DUMP DAY

When you dry camp in the desert as we have been doing since the first of the year you eventually run into a problem. No matter how frugal with your water, sooner or later your water tank becomes empty and your waste tanks become full. This is a fact of life and you must deal with it. Judy looked forward to Dump Day. This meant that she could take a shower instead of sponge baths. I think secretly she was also looking forward to hubby taking a shower too.

Tuesday was dump day. We packed up all of our stuff and drove over to the dump station, no you do not just empty your tanks on the ground, and as I pulled up to dump the tanks Judy hopped in the shower. I came inside to take my shower and of course ran out of water midway through. I managed to get enough water to rinse myself off and we moved to our next spot which was refilling the water tank with safe to drink water.

We then followed Bob and Linda north 60 miles to Quartzsite. While they were checking out sites we went on into town to top off our propane and diesel. After setting up we headed back into town to do laundry. Even though we have a washer, dryer, we don't use it while dry camping. With the right tanks full, and the bad tanks empty and clean clothes we are now ready for our 9 days at Q. I will close this with a sunset, since you really don't want to look at Dump Stations....do you?

BOB OF THE DESERT

When I was much younger there were numerous TV programs about man and nature. For example, who could forget George of the Jungle, Wild Kingdom or even Grizzly Adams. Well sit back and listen to the tale of Bob of the Desert.

This man tamed the ferocious desert burro, and if that wasn't enough, captured with his bare hands the elusive hummingbird. I know.... it's hard to believe but I was there, I saw it with my own eyes, and most importantly I captured it on film......wait, that doesn't work any more, I captured it on compact flash and SD cards.

Our story begins on Sunday afternoon when we noticed 9 to 10 burros checking out our camp site.

Monday evening, as Bob was preparing our nightly fire, I think to protect us from the wolves, this burro surprised Bob. Bob quickly evaluated the situation and with no thought of danger proceeded to pet the burro,
then he even fed it a carrot out of his bare hand. We were all in awe.

As if that wasn't enough, the next morning a hummingbird flew into Bob and Linda's RV.

Again with no thought to the danger he was in, he quickly with compassion and care, captured the hummingbird and set it free.

Later that morning as I was pondering all that I had witnessed, I looked off towards the east, and there it was, the burro that Bob had tamed. Standing tall and proud, it must have wondered...."who is this Bob and why was he here?".