Family – Roving Dutchmen

Escaping Arizona

1 Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-05-31 2022-05-31

I know we have been promising updates on our projects, but we have also been traveling so wanted to talk a bit about all our adventures.

After boondocking at Joshua Tree we went for some simple full hookup camping at Rice Ranch in Quartzsite. The season was over, the stores were closing and the town was emptying out. For reference, Quartzsite has an official population of less than 4000, however in winter this number can rise to 750,000. People from all over come here to camp and boondock, escape winter and enjoy the good weather. In March though things go quiet, and at times it felt like we had the place all to ourselves. We found a racetrack to race our RC car and there was a small festival going on where the kids got to play games from the 1800’s and dance a bit to the local band. We also got to take unlimited showers, which after a week of camping in very fine sand did not feel like a luxury but more like a necessity.

When your kids get this dirty, they definitely need many showers

Our next stop was Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood Arizona. It was a very nice campground with a playground nearby. We mostly stayed close to home, but got to check out the town and Montezuma’s castle. It was just a small paved loop, but Aidan dressed up as a little explorer and looked the part.

Eric had to leave for a day to go pick up our solar panels in Flagstaff, man were we nervous. It seems so long ago now, but at the time it really was a daunting project. He came back with the truck all loaded up, all we had to do now was tie them down in the RV and drive them up to my families place to get them installed. Fingers crossed nothing happened to them on the way.

So off we went, almost 13 Google hours of driving. “Google hours” is the time Google tells you it is going to take, however when pulling a 45ft fifth wheel with two toddlers in the back seat we generally assume it is going to take a ‘little’ longer. Our plan was to take advantage of our Harvest Host membership. Harvest host lets you stay at farms, wineries, breweries, and distilleries for free, with the expectation that you purchase some of their products. Our first stop was The Desert Diamond Distillery. This turned out to be a pretty cool place with restored Pullman train cars where we got to eat our lunch.

The next day we made it to Peggy Sue’s diner, where we stayed in their parking lot, but got to check out their garden with dinosaurs and even a giant (masked) King Kong, and to the delight of Tyler many turtles in the pond. And then we did our longest drive yet. We were supposed to stay at a berry farm, but things did not line up, so after over an hour of waiting around we decided to just pull through and head straight out to Elk Grove where we would be able to stay with family. It was our longest travel day yet, with 8 hours of driving plus some stops, 8 am till 6.45 pm!!

Finally here, moochdocking at Tudesko Construction. We stayed for about 6 weeks. Eric worked on our solar, installed our washer and dryer and we did many more smaller projects. The kids had a large area to play in; there were animals, there was mud, there were vehicles to explore, there were a few huge dirt piles, and then there were cousins. These kids are great hanging out with my little boys and showing them all around.

And then there was date night. For the first time in a very long time Eric and I got to head out together. And we had the perfect place to start thanks to my cousin… Axe throwing. I love my husband, he takes me on the best dates!

Adding a washer/dryer

1 Comment / Family / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-05-23 2022-05-23

We finally did it. We added a Splendide washer and dryer in the front bedroom closet. Our rig comes with washer dryer prep so you would assume you just slide them in and hook them up. Unfortunately that is not the case.

The first issue Eric encountered was that the floor in the front closet was not level. It was not even made out of one piece! A piece of plywood did the trick and a stable base was created.

Up next was the scariest part, in order to install a vented dryer you need to drill a 10 cm hole through the side. And no, you do not do this where the arrow points, if only it was this easy. Instead, you remove the back wall, the insulation and then try to measure and figure out where you will end up on the outside so you can put tape there and not cause a whole lot of splintering. I wasn’t there, so I can’t really tell you how this part went, but it looked great finished.

With the vent in place and the floor reinforced we Eric was able to install a tray that should in theory contain any leaks. He also installed the duct for the dryer, and we dangled it on the ceiling for the time being.

And then the moment of truth, bringing in the washer. We removed the door to the front bedroom and the door to the closet and the handle bar in the hallway and drove the washer up the ramp through the garage and living room and into the bedroom. It took a bit of manoeuvring, but in the end she slid right in.

The dryer is a lot lighter, so getting it to the bedroom was a breeze. But installing the duct to the back while it was in the closet not so much. I was contemplating just taking out the side wall. But in the end we succeeded, and we are now the proud owners of our own washer and dryer!!

A month of travel and adventure

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-03-03 2022-03-03

So much has happened since we left Buckeye. We spent a wonderful week with the Ruprecht family first at Shadow Ridge RV resort and then exploring BLM land in Ajo, AZ. Camping is more fun with friends! The best moment for me came when Tyler asked Eric for his helmet, and then looked on in amazement when Tyler rode off, pedalling on his bike. I had not realised Eric had not seen him ride before.

We continued boondocking in Marana near Tucson. We met with a few other families we met through Fulltime Families, and had some nice evenings around the campgrounds hearing stories from much more experienced nomads. We even got our knives sharpened by a very entrepreneurial 14 year old girl, “Dull is Dangerous” is her motto. She is going places!

Then off to Buckskin Mountain State Park along the Colorado River. After a lot of desert, the kids had some good times playing in the river. But best of all was meeting up with my friend Annie. I knew Annie back in Amsterdam in my late teens. It was the strangest thing to realize it had been almost 20 years since I last saw her. She visited with her 2 dogs and we were able to rig up an ez-up tent from our back patio to create another room.

From Buckskin we returned to the SARA Park Rodeo grounds at Lake Havasu for the Escapees Winter Blast Hangout. This promised to be a lot of fun, with firework shows almost every night. We found that the best show was actually on Sunday, when they were determined to let off all their fireworks in one grand display, so that they could avoid the pit of despair that awaited all unused fireworks at the end of the show.

Weather had been beautiful and we felt super fortunate to snag a few nights at Lake Havasu State Park right at the lake. Unfortunately winds picked up again and temperatures dropped, so the peaceful time at the beach was more reminiscent of a stroll along the beach at Scheveningen.

Then off to Quartzsite. This place is a boondockers paradise in winter, with a lot of long term options. Most places allow you to stay max 14 days, but here you can buy a permit for the whole winter season, and many people take advantage of this. We gathered here for a Grand Design rally. It was somewhat surrealistic to see all these same luxury RV’s parked together in the middle of the desert. We met some very nice people, and were amazed by the solar setup done by Joshua of Rooted Off Grid, they have solar panels on slide-out racks, which look like wings on their modified-3-axle Solitude 390RK, which gives them 6kWh of power, allowing them to run their RV like it has full electric hookups.

After Quartzsite, we had a few days to kill before heading to the Xscapers Convergence in Tucson. I had heard many good things about Lake Mittry near Yuma and wanted to check it out. And though it is pretty amazing, it just was not for us. The water was unreachable for the kids and we encountered plenty of mosquitos. Now if you have kayaks or want to spend your time fishing from one of the many jetties jutting out into the lake, this would be the place to go. Anyhow, I decided it was time for full hookups before our next 8 day stretch boondocking, so we booked at a random RV park half way. We are at Sonoran RV Park in Gila Bend, there is not much here, but the park is super nice. We drove in and a friendly gentleman led us right to our spot. The kids and I got ready for the 90 degree pool giving Eric time to set up our site. After spending a few weeks in the desert a large body of water is such an amazing thing. Tyler took a minute, but with some help from a friendly surrogate grandmother quickly found his confidence again swimming around. Aidan was not really sure what to do with so much water, but after almost an hour of clinging to me found that the top step was awesome to lay on and semi crawl and scoot back and forth. By the end of our pool visit he was jumping into my arms from the side.

On the project side of things, we’ve expanded our battery capacity to 12v 600Ah, giving us ample power for longer boondocking stays, though we still need to expand our solar array to match it. We also made wooden slats for our bed, which are a lot prettier than the plywood we used before!

Lake Havasu Balloon Festival and Skyline Regional Park

2 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-02-02 2022-02-02

We had bought tickets for the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival while we were still in Switzerland. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun, it was in the area we wanted to be in, and it would give us a chance to practise some more dry camping. We just needed to fill one night between leaving the bash and our reservation at Lake Havasu State Park. Driving through Quartzsite, and up into Havasu we had seen a lot of camping on BLM land. BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management, they manage a lot of land in the United States, and often it is allowed to camp free of charge for a certain period of time. We drove out of the Rodeo grounds and turned left, not sure where we were heading. About 15 minutes on we came to a left turn that looked promising. We got off the road and found ourselves a nice camping spot.

The kids went to bed and Eric turned in early. I grabbed my hammock chair and blanket and sat out on the back patio. There were many other campers around us, but all a nice distance away. I could hear some chimes ringing and saw some fires in the distance, but mostly it was just me and by book and a drink, and a giant full moon.

The next day we had breakfast, pulled in the slides and hitched up. I was determined to be one of the first ones in so we could snag a nice spot right on the beach. We drove in at 9 AM, and they told us we could pick just about any spot we wanted. The kids loved our new back yard and we spent a lot of time just exploring.

We did have some scary nights with heavy winds. The slide toppers that protect our slides were slapping in the wind making it all sound a lot worse. The biggest gusts even made the RV shake, and although you know you are on solid ground and nothing is going to happen, you sleep with one eye open.

We got to witness one mass balloon ascension, and it was magical. It was early in the morning and we saw our first balloon through the window. We quickly walked out and towards the shore line, and could see the balloons taking off one at a time filling the sky. Aidan and Tyler were mesmerised, until the sand was more interesting again.

The wind however meant that the balloons could not take off on any of the subsequent days. We visited the festival grounds and Tyler had a lot of fun at the carnival going on the various rides. Aidan was a little jealous he wasn’t allowed yet, and was not accepting our explanation that he was just too short. He will stand on his toes trying to prove you wrong.

Parking on pavement also meant we finally got to put on our SnapPads. They are big rubber covers that go onto our jacks and give us much better grip when we are parked. All it took was a good cleaning, a spray of FlexSeal (spray-on liquid rubber) and then very carefully lowering the jacks onto the pads. Much easier to do when the kids are locked into their car seats.

Before leaving Lake Havasu we also got to pick up our bed frame. We had wanted to change our bed to sleep along the length of our RV so that we didn’t have to crawl over each other to get in and out, and we wanted it mounted on the lower braces (it’s technical, but it just makes it easier to move). Neither of us are welders, so we had to find someone to build the frame for us. Now logistics while traveling are a thing to get used to; you can’t start calling ones you’ve settled into town, by the time they can help you, you are three stops further. This time though we got lucky, we were around long enough and started calling early. We found a great group of welders, Mansell Welding, and they were able to take on our project. I sent them a sketch of what I wanted and somehow they managed to turn it into the real deal. We pulled the RV up to their shop and it fit like a glove. We still need to do the finishing touches, like putting in some nice boards and night stands, but it is functional and super awesome!

Our next stop was Skyline Regional Park in Buckeye, close to Phoenix. We needed to be back in Phoenix for me to finally get my Arizona drivers license. I had passed the written test but was anxious about doing the driving test. Also it turns out 3 point turns, really one of the only requirements for getting your license here, are impossible in a long bed crew cab dually (within their cones). So to make things easier, we hired a driving school and I am now a fully licensed driver and am actually allowed to tow our 45 foot fifth wheel. I know I will need to at one point, but for now I am just getting used to driving a giant truck!

And on the topic of driving, it was at Skyline that Tyler decided he was ready to get on his bike and peddle. We got his bike out, and for the next 45 minutes or so he kept at it. My little boy can ride a bike now! Pretty amazing. Go Tyler!!!

Skyline was also where Eric got to use his tools extensively for the first time. I had picked up a bunkbed for the boys, but it was 9 inches too long to fit into the slide and needed to be shortened. Eric did an absolutely amazing job, shortening all the pieces and drilling all the holes so we could reinstall the hardware. It all fit together perfectly and the boys have a great new bed to sleep in and loads of floor space to play on.

Doing these kind of renovations while you are actually living in your rig can be somewhat stressful and it needs a lot of planning. But I love it when a plan comes together!

Next up camping with full hookups in Ajo, AZ and meeting up with a wonderful family we met at the Bash.

Xscapers Bash 2022

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-01-18 2022-01-18

We left Yuma and made it up to Lake Havasu where we stayed at the Sara Park Rodeo Grounds to attend the Xscapers Annual Bash. We had an early arrival ticket so that Eric could attend the “RVers Boot Camp Express” to learn everything there is to know about RV’s in one day.

We were one of the first to arrive, but in the next 2 days the place filled up with about 400 full time RV’ers ready to party! We were set up in the family section and met many new friends. Tyler had a blast playing with all the kids and joining in on all the activities, and Aidan really found the artist within him.

The bash was also an opportunity to have mail delivered, and Nadine decided to pick it up with the boys while Eric was in class. Big mistake, Aidan almost got buried! Luckily there were other families there to help and two teenagers were instructed to help with the heavy lifting.

A ferris wheel was being erected and Tyler was adament to be the first one on it. It only took sneaking out of the opening ceremony to make that happen. Nadine joined him, and they had some amazing views as they spun around while watching the sun set behind the mountains.

Tyler and Aidan also proved to be super party people. Ty found an awesome green hat and quickly made many friends. Aidan has discovered music, and just can’t sit still when the band starts playing, he runs right on to the stage and starts shaking his little hips.

What else… there was a bouncy house, a bucking unicorn that Tyler stayed on for almost a minute, a bit of karaoke, video games, face painting, and climbing up the giant dirt pile.

The first thing boondocking taught us, is that the dealer installed battery will not get you through the night, and worse still it will not run the coffee machine in the morning. Eric’s bootcamp knowledge was going to be put to the test! We had bought a great lithium battery, but unfortunately after several attempts of charging it we found that is was a dud. A second battery was waiting for us 3 hours away at Eric’s parents, so after the kids went to sleep Eric left to go pick it up and return the next morning. He got everything installed, and even installed a new converter so that we can actually get a full charge. Now we can really boondock! He also installed our side cameras, and had a bit of a scary moment when he had to drill in to the side cap. He is becoming quite the handy man, I think maybe he’ll be signing up to become a certified RV technician before the year is up.

After such a busy week, at least we found a great place to relax. We are parked right at the beach of Lake Havasu, with a great big sand box right at our feet. Driving up, Tyler asked: “Do we have our sand toys?”.

Happy New Year!

4 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-01-03 2022-01-03

We’ve been escaping the cold down in Winterhaven, California this week, which is next to Yuma, Arizona. So technically, we crossed our first state line!

Pilot Knob RV Resort, our refuge from the cold

We had our first small parking mishap. A very rusty water spigot suffered, but we were able to shut it off immediately. A good lesson in communication, and thankfully not an expensive one!

We made one major upgrade this week: our mattress! We went with a Purple Mattress Queen, and it’s a great combination of support and comfort, while not being too heavy (110lbs) nor too tall (9″), both of which are important for using it on our Happijac Bed Lift system. We’re still on the lookout for a welder to produce a custom aluminum frame, which will let us turn the bed 90 degrees, and gain some space, but we’re sleeping much better already!

Putting the kids in prison, Yuma Territorial Historic Prison

We will be heading to the Xscapers Annual Bash next week, where we’ll be “boondocking” for about 10 days. That means we’ll be surviving self-contained: no water, sewer or power hookups; we’ll rely on our own battery/solar, generator, and holding tanks. It’s a bit intimidating, having that as our first boondocking, but at least there will be plenty of support around!

Merry Christmas!

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-27 2021-12-27

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a lovely Christmas, both at our new home in the RV, and at my sister’s house with the rest of Eric’s family.

With a cold weather front closing in, we’re adjusting our travels slightly, heading south towards Winterhaven California, rather than Camp Verde Arizona, but we’re still planning for the Xscapers Annual Bash in Lake Havasu in just under two week’s time!

Welcome, Home!

4 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-14 2021-12-15

We got it! Our 2022 Grand Design Momentum 397TH was delivered to us on Friday morning.

A big thanks to Brian from Roadrunner RV Inspections, and RV Driving School, who helped us inspect our RV before accepting delivery, and then teaching Eric how to drive the beast! Eric drove the RV right off the delivery lot and into the sales parking lot, before we even signed for it! His first time towing anything at all. Then off to driving lessons, and then to our first camping spot at the KOA in Tucson, Arizona. We’d been staying at that KOA for a week in a cabin, but now it was time to move in to our RV!

We’ve been very busy sorting through everything, and figuring out where things should go, and more importantly, how this thing works! Who knew how much time we’d spend thinking about water and sewage! Nadine’s been doing a fantastic job making it feel like home, too. Pancakes & Christmas lights, amongst other touches, go a long way!

There have been a few minor build issues we’re dealing with, but on the whole, nothing major. The stereo hisses, for example, but more annoyingly, the Lippert OneControl system, which controls our whole rig, and you should be able to access on your phone, isn’t working. We’ve made progress on both items, especially with some great support from Grand Design’s Rockford Fosgate technician on the stereo issue, who walked Eric through a full diagnostic over the phone! We’ve also been busy installing extra bells and whistles: a backup camera, and a tire pressure & temperature sensor system.

That aside, we’re very happy with our new home! It’s gorgeous, spacious, and I hope will treat us well (so long as we treat it well!). The kids have been loving the back patio, and so have the parents: enclosed play space! Tyler’s been making friends with the neighbors, and really asking about everything; endearing, but exhausting!

Our first “Travel Day” is coming…!

Full-Time Waiting

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-03 2021-12-03

We got our first taste of full-time RVing, at the Full-Time Families Hangout in the White Tank Regional Park. There were about 18 families “boon-docking” at the group camping area there, which means they were running without “shore” power nor water and sewage. Instead, they relied on batteries, solar, or generators for power. Tyler and Aidan were amongst the youngest participants, but had a blast… Especially when they hired a bouncy castle!

We didn’t have our own RV yet, so we stayed at a nearby farm we found on Airbnb. This turned out to be a great location for us as well, as the host family had a son well-matched to Tyler, who taught him how to handle 1-week-old piglets, and how to properly climb a treehouse. And how to keep the adults out, by means of a trap door. In any case, a great time had by all, and we met some amazing full-time families whom we hope to meet again soon on the road!

The boys admiring the farm animals. That’s Kevin Bacon in the middle.

We’re now waiting impatiently for our rig to arrive in Tucson, Arizona. We’re hopeful that it will arrive this week, though it will still be next week or so until we could possibly drive it off the lot. But it’s so close!

Jetlag!

1 Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-11-10 2021-11-10

We’ve arrived safely in Arizona as of last week, but we’re still a bit worse for wear. Jetlag in a pair of toddlers is a helluva thing!

We had a bit of an unorthodox travel itinerary: from Zurich, we stayed a week in Amsterdam to visit Oma, and then we flew to Calgary (YYC), stayed 17 hours, and then finally flew to Phoenix (PHX). I’ll refrain from deciding if the stayover in Calgary was the right call or not, as it’s very much a toss-up, but we did stay at the in-terminal Marriot hotel there, which was quite pleasant. And beyond that, we discovered that YYC has some fun playgrounds, for when you’re wandering the empty halls at 2am in your pajamas.

That was only the beginning of the journey, however. We did eventually arrive in PHX, sans one bag–still lost, a week later–but the middle-of-the-night adventures only reached a fine middle. We know exactly which businesses are open at 4am in the Phoenix area, and I must say, disappointment! Turns out, “Dutch Bros Coffee” is not a place for coffee: there’s nary a drink without whipped cream, and when we asked for two latte macchiatos, the legitimate response was “frosted or whipped?” But no matter, Tyler wanted “fries and an ice cream without a straw”, which seemed an entirely reasonable request, so adventure-ho! McDonald’s? Nope, no fries, only tater-tots. Jack-in-the-Box? “We only accept mobile orders” (which they helpfully told us over the order-taking intercom of the drive-up we were at…). The winner? Wendy’s! Frosty’s and Fries! (Apparently the only thing they were able to produce at the time, too.)

The kids are slowly adjusting to the new clock though, thankfully. That first week was really rough. This past week we’ve stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, which is a hotel with a built-in water park… but we chose it primarily for the cozy sleeping quarters for the kids!

Next up: we’re getting our truck! It arrived at the dealership today, so we’ll be picking it up very soon!