Boondocking

Our plan was to stay at a boondocking site on some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land just on the Arizona/California border. Boondocking means to camp without hookups (no electric or water provided) and usually free. There are other places to do this such as national forests and national preserves. There is also Harvest Hosts, which you can join for a minimal fee. Our camper is equipped with solar panels, it also has a fresh water tank. We also have a generator for backup to the solar. The benefits of this type of camping are more privacy, no reservations needed, beautiful landscapes, far from cities, and usually free or at least super low cost (compared to RV parks, private campgrounds and even less than state parks). The spot we had picked looked promising on Google Maps. It was in Arizona. When we pulled in, it seemed a nice spot, but there were other people there, and it was very close to the interstate, so there was a lot of noise from trucks and cars. We decided to keep going; the Mojave National Preserve was not far away, and looked more like what we wanted. Finally, we made it to California!

We made the right decision. It was beautiful! It was peaceful, quiet, and picturesque. This was also our first boondocking site. We did really well with how we used our stored solar power and our water. We were probably a little obsessive with checking tank and battery levels, and we were probably a little conservative on our usage. Better to conserve the water and power than use too much and run out. Our plan was to use a Harvest Host the following night, which is a business or person who offers to let people camp/park overnight at their place of business/property at no charge. It is recommended that you purchase something from them, but not required.

We set up camp, I played with my cameras, we had a few adult beverages and watched the stars come out. One of the perks of an airstream is that it has panoramic windows in the front and the back, and very big windows on the side. Since we were all alone, we could leave the curtains and blinds open and enjoy the desert sunrise the next morning.

After we had our coffee and watched the sun come up, it was time to get back on the road. Our next stop was at a museum in Coalinga, CA. This cool place is a museum about the local community and their history, especially in the oil industry. It was a great place to park for the night. As our first Harvest Host experience, we were very pleased. Our next stop was near Freemont, CA, which is outside of San Francisco and right in Silicon Valley. It was time to stop for a while and Aaron needed to work in the office for a few days. It was also time to do some laundry and give the rolling house a good cleaning. After a little over a week of driving every day and staying somewhere new each night, it was time to park it.