Freedom is not caring what time it is.
I know the time changed last night, but I don't pay much attention to it since there's no real reason to. I try to wake up before sunrise to see if there's a picture to be had, but the time doesn't matter; the clouds and the sun's location are the only things I care about. I go to bed when I'm sleepy, and that’s usually anywhere between nine and 10 o'clock, so changing the times doesn't change my life. I eat when I'm hungry, so an hour difference either way doesn't affect me. And since there's no place I need to go, and no time I need to be there, time is all but meaningless to me. I suppose you could say I live on full-timer time, at least during the winter, when my schedule is based on the calendar and not a clock.
It was quite chilly in the morning, with temperatures mostly in the 30s, but they warmed up nicely to the 70s during the day. And speaking of cold weather, I suppose this would be a good opportunity to discuss how I manage to sleep at night without heat on in the camper. My mattress is all-foam, about 6 inches thick, and foam is actually an excellent insulator, so I don't have any cold coming up from the bottom of my bed. On my bed, I have two blankets and a comforter. One blanket is a light one that I can use on chilly nights. The other blanket is a wool blanket that I use when it's cold at night. The comforter is filled with 4 inches of goose down and is used when the temperature drops below freezing.
All of this bedding is laid out on the bed and pushed to the side, so depending on how cold I get at night, I can pull one or all of them over me to stay comfortable in all kinds of weather. I also sleep in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, which helps keep me warm at night and allows me to go outside and take a sunrise picture if I need to without looking like I'm wearing pajamas. In fact, I see people in Walmart dressed exactly like I do when I go to bed.
Theboondork...... temporarily enjoying New Mexico’s State Parks.
Storrie Lake state Park. Las Vegas New Mexico.
I've been camping and boondocking here many times, and always about this time of the Fall. And normally, this electric and water hookup campground is almost full when I arrive, but this time it was nowhere near full; in fact, there were only seven or eight RVs here. Now, I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the New Mexico state parks' new rules and dramatically increased fee scheme. All I know for sure is that there weren't nearly as many people here as I'm used to seeing this time of year.
Since it's the weekend, I haven't seen any Park employees running around, so I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone about the low turnout situation. Perhaps this is normal, given the recent cold weather.
Last nights sunset.