A Month to be Thankful For

Thanksgiving Day, 2013

I woke to the most beautiful sunrise which I viewed from the warmth and comfort of my own bed, with my head on my own pillow… with a 180 degree view of the incredible desert, all natural (no other campers in view). ...I am thankful for that view, for my bed, for being able to leave the passenger side rear door open at night to watch the stars from my bed and let the sun shine or my forehead first thing in the morning.

Rachel visits Camp Swankie

I am thankful too for the moonrise I got to witness at about 3am… out that same door. I saw a bright light on the horizon… and took my binoculars to see what it was… and it was not a star. It was a crescent moon just peaking up over the horizon of mountains… and there were rays of light like sun rays though the clouds, but the rays were coming from around the moon. I tried to memorize how it looked so I might be able to sketch it. I could see the dark side of the moon in shadow… and watched it lift off from the horizon. Amazing. I am thankful for the moon, and my bed and my pillow and my binoculars, and the sky and stars and moon and then this morning a sun so bright and clear I could not even glance at it for a split second. I have never seen the sky so clear and bright.

I am also thankful for the amazing sunset I witnessed last night. My photos do not do it justice. I didn’t know which way to look or what to photograph… 360 degrees of awesomeness. I wish my camera was better. It’s beyond my verbal abilities to describe that sunset. And I was thankful for the fresh clean air last night and the moderate temperatures which gave me a really good night sleep.

		Vandwellers VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And today, it is warm and the sky is clear and blue… and I will be spending the day with some vandwellers in the desert East of Quartzsite, enjoying a good meal and good fellowship. I am thankful for vandwellers (wherever they are), and the desert and Quartzsite (… oh, and rocks tee hee). And I am thankful it won’t be cold at dinner today like it was last year.

Jerry and a couple of his dogs I sketched.

And far away in California, I am thankful for the old clients and dear friends I can’t be with this holiday, but I am there with them in spirit. I wish I could be in Monterey kayaking the Bay or even better in Morro Bay, kayaking there. I wish I could spend this day with all the people I miss and love.

And lastly, I am thankful for my family, Richard, Rhonda, Tori, Chris, Jenelle, Zoey and Will Bailey and all the other Baileys who are my in-laws. I hope you all have a great day this day, and know that I love and miss you all. I am especially thankful for being the Mom of two such great young men as Chris and Richard Bailey.

And I am thankful they have given me three beautiful grandchildren… and I’d be even more thankful if I could be the Grandma to them that my dear Grandma Smith was to me.

My angelic grandmother with my sons in 1968.

That would truly be heaven on earth and the only thing that could possibly make today any better than it is already.

Left: Granddaughter Tori, and
Right: Jenelle, Chris, and grandkids Will and Zoey.

Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone one of you… even if you don’t celebrate this holiday.

Just before a three day rain hit, the ranger at the Long Term Visitor Area where I had sat up camp, came by and said I had to move closer to a vault toilet since I didn’t have a 10 gallon holding tank.  So I moved within a few feet of one… before the rains began then I just kept loaded up to wait out the weather.

In a different Long Term Visitor Area, I found a great site with a huge tree, and a 180 degree view eastward of the wide open desert.  That night as I was getting comfortable for my first night, a test run to see if I like the spot, a large bird landed in my very large tree.  I could not make out what it was, but am sure it was a bird of prey.

The sunset was very nice and I felt comfortable in this location, so next day, I began setting up camp again.  I pray I am not asked to move again.  I am about .03 hundredths of a mile too far from the vault toilet, but I use my portable anyway, so it should not be irrelevant.  I like this location, I’m on the edge of the area where people camp.

Out out comes the rug, and the rocks… and I begin getting organized for working with rocks, the reason I am in Quartzsite.

This will become a bolo tie for a friend.

Here are some other rocks I have trimmed down to begin grinding and polishing.

And of course, out comes the solar oven at every opportunity.

There just doesn’t seem to be an end to the beautiful sunrises and sunsets out here.

One week, I got to help Rachel Smith with her van… making dark curtains to replace the light daisy pattern curtains.  LaVonne Ellis came to visit while we worked.  Doug Begley came by a couple times to visit as well.  Here I sit in the middle of the desert and it’s like Grand Central Station.

And I am grateful for being able to make Rachel’s van warmer and more comfortable.  Before she left we visited the Indian Petroglyphs and she sang Annie’s Song for me again, while we watched the sunrise.  Below the crest of the hill were grinding holes the Indians used for nuts and grain.  Also there was a rock shelter behind the trees where Indians may have taken shelter from the intense desert heat and strong winds. I want to learn more about these people.

But the very best part of living in a van, is being able to watch sunsets and sunrises from my own very comfortable bed, looking out the back door of my van.

It just doesn’t get any better (or more beautiful than this) until tomorrow.

I invite you all to follow along on this website or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/swankie.wheels).  I will be going to Hawaii in May 2014 to complete my 50-state kayaking adventure. You are invited to come along.  Contact me for details.

Lake Washington, Seattle, WA

One who does nothing
but wait for his ship
to come in
has already missed the boat.

I am under the I-90 bridge right now, on the shores of Lake Washington. Just did a little beachcombing. I love beachcombing.

Looking for the spot where Dan Tracy(above) and I will launch to go kitesailing with our kayaks. See his video. Overcast today and enough wind, but not going out today... but looking for the spot and exploring the area.

The name of my son’s new home Ridiculust, a 5,000 sq. foot place, hard to imagine when you live in a box (but shared with another couple with baby due)..

For three years my son has set up a bee hive and the bees all left home, so this year he didn’t set it up again, and now bees are coming to the hive.  I thought, well maybe if they choose to live in this hive, they will stay!!!   Either that, or they are robbing the honey still in the hive.  Will be interesting to watch what happens.

Also met a nice duck family and had a change to get some wonderful photos, until other people showed up and drove the mom away.  Too bad too, as she had an injured leg, even once she got into the water, she used it very little to swim.  But all in all a beautiful experience for me.

I just saw a sign asking for volunteer kayakers to help with a SWIM club swim in the lake on the 8/18... and I signed up. Should be fun.  That will loosen me up for my Alaska paddle on 8/20.

Now, I’m having breakfast on the waterfront… cereal with the beautiful blackberries I picked yesterday.

Have found the Western Shore of Lake Washington where Dan Tracy will be taking me kitesailing by kayak in a few days.   Nice area… sun has come out, there is wind and sailboats are on the lake, and speed boats, and kayaks.  I’m spending the time catching up with things.

Later I will be having dinner with my son Richard, who I haven’t seen in three years.  I swear, the boy’s life is just one big party.

The first party… great big round bed/swing/chair thing in the back yard that could hold half a dozen people.  Two on there in this photo.  My son, Rich, and his very nice friends… taken at the first party.

The next night was a sit-down dinner party, and I baked a red velvet pecan cake in my Sun Oven, while parked along the lakeshore, for the occasion (heard hikers going by… exclaiming “Look, a Sun Oven!”).

Rich’s friend, introducing him to chocolate-covered potato chips.  OK, I got to get some of these things.

Our hostess… wrapping a big hoola-hoop… the whole group of friends have dozens of hoola-hoops, sometimes jumping out of airplanes and then flying through the hoops… or just playing with when on terra-firma.

This friend arrived and I just had to take a photo of her awesome hair… brighter red than in this photo.  The table is set, very nice to sit down to dinner and actually converse and be able to tell stories on my son… and have people thoroughly enjoy them… they all love him so much – and he can laugh at himself.  Conversation drifted off into places I never dreamed I’d be going with folks a generation younger then me (i.e. The Harrad Experiment by Robert Rimmer which I read in the late 1960 and which was the catalyst for breaking up my marriage).  Well, that’s probably too much information for my followers!

Anyway, it was an awesome evening.

A vandweller/kayaker is arriving in Seattle today and we are trying for a connection.  She is also on her way to Alaska, but today is the only time our paths will cross.

This weekend, my son is taking me to the Renaissance Festival and I will camp there overnight in my van.  My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter and many of their friends are performers, and have been for years. King Richard and his Queen.  I told you this boy’s life was just one continuous party.

I commented to my son that he seems to like me better now… and he said, well, this was the happiest he has ever seen me.  He does like me more… and that’s an awesome “answered prayer” for me.  Life is good.