The other day I followed up on a tip from an RVing friend about the state park and ski area northeast of Santa Fe. It's high and cool, and popular with campers and tourists. Since I normally practice dispersed-area-camping on public lands, it's been years since I set foot in a state park or a national forest campground or any place that is popular with the masses. It was perhaps a slightly perverse curiosity that drew me thither.
Boondocking RVers tend to display behavior that normal campers could live without. We tend to be condescending to the hooked-up crowd. And we proselytize. I'd like to surprise the reader by doing neither.
It was amusing to walk into these campgrounds; they seemed so exotic! For me, they are over-priced and noisy. In fairness, they do 'add value' to weekend campers. It wouldn't make sense for them to buy all the equipment needed to make an RV self-contained. A worker swept the asphalt campsites with a broom. Those sites were cleaner than the INSIDE of my boondocking trailer! Of all the reasons why people camp in real campgrounds perhaps cleanliness-prissyness is overlooked.
Actually there are good reasons why a boondocker should not proselytize: for one thing, most campers just aren't cut out for it. Secondly it's in our own self-interest not to make our lifestyle popular. Making a boondocking site popular just raises the probability that next year, you will show up to find a No Camping sign.
I have always been amazed at this notion in the RV biz that you are supposed to make a list of specific locations, even though many will be out of date in a year. I guess RV organizations or websites think that newbies will pay for specific how-to information like that. I won't get sucked into this mistake.
But here is a worthy exception. Recently I was near Magdalena, NM, and took Kelly Road three miles southeast to the old mining boom town of Kelly. Several volunteers were literally whitewashing the old Catholic Church with lime, calcium carbonate. The men worked at a mine in nearby Socorro.
They invited me to a meal of barbecued elk steaks and a marvelous homemade salsa. Afterwards I gave a small donation for church maintenance. They allow people to boondock for free there, for a couple nights. But I encourage people to show up on a Sunday and meet some of these friendly folks. Give a small donation and spend several nights. During the day there are many things to see and do in the area. Right at the church there is a strong Verizon wireless signal. I like Magdalena, NM.
Boondocking RVers tend to display behavior that normal campers could live without. We tend to be condescending to the hooked-up crowd. And we proselytize. I'd like to surprise the reader by doing neither.
It was amusing to walk into these campgrounds; they seemed so exotic! For me, they are over-priced and noisy. In fairness, they do 'add value' to weekend campers. It wouldn't make sense for them to buy all the equipment needed to make an RV self-contained. A worker swept the asphalt campsites with a broom. Those sites were cleaner than the INSIDE of my boondocking trailer! Of all the reasons why people camp in real campgrounds perhaps cleanliness-prissyness is overlooked.
Actually there are good reasons why a boondocker should not proselytize: for one thing, most campers just aren't cut out for it. Secondly it's in our own self-interest not to make our lifestyle popular. Making a boondocking site popular just raises the probability that next year, you will show up to find a No Camping sign.
I have always been amazed at this notion in the RV biz that you are supposed to make a list of specific locations, even though many will be out of date in a year. I guess RV organizations or websites think that newbies will pay for specific how-to information like that. I won't get sucked into this mistake.
But here is a worthy exception. Recently I was near Magdalena, NM, and took Kelly Road three miles southeast to the old mining boom town of Kelly. Several volunteers were literally whitewashing the old Catholic Church with lime, calcium carbonate. The men worked at a mine in nearby Socorro.
They invited me to a meal of barbecued elk steaks and a marvelous homemade salsa. Afterwards I gave a small donation for church maintenance. They allow people to boondock for free there, for a couple nights. But I encourage people to show up on a Sunday and meet some of these friendly folks. Give a small donation and spend several nights. During the day there are many things to see and do in the area. Right at the church there is a strong Verizon wireless signal. I like Magdalena, NM.
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