Monday

Spent much of the morning running around to the bank and then post office. We had been using Bank of America, but couldn't get what we needed, so switched to Wells Fargo. Marg said they were great to deal with & they are right beside Fry's, so we will probably start dealing there now. Our mail was forwarded and is finally starting to arrive here in AJ. Got 3 Christmas cards today & the bills are starting to find us now. My dad used to say that envelopes with windows in them were not mail. I think he may have had something there. Marg went to Bealls [its like Winners] after lunch and although it was seniors discount day, she only came back with a set of bowls. BBQ'd for supper, it was very good. Went for a walk after, it gets dark so early, we really need to make a conscious effort to get out because we are so conditioned to it being late when it gets dark & it's dark to early here for that. The people in the spot north of us leave tomorrow, they are boondockers, some call it dry camping. Typically boondockers sit out in the desert with the rattlesnakes & scorpions, only coming in to campgrounds for a week or so when they need services. They use this time to flush their tanks, fill up with water and trade all their books in the park library. The attraction of boondocking is free camping in the desert so they are usually pretty cheap. They guy was telling me he went to a garage sale where he got clothes for a dollar a bag [green garbage bag], so he bought two. From here he said they are going to Slab City. It's an abandoned townsite & all that remains are the concrete slabs where the houses used to be. RVers park on the slabs so they don't get as much dust. This is actually quite popular here, there are huge numbers of people trying to live cheaper than the next guy & they take pride, often bragging about it. If you get down around Quartsite, they are literally everywhere in the desert. I don't totally understand it, so can only explain it as an oddity. Cost to stay in a park here is quite reasonable & we prefer the amenities in the park.