The desert has its own beauty. We are boondocking - which in camping terms means without the luxuries of water, power or sewer. But with our rig, we still have all of those things (at least for 12-14 days when we run out of tank space).

Our home this week is 10 miles outside of lovely Parker AZ. We are on our "week out" from our membership campground and decided against paying the $180 fee to stay. This camping is free - minus the cost of diesel for the generator/hot water system. And there's no close neighbors, no karoke and no grumpy seniors complaning about our new addition - a small vocal dog.

Parker AZ is on an Indian reservation. It thrives only because of the Colorado River and the seniors who flock here every winter. The tribe owns the land under the Safeway and Walmart and of course, the Blue Water Casino. Appparently, the tribe owns all but 1 square mile of the town. There's an abundance of cops here - both tribal and "city." Those rowdy seniors must be a challenge. However, frankly the summer crowd here is a different story.

We got a taste of this in our membership park which we are in right now after 8 days boondocking. It's the Presidents weekend and the party crowd is here. During a walk, a golf cart driving by a 10 year old streaked by with an adult holding a red solo cup of apparently common-sense altering beverage - holding on to the back seat. They arrived at a nearby rig which had disco lights and loud party music. The next door seniors were playing cards probably hating the weekend.

Oh, most of the partiers were our age. And of course, we've done similar stuff - but never in a park as packed as this one. We are on the very back row away from the river and could still hear boats racing up and down the river, late night ATV rides out of the park and a fireworks display.

The clash of generations was very apparent. This time of year, the snowbirds think they own the park. And the young families feel no one is going to stop their fun.

We are somewhere in the middle I guess.

Update on our little rescue Loki - or "porkchop" which is his new nickname for his ability to eat everything no matter what. Jada and him are getting along better - I think. She hasn't tried to kill him in a couple weeks. He does however, have a tumor on his ear which the vet said may or may not clear up. If it doesn't.. then it has to be removed.

Jada is now on a nightly routine of the "thundershirt" and a melatonin pill. We can now walk around the motorhome at night without fear of our feet being attacked. It's working really well.

Tomorrow we head to Cottonwood for a couple weeks - a new destination to experience.

#vietnam #southeastasia #photo