April 6, 2013

Boondocking in Sedona, AZ

A LAZY, SAD DAY

It was chilly this morning when we woke up but within five minutes of turning on the furnace we were comfy cozy. 

It was a little after 6am-the first glimpse of daylight was just starting to peek through on the other side of the mountain as we watched first one, then several hot air balloons appear in the sky. 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though a ride in a hot air balloon is on my bucket list I shudder at the thought of being that high and don’t know if I would ever garner the nerve to actually do it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The riders this morning must have had spectacular views as the sun rose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our cat Anne has started exhibiting some strange behavior —she is walking around like a lost soul, meowing (crying) for Pumpkin.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This behavior is really unlike her as she is usually such an aloof creature. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I empathized with Anne because I did a lot of moping around today.  I tried to keep busy (and was able to keep my mind busy at times) but every once in a while something (Pumpkin’s blanket, a twist tie he batted around, etc.) would remind me of his absence and I couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in my eyes. 

 I can’t wait for the day when I can just think of him fondly without feeling this hole in my heart. 

I guess anyone reading this that has never had a pet take hole of their heart probably thinks I am being overly sensitive but the people who have considered their pets a member of the family know what Monte and I (and Anne) are going through.

Monte spent most of the day keeping busy by doing some outdoor chores while I did indoor chores including dusting, dusting and some more dusting-one of the drawbacks to being in the desert is the constant dust covering every surface.

We were originally going to leave on Sunday but after listening to weather reports of snow in the direction we want to go, we have decided to delay our departure a couple of days.  Our black tank is only about half full so we are okay with that but we are running low on water.  We probably would have had enough for a couple more days if we went without showers BUT we really need showers.  So we decided to take our empty water containers and went looking for somewhere to fill them. 

We figured since we were going to be out we might as well include a trip to Walmart for a few groceries.  I entered “parks” in the GPS.  We tried three different parks-none had water spigots. 

On our way to Walmart I asked Monte to stop at a gas station so I could play lotto and when I came out of the store I found him filling up the water containers next to the air hose.  Now why didn’t we think of that in the first place?

 

 

 

 

Detouring on Bill Gray Rd, we stopped to take pictures of the Harubang Statues guarding what once was called the Mago Earth Park in Cottonwood,

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Wikipedia, Harubangs are large mushroom-like statues found on Jeju Islands of the southern tip of Korea.  They are considered to be gods offering protection and fertility and are placed outside of gates for protection against demons traveling between realities.

 

 

 

The Harubang and a giant Kokopelli (known to Native Americans as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller) are the only statues remaining at the site. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park was the brain-child of a Korean man residing in Sedona and at one time included other statues; a  39 foot tall statue of Mago, Mother Earth Goddess, Confucius, Socrates, a Korean philosopher named Dahn-Gun and an Indian with a big feathered headdress.    

The park is located directly across from a Catholic Church.  According to an article in RoadsideAmerica.com, “The statue, erected by a group from neighboring hippy dippy Sedona, appeared suddenly along US 89 and riled up Cottonwood’s conservative citizens.  Bowing to pressure, the town eventually ordered the statue’s removal…”

We saw a large group of tent-campers on the dirt road our way home.

 

 

Views of our campsite from the road.

 

When we returned home he used a 12-volt utility pump to pump the water from the containers into the water tank of our rig. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the additional 12 gallons of water he pumped in we had plenty of water for showers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is our first real experience with being off the grid so everything we do is a lesson.  So far (with the exception of losing Pumpkin) it has been a successful adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to groceries, Monte picked up a camping shovel at Walmart. 

I sat outside until the sun started to set and with it the warmth of the sun.  Anne stood at the screen door meowing.  I know she would love to come outside.  She is very timid and I am convinced she would not wander far but we can’t allow her to come outside because one of her favorite things to do when she is outside is roll around in the dirt.   

Anne getting some play time in with "Daddy"

 

We had rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese and corn for dinner.  YUM!

We settled in for the evening watching a movie until I reached a point where I was forcing my eyes to stay open.