Thanks for all the great info. Since I last posted here, I decided to head north from West Texas, cut across the panhandle of Oklahoma and enter Colorado. It was here that I boondocked for a week at the Comanche National Grasslands. It was spectacular. I then drove to Pueblo, black topped boondocked at Walmart a night. From there, I went to Canon City to camp on some BLM land in the mountains. My bus is 30 ft long and I feel it is the perfect size and tough enough to handle remote trails. I am now in Denver. I am currently looking for a job in the area. Ideally, one in or close to Boulder, CO. Urban camping is an interesting challenge right now. I have a Virgin broadband2go mobile internet card that works virtually everywhere, except the wilderness.
My only limitation is electricity. Which is why I am typing this right now in a Starbucks. I save genny fuel and battery juice for late night surfing.
The plumbing issue is important, but amazingly I have been able to work around it. A couple of barriers to getting plumbing installed...1) Limited money until I start working again 2) Lack of a place to do this kind of construction. Campgrounds frown on working on the bus and public parks, Walmarts are a definite no-go. Boondocking out in the wild is iffy because, in my experience, I will be in the middle of a project and missing a simple yet crucial part, despite the best planning. My friend here lives in an apartment complex, I can't even park bus there to visit. 3)Finally locating the appropriate sized tanks is extremely challenging because my rear pusher bus has 'saddle bag' diesel tanks, like a semi truck. There are two 50 gallon tanks on each side of the bus, messing up the underneath layout. I would have to have custom tanks fabricated around the tanks. One other option is to use my basement storage area and get traditional rectangular tanks. I just hate the idea of losing valuable storage space.
I will eventually getting to installing plumbing. I enjoy roughing it. I have 'tricks' I do to fend off offensive odors. Baking soda keeps underarm smells away. It has been a great experience going from being a corporate working, suburban living guy to the rough and tumble, live by the seat of my pants kind of guy. My mostly conservative friends and family back home don't all understand but they admit it is fascinating to watch my travels on my blog.
I really appreciate your feedback and admire your fulltime lifestyle. It has been an inspiration to me.
As a courtesy to some of the readers here I will post a couple of the places I found to camp for free that had electricity. These are town parks, where camping is limited to 3 days.
Elk City, Oklahoma
Elk City Lake-Get off I-40 mile marker 38. Take Hwy 6 about half a mile. There will be a small highway sign for the park. Turn right on Lake View. Left on Washington. Go less than a mile, park is on the right. 30 amp plugins, vault toliets.
Borger, TX
Huber Park- 12 parking pads with 30 amp electric AND water and dump station. At the cross roads of S. Main st and Pine st.
Stinnett, TX
Stinnett park- 5 camping pads with 30amp electric AND water. Cross streets Mackenzie and Broadway.
Dumas, TX
Dumas Municipal park- 20+ Camp spots in large parking lot next to park. 50/30/20amp hookups. Off 287 west in Dumas right before railroad tracks.
I wish I knew where some of these were in Colorado. I will have to check out Don Wrights Free and Cheap Campgrounds, like you advised.
You can get more detailed info on my travels and bus condition at
http://www.trustedcompass.com
Here is a picture boondocking at Comanche National Grasslands