Today is January 28, 2022. It’s Day #271 of our journey & Day #59 here in the Arizona desert. 🏜
After surviving the WIND & chilly temperatures at Christmas time & New Year’s, the weather has returned to normal now. Out of respect for my family & friends in COLD climates, many facing blizzard conditions this weekend 🥶, I won’t be mean & share the details… 🤐 I’ll just say that THIS weather is what prompted my decision to hunker down here. 💕
I don’t really have much of anything new to share today. I‘ve had a few people contact me, concerned that I’d gone off-grid again, so I just wanted to check in. Due to the huge number of people in town for the enormous RV show, my reception has been extremely slow to non-existent, as expected. As a result, I haven’t been able to make or receive phone calls or emails or work on this blog very often. I sometimes have decent reception in the middle of the night, so I try to check my emails then. We’re usually lights out soon after dark, so Maddie needs to go out at least once during the night. Twelve hours is a long time between potty breaks! I take advantage of being awake & chilly again to get online. Unfortunately, the timing doesn’t work for phone calls. 🤷♀️
I’m grateful that I chose this campsite because it’s been perfect! We’re close to the pit toilet aka outhouse aka restroom, per regulation. Unless a vehicle is self-contained, you’re required to be close to the restroom. That’s fine with me! They’ve been clean & well-maintained, so that’s a plus. We’re also a reasonable distance from the dumpsters & water, so that’s also been convenient.
For some reason, our area hasn’t gotten crowded, while some of the other areas nearby have been wall to wall with campers, RVs, etc. We had a large motor home next door for a week or so, but they left yesterday.
We met because Bailey got loose soon after they arrived & scampered straight over to us! She’s the sweetest, little puppy & loves to cuddle. Maddie wasn’t always thrilled when I went over for a visit & a cuddle, but she’s not really a cuddly dog. 🤷♀️ They were here from South Dakota. After a week, Linda decided to head on over to the California coastline to visit family members. When she arrived, she texted me to let me know they’d arrived safely & she was loving her visit & the beautiful, GREEN area!
As a New Englander, I’ve been missing the ocean & lakes, but I’m also missing GREEN now! 😁 This is a very beige & DUSTY environment, with almost no greenery around. I don’t count cactus 🌵 as greenery! 🤫 Between the insanely cheap fee to stay here & the weather, I’ve learned to deal with it, but I’m looking forward to seeing GREEN & WATER again!
One really fun thing that happened was the arrival of hummingbirds! Someone posted on a local FB page, asking about hummingbirds here. After a very positive responses, I pulled out the mini feeders I brought along. I hadn’t thought to use them because it’s been so chilly & windy. The day after I filled the feeder with sugar water, voilà! They’re Anna’s hummingbirds, a variety I’d never seen before. These photos are from my cellphone, taken through the tent screen from 2 feet away! They’re now visiting from sunrise to sunset & I’m loving it! 💝 The feeder also attracted bees, so I put out a saucer of sugar water for them! It’s working! 🤞🏼
Before I post this, I want to send warm wishes to my family & friends currently in the line of the incoming blizzard this weekend. 🥺
The following is NOT intended to be mean, I promise! If I was home & dealing with this weather, I probably wouldn’t find them funny. 🙄
🤗 Please stay safe & warm! 🤗
Where's Wendy? Livin' in the Edge! 
Nice to know all is well, warm, and witty with Wendy! Enjoy your blizzard-free environment. We’ll share photos with you soon.
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Thanks, Wendy❣All is well here & we’re definitely loving our Blizzard-free Zone! I’m obviously concerned about everyone at home, but I’m glad to be missing it. Take care. ❤
P.S. – I’ll be “happy” to see everyone’s storm photos.
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Hi there. Glad to see you post again. What are you doing all day down there? You cracked me up with the mini bird feeder…..you’ll have to let me know how you thought to bring one of those with you 🙂
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Hi! We’re in a town whose population goes from less than 5000 to an estimated million people during the month of January for the RV & gem shows, etc. 😳
I’ve got decent reception in the middle of the night, but I have to drive 5 miles into town to find any during the day. The traffic/parking in town has been horrendous, so I’ve been avoiding it. The huge RV show closes today. Hopefully reception will improve again soon, although other shows continue into February, so I don’t really know how it will be. On more than one occasion, I’ve lost 2+ hours of work on the blog when I lost reception & it didn’t save. 😠 Frustrating!!!
I spend the day taking & editing photos, reading, etc. For a former workaholic, I’ve definitely converted into a “Don’t worry. Be happy!” mentality! 😎
I’m a bird nerd, so I actually packed 2 mini feeders & an oriole feeder! 🤓 I also bought a small seed feeder a few months ago! We haven’t been anywhere long enough to put them out, so I’m super happy to have hummingbird visitors❣ The only other birds I’ve seen are crows (ravens?) & grackles in town.
I’ve been following the weather at home & I’m really happy to be missing it. I’ve NEVER liked cold weather. I wish I could afford to be a Snowbird! 🦩🦜🦩It’s almost 7am & the reception is diminishing now. Thanks for checking in❣ Stay warm & safe! 😘
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