For several years I’ve been spending the colder months just inside the southeast corner of California in a BLM area where I have never seen the 14-day camping limit enforced.
Meanwhile, I get my supplies and various services a few miles away in Yuma, with low-cost dental/vision/prescriptions/fresh shrimp available immediately across the border in Mexico.
It has been a good setup for me — with one exception. Arizona is Mountain Time and California is Pacific Time (except during Daylight Saving Time when their clocks match).
Lou and I used to debate which time we should keep our clocks set to when we camped here. This was particularly critical to him because he always wanted to make his supply runs first thing in the morning to beat the traffic and crowds (or at least feel like he had). So he ran on Mountain Time.
On the other hand, I didn’t really care when I got to Yuma (except lunch hour traffic is awful) but was more interested in getting in and out of Los Algodones early enough to avoid long lines getting back across the border. Baja California runs on Pacific time.
But now there’s no one to argue with. I can function in whichever time suits me at the moment.
What still freaks me out a little is when you’re in the eastern edge of a time zone the sun sets so early. As if the decreased daylight hours of the season aren’t enough, we have the manmade time grid overlaying it. Sunset at 4:38? And it’ll only get worse over the next six weeks? Sigh. This is why hibernation was invented.
Such are the travails
ReplyDeleteOf the wintering nomad
Waiting the months for Spring
To return.
Such are the woes of
The wintering nomad,
Awaiting the return of
The warmth of the sun
Isn't it odd how
Though the nights seem long,
How quickly the years
Have sped by?
Endeavor to savor the dark;
As the years contract to memories,
These nights afford you time to reflect.
I enjoyed hearing of your adventures when you were working. I'd be interested in reading your impressions of Montreal, London & Frankfurt. And my guess is there're others. Perhaps you could view them as an outline for your memoir?
How did you find and decide on the couple you gave Lou's truck to? Do you know what became of them?