18 days in the desert

We are back in civilization after spending 18 days in self isolation in the Sonoran Desert. My last blog detailed some of what we did to occupy our time. Our friends Dan and Amy, who we are traveling with, just posted their own blog about our boondocking experience. I think you will find it interesting, especially the drone footage Dan shot of our isolated spot. I encourage you to read the blog at https://danandamyk.com/2020/04/11/self-isolation-in-the-desert/.

In this short blog post I’ll just detail a few more things we did to entertain ourselves during those 18 days of self isolation. Have you ever tried to make a solar oven? We decided to give it a try. Some googling found you could easily make one with a box, aluminum foil and plastic. Hey…we can make this work!

Here is our solar oven. We actually had to tape a couple of boxes together to get a big enough oven. A test with an oven thermometer proved we could get up the oven up to the required 200 degrees fahrenheit.
Amy made up a batch of snicker-doodle cookies to bake. Into the oven they went!
Here are the cookies after “baking” for 3 hours. Ugh. Not a success at all. Oh well, our solar oven provided us with a few hours of entertainment.

Not all of our baking escapades were a total disaster. Amy shared with me her recipe for an English Muffin Loaf that cooks in the microwave. No oven required!

The dough is mixed ready to be cooked.
The end result was pretty good! And remember, we were running everything off batteries charged by solar panels!

The road we were parked off of was called Palm Canyon Road. At the end of the road is…you guessed it…a canyon with palm trees. This canyon is the last place in the state of Arizona where native California palm trees grow in their natural habitat.

It was a beautiful, crisp morning for a short hike up the canyon.
Sure enough, in that distant crevice are the palm trees.
Looking back, you could see the flat plain where we had been parked for 18 days.

After eighteen days, our waste tanks were full and our water tank was low. Plus we were in need of food supplies. It was time to say goodbye to boondocking on Palm Canyon Road.

Hooked up and ready to leave.
Just as we were departing, a rain storm was moving in. The timing of our departure worked out well.

We pulled into an RV resort in Buckeye, Arizona (west of Phoenix) to take care of the tanks and get some groceries.

Here I am, in line at 6:00 a.m. at the grocery store for the “seniors only” hour. I don’t feel like a senior citizen, but I was willing to be one in this case.

We are now in a county park northeast of Phoenix, still with Dan and Amy. It’s been nice to have good friends to share this isolating with. At this park, we have 50 amp power and water, so if it gets hot we can turn on the air conditioning. You know it is going to get hot, this is Phoenix after all.

As for what is next, who knows? It needs to stop snowing in New York before we will venture home, our eventual goal. We just don’t know when we’ll make the dash across the country. We are taking this day-by-day.

2 thoughts on “18 days in the desert

  1. Jeanne & Dennis

    Absolutely Interesting blogging, thanks for All!
    We love and truly enjoy your adventures!
    Only wish were parked next to y’all !

    Loved inclusiveness of both couples and we all know without a doubt ;
    Life is better shared!

    Do wonder what’s for Easter Dinner?
    Guessing Ham n eggs

Leave a Reply

Translate »