No Longer Boondocking Virgins

Sunday, February 10, 2013

The thermometer hit 22 degrees overnight. We made our hot beverages and jumped in our seats and left Huachaca City, again! This time we drove directly north to I 10 and traveled west toward Tucson. As we traveled near Tucson we saw our first Saguaro cacti. The Chihuahuan Desert was beginning to transition to the Sonoran Desert. The desert plants were greening up as well. A few yellow wild flowers were blooming on the sides of the road. After traveling around and through Tucson, a surprisingly sprawling city, we headed north to Phoenix. A huge bypass around Phoenix took us through the Sonoran National Monument. We stopped at a rest stop for a quick lunch. It is so convenient to be able to open the fridge and make lunch and then sit at our dinette to eat.

We rejoined I 10 and continued west. Our plan was to go to Death Valley National Park, but we needed to stop for the night, so we exited at Quartzsite, AZ, shortly before the California line. Every January this small town of a couple thousand swells to possibly 100,000. Rvers from all over the country converge on the town for the next month or so. Huge tents are erected and there is a large RV show with lots of rigs and all the rving accessories. That is followed by rock and mineral shows, craft shows and various other shows. The majority of RVers boondock or dry camp in the surrounding desert. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) who administers much of the public land in the West, sets up the free designated camping areas. There are no water, electrical or sewer hook-ups. Also, there are no restrooms or showers. There are places in Quartzsite to buy water and dump the grey and black water tanks. Electricity is provided within each RV by the coach batteries, which are recharged by driving, using a generator, or solar panels. So, the RVs are self-contained and how long you can camp is determined by how far you can stretch your water, tanks, and electric power.

Our only previous boondocking experience was in two truck stops in the South for free overnight stays. This would be our first “real” boondocking experience. We drove to a site about five miles north of town off of Plomona Road. It is a large flat area off the main road. There were fire rings scattered around the area. About a dozen other campers were already set up. This area was probably packed a short time ago, but the activities are dwindling down and we had a lot of privacy. Greg found a level spot away from the other campers and we made dinner before it got too dark. We turned on a light from time to time as we needed it, but also lit the oil lamp and streamed Netflix on Greg's Tablet. We were able to do so because we had cellphone reception and used our own WIFI hotspot. Except for the trucks traveling down the main road, which were louder than we expected because sound carries farther in the desert, we slept well.