Our Trip to Bouse

Today was the day we had decided to make the journey into the little village of Bouse to fill up our propane tank, dump our black and gray tanks and fill with fresh water.  When Jim went to the store yesterday, he drove around and scouted out the best approaches to do these necessary tasks.  In an RV park, it’s usually as simple as getting our names on a list for propane delivery to our site, and dumping our tanks about once a week.  Typically, we leave the gray tank open until a day or so before we know we will need to dump the black.  Jim closes the gray tank dump valve to let the gray tank fill a ways so he’ll have some rinse water for the sewer hose after he finishes dumping the black.

With boondocking, we just have to pack up and drive to the nearest facilities to take care of these jobs, which in this case, is only about 5 miles from our campsite.  Since it was a holiday weekend, we figured the Bouse County Park’s dump station would be a little busy this morning, so we didn’t get in a hurry.

I went with Janna and Mike on a long hike this morning, and it was great, I needed that!  I’ve been walking every day, but many times it’s just me and the dogs, so I don’t go too far away on my own.  When I got back, I started packing up the Castle, getting ready to slide in and go take care of the propane and dumping.  Soon we were on our way.  Jim’s scouting paid off, and everything worked out just fine.

When we got near the Bouse County Park, Jim mentioned that when he was there yesterday, he thought the camp host looked familiar, he was sure we’ve seen him somewhere.  We pulled in, and Jim handed me $10 to go pay the fee.  When I walked up to the camp host, I also knew he looked very familiar.  I told him I was sure we knew him but couldn’t place from where.  We talked a minute and when he mentioned Washington, I realized that he and his wife were the managers at the Evergreen Coho SKP Park we stayed at in Chimicum, Washington with Dortha and Mark a few months ago.  Talk about a small world – this rv-ing life sure has some overlapping circles!  Arch went to get his wife Shirley, and we all talked for several minutes while Jim started filling our fresh water tank. They’ve been coming to Arizona for many winters, and just started co-hosting at this little county park this year.  It was nice to see them!  They are great folks.

We finished our tasks and headed back to our piece of the desert.  We decided to position ourselves at a different angle from the spot we were originally.  It took a little time to get level, but we both like the placement better than before.  I wanted to be at an angle to get the most afternoon sun, as well as a good view of the distant mountain range out our front window.  Our “yard” is also more level, with smaller rocks, making it easier to walk on.  I got the inside all rearranged and Jim put our outside together.  We had a little relaxation time before we went up the hill to Dave’s rig.  He’d stopped by just after we got back in place and invited us all up for happy hour.  He made some wonderful margaritas and had chips and salsas out for us.  Mike popped popcorn, and we all had a good visit until sunset when it started to get cool, and we came back home for the evening.

Another beautiful day in the desert!