But it was stormy down here, too. East of the river there are shale badlands which turn into a quagmire when it rains. So I stayed at a super Walmart the first night.
I always feel vaguely embarrassed to stay at a place like this. Ideally they should be left to RV kindergarteners. Still, there are times when convenience wins out over everything, and when a paved parking lot looks better than a muddy BLM road. Besides I needed a few things. (By the time I left, my free squatting at Walmart had cost me $150.)
If only they weren't so noisy! But that is usually the problem with urban boondocking in general. The pole lights are so bright in a Walmart parking lot, you'd think the solar panel controller would stay on all night, and your batteries would be charged in the morning.
I have written before of how much the right book or movie can combine with the right location. With the San Juan Mountains in the background, this seemed like the time to watch "True Grit." Walmart had the DVD.
Soon I found a low BLM mesa to camp on, about thirty miles from where much of the mountain scenery of True Grit was shot. At a couple times during the movie, I put it on pause, and stepped out of my trailer to admire specific mountains and rocks that were prominent in scenes in the movie.
A couple days later another storm blasted the San Juans, as seen from my RV boondocking campsite:
The next day they were snow capped. I must admit a fresh cladding of snow can freshen and crisp up a mountain range considerably.
Maybe I should just stay in Colorado this winter. Or not. Still on the mesa I took these photos from, I've gotten into the habit of playing the True Grit DVD, stepping outside my RV, and walking a bit towards the San Juans at sunset. I have wireless headphones that allow me to hear the soundtrack as the movie plays.
It really is true that to intensify an aesthetic experience, you must take something away. Walking towards the San Juans, listening to that magnificent soundtrack of Elmer Bernstein, and imagining John Wayne charging across the meadow toward the bad guys with the reins in his teeth, his eye patch, shooting his pistol, while twirling and cocking the rifle with the other hand...ahh, it is all so fine.
