travel – 4Fords Journal

Fall Equinox: Sept 22 2026

The earth hangs in the balance…. in so many ways. The sun is teetering over the equator, much like our democracy. But we know where the sun is headed, not so sure of the other.

This month has been one of extremes. We’ve gone from the driest summer in history, with not a speck of green on the ground and inches of dust, a sad sight, to the wettest month ever, with just under 5″ of rain in 10 days, (over 4″ in one day) and more coming. Green grass is sprouting up through the valley, and it looks like the spring we didn’t have. The temperatures have been from 100 degrees down to 30, with it hovering around 60 today, inspiring us to build a fire in the woodstove.

I truly believe that mother nature is pissed at us humans, and is letting us know everywhere across the globe. We watched the new documentary, How to Live on Earth, narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, which was both inspiring and horrifying, and worth a watch.

Here at 4Fords, we had 2 flash floods in 12 hours, both 4′ deep at our driveway. It washed out a mile of our county road and caused a massive rockfall near the southeast corner of the property. No danger to us, but loud as a jet, and it covered the road 1/4 mile up the canyon with 20# boulders for 100 yards. The water flowed off the cliff behind the house and washed through the yard 6″ deep. Again, no serious damage, but a lot of debris and mud. The road crew was in the next morning to make the road passable. They are really responsive – within 24 hours we were able to drive out to the highway (2.5 miles away). Alan used the tractor and backhoe to clear the driveway of silt and dig swales to re-route future floods.

Deer at the Guzzler

Our last Worldpacker (SK) of the year has been here since Sept. 2, and we’ve gotten several projects done around the place: fireproofing and stuccoing sheds, pruning trees and chipping the branches for mulch, closing up the garden, making chocolate (can’t survive without chocolate!), working on the last fence we need to better manage cows.

**Stucco, siding, and paint on, just waiting for doors to fire-proof the woodshed**

The garden was a sad failure this year due to the drought, wind, frost and heat, but I did get herbs, root crops and, amazingly, some awesome corn and peppers. Not enough to last the winter, but enough to enjoy. Not one tomato, out of 20 plants. I think I’ll take a year off next summer.

But it isn’t all work. We’ve enjoyed a number of days off to share with SK: a visit to the Chama Art Studio Tour, and El Rito Art Festival (where they excel in creating astounding found art). The Tiny Sofa Museum was a highlight. The artist really LOVES miniature sofas and builds and collects them. And the Death by Chocolate extravaganza, put on by the library was delicious.

SK and I also spent a day in Taos, visiting the Earthship Community once again. It never fails to amaze. Had a great lunch in town, where I bonded with Emmitt Lee Jones, a traditional American musician who plays ragtime (and other) music written/transcribed by Stefan Grossman. I corresponded with Stefan several times as a teenager and young adult, when I became obsessed with ragtime for guitar, and he sent me some of his Kicking Mule Music, which I learned and loved to play (never very well!)

**1970s guitar music from Kicking Mule**

Now, we are very serious about voting in the Fat Bear 2026 contest. I’ve been doing it for years, and it raises a lot of money for grizzly conservation in Alaska. It’s fun to watch the video cams at Brooks Falls.

I am teaching 4 classes this fall, one more than I planned on, and they are keeping me busy, as I am also testing a new AI behavioral health “learn-how-to-do-therapy” simulation tool called SimCare. While I have to admit that the avatars are well done and the conversations quite complex, the program has many glitches, and I have serious reservations about it as a teaching tool, not to mention all the other issues about AI. But it allows for some great dialogue with the students about the use of AI in education and in mental health.

So, as September draws to a close, we wait for the rain to stop. SK leaves in a few days, and I think Alan and I have decided to get on the road for awhile, do some camping, visit friends. It’s been a loooong summer. In January, we will head south yet again to the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, where I will once again be offering some safety/mental health support to the women living in vehicles full-time. I’ve splurged on a cabin on the Colorado River for the week, but then we’ll likely be traveling and camping about the southwest, as we love to do.

In the meantime, it is still beautiful here in Miller Canyon, peaceful, safe, and quiet. We wish the same for you all.

Deer at the Guzzler

August 14 2026: And the heat goes on

It’s been in the mid-90s for well over 6 weeks. Just like so many other places, we’re breaking records every day. Right this minute, it’s drizzling: the first rain for weeks. Not much, but enough to cool things a bit, which is a blessing.

I follow a number of folks on YouTube who live off-grid in the Southwest. It’s a sub-culture, for sure. What I have noticed this summer is that most of these people have changed their plans and projects from things like building houses, fences, or growing a large garden to focusing on 2 things: fire mitigation and managing heat. It is incredibly apparent that those of us who live in areas of extreme climate change (which includes millions more persons every year) see a need to be prepared.

Alan and I are no different. We love our home and living in the Southwest, but to thrive here, we must adapt to quickly changing weather. Hotter, windier, drier. It’s happening faster than anyone predicted.*

As of today, 3 fires surround us in a triangle, none more than 15 miles away, all quite small. (The Diamante Fire, at 85 acres, is the closest at 10 miles.

**The third fire is too small to show at 1 acre**

Our goal is to make improvements in managing excessive heat using as little technology/electronics as possible. Today, for example, we installed the second of 3 opening windows upstairs that previously did not open. (4 other windows already open, but just don’t move enough air.) That alone is going to bring cool air in during the hot nights. We’ll add some low-profile fans. We may have to end up installing those wonderful mini-splits that are flying off the shelves to cool our bedroom, but we’ll try other options first. That’s the whole point of energy management and conservation, right?

With our Worldpacker, Gig, a few hundred feet of damaged fence got repaired, we built 5 new 1-rock dams, and prepped another 8 in the arroyo. These will hold just that much more water on the land, whenever we do get some water. Not useful for us personally, maybe, but to the wildlife and plants ,it can save lives.

There has been a visibly negative effect of the drought/heat with the animals of the canyon, with the shrinking of the water pockets to a few muddy puddles forcing the animals closer together for survival. A bear came by and knocked on all our doors the other night, a first for us. I’m refilling hummingbird feeders every 2 days. A falcon dropped down to get a drink from a birdbath. A deer braved the dogs to get a drink from the same birdbath. The cows are pushing our fences to get at what little grass we have.

**A deer overcoming her shyness for water.**

Our new water guzzler by the barn has foxes, deer, and lots of birds visiting every day. We want to create more options for them, allow them to have their own space and lessen their stress.

There have been a number of other projects going on around here, too: building a shelter for the tractor, cleaning up old fire hazardous wood, and junk, prepping for my school courses, building gutters.

**Alan finally got his tractor under shelter**

But, it’s not all work and no play around here. We’ve had a few awesome hikes, visited the kids in Durango for an early b-day celebration for Alan, read some wonderful books, (right now I’m reading “What the Robin knows”, by Jon Young. Fascinating.), practiced piano, and enjoyed a few fresh things from the garden: potatoes, greens, radishes, tomatoes, peas, zucchini.

Speaking of the garden, in all my years growing food (nearly 50) I have never experienced such a terrible year. Many plants have shriveled up, or stopped growing. The late frosts in July really did a number, followed by the heat and wind. I’ve poured thousands of gallons of water on it, with little effect. There are some tiny corn cobs forming, though, which always makes me smile.

It’s been a summer, for sure, one I doubt we’ll forget any time soon. Our next Worldpacker comes in early September, so I’m sure we’ll keep her busy. The hope and desire is to get on the road for a bit in October.

Happy Birthday Alan

Peace to one and all!

*Foster, G., & Rahmstorf, S. (2026). Global warming has accelerated significantly. Geophysical Research Letters, 53, e2025GL118804. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118804

Semiquincentennial, aka Quartermillenial, aka Sestercentennial, aka, July 4 2026

It’s been a while. Just this week after a year of silence, a number of people sent messages asking why I haven’t written recently. Well: life, Covid, work, drought, politics, Worldpackers, and travel got in the way, I guess. Enough said. This summer is a bit calmer, and is the first summer I haven’t been working for years, so I’d like to get back to writing, on this, the 250th birthday of our trembling democracy.

Alan and I are well, if you are wondering, and have continued to be just busy enough to make life interesting. After a winter that involved 2 months of tent camping in southern Arizona and NM, with a few days volunteering at the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous, work around 4Fords has kept our to-do list full. A new septic system, a larger garden, a tractor shed, a large “guzzler” (more below), a great-grandbaby (!), managing water in severe drought and heat, and remodeling a couple of sheds with stucco and metal siding are the current focus.

Our homeowners insurance was cancelled last month, due to “wildfire risk” (although our home is more fire-safe than most), and we have been unable to find any other decent company, so we’re instead working to do more fire-proofing. Alan has built a fire lane behind the yard with the tractor, we’re remodeling the sheds, and considering plans to add sprinklers to the roof. And maybe more cisterns. We have 5, which adds up to 7,000 gallons of potential water. I’d like to have 10,000! Or 15,000! Right at this moment, with no measurable rain for months, we’re down to about 3,000. Our well continues to do great, as long as we don’t stress it, as it takes a bit longer to replenish than usual.

**The garden in early June, as I was planting and mulching and setting up watering**

Temps have hovered in the mid-80s to mid-90s this past month, and in the low 40s at night, but there were 5 (not forecast) hard freezes (30 degrees) just in the past week, so I’ve had to do a lot of covering/uncovering of the tender plants. Even so, I lost several tomatoes and peppers. The drought is the worst we have seen: grasses now only dead straw with inches of dust. Not sure it will come back even with rain at this point. I feel for ranchers and farmers in the area. The creek is nearly dry, with only a few puddles left hidden downstream for the wildlife. Because of this, we have added 2 birdbaths, 3 hummingbird feeders, and several small water basins for the little animals and built a 450-gallon water catchment, called a “guzzler”, for the larger wildlife, next to the barn. Of course, we need rain for that one to fill, but I am hand-filling the little ones. There’s one fox who comes by daily, and has made his acquaintance with Zane, who barks and wags his tail. Turkeys, squirrels, chipmunks, and likely skunk and deer come to these basins, which shows just how dire it is.

Barn water tank and repaired horse corral — **The “Wildlife Wadi”:** **new gutter, tank, and repair of old horse corral, with elk-friendly fence: no cow access**.

However, it is not all work here at 4Fords. We take at least 1 or 2 days a week to have fun, which, for Alan and I usually means a hike in the high country. Our most recent was on the Continental Divide Trail, where we found an amazing waterfall. The dogs were in heaven. There was even a perfect picnic spot.

We’ve also visited kids, hung out with the new baby, been to the Denver area, done a few No Kings protests, made new friends, made a lot of tortillas, cookies, chocolate, and herbal tinctures, and in general have had a great year so far.

Below are some of the pics I like of the year so far.

360 view and snow in the high country — **Zane Gray**

**Our political puppies at a No Kings Rally**

I wish you all a marvelous, fun-and-adventure filled summer on this day of hope for the future.

July 14, 2025: Bastille Day

It’s July and so it’s time for the Tour de France, (a perfect distraction from the news and sorrow over the loss of the North Rim GC lodge.) The TdF is Alan’s and my only sports interest throughout the year. Today is a big day in the mountains, as France celebrates its national day. Go Tadej! Go Sepp Kuss!

In other news, we have been incredibly busy here at 4Fords, partly due to the wonderful work ethic our Worldpackers bring to us lazybones. There’s been a lot of fence-building, enlarging the “yard” to a couple of acres, and replacing the old, rotting fence posts with T-posts.

Rusty driving fence posts

Those old posts are being recycled into log check dams. If we can avoid a huge flash flood for a few years, there’s a chance these will create little green oases. Since living here, we’ve seen 6′ and 4′ floods during the first year, and numerous 14″-18″ runs since then. Our dams will survive up to 2′ of moving water, maybe a bit more, enough to deposit silt and seeds and build protection from future floods. When we moved here, there were no willow. Now, the willow is over 6′ tall. It’s all up to Mother Nature now. Here’s a couple of YouTubes of places successfully using this technique, from small to large: https://youtu.be/k7l-edx0-wg?si=NB44Zhwpt01X7oWd https://youtu.be/c2tYI7jUdU0?si=TvURhYrqewYtX0L3

**One of 15 rock check dams I’ve been constructing to slow and divert flow** **away from the cliff wall and downstream erosion (see willow, too)**

In addition, we’ve finally begun fencing our large pasture; the one with 3 ponds that cattle love to hang out in and overgraze. The plan is to enclose the 10-12 acres with elk-friendly wire and include 2 big gates so cows can have access when there is plenty of both grass and water. That way it gets fertilized, but can start to regenerate. We’ve already added 2 ponds and some berm and swale to lessen the erosion.

**Building fence**: **it’s very hot out there!**

Before that project, Alan became familiar with the backhoe by digging a 3′ hole for our new 1600 gallon cistern. This one is not capturing water directly from the roof, but will be for overflow, bringing our total capture to 5,000 gallons. Our hope is to increase that to 10,000 gallons in the future.

You can never have too much water here in drought-ravaged NM. Our creek is essentially dry for the first time in forever, putting a lot of pressure on wildlife. It is bringing a huge herd of elk, over 60 at last count, down from high up on the mesa, to drink from the last little holding ponds. Without rain, they, too, will be dry shortly. Some rain is in the forecast, but so far has skipped over the canyon to hit the mesas. Every day, I’m filling 2 bird baths and 2 dishes of water for bunnies, chipmunks, and squirrels. There are over 20 species of birds coming to the bird bath every day.

Some of the Elk

We managed to get out for a couple of great summer hikes in the high country at Navajo Peak (South San Juans). The Columbines were out in force, as big as my palm. There were plenty of little creeks for the dogs to get wet and muddy in, so they were happy.

**This Columbine was as large as my hand**

Aspens – Navajo Peak Trail

The garden is doing well, although the daily wind, 40 degree nights, and 90 degree days are taking a toll on the tomatoes, peppers and corn. Not sure how much we’ll get from them. On the other hand, we can already pick potatoes.

**Garden with wind protection.** **(The brown shed in the background is the next thing to demolish!)**

Finally, we’ve taken on learning to make our own corn tortillas, thanks to one of the Worldpackers who taught us the skill. We bought a tortilla press. Alan is better than I am, and we’re enjoying plenty of tacos.

**My first attempt at tortilla making: we are improving**

**Looking forward to a little of this…**

January 19, 2025: Winter Travels

**Daily view from camp on Plamosa Road**

On January 1, after a quiet and lovely Christmas, Alan and I packed up our gear and headed out to southern Arizona. I had signed up to volunteer at the 2025 Women’s Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (WRTR) in Quartzsite, AZ, which is a 2 day drive. The RTR is put on by HOWA, the Homes on Wheels Alliance, a non-profit that advocates people who live in their vehicles.

We decided to tent camp on this trip, to try some new equipment and see how we liked it without Pippin. First, we packed everything into the new Tacoma, but, alas, all the junk (we like to comfortable!) we wanted to take simply didn’t fit under the tonneau cover and in the rear cargo carrier, so Alan tossed everything into the back of the Tundra and off we went on New Year’s Day.

We drove through Flagstaff and down to Sedona, which was so incredibly jammed with tourists it took us 40 minutes just to get through town. Other than a coffee stop, we decided to just keep going. It’s not what it used to be!

We did stop in Jerome, AZ, however, which hasn’t changed a bit since my last visit. We wandered the streets, checking out some of the fun shops and art.

**Jerome street art** **called “Bedtime”** **(is this person having a pleasant sleep?)**

The drive from Jerome through Prescott and on down to Quartzsite was lovely, and we found a place to camp about 7 miles north of town, in a BLM dispersed camping area. There were already thousands of folks there, camped all over for miles and miles in all directions, but we found a spot that was remote and quiet where the dogs could run around without leashes. We stayed there for 9 days.

It’s a very strange landscape there, hundreds of stretches of rocky soil as flat and long as runways, all going east-west, are separated by narrow arroyos filled with ironwood, mesquite, and acacia trees. Small saguaros, ocotillos and other cacti dot the land. It was both lovely and harsh, and hard on the dogs paws. We did see a Coatimundi one night, and Zane was entranced!

For the first 5 days, we explored the area. Quartzsite itself is an odd town on I-10, serving RVers and snowbirds. At first I was horrified by the crowds of campers, but after a great lunch at the Sunset Grill, followed by homemade ice cream at Dorothy and Toto’s, I decided it wasn’t so bad. Huge flea markets and thousands of vendor booths line the side streets with everything and anything you could dream of wanting in an RV. You want plastic welcome mats? Cutsie banners? One of 1,000 cast turtles? Plastic gizmos to hang more plastic gizmos?

We drove over to a little town called Bouse, which was tiny, quiet, and had a great museum about the history of copper mining and General Patton’s training ground there (for the north Africa campaign) in WWII. Alan was happy.

**Zane and Clair checking out an abandoned copper mine**

At the Women’s RTR, I was designated a “Safety” person, complete with blue vest and walkie-talkie. With my psych background, my job was to de-escalate touchy situations, hand out shorter dog leashes, and distribute doggie poo bags to the owners of the nearly 200 dogs coming in. I walked about 4-5 miles around the baseball field and parking area for 8 hours each day. It was a blast, although exhausting. I met hundreds of fascinating van and car dwellers, from all walks of life, all happy to be there, all glad for my presence. I got to meet Bob Wells (“CheapRVLiving” YouTuber and the father of the RTR), who was as gracious and soft-spoken as I’d heard.

**First morning of the WRTR as women were arriving (it filled up fast)**

The first 3 days only women were allowed in and the toughest part of my job was helping frightened and lonely women, unused to living on the road, and/or scared of the crowds. It is especially horrific how may older women have been forced to live in tiny cars, ancient vans, and shoddy RVs. The vast majority of the women there have suffered trauma, many are veterans, or have left abusive relationships. Many have learned to love vanlife and wouldn’t trade it for anything. But for the ones for whom it is new, there is a lot of trepidation and shame. They come to the WRTR for support, education, and community, and boy, do they find it!

The less pleasant part of my job was escorting a number of very angry men out of the area, men who felt “discriminated against” when they were told they couldn’t come in to listen to speakers discuss how to menstruate living in a van, or how to find a safe campsite. Unfortunately, several gentlemen became quite threatening and nasty, so I had to use all my skills to calm them down so as to avoid calling the sheriff. And also unfortunately, every one of them bragged about their MAGA credentials, truly thinking that would intimidate me. It was sort of sad. It is pretty hard to scare me and I was able to get them all to move on, swearing and cursing and telling me how I was a “libtard” who would get what’s coming!

**As an homage to Burning Man, where many VanDwellers go every summer, this plywood model gets burned at the end.**

The 4th day, the RTR opened to one and all, and the vibe was different but still very fun with so many men now joining in. The speakers talked about everything you could imagine: solar on vans, how to find free camping, staying healthy on the road, how to poo in a van (that one was extra funny….there are MANY ways to take care of business in a van. I spoke on a panel about using some gear for women backpackers for peeing in the woods. The Homes on Wheels Alliance talked about their work supporting the rights of people who live in their vehicle. It is important to note that most people living in a vehicle, whether a car (and one woman had been living in a tiny Smart car for 6 years!), a van, a Schoolie, or an RV, do not consider themselves homeless. They call themselves “Wheel-estate owners!). A lady played gongs on the edge of the field. People did yoga, talked about water storage, visited the free tables, and the cold-weather gear booth. They shared food and dog stories. Dogs were everywhere, and they all got along. Columbia and Patagonia donated tens of thousands of dollars in warm coats, hats, gloves and boots. Bob Wells donated an ambulance he’d been living in for years to be raffled off. (He now lives in a Subaru Forester)

In the end, I have to say it was a wonderful experience. I don’t think I would enjoy being there simply as a participant…we’re not interested in living in a vehicle full-time, but volunteering was fantastic and I likely will do it again.

Back at camp, Alan held down the fort, spending his days writing, hiking with the dogs, cooking meals, running errands, and relaxing.

**Yukon toast and omelette on the Coleman.**

**Big tent, sleeping tent, and the shower/toilette bano!** **All set up on the “runway”**

By the 6th day, the weather turned extremely windy and cold, and our tent life became less pleasant. Our big one is only a 3-season tent, with lots of mesh, and difficult to keep warm even with a good heater, and terribly noisy in 45 mph gusts. At one point it collapsed on itself, although nothing was damaged.

We managed for a couple more days, then decided to leave a bit early and head home, impulsively deciding to go visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, via Lake Havasu, on the way.

**Zoom in and you’ll see the full moon peeking through the window at Buckskin Mountain**

It took a couple of days with an overnight at Buckskin Mountain, but we arrived at the rim, loving that it was so empty of tourists. We stayed at the Yavapai Lodge, which allows dogs, for 2 nights, had lunch at El Tovar Lodge and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. It was still bitterly cold, and there was zero snow, which reminded us of how bad the current drought is. But the Grand Canyon never fails to amaze.

We finally got home to 4Fords on January 15th. All was well, in spite of below zero temps. Even Cat-Too was warm in her greenhouse home. We got a huge fire going and warmed the place up over night and have completely unpacked and fallen back into our normal routine. School starts on Tuesday, and I have 5 classes this semester, so am busy prepping for those. Alan has completed his 2 solar jobs, so has switched his focus to repairing the tractor we bought from a neighbor (complete with backhoe!) and beginning the kitchen remodel.

HAPPY NEW YEAR from 4Fords!

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