Summer Meanderings


 This is a bit of a travel post that begins and ends in Quartzsite, Arizona April 2022-October 2023  

Nomads follow the weather. You’ll find us in temperatures between 70-80 as often as we can. Last April I left Quartzsite.

Why? Three reasons. First the weather in Q starts to warm up dramatically. Temps over 100 start in May and continue until late September. Secondly, the LTVA (long term visitor areas) fee covers from Sept 15-April 15. Lastly I need to be around green trees. Three good reasons to skeedadle. 

Last winter I learned about the New Mexico State Parks pass. I paid one fee and I stayed in any New Mexico State park ‘primitive’ campsite for free. They define primitive as not having electricity, water or dumping at the campsite. But those are all readily available within the campground as well as toilets and showers.

I started at Truth or Consequences, NM which is conveniently located between 2 state parks: Caballo Lake south of town and Elephant Butte Lake on the north. I went between the two places for about 6 weeks.


I liked Elephant Butte Lake State Park a bit better. I camped right on the beach because years of drought lowered the water levels. 

Since I was high up, the views across the water were amazing. Here is one at sunset. You will rarely see a sunrise photo from me unless I took it through the window from my bed.

Southwestern skies are so open that both the vista and the clouds formations are always fascinating. Plus the night skies, which I can never photograph well, are so star-filled that awe is the only word that comes to mind.

When temperatures in Truth or Consequences, which was actually named after the game show, got too high, I slowly headed north. 

Weather apps are a nomad necessity and they told me I had to get to higher elevation to get cooler temperatures. I headed to Santa Fe because I had to get into some of their wonderful museums.

I also had to get southwest hot spices from the Farmer’s Market for a certain hot-spice-loving friend.

Some of my favorite art from those museums: 

Apache Acorn Harvest, by Craig Dan Goseyun (San Carlos Apache)

Beaded Cuffs, Marcus Amerman (Choctaw), ca. 1980



Detail of Craftsperson Belt, by
Denise Wallace (Chugach Aluet), 1992


After a lovely week wandering around Santa Fe I headed north and discovered Angel Peak Overlook of the 100 mile diameter San Juan Badlands. At 7,000’ elevation the weather was pleasant and the views spectacular. The San Juan and Ute mountains showed their snow caps 60 miles to the north. I spent nearly a week there enjoying the absolute quiet and marveling at the proximity to a regional highway. 



 I headed north again to Navajo Lake State Park. Looking at maps of the area made me hopeful that it would be my summer home. But I got there and realized it was a very bad fit for me. All the campsites were sandy and very slanted. So after a week, I headed north to Durango, Colorado, where one of the Boondykers was a campground host in San Juan National Forest. 
A few days after I arrive the Rainbow Queer Youth Center hosted an outdoor event. I took this is a good sign.  

At 6500 feet Durango is a prime location for a base. When it got too warm, I went up to the 8000 foot elevations when it got too cool I went down to the 6000’ elevations.I could get to either locations within a 15 minute drive from Durango and the camping was free.

View of Vallecito Reservoir 


Ephemeral pond

My favorite camping spot was next to this ephemeral pond, a phrase I learned. Prior to that I just called them a dip in the ground where the water collected. A surprising number of birds were attracted to the site, including two great blue herons. I had no idea they could live in the Rocky Mountains. 

The pond is fenced off because the ground surrounding it is very muddy and local cattle ranchers have grazing rights on this National Forest land. So it was common to look out the window and see a herd of 20 cattle just free roaming across the land.

One afternoon, I woke from my nap because my van was shaking. I looked out the window and a mama cow was within inches of the van and mooing loudly to prevent her teenager from going through the people pathway through the fence. And the vibrations from her mooing was shaking the van. 

One of the joys of nomad life - the unexpected!

I decided to spend 2 weeks next to water for my birthday.

Ashurst Lake, Arizona

With the weather in Q still hot, I headed over to Munds Park, AZ also near Flagstaff to wait for the cool down.

Munds Park, AZ 

Finally got to Q and got my new tent set up (lots more on this at the tent post).

Non-nomads often ask me why I continue to live in my van. My answer is always the same. In the 3 years I traveled almost every day there was an unexpected surprise. One time it was seeing a boulder that looked like elephant skin, another time watching clouds form into a storm. 

When every day brings a small joy it’s easy to ignore the inconveniences of nomad life.



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