February 2nd, 2025
This spot is awesome. I mean, as awesome as a pad of dirt in the middle of the desert can be. I am just so happy that Keith and I will have a good site for our meetup. It is more than big enough for both of our rigs, it is far enough away from the road to where we can’t hear anyone driving by, and it is about as easy of access for a 40 foot RV that you could hope for out in the desert. There is also plenty of room for the dogs to sniff around without stumbling into cacti. Speaking of which, Danny’s paws are fine… and this prompted me to finally try out some doggie shoes that I got for him. He hates them. Hah!
Keith was still a few days out so Danny and I explored around and I started taking him on my runs with me now that I was comfortable with the geography and traffic frequency. He does so well on these runs staying directly to my right at all times and maintaining step with me. This system makes sure that if any cars are to come along that I will be in between him and them.
The first day in the new spot, on our way back from an afternoon run, we ran into another camper and her dog. Both dogs were off leash so naturally they rushed to investigate each other. As disciplined as Danny is, sometimes there are things he just has to check out. This led to me meeting her owner, Kate, who I found was kind of a part-time full-timer. She had a little 14 foot trailer that she towed behind her SUV and traveled all over, mostly in the Northwest. She was currently on her way to Oregon with her friend John who had a van/sprinter style setup.
We chatted for quite a while while the dogs played and brought us the ball over and over. It seems everyone out there has a lot of tragedy that they struggle with. Mine, of course, is years of isolation and alcohol abuse, hers came more from relationships. She had been through no small amount of abuse and my heart broke for her as she relayed a story about a con man she had met on the road taking advantage of her by leveraging sympathy for a fake illness. Apparently this man had a history of preying on women in this way and she was saved from his clutches one night at the last minute by the grace of God.
Kate was spiritual, but not Christian. I’ve seen this quite a bit in my short time on the road meeting various kinds of people. People will share stories of times when they were saved from certain peril, in the most unlikely of ways, but they completely fail to see God in it. I can sympathize, my life has been saved by God more times than I can count and I never saw Him in it either. It wasn’t until I finally realized that He exists and He loves me that I began to piece together the countless times He had been there for me and I just never realized it. We spoke about this at length, and I don’t know how much of it stuck with her, but I always hope to be able to give others a leg up on something that I missed for so long. Once you realize that God is protecting you, preserving you, it gives you a whole new purpose in life… because he is preserving you for something. There is a reason why he stepped in and saved you all those times. He’s not done with you yet. It’s time to draw near to Him and get to work doing whatever it is He has for you to do. The next day I dropped by as she was packing up and gave her a copy of Captivating, by John and Staci Eldredge. I hope it brings her some healing and I pray she has a joyous journey filled with life and love.
Keith showed up on Wednesday. He had called and told me he’d be bringing his Can-am with him. I wasn’t really sure what that was. I knew what a side-by-side was and that they were extremely capable 4×4 vehicles, but what he showed up with was in a whole other league. He had quite the setup of gear: A 40 foot A-Class RV, a motorcycle supported on the rear hitch, and a massive offroad vehicle on a trailer behind that.
It was awesome to see him pull up. Keith is the first friend I made on the road. I met him on the third day of my very first outing on my full-time RVer test run at Balanced Rock Park in Idaho. He wasn’t towing the trailer at the time and his setup was just like mine. Single guy, Fleetwood A-class RV, self contained with full solar, motorcycle on the back, and a little furry buddy to join him on the road. Here we were nearly a year later, and a thousand miles south, reuniting for another adventure. It was just too cool.
We took some time to get him setup, unload his gear and catch up. He spent a little time showing off his Can-am and I must say, it was quite a bit more than I was expecting.
I think I knew these things existed, but I have never seen or been in one before. They are basically supped up, custom built rock climbers designed to conquer pretty much any terrain that you can throw at them. It’s a two-seater with a full shell, roll cage, racing harnesses and no doors, so the only way in is Duke of Hazard style through the windows. We wasted little time a strapped in for a tour of our desert surroundings.
Keith had done a little geography homework on the area before coming and knew that this area had all kinds of old dirt path and trails that connected to countless ancient gold mines from the early 1900’s. We set out to see if we could stumble across a few with the last few hours of sunlight we had in the day.
As we tore through the desert it became quite clear that this was not his first rodeo in this thing. We went wherever we wanted. Rocks in the way? No problem. Massive washout? Fiddlesticks. Nearly vertical climb? It was all nothing in this thing. We communicated through headsets that were wired into the helmets and navigated the old trails using a satellite GPS that he had pre-programmed with maps of the area. The only catch though was that they maps did not display the locations of any mine shafts, only roads that had been cataloged. If we wanted to find any mines, we would have to keep our eyes peeled.
About a mile from our campsite we found exactly what we were looking for. We found an old sign, broken off and leaning against some rocks that said “Danger: Open Mine, Keep Out”. Jackpot! We through the Can-am into park and made our way into the forbidden area. The evidence of a mine shaft was all around, massive amounts of excavated dirt and rock were piled up almost haphazardly. I didn’t spot the mine right away, I think partly because I was looking for something much smaller. When I was a kid and we would scout around the mountains in Idaho we would often happen across a little mine shaft here and there… but these were on another level.
These were massive holes torn into the side of mountains made of solid rock. It never ceases to amaze me what these men were capable of over a century ago with much lesser technology.
Keith was a little cautious of entering the mine and walking around, but not me. I figured, if it hasn’t collapsed in the last 100 years, 10 more minutes would probably be okay. And I’m obviously not the only only one… these caves are well traveled, and unfortunately, decorated. That doesn’t change the fact that they are amazing accomplishments of human determination and ingenuity.
The next day Keith’s son, Brennan, came to camp to spend the weekend with us. He’s a good kid. He lives and works in Vegas and has a little conversion van he has been working on. He’s got it pretty well set up too. An effective “stealth” build if you will. Hes also very comfortable behind with wheel of the Can-am. Even more so than his dad. I would say it’s a mixture of youthful invincibility and lack of responsibility of ownership. He may have also been showing off, but this kid would climbs any rock, incline or ditch that go it our way. He picked that hard way just because it was more fun. He twisted that 4×4 into pretzels as I simultaneously laughed and panicked in the passenger seat.
With Brennan in the mix, we started to find mines everywhere. There were dozens of them all around us. Short shafts and long shafts, deep shafts and shallow. These guys were just poking holes in everything they could find with no seeming rhyme or reason. We road all over the area exploring every one we could find. One of them had even been converted into a dwelling of some sort complete with an insulated wall and doorway. I guess that’s one way to skirt the never-ending skyrocketing cost of housing.
Most of the mines were shallow, no more than 100 feet dug out in any direction. It made me think back to that cartoon image of the guy digging a hole who has decided to give up but we can see he was only a few strikes away from riches. It must have been so exciting to be out here doing this. Eventually we did find a winner though. A full on shaft that went deep into the earth and then split off going deeper in two directions. As Keith and Brennan waffled at the entrance; I grabbed my phone, hit record, and descended into the depths. This emboldened Brennan who followed me in and we explored the cave as far as we could.
See, fear used to rule my life… and then I was saved. It was in my saving that I realized I have been saved over and over again. God has stepped in countless times to preserve me for… something. I don’t know what, all I know is, He is not done with me yet. And I hardly think that He has protected me all this time for me to die in a 100 year old mine shaft that decided to crumble in on itself during the 15 minute period I decided to visit it. No. Understanding you have God’s love and protection frees you to live life and experience all the things He has for you to experience. When He’s done with me, I’ll die… and we’ll be together forever, and it will be wonderful. Until then, He has me here to Live. I am not “testing” Him, I am trusting Him. He has proven time and time again that I can trust Him, and He has never led me astray.
After a few days of romping around in the desert, we all decided to go check out the little town of Oatman. Oatman is basically a perfectly preserved old mining town. All the buildings here are original structures and the whole town as as a tourist attraction. Nearly all the building have been repurposed into shops of some sort. Most of them are just the typical stuff you find in gift shops… t-shirts, coffee mugs, spoons, signs, ponchos, mexican blankets, nicknacks and tchochkys of all sorts. There are a few restaurants, and ice cream place, candy shop, hotel… all of it explorable and all of it ancient. There is a sheriffs office and a jail, even a small pen with deadly turtles you can observe from a safe distance. It’s cheesy to be sure, but it’s all steeped in history and quite entertaining. The town doesn’t take itself too seriously and has a healthy sense of humor.
I found myself indulging in pretty much all the sweets they had available there. I had a cone of the best candied pecans I’ve ever tasted, a burger at the restaurant, a mocha ice cream shake, some chocolate covered peanuts from the candy store and purchased two bricks of chocolate peanut butter fudge. Yeah, when I take a diet cheat day, I don’t mess around.
As you explore Oatman you cannot help but take notice of the many burrows that wander the streets. This is kind of a staple of this place. The animals are massive, tall, but also quite wide, likely due to the fact that guests are encourage to buy bags of feed pellets and give them to the hungry animals. I found myself a somewhat homely looking specimen and offered my goods. His interest was luke-warm at first, but after we got to know each other he wasn’t shy about demanding a little more from me:
We also attended a shootout that takes place at high noon every day where a bandit comes into town to rob the bank with hilarious results. It was quite the spectacle and they didn’t cheap out one bit on the blank rounds they used in their guns… those things were LOUD.
We spent the whole day in Oatman and took in all the little tourist trap had to offer. It was a wonderful way to do something new, experience some history, and enjoy a good time with new friends. I feel so blessed to be here. Its times like these I look back on my old life, sitting around depressed and drunk. Could that version of me ever imagined what was in store for him down the road? And in contrast, can this version of me fathom what lies yet ahead? I guess the big difference is that old version had no hope… and this new one has nothing but.
Sunday rolled around and, much to my surprise, it was actually Super Bowl Sunday. Now I’ll just out and say it: I don’t care one bit about sportsball. I think it is a sedative for the masses much akin to the coliseums of ancient Rome. That said, many people do care, and furthermore, the Super Bowl is an even that brings people together. That morning I came to find that Keith had brought him the means for us to have a little Super Bowl party right out there in middle of the desert.
We put together a pretty decent setup. His RV has one of those outdoor flat screens hidden behind a panel. Keith had some kind of satellite TV connection that fed him pretty much every channel in existence from pretty much anywhere in the US, so he got to work setting that up while we assembled some chairs, a snack table, and a few outdoor propane heaters for when the desert cooled off at sundown.
It was pretty cozy. We snacked on nachos and air fried chicken while the game played out in front of us and the cool desert air rolled through. As many do, we paid more attention to the commericials than the actual game… it was more about a bunch of friends hanging out together than the game itself. We became distracted by a less-than-shy ground squirrel that kept getting a little too close to Keith causing him hilarious distress. This led target shooting competitions with the various BB guns we armed ourselves with in defense. It was a fun day, and the perfect way to close out a new adventure with new friends.
But alas, the adventure had to come to an end and our fellowship had to be dissolved. Monday we all packed up our gear, said our goodbyes, snapped some pictures and went our separate ways. Keith was heading back down to the Yuma/Glammis area, Brennan back to Vegas to work, and I had made plans to stay with a Boondockers Welcome host in Bullhead city. This host looked very promising. They had built and RV pad next to their house in a little neighborhood north of town. The pad had water, power, and even an RV dump right on it. The host allowed people to stay for 5 days so I planned it out to stay from Thursday until Tuesday so I could attend a local church while I was there.
I spent a few more quiet days in the desert with Danny mostly just working out and reflecting on the adventures of the last few days. Soon enough it was time to pack up and head on the the next adventure.
I am so grateful for the time I had here with Keith and Brennan. Even if the rest of my time out here on the road is totally uneventful and boring, I will be eternally grateful for the adventure God shared with me out here.
As I would soon find out, God doesn’t do boring.
“He brought me out to wide open spaces; He pulled me out safe because He is pleased with me.”
-Psalm 18:19
