In Search Of Dry Land In The Desert

Oh...I'm so ready to retire! We're this >< close to paying off our house and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I want to sell the house and get a nice 4wd RV so we can take off on that life of discovery. Hell, I wouldn't even mind working only 4 days instead of 5 at this point You're preaching to the choir when talking about tall bikes! Good luck with getting the family back out there. The one photo in the report where Eric is smiling is the one of him sitting in the chair by the fire with the olives, bread, cheese, wine and toasted almonds on the table...you know, the one with his back to the camera Here's one where he's playing with his "magic glove." It amuses him to no end...

Thanks! I'm addicted to my camera, I think

And therein lies the beauty of Nevada and Oregon. If those springs were in CA they'd be behind locked gates on private land owned by one of the "Haves," and us "Have-nots" would have to pay good money to use them. I'm not far from Calistoga in the Napa Valley, a very geologically active area with lots of hot springs, every one of them commercial. Lava Hot Springs in Idaho is probably very similar to Hot Springs, AR. I love having access to all of nature's wonders on our public lands. Our campspot was on private land but it's been open to the public for eons and appears it will stay that way. I told the owner to give me a call if he ever decides to sell

That little tub was a lot deeper than it looked in the photos. We sat on the rock shelf and it was perfect. It was small, though. I wouldn't drink the water from the hot springs. I try to keep it out of my eyes, nose, mouth and ears, too. There probably are thermophilic microorganisms in all these hot springs and they give me the heebie-jeebies if I think about them too much
And about the food? Well, we tend to eat better when camping than we do when at home

I do NOT want to be a landlord ever again. I've been renting out my Mom's house since she passed away in Jan 2008. She didn't want us to "give it away" since she'd busted her butt to pay for it so she'd have something to leave behind for me and my 4 sisters. She wanted $600k for it at the time, the realtor wanted her to take $550k and she said "No f'ing way!" We'd be lucky to get $400k for it right now. Good thing she isn't around to witness the devaluation of her life's labors. Funny thing is she paid $15k for it in 1961 Anyway, I have no interest in being a landlord anymore...it ain't for me.