Category full-time RVing

May 6 2021

On the Road Again…

It’s nice to have the stress of the last two months behind us and to be back on the road again. It’s a little different from life in the Boldt. After a long day of driving you can’t just turn your seats around and relax. There are a few more steps such as one must put up the tent and set up camp. We do miss some of the Boldt creature comforts but now we can off road and go where there are fewer people just coyotes, owls, hawks, bunnies and road runners. This week we are going to share with you a few of our favorite affordable and free campgrounds!

Our first stop was Fall River Campground outside Sunriver, OR. Greg still had his 2nd vaccination in Bend to receive so we stayed a few days at this campground which is only $14/$7 a night. There are 12 camp spots on the Fall River with picnic tables, fire pits, and a pit toilet. We were surprised that almost all the spots were open and only three other spots were taken when we were there. If you have a Berkey filter this is a great spot for unlimited water, the river water is super clear and cold! There is a hiking trail up and down the Fall River that is a few miles long and if you are a fly fisherman this is your paradise! Our neighbor caught two rainbow trout and were super nice and offered us one but with the 30 mph winds we couldn’t get our stove to stay lit, so we had to pass (boo-hoo)! After two days of beautiful weather, the weather changed on our last night to 24 degrees Fahrenheit, and the next day was forecast to have snow and sleet, we decided it was time to head South!

  • View from the tent
  • Love the Costco Hammock
  • Lots of fly fishermen
  • Fall River Campground #6
  • Fall River Hiking Trail

We were planning on staying, at one of our favorite spots, at the Lava Bed National Monument Indian Wells Campground which is awesome and only $10/$5 a night but the weather stated snow, so we went further South to Eagle Lake Campground in California. This is a great boondocking location but make sure you have plenty of water and you are packing in and packing out, there are no amenities during the off season. It is a beautiful location at Rocky Point and free. During the Summer and Fall the North Eagle Lake Campground is open $14/$7 but this time of year it is still closed. We had planned to stay here for three days but the wind was 25-40mph and was impossible to keep our Eureka Camp Stove lit. We highly recommend do not get this camp stove at REI, we are returning it and sticking with the Camp Chef it has better sides and back to keep the wind out. In addition, you can use a converter and use a real propane tank and not ruin the environment with the tiny unrecyclable propane bottles the Eureka uses. After one night, we headed out to go further South to Walker Lake in Nevada where the wind was supposed to be only 15 mph. But of course, we got to Walker Lake and visited the 6 different camping areas where prices range from free to $6/$3 a night. Once again we ran into crazy wind, we tried to put up the tent at 7pm when the wind was supposed to calm down but it kept blowing over the tent poles and we gave up and slept in the truck for the night.

  • Closed during Winter
  • Rocky Point BLM Camping
  • Eagle Lake
  • Walker Lake
  • Area Below and South of Sportsman Beach Campground
  • Entrance Sportsman Beach

As a result, instead of a couple days at Walker Lake we bolted’ to our good old standby Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, that is a beautiful location and free. We enjoy watching and hearing hummingbirds, hawks, owls, flickers, cranes, ducks, geese and great blue herons. The Campground host is wonderful! He is super friendly and cleans every camp spot by clearing the firepit, rakes the camp area and even cleans the picnic table with disinfectant. He maintains the cleanest vault toilets I have ever seen or smelled! We were able to get our tent up before the 50 mph wind gusts. We had the tent poles hit my head a few times during the night. The next day, we got to enjoy a 4 mile walk around the lake and have a few hours of sunshine and a fire before the winds came back in with a thunder and rainstorm for good measure. It rained all night, and coming from Oregon we know rain.

We woke up to seeing our breath and snow on the nearby hills. We decided we had enough, packed-up our wet gear and raced to Marana and a nice queen bed at Greg’s parents. We would have stopped at Burro Creek Campground (only $14/$7) near Wickieup, AZ but it was pouring down rain and you all know how fun it is to put up a tent in the rain. It has potable water, flush toilets, picnic tables with covers and firepits. There is a group camp area if you are coming with a group. We believe with climate change all the meteorology algorithms must be off as none of the weather predictions were correct. That is one thing we do miss from our van is pulling up and relaxing inside and not having to set-up camp. Only a few more months and our Overland Explorer Camp-M will be ready and we’ll be back in business.

  • Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge
  • Our view from the tent window to the lake
  • Burro Creek Campground

One last addition, last night we went to Madera Canyon in Arizona. The Bog Springs Campground is an excellent stop for only $20/$10 a night with water at each camp spot, picnic tables, fire rings, bear box and a vault toilet. It was very quiet and very few other campers. From the campground there are a number of trails up the Madera Canyon. The area is known for its birding and did we see lots of birds: wild turkeys, hummingbirds, acorn woodpecker, warblers, trogons, flycatchers, Mexican blue jays, eagles and bats. In the evening we were infiltrated by a gang of 5 wild turkeys, two squirrels, 4 blue jays and 2 deer. They stared me down and were like–“hey woman give us food or else!” It was quite the sight to see them all together.

  • Bog Springs Campsite
  • Dutch John Springs Trail
  • Blooming Teddy Bear Cholla
  • Wilderness Boundry
  • Santa Rita Mountain Range
  • The view at the top of the 6,000 ft ridge
  • Greg found a little water
  • The Spring is no longer there
  • Watch out for the Wild Turkey’s

In our next post, we will share suggestions in organizing your toys in a cargo trailer and how to pack for overlanding adventures as we head to California, Nevada, Idaho and Montana for our next road trip. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us crash for 10 days!

Apr 30 2021

A Fresh Start

Sorry we have been very quiet for the last several weeks. There have been a lot of changes for us. First off, after 15 months on the road we have learned that we enjoy life on the road, even with its challenges. We have really enjoyed the Van Life and traveling all over the USA exploring mother nature’s great outdoor spaces, so we decided it’s time to go all the way in. We returned to Bend, Oregon on February 25th to sell our home and all our possessions and become full-time Nomads! If you haven’t seen the news Bend is the number one remote working city on the West Coast and is growing like crazy! There is more demand than there are homes for sale. So in less than 8 days we decluttered, staged and sold our house. Then in another 8 days, we sold all our possession and packed- up a few items to store at our vacation rental. Thanks to my brother, David who did a few truck load round trips to help us move the few things we decided to keep. Of course, no sale is easy and to make a long story short we did a hurry up and wait and after 35 days it finally closed.

If that wasn’t enough work, we got the bright idea we are ready to try overlanding. For those who do not know what overlanding is, Wikipedia has a great definition (I typically am not a huge Wikipedia fan but will give this exception…) “Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road-capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal form of lodging is camping, often lasting for extended lengths of time (months to years) and spanning international boundaries.” Overlanding has been around since the 1900s where it started in Australia traveling across their continent delivering live stock. In the 1940’s it became more of an outdoorsmen activity. usually involves long-distance travel to remote locations that are under-documented and where little prior exploration has occurred. Other characteristics that define overlanding include, but are not limited to, self-reliance, adventure, survival, and discovery. Overlanding can involve a variety of elements such as crawling on massive boulders, wading in deep waters, slogging through mud, driving through sand and sprinting across a dry lakebed. It is minimalistic living and also with a focus of leaving no trace! Making sure we keep mother nature as is as much as possible for future generations to explore!

  • Bye Bye Boldt we are not going to miss you!

We loved our Boldt but even though it is 4X4 it is a very heavy vehicle, making it difficult to venture into sand or roads that are super rutted with lots of big rocks. What we loved the most this last year was exploring BLM and Forest Service roads that are off the beaten path and staying in places where there was no one around but coyotes, eagles and owls. Per our many stories, we were disappointed with the Mercedes Chasis, it just isn’t the quality you are paying for and after having it at the Mercedes dealer 8 times and unable to use our vehicle for about 2 months while living full-time (very inconvenient). We placed Our Boldt on Vanviewer, Facebook Marketplace, and a reached out to a few dealers. At the same time, Greg loves his YouTube Research and we spent a few days watching the most reliable off-roading vehicles and truck toppers that are durable, 4-season and as light as possible but with enough amenities we could live full-time (since we no longer have a full time home). So we then took the next 5 days to sell our Boldt! We bought a Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 6′ bed. Note to those who may want to copy us, the Tacoma is in high demand and we spent 6 hours talking to 8 dealerships across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana to find one. It will take time, many dealerships told us we would have a month wait or longer! So we decided on the Overland Explorer Camp-M truck topper! It was a close back in forth between the Four Wheel Camper Fleet Model (most people have heard of the Hawk but its made for full size trucks and not mid-size) and the Scout Yoho, Kimbo and Carbou Lite 6.5 all not available until January 2022. Since we no longer have a home we were hoping for a truck topper we could get right away, we were surprised it was pretty impossible to find a used one from one of these companies available anywhere in this country. So we decided to go back old school tent camp until end of June when we could get at 2021 Camp M from Big Sky RV in Montana. Note, I have no idea how they sell tent so cheap and make any money but Costco sells a huge 6 person tent with a sunscreen room (great to avoid the mosquitoes this time of year) for only $129.00!

  • All our possessions for the next year
  • Our new truck loving the sunroof on a truck!

Images below of what our new set-up will look like in a few months and us at our campground as we wait for Greg’s second Covid19 shot. So I took all of our Van life possession and cut them in half to fit in our new truck topper setup. It is amazing how little we really need to live very comfortably! I was able to get everything into 4- 14 gallon bins that will be stored in the double cab once we have the topper. We are going to toughen up and no longer enjoy a wet bath but an outdoor shower and our little 2.5 gallon Thetford Porta Potty. Now I will know how Bode feels! Good thing Greg and I have gotten into the Wim Hof Method! It is a breathing technique and cold showers that change your body’s biochemistry and help strength your immune system, better your energy and sleep.

So of course nothing goes as planned. As we were selling our home and preparing to hit the road again, our little buddy Bode started deteriating at a rapid pace. After 12 fun and crazy years we had to let Bode go.

  • Our new Camp M and Tacoma set-up.
  • The outside of the new Camp M
  • Bode trying the new truck setup
  • Bode saying good-bye to the Boldt.

So our next post will be about our old school camping on the Oregon Coast, Sunriver then on to Arizona and San Diego. Then if all goes well we will report on our new Overlanding adventures across the USA, and why we purchased which overlanding stove, awning and cooler/refrigerator and all the cool gear to choose from. All I can say I love the Tacoma Crawl feature and the smooth ride is so much quieter and nicer than the Mercedes. Come back for more crazy adventures. We will end this post with our last shot with our crazy doodle Bode.

Jan 26 2021

Western Arizona RV Trip

For the month of November, we explored Arizona and had several amazing trips!  This week I am going to share our Western Arizona Route and great places to boondock or camp that are affordable and fun! 

One question we get is living in a van how do you manage all your toys of all the different seasons?  We purchased a 6×12 cargo trailer that we leave in Tucson, AZ (Greg’s parents live in Tucson so we can visit them while we drop off or pick-up items).  The name of the RV Park that we store it at is Diamond J’s, its very affordable and located next to some great hiking and mountain biking at the Tucson Mountain Park.  We store all of our gear so we can transition from Summer and Fall activities to Winter and Spring.

For our Western Arizona trip, we wanted to paddleboard, bike, hike and run as we adventured to different areas.  November was a very pleasant temperature, with lows in the 50s and highs in the 80s.  We like to travel about 100-175 miles a day or every few days.  Here is our last trip- the good and bad of each location and if we would go back.  

  1. Picacho Peak Campground ($30- no water)
  2. Lost Horse Tank BLM Sonoran Desert National Monument (free 14 days)
  3. Painted Rocks Petroglyphs BLM Campground ($8/$4 w/Access Pass)
  4. Dome Rock Mountain, Quartzsite (free 14 days) recommend Cholla Road instead
  5. Buckskin Mountain Campground ($35 electrical)
  6. Craggy Wash Lake Havasu (free 14 days)
  7. Katherine Landing ($20/$10)
  8. Temple Bar ($20/$10)
  9. Cerbat Foothillls Recreational Area (free 14 days)
  10. Burro Creek Campground ($14/$7)
  11. Chandler Cracker Barrel (free)
  12. Gilbert Ray Campground Tucson Mountain Park, Tucson, AZ ($20)

Picacho Peak State Park is about 49 miles west of Tucson.  Be aware there is no water in the park even though there is electrical spots and water for showers.  You need to bring your water or fill your 5-gallon water jug with a 64 oz water bottle in the ‘wash your dishes sink’ and do gravity fill.  For $30 a night, we feel it’s a little over priced and suggest just do a day trip to do Sunset Vista and Hunter Trails.  I really enjoyed the hikes make sure you bring walking sticks, gloves and wear hiking shoes as it gets rocky and steep and you will use a steel cable to climb up a rocky steep area.  There is an RV dump here, no potable water.  We were under whelmed and won’t be coming back for the price.

Our next stop off old Highway 84, about 60 miles from Picacho, is Lost Horse Tank BLM area (GPS 32.8411, -112.3244) that is in the Sonoran Desert National Monument. There is decent Verizon cell coverage between 2 to 3 bars. You need to be careful where you camp if you go too far South you are in the drug and human trafficking route.  Don’t stay right at the entrance of the area as several people came there to shoot guns, we recommend going down the road and to the right.  We found a great spot away from the freeway and away from the trafficking route with no nearby neighbors.  You can stay here for free for 14 days, were stayed here two days and did a few bike rides and runs through the desert.

From here, you have 51 miles to Painted Rock Petroglyphs (GPS 33.02437, -113.04543).  Since I have an Access pass this is an awesome stop for $4.  They have fire rings, picnic tables, trash cans and ancient petroglyphs.   There are good trails for mountain biking and trail running.  No water, no hook-ups, no RV dump but it’s a great spot.  We love this spot, so few people its like having a campground to yourself.  We have returned to this spot 4 times now.

Next, we headed about 158 miles to the famous Quartzsite.   You need to check in with the Dome Rock Campground host at the entrance to get your 14-day free permit on Dome Rock Road, then head to Cholla Road GPS: 33.6493, -114.28, there are a lot less people staying off Cholla Road.  You head around the bend and you will see dirt road to the right.  I suggest staying away from the wash area so you don’t get stuck.  It was great in November, there were very few people the camp host said they get busy in January. We did several mountain bike rides, and trail runs, there are so many trails everywhere.  There is Verizon 3 bars on Dome Rock but the cell coverage is pretty limited on Cholla Road.  For us it was worth it to get away from people and generators and we just biked or ran to more cell coverage couple times during the day.  If you want to stay longer than 14 days you can head over to RoadRunner and stay there for a few days then head back to Dome Mountain (we haven’t stayed here but drove by it.  It didn’t look bad and we would consider staying there.  We stayed here for 3 days.  We will be back in off-season.

From Quartszite, we headed fifty miles to Lake Havasu and stopped at Buckskin Mountain Campground to fill up with water and to dump.  There is free WiFi and good cell coverage here.   It’s a beautiful location and great stop for paddle boarding and great hikes and trail runs right from the campground. There are 68 campsites, 30 with electric, all with picnic tables and fire pit/grills and you must reserve online ahead of time. We really liked this spot and will come back, it is spendy at $35 but coming from Quartzsite you need to dump and refill water and it is a good middle point before Lake Havasu and less people than the state park in Lake Havasu.  You will also find since there is a drought there are no free water fill areas in Lake Havasu, many of the grocery stores have the water fill stations you pay for potable filtered water but will need to fill 5–6-gallon containers and do gravity fill. We stayed here one night and would be willing to come back here.  Since we prefer non-campgrounds that is why we only stayed 1 night. 

Next, we traveled 36 miles to Craggy Wash (GPS: 34.5863, -114.364586) in Lake Havasu.  There are several areas you can boondock for 14 days.  Craggy Wash used to be one of our favorite free spots but it has become over run with homeless and people pretty down and out.  Depending on the time of year there is great trail running and mountain biking but in November it is pretty deep sand making mountain biking difficult.  Also, with a lot of the homeless, mentally ill, not the most-friendly dogs off leash and folks sporting side arms on their hips as a woman I did not feel too comfortable running by myself.  We used to love this spot but I don’t think we will be back, we only stayed 2 days. 

We were excited to explore the Lake Mead National Recreational Area, our first stop was Katherine Landing which is about 66 miles from Craggy Wash.  There is WiFi and cell coverage and with an Access Pass it was only $10 a night.  There is first come first serve spots and only two of the loops are open during COVIOD19 and winter.  Each spot has a picnic table and firepit.  There is water and a RV dump no electrical. There are several hikes and you can head down to the marina to paddleboard or rent water equipment like kayaks, paddleboards fishing boats, etc.  When we were there it was way too windy, we just did a few hikes.  We spent 2 days here and will come back. 

(temple bar pictures)Surprisingly, there are very few people at Temple Bar which is 97 miles from Katherine Landing.  The park ranger said since its off the main highway not many people head this way.  We really enjoyed the peace and tranquility of this spot (and lack of wind!).  There were nice views of the Lake and other than the camp host there was only one other camper at this 71 campground site.  There is Wi-Fi and great cell coverage and a nice walk down to the marina and beaches.  We liked this spot better than Katherine Landing.  I paddle boarded and did several runs.  Similar to Katherine Landing it is $20/$10 a night with picnic tables and firepits and some sites also had grills, water and RV dump station.  We stayed here two nights and we’ll be back. 

From Temple Bar we headed back to Tucson as we had an appointment at La Mesa RV to get some items fixed.  We had planned to take the old Route 66 near Kingman but we ran out of time.  Kingman is a great spot to get gas, groceries and get your Starbucks. On freecampsites.net you can get several free spots to stay on Route 66 and if you are a Harvest Host Member there are two spots on Route 66.  For us, we headed down the hwy 93 to the Cerbat Foothills Recreational Area about 76 miles from Temple Bar. Its convenient, right off the freeway so we only stayed one night.  It’s a true boondocking spot with nothing but just a gravel parking lot but there are lots of cool mountain biking and hiking/running trails.  The landscape was beautiful you have a mixture of one-night campers and a few long-term homeless campers.

A nice quiet spot that is right off the freeway is Burro Creek Campground that is 75 miles South.  (Top 4 pictures below) For only $7 a night it is great to get water and have an RV dump.  Its right on the river and a few nice spots with views.  We stayed here only one night there was a little too much generators for peace and quiet.  I had a nice run in the area but there are a lot of cattle and the trails are over grown.  There is BLM booondocking spot above before you get to the campground that we would most likely stay next time.  We left super early so we could get through Phoenix before rush hour traffic.

(We needed to stock up on groceries and there is inexpensive Costco Gas in Chandler, so we drove 139 miles to the Cracker Barrel in Chandler for the night.  There are three RV spots and its pretty calm place.  Early the next morning we headed out to bypass any traffic and headed to Gilbert Ray Campground in the Tucson Mountain Park which is about 98 miles.  We really enjoy all the trails you can mountain bike and hike.  For Arizona $20 a night is the most inexpensive campground you will find outside the forest service and there is an RV dump, water, picnic tables and firepits.  Its quiet and there is a first come first serve loop.  We will be back! 

We hope you enjoy these spots as much as we did!  Enjoy!