I feel like a rank stranger at the Ben Avery gun range.
I believe this will be the first time I've been in the Phoenix area without staying at or near the Ben Avery gun range. And it appears that with Ben Avery's gun range charging more to boondock, changing some of the rules, and the nearby Arizona trust lands closing, it looks like I have lost my desire and ability to stay there.
I really miss going there. I had some great times and met some truly memorable folks, but times have changed, and those folks are gone, replaced by strangers I've never met before. Camping prices have risen to the point that boondocking spots cost about what I used to pay for a full-hookup site. And now they're enforcing the rule that you have to buy shooting time at the range if you want to camp there. That's always been the rule, but everybody who works there knew me, so they didn't worry about details like that.
So, all in all, people, places, and times change, and all the reasons I enjoyed going there in the past are no longer valid. The place is still there, and plenty of people are there, but as I walk around the campground and the gun range, I feel like a ghost, or a stranger who doesn't belong there anymore. And that is probably true. And the feeling I get reminded me of this old gospel song from a long time ago called Rank Stranger.
I hardly shoot anymore. I've only got 15 or 20 guns left back in Denver, and I need to sell all of them, because I'm not really a gun person anymore. I had to leave that hobby behind when I became a full-timer. So what am I doing at a gun range anyway?
So maybe Ben Avery gun range didn't leave me behind, maybe I left it behind, because all the reasons I enjoyed being there are gone, and are never coming back, So maybe I should close the book on that part of my life...... but it did make a great place to stay, with Home Depot, restaurants and grocery stores only two or three miles away, and a Walmart about 4 miles away. You win some, and you lose some, but living this boondocking lifestyle, losing places to stay is far more common than gaining them.
Theboondork
a Boondocking Sunset. I stuck my camera out the door to get this picture.
My Teeny-Tiny Home in the Sunset. I've just realized something: my pictures look darker when I post them on my blog than they do on my computer. I thought I had noticed that before, but I wasn't sure. On my computer, I can see details in the camper, but on my blog, it's all dark. I'll look into this further. I may have to make the pictures lighter than they need to be just to make them look normal on my blog.
Vulture peak.