I may have bored readers with previous posts about my personal path to enlightenment, but after finally finishing A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, I just had to share a few more meaningful musings. 
 In all honesty, after enjoying The Power of Now, I found A New Earth to read almost like a textbook at first. And I kinda felt like the spiritual master was preaching to the choir as I read. But I kept on keepin’ on and was glad I did.
As I got deeper into the book, a number of messages emerged, and a few fun parables stuck a chord that should ring true with anyone who lives a life of adventure on the open road.
The first was this simple lesson about the importance of acceptance…
“Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at the moment. It is part of the is-ness of the Now. You can’t argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do you suffer.”
Anyone who has ever had trouble parking the rig, push-started a motorcycle in 124° heat, or struggled with some disgusting RV duty has much to learn from these words of wisdom. Later in the book, Tolle explains that you don’t have to enjoy what may be happening to you at any given moment, but you must accept it. Otherwise you are not taking responsibility for your own state of consciousness, and therefore your life is out of your hands.
Next time you feel things have gone awry, take responsibility for your life and accept that whatever is. You don’t have to enjoy it, but it does help to smile.
Re-frame Your Fear
All full-timers are intimately familiar with uncertainty. In fact, I would venture to say most of us relish it. Not knowing the unknown is why many of us enjoy this adventurous lifestyle so much. For anyone allowing the false security of their current situation to keep them from following their own road trip dream, I give you the words of a Roman philosopher…
“The Desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.”
— Tacitus
Tolle refers to this quote when describing the importance of being able to live with uncertainty, and yes, even enjoy it…
When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life. It means fear is no longer a dominant factor in what you do, and no longer prevents you from taking action to initiate change.
In other words, when you do not accept uncertainty, it turns into fear. Once you accept it, uncertainty will fill your life with alertness and creativity.
The journey is the destination.
Here’s another Tolle truth that applies to any adventurous lifestyle…
“…the end and the means are one. And if the means did not contribute to human happiness, neither will the end.”
In discussing how to find your “inner purpose” he describes the common misconception that success is a future event. But any outcome is inseparable from the actions that led to it. So enjoy the ride!
Wake up and do it.
Tolle describes “awakened doing” as the alignment of your outer purpose (what you do) with your inner purpose, which is to remain awake and present.
Not what you do, but how you do what you do determines whether you are fulfilling your destiny.
How you do what you do is determined by your state of consciousness. See that bit about re-framing your fear above. So in any situation you face, or whatever it is you do, make your state of consciousness the primary factor. The situation is secondary. In other words, lighten up and roll right along with those bumps in the road.
So what is your purpose? I realize mine is to be happy, and to help others discover how they can live a happier, more rewarding life. Interested? Let’s talk!
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Returning to the Big Bend of Texas has been on our agenda ever since 2009, when our eyes first met this vast, desert landscape that’s served as the setting for creepy movies like No Country For Old Men, the epic There Will Be Blood, and of course, James Dean’s Giant.
The Big Bend isn’t the most popular Texas camping destination. Located about three hours south of El Paso along the Rio Grande and on the way to nowhere, you’ll need to prepare yourself for a long and arduous drive along Highway 90.
Once you arrive you’ll feel like you’ve landed on a different planet.
God’s Country or The Devil’s Playground?
 The seemingly inhospitable, dry landscape appears empty and desolate at first glance. Tall mountain ranges are off in the distance but their proximity is a just mirage; everything is really much farther away than you can imagine: the Big Bend redefines “big.”
After your eyes adjust to the blinding sunlight and you focus on what’s in front of you, you’re greeted by a host of living things that can bite, sting, poke, stab or kill you.
And while it sounds like hell on earth, if you can slow down and stay long enough to get to know the desert, its people and its history, you just might find that the Big Bend is one of America’s best places to escape a cold North American winter.
We spent some of February and all of March exploring everywhere between Alpine and the Rio Grande, and it still didn’t feel like it was enough time to wrap our brains around this spellbinding region.
But after several consecutive days of triple digit temperatures and an unwillingness to make the 175-mile round trip journey just for groceries, we left.
The only problem with going there is the cost; despite the tens of thousands of acres of empty terrain, the only free or low-cost camping in the Big Bend is located in places so remote and rugged that most people aren’t willing to go there.
But we’re not most people. And thanks to fellow Escapees who share our passion for remote living, we learned how to save on West Texas camping by spending half of our time in the intimidating Black Gap wilderness, and the other half at a place called Stillwell Ranch.
The Stillwellian Spell
The Stillwell Store, RV Park and Ranch is one of the Big Bend’s best kept secrets, but in my next post about our lingering stay down on the Rio Grande, I’m going to let the cat out of the bag.
We fell under the “Stillwellian” spell almost as soon as we arrived. This is one of the most special places we’ve ever visited, and this is one of the few times I’ve ever wanted as many people as possible to know about a camping destination.
Stillwell is a national treasure and we need to keep it that way.
To be continued . . .
  
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Truck stop boondocking is typically our last resort when we’re on the move. But we had to be at RV America in Longmont, Colorado for an important repair early last Thursday, so we chose to overnight at Johnson’s World Famous Truck Stop, which is conveniently located next door.
 You know what you’re in for with truck stop boondocking, but you can often avoid the worst repercussions:
- Find a parking slot where you’re as far away as you can be from a trucker’s idling engine.
- Nab a spot on the outskirts, where you can put your slides out.
We found an edge slot and thought life was good. Silly us, we assumed that no trucker would dare squeeze between our extended slide out and a large concrete post just several feet away.
Never Assume What’s in a Trucker’s Brain
As I made dinner and Jim sat working on the couch, I saw him look up from his laptop, and watched as his eyes suddenly popped out of his skull.
A rig’s backup lights were coming closer and closer.
 “He’s not going to back up, that would be stupid!”
“He doesn’t want to hit us, he’s going to stop . . . right?”
Finally, when it was about eight feet from the front edge of our slide, the rig’s air brakes came on. Soon afterward a scruffy balding trucker walks over to the back of his rig, looks at our slide, shakes his head and walks away.
Before we could breathe a sigh of relief, the backup lights went on again. He was going to go for it.
“Agggh! HURRY! Pull in the slide!”
We scrambled. At about the same moment that the slide was finally in, the trucker stopped. He was about four feet from our window. Our slide is around four feet deep. There was no way he could’ve fit between us and the post, if our slide was out.
Trucker Man just assumed we would comply with his parking need.
And of course, we did.
Just because we also drive a “rig” and listen to Road Dog Trucking, we’ll never again assume that we think along the same lines when it comes to overnight camping at truck stops.
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What are you willing to put up with for a free spot to park for the night?
How long are you willing to put up with it?
We’re all about free camping. From Walmarting it and casino camping to truck stops, Slab City and the Escapees boondocking guide, we have saved countless dollars while exploring the free side of life. But freedom comes at a price.
In the midst of writing this, we just frantically pulled the slide in while a trucker squeezed his trailer in next to us where we didn’t think any big rig could fit. But hey, it’s a truck stop. And it’s free. When staying at truck stops, we always try to find a spot off in the corner by ourselves, out of the way of of the Bulldogs and Freightshakers. But these gearjammers never cease to amaze me with their maneuvering mastery, and I doubt they are very fond of us campers takin’ up space on their turf. But I digress…
The Best Free Camping is in Texas.
City parks and county parks throughout Texas offer lots of free camping. Many of them have free water and electric sites and a dump station. We spent a couple nights hooked up in Seminole, simply by calling the Sherriff to ask for the key to unlock the 30 amp outlet pedestal. They were on their way to deliver the key, when we called to let them know we found one that was open, and they were much obliged.
Next stop, Denver City, with a nice view of the golf course, a pond, and wide open fields to run Wyatt. For just showing receipts of any money you spend in the county, you can stay for five nights. Free. But then there is that smell… we could only take it for a few nights before we realized why our throats were hurting. The aerial view above clearly shows how the park is situated smack dab in the heart of oil country.
Hereford, TX is a favorite spot of ours in the panhandle. It’s a nice and quiet city park with “Courtesy RV Parking” and I’ll take the CAFO smell over sour gas any day.
But these were all long after we left Black Gap – some of the best free camping we’ve enjoyed this year. Just $12 buys a permit that will let you stay anywhere you can get your rig to safely for up to six months. I miss it already.
Free Camping Resources for RVers
Please feel free to comment with more resources for finding cheap RV camping and free overnight parking. Here are just a few you might just find as helpful as we do:
And let us know what you’ve been willing to put up with for a free night’s stay!
 
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Where did winter go? Last time I checked, it was January.
 How is it that we’re headed up to Colorado nearly two months earlier than usual?
After checking in with the locals in Red Feather, we learned that snow melted off weeks ago, and all roads up the mountain to Jerry’s Acres are open. Typically this doesn’t occur until at least mid-May. What’s going on here? Looks like climate change if you ask me.
With the “All Clear” signal in mind, we’re pointed north back up to the Rockies, where we’ll check in on our homestead and then within a matter of weeks, hitch up the wagon again and head west to work at Vickers Dude Ranch all summer until the snow comes down in October. Well, at least everyone will be hoping for snow.
 It’s going to be an interesting year, when more of climate change’s effects reveal themselves. The talk of the Rockies is, everyone’s praying for rain because the fire danger threat is beyond extreme.
Jim and I have lots of stories to share about the characters we met in the Big Bend of West Texas. It’s been our most memorable time yet.
As the miles roll out before us over the next couple of days, we’ll be sure to start spinning those tales with y’all.
Till then, happy spring everyone!
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