Droning on......

 8:30 am - Sunday - November 28th - Ocotillo Wells, CA - 57° F, 21% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the north.....clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.  On this date in 2009 TLE and I were westbound on US-2 heading toward Coupeville, WA......↴

I think it has been about 1 year since I last flew my drone, and, not surprisingly, it was like starting all over again.  I had gotten to where I didn't have to read through the startup instructions, which involve about 8 steps, to get her ready to fly, but I was back to reading them again.  Finally, I got her airborne and got a few pictures, and one video to share.....

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An aerial perspective of our encampment

......our group has a lot of 'sand toys', and here area a few of them......

Nick and Kate's Rhino

Miguel and Dan's 4 seat RAZR

Philip and Jeannie's 1971 Jeep CJ-5 with Buick Dauntless V-6

.....a little background on Philip and Jeannie's 1971 Jeep CJ-5....Philip bought this Jeep way before he met Jeannie, and for many years it was his daily driver.  Sometime in the late 80's, or early 90's he got suck in a mud bog up to the floor boards, far from civilization, and was not able to get a tow truck out to retrieve it for a couple of days.  In the interim water got into the transfer case, and transmission, and ruined them. He got the Jeep home and parked it in the driveway where it sat for about 15 years slowly rotting.  Fast forward to around 2005.....I wanted to get a Jeep, and thought of Phil's CJ-5 just sitting there in his driveway. I called him and asked him if I could buy it, and he said he just couldn't part with it.  I then suggested that he and I go in 50/50 to restore it mechanically, and he agreed.  It took the better part of a year to get her done, which involved finding a replacement transmission and transfer case....I found one on eBay for about $150, but it was in Michigan.  It was, however, a perfect replacement as it had been removed from a 1971 Jeep CJ-5 with a Buick Dauntless V-6 about 20 years prior, and had been sitting in a barn for all of that time.  By the time I paid to have it crated, and shipped another $250 had been added to the price, but we had the final missing piece.  There were a lot of other parts we had to acquire, and we also had the roll bar, wheels, and rear tire mount re-powder coated, but decided to leave the original orange paint intact.  In all it cost us about $15,000 for parts and labor (divided by 2), but she was restored.  Until we began our nomadic journeys I had access to the Jeep anytime I wanted it, and used it a lot, but have not driven it in some time.  It was great to see it is still in great condition (Philip keeps it garaged)......

Travis and Deana's 4 set RAZR

On the left (beige and black) is Chris' side by side CanAm, and on the right is Michael and Bea's 4 seat RAZR

......TLE and I spent a lot of Saturday visiting with our kids, their kids and friends as this was to be the last full day everyone was here.  We knew that by 10 am Sunday we would be all by ourselves again, just as we were last Tuesday.  We had a very dusty sunset, and a great bonfire to end the festivities....

.....as is always the case, saying our 'until next times' is always bittersweet, but we know we will see them all again on New Year's when they all return once again.  In the meantime we'll be boondocking to our heart's desire!

Thanks for stopping by!

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