King & I: Heading for primitive camping
KODAK Digital Still Camera

King & I: Heading for primitive camping

This week the boys participated in a history program, “Walk Through the American Revolution,” at their school.

The program is provided by the California Weekly Explorer program. The two-and-a-half hour interactive history lesson is designed to have students (fifth graders) participate in the retelling of the founding of the United States. There were games, role playing, battle scenes, and contests. 

Students were given parts to memorize two weeks ago – one of our grandsons played the part of King George and the other played the part of Roger Sherman (one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence). Because the boys are in two different classrooms one performance was on Tuesday and the other was on Wednesday.

It was a fun program and a great way to teach history. I was impressed with the kids – their attitudes, behavior and their willingness to help those students with special needs. They were two mornings well-spent.

Today it was back to reality and King and I spent the day at home. It rained off and on most of the day, King sat outside when it wasn’t raining. I stayed inside and finished one last rug before I pack away the loom for our trip back to Michigan. I’m giving the final rug I made here to our host before we leave.

That’s the extent of our “exciting” week. There are three more baseball games (provided they don’t get rained out) before we leave. Tomorrow King will help a friend install a television in her new motor home and I’ll do laundry at our daughter’s home.

There are those who envision full-time RV living as one exciting adventure after another, but there is a lot of routine – the same things others do in their brick and mortar homes we do in our home made of aluminum and furring strips. We simply periodically change the view out the window and look for places where our “dangerous breed” rescue and aging trailer will be allowed. Generally the more expensive the campground (or resort) the more restrictive the rules.

Because we tend to avoid RV resorts, “dangerous breed” dogs and the age of our trailer have never been a problem, but we are cognizant of the potential of being refused campsites in some campgrounds.

It makes boondocking an attractive alternative.

One of our first stops on the way back to Michigan will be Quartzite, Ariz. It’s a popular place during the winter months for those with a more adventurous spirit who can live without electric, water and sewer hookups.

Public camping in Quartzite is available on land owned by the Bureau of Land Management. (BLM), which manages 12.1 million acres of public land throughout Arizona. Some areas offer free camping, some areas have seasonal camping for a fee of less than $300. But, as I said, it’s primitive. By the time we get there at the end of March, the crowds will have mostly gone and we will pretty much be on our own, especially at the beginning of the week. Some people find the desert beautiful, I’m not one of them, but it’s a great place to collect pieces of quartz to be tumbled in a rock tumbler later this summer. One just has to be mindful of the scorpions and rattle snakes.

It’s a tradeoff.

Stay safe, be kind. Fact check your memes.

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