A Month Later!

So we have been here in Stanton for a month now....sure seems longer. It is like we have been here forever, our life in OK been forgotten. Tho we do hear the flooding, etc is awful there and I am sooo glad I am NOT there what with all the skeeters and shit! AZ seems to be missing those little critters, thank goodness. 

Boondocking isn't that bad, one just has to be extra careful of the resources one uses like I said before. We run the generator about 4 hrs./day to charge up our electronics and battery on the camper and quiet time is from like 10-7 at night, so nothing is going at night and it is soooooo quiet!!! At only $1/day, we can handle it hehehe. 

As for finding and getting ALL that gold everyone talks about? Well alot of that seems to be missing as acres and acres have been dug and panned for years. Between the non-true reality shows and the other supposed gold shows on the boob tube and all the organizations....this person feels the whole "hobby" is misleading in one way or another! So many buy into the hype and think they are gonna strike it rich and can make a living doing this...lemme tell ya....unless you are able to move tons of dirt daily and have a shitload of machines to help....you won't be making a living at it! One may hit a good strike or a vein...but there is soooo much land to cover and one has to know how to read the land and how does one do that?? It takes years...not months or days. Some we have met have been doing this for 15-20+ years and they don't have a pot to piss in and they don't care, cuz it has become such a way of life for them, that going back into the corporate world is not an option. One has to admire those kind of folk really...I do and I have a great amount of respect for them to get up day after day, go out dig, run the machines blah blah blah....it is hardass work and all for a possible flake of gold, if one is lucky enough to find a flake, most is like a grain of sand that we have seen and finer....what they call powder gold! So there is a small lesson for y'all! 

As for our lesson....we have learned it isn't fast and the 2 buckets a day we do probably won't be enough to make us rich! But what we have learned is patience, perseverance, persistence and we have a peace in our hearts and souls that we thought we'd never find and THAT my dear friends is priceless to us!!!!

The Actual Diggin & Pannin.....

Where oh where did the warmth go? The last 2 or 3 days it has been down right cold with rain & wind. These ol' bones don't do so well in this chilly air and people say this isn't typical May weather for here. I sure as hell hope not or it ain't much better than Oklahoma, cept for all the rain they have gotten! Hubby fixed the campsite's dish tv so we could watch a bit last night down in the old Opera House and the weather said Phoenix was under a flood advisary with 1/4" of rain!! I about rolled out of my chair with laughter! To me, that was funny, cuz we had just talked to his dad and he told us the south central area of Oklahoma where we were had gotten over 12" of rain the last couple weeks and they are expecting more this next week...omg I can just imagine all the friggin mosquitoes!! Out here in the dry areas no mosquitoes...woohoo!! Anyway, I got off topic again lol. First I wanna say this ol' town is haunted....watching my Grimm last tnight, I could have swore I saw someTHING or someONE walking on the little porch area across the way...hmmmm....I don't usually see those type of things...hubby does, but not me! 

We think hubby has found a good place to really start diggin and maybe finally we get to see some gold in our pans. There is so much land to dig, one has trouble trying to figure out just where to start. They gave us pointers and a mini geology class during the outing, so that helped a bit..but where oh where? For the most part, until we got Hound (atv) we were having difficulty getting to places TOO dig...we sure didn't wanna hurt our truck!, Sooo hubby went on a recon with Hound and we thinks we got a good spot to start, at least we are seeing something in our pans. Now I am here to tell you, this shit ain't easy! Digging, lifting, using water without wasting, spooning the dirt into the recirculator, etc. Long, monotonous, slow process to even be able to get said gold! Hard fucking work, which is good for us, but damn the back and the weather!!! 

Sooo today, Monday morn we packed up and came down to the dry camping area. For those that don't know, dry camping or boondocking is camping without water, sewer or electric. We make our own electric with a generator and fill up our fresh water tank with 40 gal. of water to use and then once the gray & black water tanks are full and we run out of fresh water, we haul them off and get more fresh water! We planned for it so we could be self sufficient....just means more conserving and being very conscientious on the resources we are using! 

OHHHHHH and one more thing.....I drove the atv (Hound) yestersay.....hot damn that wuz fun!! It isn't street legal, so now worries there....but I can ride it all around this campsite...woohoo!! That is all for now....blessings & peace to u all!!! 

Another day......

Boy, I thought OK weather was strange.....colder than shit with all these winds up here! Now it will warm up again. We have been running the electric fireplace in the camper at night, it is that chilly, but what to do when we move down to the dry camp area??! We have decided to stay up here and pay for one more week.....we both was thinking the same thing and that is what our gut is telling us, so it shall be...lol. Plus the sunrises up here are magnificent!! Apparently their monsoon season they call it is in July & Aug., so we have to pick a spot down there where it won't flood since there is only rock, dirt & gravel....nothing to hold the water! 

One of our camper neighbor friends we met gifted us with some sweet corn she got at wallyworld over in Prescott for like .15/ear!!! Wasn't gonna eat it, but hubby said why not......there is no way that is gmo corn!! OMG sweet, juicy and the flavor was out of this world....better than the corn I ate as a child from my grandpa's seed company he worked for!!! Having the rest of it today!! As I visit the food stores here, especially in the produce section, I am amazed at how much of it comes from AZ!!!!!!!!!!! Some comes from CA too and some from Mexico....but apparently AZ is quickly becoming a bigger agricultural area since the water issues in CA. The produce here has OK's beat all to hell, I think OK got the bottom of the barrel stuff, tbh! Since I can store some food in the camp's refrigerators down there, I can get bunches...friggin YUMMMMM!!! 

When I moved to OK many years ago, it amazed me the vehicles I saw on the roads down there, not only did they seem unsafe, some got that wth look! Seems that way here, only I have seen some old trucks here that look pretty damn good and of course atv's everywhere, some even legal on the road. But the most awesome thing I have seen yet was this three wheeled yellow powered tricycle with a canopy on top, 2 individual seats up front and a bench seat in the back...awesome lil thing....I loved it!!! I had to ask the elderly gentleman if it was legal to drive on the street and he said yes it was!! I told him I loved it, thought it was the neatest thing I had ever seen and he said he really liked my shirt which I should take off and let him wear.......ahahahaha!!! Couple days later hubby & I were talking about that and he said it would have been a shame if he would have had to whip that leacherous ol man's ass.....which I thought was halirous!!! 

We have have been out 2 or 3 times now to get some dirt from Mother Earth to bring back to "classify" down to pan to see if there is any gold, so far nada! Well nothing too big anyway, but that is ok too. We haven't been at it very long and it takes time to get a system down and to figure out how to get the gold from the black sand. Our major problem is we are too busy looking at god's scenery and taking in the breathtaking views we get to see when we go up the mtns. even more. The cacti, the stone people, the flowers, etc! Now I am here to tell you, there is NO shortage of bees up here and they are the African Bees, the mean sonsabitches!! The beautiful quartz is everywhere on the ground, just waiting to pick them up....we can't take them all home with us, too much weight in the camper ahahahaha!! Not sure yet about a rock tumbler, we sure love them in their raw stage!!! All for now, blessings and ya'll are in my prayers....always!!

The Aftermath......

 All activities and the distribution of all the gold collected was done by Sunday afternoon after a very long auction, raffle drawings, then finally the gold!! We had the potluck Sat. night, was kinda sad more people didn't bring something and the volunteers had to serve everyone to make sure everyone got some, reminded me of vultures!! Not even sure the volunteers, etc. got any. After the potluck, there was drawings for prizes around the campfire and the full moon showed her majestic glow peeking at us over the mtns....very kewl!!! We didnt get as much gold as we had hoped, but the knowledge and commradery was priceless! Made some friends and had some laughs and just a down right enjoyable time and hubby actually said he was enjoying himself....been a very long time since I heard those words come out of his mouth, this is good!! 

So after Sunday's doins, we headed north to Prescott to find a walmart...I know, I know....but still. So we had to go over the mtns. here and if anybody knows me at all, they know I don't do heights well and I did not!!! The last elevation sign I saw read 6100 feet...wth??! But thru the national forest with the tall pines was sooo beautiful, by then I had calmed down a bit and unclenched my hands and stopped using the brake on my side lololol! Well Prescott is a beautiful town, reminded me of San Francisco cuz of all the hills. I have noticed it seems the AZ communities take pride in their cities & towns....clean, decorated, works of art everywhere and great roads......just a pleasure to see! Found the walmart and headed back...now going downhill isn't as bad, cuz the mtns. are on my side, but the grades going downhill were pretty steep, lemme tell ya! We have to go back because of something we have to take care of, so it is either back up the mtns. or down to Phoenix area....hmmmmm! The mtn. route wins and I will just keep my eyes closed during the bad parts....hahahahha!! Best for all around that way...lol.

So it rained Sunday night & last night (May 4), so both mornings there was fog, clouds hanging low over the mtns...very kewl! I took a pic of if, I will see if I can include it with this blog! We went to the nearest town,  Congress and got a temporary (?) change of address, seems we ARE staying out here for a while at least! Sunday we pack up and move to the "free" spaces or dry camping or boondocking, so we will be totally self contained....that will be very interesting for sure, but we can do this, we love it here! It is either here or back in Springer.....hmmmmm???

So until my next installment everyone......blessings and peace!! 🌟💟🌞🔮

Isn't this just magnificent?!?! Who would want to leave??

Stanton Mining Area.....

The 'owners' have done a great job of combining the old west with some modern conveniences! Too bad everything has to be locked up because of the lack of respect some have for others. The campsites are big and clean with little to no shade. We are up the hill where we see the sunrise over the mtns in the morning and see it set past the mtns as well....just beautiful. Every morning as I watch the sun come up, about 1 1/2 hrs after daylight begins, I see different shadows & sunlight as it rises over the mtns....simply magnificent!!!

The mining camp down below has the old Stanton Hotel they have converted into a kitchen, library, pool hall where they play poker and there is even a pay phone! Across the way is the old Opera House which is now a gathering place for the prospectors & campers for the potlucks and such. The office where you check in at used to be a stage stop and there is a life sized stuffed ol' prospector sitting in one of the chairs that Charlie dog just couldn't quite figure out lolol! They have washers for our use but no dryers, we have to use clotheslines and clothes pins...ha!! Of course there is a dump station, dumpster, propane tank etc for the campers and the water ain't half bad! Up here where we are camped, there are 3 old bunkhouse type bldgs. One has exercise eqpt. in it with one of the washing machine sheds out back, the other two are still vacant but the old west looks still survives!

So we were sitting there panning some stuff he brought back and lo & behold I look out around us and there is a Mr. Noshoulders as hubby calls them, just a slithering by on his merry way....omg! omg! omg! I say and hubby sez don't move....I say don't worry as I am frozen with fear!! Mow hubby sez the is snake was only abt 3 ft. long, but I swear it was at least 10 ft!! lolol That is MY story and I am sticking to it!! He kept telling me how proud he was of me the way I handled myself as I am deathly afraid of the things and more importantly I didn't have to change my pants! lololol

We drove into this small town down the road Congress, AZ and went into this little town grocery store to get a drink, so we are looking around and in a glass case up by the checkout is all this pot paraphanalia...from water bongs, to one hitters and a pretty good size hooka!!!!! We get outside and I am rollin it was soo funny to see that in a small town store like that...omg AZ!!! lovin it.....

Community dig finally started....

Well let's see the dig itself started on Wed. They have good home cooked meals for $5 each! They have games scheduled, a potluck, classes for learning, a game like the amazing race with clue boxes, 50/50 drawings, bingo, treasure hunts and more going on while the 2 main areas of the digging is taking place. On Saturday night is the potluck, gold panning contests, duck races, bonfire, giveaways and a talent show lolol. I am telling you it is a busy little "town" here this week!! On Sunday when everyone gets their share of the gold split and after the auctions & raffles, people will leave and it will go back to the quiet little area it was when we got here! 

The weather is magnificent! Warm to hot hot days, but sooo cool at night and NO humidity woohoooo!!   I did a load of wash this morning and hung it out on a makeshift clothesline to dry our clothes...check that out!! Charlie is loving our walks, but there are goatheads that get in his paws and by late morning he is ready to nap the hot afternoons away. We are ready for bed before 9:00, as we are exhausted from all the activity which we are not used too and besides no tv reception up here, which from what I see there isn't much worth watching! But we are up at 5:30 am when it starts to get daylight so we can watch the sunrise over the mtns, nothing more magnificent or stirs my soul as much!!

So we will stay up here until the 10th, then move down to the dry camp area where we have to be self-contained, which means no running water or electric, but we got that covered!! In Sept., we will go down to the Yuma area right outside Quartzsite and stay until April, then come back up here...sounds like a perfect plan to us!! We can continue to digg & pan for gold and be desert rats at the same time! The thought of going back to our existence we had in Oklahoma is not the least bit pleasing to us!! Hubby said he was having fun and enjoying himself and I am too and to us.....that is all that matters!! Blessings to all...