Boondockers
I've noticed over the years that the closer I get to Quartzsite, the more RVs appear to change...Change in what way? You may ask. And I can only describe it as they look.... used…Very, very used.
I have to assume that the hundreds of thousands of RVs that descend upon Quartzsite during the Big Show are composed of people who are serious boondockers. After all, why else would they be in Quartzite, the Disney World of boondocking?
Boondocking is a challenging lifestyle, and those challenges leave marks on RVs and the people who live in them, not from abuse, but from simply living a life that involves dirt roads, gravel, and more than a few cacti that thrive too close to the trail. We boondockers don't think of this as damage but as scars that represent the kind of life we love to live.
Most RVers take good care of their RVs and treat them with respect. They wash off the mud and dust that accumulates on the RV, and some folks even get out a can of Walmart polish and polish the darn thing, which no true Boondocker in his right mind would ever even consider doing. All that mud and dirt on the RV eventually forms a protective crust that covers the RV, preventing further damage.
You might even notice in the pictures I take of boondockers that are around me. They are driving RVs that have a decidedly lived-in look, and the reason for that is these RVs ARE lived in. And that alone leaves signs, marks, and scars representing many happy years of boondocking.
Yes, there are a few shiny unmarked RVs around me, mostly vans. But they're usually brand new and haven't experienced the reality of long-term boondocking yet.
But most of the folks around me are serious boondockers. And have accumulated more than their share of mud, scars, dents, and dings. But we all know that each one of those scars represents a day, good or bad, that's making memories of a life well lived.
Theboondork
Sunrise this morning.
Sunrise at the VFW boondocking area.
Here's another boondocker that tilts his solar panels on the roof. My guess is these folks have a toad, so they don't have to drive the luxury Class ‘A’ to Walmart for shopping; these folks can stay here for two weeks without moving the motor home. My camper is also my transportation, so it moves all the time. To have to put the solar panels up and down every few days would be beyond annoying. …And what about an emergency? If I suddenly came down with barf-a-lungus, or congus of the bongus. I couldn't drive with my solar panels up. They might fly off and hit somebody.