Joshua Tree, dry lake bed, BLM landTyler at Joshua Tree National Park…aka, “Boulder” National Park, according to Tyler.
We’ve been radio-silent for a little while now, but we’ve been super busy! In a bit of a roundabout trip, we were down in Tucson for the Xscapers convergence, and then we headed to Joshua Tree National Park for a week of boondocking with friends we met back in Switzerland, and then we had to go pick up our solar system components from Flagstaff!
6x REC 400w solar panels
Once we picked up the components, we raced 800 miles up to Elk Grove, California, where we set up shop at a family ranch, our first “moochdocking” experience. We came with a laundry-list of projects to complete:
Solar panel installation
Inverter + charger upgrade
Battery capacity expansion
Washer/dryer installation
Starlink setup
…and that’s just the big ticket items. We’ll post more details on each project in the days to come!
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.
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?”.
Last week was our first “Travel Day”. That’s the common term used for days when you pack up your campsite and RV, and haul it down the road to the next location. Now, that may not sound like much, but you’re essentially packing your house like it were luggage, and then subjecting it to a series of small earthquakes for a few hours.
We stressed about it for a couple of days, but the day arrived! All the water and sewer work, which takes a fair amount of waiting time, we managed to do the afternoon before. Dirty jobs, done dirt cheap, and all that.
Everything went without a hitch. No, wait, there was definitely a hitch involved. But smoothly! We stopped amongst the truly Big Rigs for a pitstop about halfway through our 3h20m drive, and then backed in to our new spot in one good “swoop”.
Our site, at the Desert Tortoise Campground at Lake Pleasant, Arizona, is absolutely gorgeous. It has only two downsides: no sewer hookups, and it’s very un-level. Lack of sewer hookups only means we’re reliant on our own onboard holding takes, and so need to be a bit more conservative (since we’re here for 2 weeks). The un-level site however meant that things inside are a bit trickier. So, Aidan and I went shopping! In the meantime, Nadine and Tyler started working on the boy’s room: step 1, rip out the old bed!
We’re here through the holidays, slowly getting the hang of everything, still futzing with the stereo and other random projects, and meeting some very friendly neighbors. We even popped back down to Avondale for a family visit, and saw some very fancy Christmas boats!
