm tuckered out, or puckered, or however that goes. Something about a long drive disorients me, too, and I wake up confused in the night. Penny was asking to be let out, and I couldn't figure out why a cat was in the car. Later, I woke up in Europe in a Casita.

Alamogordo to Carlsbad, New Mexico - Brantley Lake State Park and Guadalupe National Park

I got dozy, so I pulled over in Hope, New Mexico.

Buses are welcome in Alice's Treasure Box.

This just seemed like too much Americana in this iconic place not to photograph.

Still too much Americana.

I spent the night before in Brantley Lake State Park. It was my intention to boondock down by the water, but I felt especially tired and dry-camping suddenly felt like work. Electricity and water near the toilet? $4? Sold. It's a comfortable park; the only downside I could detect was the drifty smell from Artesia. 

After Carlsbad Caverns, I drove on to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas to spend the night. The campsites are only parking spaces, but, for the view of El Capitan? All is forgiven. $4/ night with National Parks annual pass. 

Nope.          Nope.
Nope.                   Nope.

That was then, and now I just left Rockhound State Park. Found no rocks I needed to hound - just a nice, easy trail and terrific views of the basin.

 

Next ... maybe a fast trip to Flagstaff to see some cousins? Maybe I should check with them first? Nah - they love it when I walk right in without warning.

Nothing to say, and then saying it: Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, and Flagstaff. And electronics.

I'm still camped just outside Sedona in a very satisfactory campsite that Annie found. I've been enjoying tweaking my sleeping arrangements in Spud for cold-weather camping (it has been consistently 28° - 30°F). The best, so far, has been sandwiching myself between two layers of "blankets" that are a film of aluminum on one side, bonded to a non-woven fabric (like stiff Handi-Wipes). While I am the tofuham, two down comforters are the lettuce and tomato.

Annie and I visited Palatki ruins

My life is perfect if I can raise Spud's hatch and put on her butt-tent. That lets me sit up at night surfing, or reading, or whatever else I want.

I've visited The Cousins for the past two weekends. It's about 1.5 hours through Oak Creek Canyon. I'm not yet jaded enough to speed through the switchbacks.

No vehicles over 50 feet long. Please.

I have just ordered a passel of gadgets for making my life even better. I'll tell you about them when I've received and enjoyed them. If they suck, I'll tell you about that, too.

Tonight, I activated my Command Center (in the footwell of my passenger side). I'm powering my Wilson Sleek 4G-V signal booster together with my Millenicom MiFi hotspot.

  

[I originally had some trouble with the Mifi cycling off and on every few seconds. Apparently, that's a thing. I called, got a real person right away, and the trouble was over.]

I'm also charging my telephone. I'll plug in my Nook, if I feel fancy.

Although most of my gadgets have their own battery power, the Wilson Sleek is the exception; it needs continuous power to boost a signal. This is where the Prius "generator" comes to my rescue. It turns itself on for a minute or two every so often (Suanne figured about 4 minutes every half hour for hers). That keeps the 12 volt accessory battery happy.

One of my new gadgets will hopefully bypass that necessity. I'll tell you about it soon. The Mifi has a battery, and when I don't need signal amplification I can use that very well. When I set up tonight, I got two bars of 3G without the Sleek, and four bars of 4G with it.

I just figured out that the same cable powers up my phone, Mifi, and Nook. Oh frabjous day!

I just got an exciting idea for my next trip! I'll tell you about it once I'm started.

My ambition is flagging in Flagstaff.

I've been languishing lolling laying around lazing in Flagstaff for a few days with The Cousins. A spectacularly fat cousin stopped over yesterday, and I had a lot of fun pinching his knees and tickling his thighs. He got so amused once that he vomited on me a little. We put his hair up in a Samurai topknot, then his mom changed his diaper. Life is easy here.

A stop in Flagstaff was the terminus for my "long-term" "plans." Ideally, I project my imaginary future past a comfortable place so that my motivation stays high, but I fell short of the ideal this time.

I subscribed to Caretaker.org to see what might present itself.

I wish I could report some big ideas or dazzling epiphanies. Mostly I've been reading, drinking wine, and watching movies. Let's pretend that's the nursery of brilliance.

Datil to Albuquerque to Flagstaff - the Disoriented Express

Thank you to Betty and John in Datil, who were gracious and hospitable while I worked on the cabin.*

Thanks to Joy, my young old friend in Albuquerque, who put me up in comfort while I worked on nothing.



*Poop.

L to R: Roxanne

 It doesn't matter how many other people have done it. In fact, the more who precede you, the more crucial it is that you follow suit.

I left Albuquerque this morning with the understanding with myself that I'd stay overnight in-between if I got too tired. But, driving a Spud is not like wrestling an RV into alignment inside a lane, so I kept going.

Good to see my peeps in Flagstaff!

Celtic Festival, Flagstaff, Arizona

 We all found something to ingest here. I chose iced tea.

I don't know anything about Celtic, or even Gaelic, culture. I never even saw Braveheart. I'll keep commentary to a minimum.

Say what you like about bagpipes ...

Seriously, say what you like.

This was a surprisingly moving performance. Bagpipes are great outdoor instruments. And, rich with tradition that I know nothing about.

Disapproving Bagpiper disapproves.

Hurling

Hurled

[Thanks to Bleen for identifying a caber toss.]

Cousins in the labyrinth. 

Check out that arm pudge. Now look at the baby.

Thank you for shopping Amazon through my link!

Off-grid living with water catchment...in the desert!

I've been thinking a lot about two off-grid homes I toured in New Mexico, so I may as well release that brain-steam here. Both were solar- and wind-powered, not tied into the electrical grid, of course. Both had composting toilets.

I learned that wind power, unlike solar, must always be doing something. Wind is Type A. So, there is a small inline heater that uses the excess power once the batteries are full.

One couple uses a SunMar, non-electric toilet. I asked about "things," and they explained that the urine is separated, and is diverted into their graywater system.

The other uses what they called an "indoor outhouse." They have three bins going: active, used-to-be-active, and looks-like-dirt-to-me. I ran my hand through bin #3 (which is also #2); it's at least one year old. They rotate these bins every six months.

Those things are most excellent, but the part that caught my attention was the catchment-only water supply. That means there were no wells, and no septic systems. [Both homes were built with graywater systems for disposal.] Imagine how inexpensively you could set up your homestead without needing to 1) bring the conventional  power supply to your home, 2) dig a well (an uncertain endeavor that you'll pay for regardless of success), or 3) plant a septic system. Wow! Haul me in a Tuff Shed and let's get started!

Both couples were friends of my friend (hi Betty!), and they were very generous with their time and explanations. The homes were beautiful. Different in styles and sensibilities, but both extremely appealing, and built in soul-soothing places. Best of all, I talked poop to my heart's content. Discuss urine separation? Not a problem! Can I see your composted dookie? Right this way! It's the kind of afternoon Judy would have loved.

I got all excited by the catchment system, because this is high desert. Monsoon is when they gather most of their water (winter snows are good, too, when they happen).

Chuck explained his "first flush" system that cleans his roofs (catchment areas) before the cleaner, later water is stored in his tanks. I wish I had taken a picture, because it's a simple system I'm having trouble describing. The water rushes off his roof, down a pipe that runs downhill and is capped at the end. From there, it backs up into the storage tank inlet, leaving sediment and bird plop down below to be flushed out.

I asked Chuck what happens when it's still raining and all his cisterns are full. He got a pained look and told me he opens the cap and lets it run. We observed a moment of silence. They use metal roofs for the cleanest water; you can use whatever you have, but asphalt shingles will need more filtration, he said.

One couple purifies their water with a UV light. The other just filters out sediment and drinks it like it fell from the sky. Everyone looks healthy. This is an area far from industry, and at a fairly high elevation.

ETA: For every 1000 square feet of space you have a roof over, 1" of rainfall will deliver 623 gallons of water.

You might expect these homes to be shacks or rough cabins, but that wasn't at all true. They are modern, fully-equipped, beautiful homes that you wouldn't suspect of being so radically conservative unless you started asking.

While I was in that area, I met Peggy and Eric at the campground. They own a beautiful conventional home on the river in Washington State, not far from Portland, Oregon. They are both ready for a change and so they're in the market for just such an off-grid home. I hope one day they'll stop in here to let me know they found it.



Now I'm in Flagstaff, soaking in kind, gentle energy and babies. Two of the cats (the bonded pair) are here. They're sticking closely to me and each other right now, but they're enjoying the other people. They got to meet the neighbor's dog this morning, and have now declared themselves indoor cats.

Gargoyle with salt water.

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