A lot of future full-timers assume that you need to have a big motorhome or fifth wheel trailer to “live the RV dream.” However, we have met a few folks living very happily in much simpler and less expensive rigs.
A few months back, we ran into Ruth and Randy who live in a pickup camper.
Full-timing in a truck camper on a Toyota Tundra
Their camper isn’t a big Lance or Arctic Fox camper with a slide-out that requires a dually diesel one-ton truck to lug it around. Continue reading
Horseback riders on the dusty trail.
April, 2014 – The phrase “wild west” evokes images of horses and cowboys and wide open spaces.
While we were visiting Phoenix Arizona these past few months, we ran into lots of different horses and riders out on the desert trails.
Some suddenly appeared in a cloud of dust, materializing on the trail as if in a mirage, or as if walking right out of a movie.
Their cowboy hats and boots and spurs completed the picture to perfection.
Others rode a fine line between the modern digital age and the wild west of yore, holding the horse’s reins in one hand while chatting away on a cell phone with the other. Continue reading
Mark fixes our boat in an exotic place
April 2014 – Sailors often say with a sigh that, “Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places.” While this sounds funny and always elicits a laugh, it is unfortunately a very true statement.
When you cast off the dock lines to go cruising, you are signing up to spend long hours working on your boat.
Paradise Village Marina at sunset — dreamy!
The further afield you go, Continue reading
An artist creates his vision in the desert
March, 2014 – The Phoenix area is full of beautiful hiking trails, and the Windy Cave Trail at Usery Mountain is just one of many lovely places to experience the Sonoran desert.
We wandered out into the desert on marked trails and unmarked roads to go hiking — or at least to go for a walk — every day during our stay on the outer eastern edges of the city. There was always something new to see.
One morning we came across an art class that had set up easels all through the desert.
Spring is springing!
The group of artists was huddled around the teacher as we hiked past, and we found Continue reading
Our new friend Marcel is a great inspiration
We meet a lot of interesting people in this crazy full-time traveling lifestyle, and they often give us great inspiration.
While we were camped on the eastern fringes of Phoenix Arizona recently, we found ourselves surrounded by mountain bikers.
Mountain biking in the desert is exhilarating
These guys would hop on their bikes every morning and hit the trails with vim and vigor. They would return later in the afternoon, worn out and very happy.
The scenery out on the trails is breathtaking
Mark has always had a passion for mountain biking, a passion I didn’t share with him at all. Since high school, I have been an avowed roadie!
He started chatting with these guys about their bikes, the trails nearby and whatever else mountain bikers talk about.
One fellow among them sported a white goatie, a few craggy lines on his face, and a foreign accent, and we soon discovered his name was Marcel and he originally hailed from Switzerland.
Marcel checks out my new wheels
Marcel was a compact build and very fit. Every time we saw him, he was wearing a t-shirt that said something like, “Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim” (a grueling hike between the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon) or “Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon.”
Mark is beside himself getting a new bike on a rainy day!!
When we asked him about these shirts, we found out he was quite an athlete.
Now 76 years old, he had been a runner until recently, and he had a wonderfully competitive spirit.
At age 74, he had noticed that one particular fellow kept winning a certain 7 mile running race in the 70+ age group, so he set his sights on that prize.
He trained and trained, entered the race and beat the defending champion to claim the title for himself. He told us that he then hung up his running shoes, on that very high note, with pride.
But he still puts on his mountain biking shoes and helmet almost every day, and we watched in amazement as he faithfully went out for one vigorous ride after another.
The Superstition Mountains in Phoenix Arizona make a spectacular backdrop to a mountain bike ride
Marcel shares his passion with Mark
Mark was so inspired by Marcel that he began scanning Craigslist for used mountain bikes, and before I knew it, we were driving out into the Phoenix neighborhoods and picking up his-and-hers mountain bikes.
In turn, our trusty cyclocross bikes that had been with us in our trailer since we started our adventures nearly seven years ago ended up on Craigslist themselves.
Ebikes have become really popular with RVers, and for older riders, the top e-trikes for seniors are worth checking out!
I look back and see Mark happily riding in this stunning scenery
Unfortunately, my personal history with mountain biking is not good. The last time I rode one was a decade ago on the notorious Bootleg Canyon trail outside Las Vegas. We were at the bicycle industry’s big Interbike trade show where bike shop owners and employees can test new bikes.
Out on the trails, I had flown off over the handlebars of my test bike on some kind of wacky double jump that was way beyond my skill level, and I’d knocked myself out cold. The next thing I knew, an EMT was asking me if I remembered my name as he gingerly lifted me onto a stretcher.
Happiness is a new bike
But bikes, in general, have come a very long way in the last 10 years, and these new models, like the ones from QuintanaRooTri.com, are unbelievable. Sticking to trails I can handle, I have been having a blast. I never would have thought it could happen, but I’m hooked.
Marcel sent us off to practice on a beautiful trail called Wild Horse, and after a week of exhilarating rides together, Marcel took his motorhome down to Tucson to ride with some buddies down there. When he returned, we went out as a three-some to tackle Wild Horse all together.
Mark squeezes between an ocotillo cactus and its shadow
What a ride!! Mark and I were thrilled to get through it without putting a foot down for the very first time, but while we high-fived each other, we noticed Marcel was kind of shrugging. For him, cruising through the gnarly bits on this trail was routine.
Gosh. I had admired his racing stories and watching him zip between our rigs on his mountain bike before, but seeing him in action was truly awe inspiring.
Marcel has showed us the fountain of youth!
What was even more fun was to discover that he has been RVing since 1970 when he built a Class C motorhome for his family. Class C’s were new to the market back then, and he saw his first one at an RV show.
Sweet ride in the desert
He crawled all through the thing with a tape measure, took copious notes, and went home and built one onto his one ton truck.
His wife Charlotte laughs that they took their three kids everywhere in that homemade rig and never spent a weekend at home after that.
For the past twelve years, the two of them have been wintering in the southwestern states in a Class A. One of the highlights for them each season has been connecting with their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.
Marcel has passed on his passion for fitness, and not long ago his whole family entered a running event together — four generations pounded the pavement side by side.
We feel blessed everyday to be living this quirky life, and certainly one of the best things about it has been meeting inspiring people that we never would have encountered if we hadn’t gone traveling.
Thank you, Marcel, for showing us your unique fountain of youth!
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An ocotillo greets us at the start of the hike.
Early March, 2014 – We had been enjoying the rivers and waterways and Saguaro Lake in Phoenix, Arizona, but the cactus filled desert was never far away.
Ready for hiking!
Usery Mountain Regional Park has a beautiful campground and some great hiking.
One hike in particular, the Wind Cave Trail, came highly recommended by our friends, Mike and Donna (FlyingTheKoop.com). They once called this area home and have hiked it many times.
The yellow brittlebush were in bloom all around us.
This is an uphill hike that climbs straight up for a mile and a half, making lots of switchbacks on the way.
The bright yellow brittlebush flowers had just started to bloom, and there were sprays of golden flowers everywhere.
There’s nothing like getting out on a warm, sunny, early spring day!
And the saguaros were standing around having their usual conversations too.
One cactus looked like it was whispering in the ear of another!
“Psssst…can you keep a secret??”
Wind Cave is a popular hike, and we met a lot of other hikers on the trail.
A large group came up behind us, walking sticks and cameras in hand. It was a beautiful day to be out.
We had lots of company on the trail.
What sets this hike apart is the lichen that covers the sides of the cliffs in a broad band along the top of the mountain.
The faces of the cliffs are shaded in the morning, though, so when we started up the switchbacks, the color on the cliff faces was muted at first.
Waving “hi” to his buddy down below.
The rising sun lit up one saguaro
In the shadowed lighting, it seemed like a rather ordinary, though lovely, Sonoran desert hike.
Then the sun began to peek around the edges of the mountain.
Its warm rays lit up a solitary cactus that stood away from the cliffs.
This guy seemed to be looking up at his saguaro buddy who was staning on a little higher ground above him and waving.
An ancient, pock-marked cactus has enjoyed this view for over a century.
As we climbed higher and higher, the views across the valley begame bigger and bigger.
The sun and shadows played hide and seek with the cactus among the rocks.
A lizard scurried past…
At our feet, we saw lizards scampering across the trail.
We listened to the Gambel’s quails and cactus wrens calling all their friends.
The Phoenix area is known as the “Valley of the Sun,” but as you travel around town, it doesn’t feel like a traditional v-shaped valley. Instead, it is a vast, flat, desert floor that stretches to eternity in all directions, broken up here and there by little pyramid peaks.
We were hiking up a pretty tall peak, and the trail didn’t take a break anywhere — it was up, up, up. We progressed very slowly. It was just too pretty to rush, and we ended up taking photos with every step.
There was a crowd waiting for us at the Wind Cave
When we finally reached the top, all the hikers who had passed us were taking a load off in the cool shade of the Wind Cave itself. It isn’t really a “cave” but is more of a sheltered spot that’s perfect for enjoying the views.
A little chipmunk peeks over a rock at us.
The rocky cliff has an inward curving wall, providing welcome shade and inviting people to sit for a spell, eat a little something, and catch their breath.
Lots of chipmunks live up here, and they have learned that hikers carry yummy snacks like granola bars.
The chipmunks kept us entertained as we ate a snack.
The beauty of the Wind Cave trail unfolds
as the sun rises.
These little guys were very brazen, and walked right up to all of us to see if we were had something to share.
Of course, who can resist a cute little furry face looking up at you hopefully? We all gave in and found a few crumbs to spare.
The chipmunks eagerly grabbed their snacks and ran off a few paces to nibble away, holding the treats in their little hands as they ate.
By the time we started down, the sun was hitting the lichen covered cliffs beautifully.
The cliffs are clad in orange and yellow lichen.
The craggy rock faces seemed to be showing off their bright yellow and orange wardrobe, and the vivid colors made a wonderful backdrop for the saguaro cactuses along the trail.
We wandered down the trail to the valley floor and noticed the clouds were moving very quickly across the sky.
A hiker takes in the view of the valley, but the backdrop behind him is just as stunning.
Fast moving clouds frame a trio of saguaros
Mark took out his neutral density filter and let the moving clouds create a kind of crown around a trio of saguaros.
While he was busy setting up the shot, he noticed a tiny hummingbird sitting on a wee little nest behind a thick veil of branches and leaves in a small tree.
He approached the hummer and she didn’t move. She just sat tight, watching his every move.
He hurried away to find me, because I had a long lens with me, and I rushed back to see if I could catch the little bird.
A hummingbird sits on her nest deep inside a tree.
Gosh, she was buried way back deep inside those branches. I moved closer and she flew off her nest.
Inside were two miniature little eggs.
They were so tiny, I was afraid they would get chilled really quickly while mom was off the nest. So I stepped away, and she returned and wiggled her tail end a bit as she settled back down on her eggs.
An early sign of spring!
The wildflowers are starting!
Then more hikers came down the trail and she flew off again.
Her nest site was well protected, but lordy, she could have chosen a spot a little further from the trail!
Oh well. I managed to fire off a few shots of her sitting on her soon-to-be family, and then left her in peace.
Spring was definitely in the air.
Not only were a few birds starting their families, but some wildflowers were beginning to show their colorful little faces too.
We were really excited by the early arrival of spring, and we were hopeful that soon the whole Sonoran desert would be alive with flowers.
A special find: Superstition Ranch Market in Mesa, Arizona
Posted March 11, 2014 – One of the crazy things about our life on the road is that everything in our lives is done on the road! This includes basic things like getting groceries and doing laundry.
Gone are the days of knowing where all our favorite goodies are on the shelves of our local supermarket or following the weekly flyers for discounts. We’re happy just to find the local supermarket!
But every so often we find something much better.
While doing laundry the other day down at the “Fluff and Fold” laundromat where we’ve been going each week in Mesa, Arizona, we left the washing machines to do their thing while we went exploring in the area.
Just a few doors down, we discovered a fabulous little neighborhood strip mall grocery store called Superstition Ranch Market. After noticing that the parking lot was packed and that a steady stream of people was coming and going through the glass doors, we idly wandered inside, curious why it was so popular.
Suddenly we were swept up in a sea of seniors who were all stuffing their shopping carts with produce of every shape and description. And soon we knew why. The prices here were crazy cheap!
At Mesa’s Superstition Ranch Market,
pineapples are just 99c each!
Right in front of us was a huge stack of big juicy ripe blackberries in plastic containers. Three 6-oz containers were just one dollar. What?! That’s less than a dolloar pound! Mark grabbed a few (he’s a huge berry lover).
Right behind the blackberries was a similar stack of plump red strawberries, three 1-lb. containers for a dollar. Wow! Yum! I snagged three.
At Safeway those same pineapples
are $3.99 each!
We looked around some more, eyes popping.
— Pineapples were 99 cents apiece.
— 15 lbs. of russet potatoes, 99 cents.
— Grape tomatoes, 2 10-oz boxes, $1.
— Big slicing tomatoes, 69 cents/lb.
— Vine cluster tomatoes, 39 cents/lb.
How could this be?
I got chatting with a store clerk and learned that much of the produce comes from Mexico. Ahh…how we MISS the fresh veggies we found in certain ports while sailing Mexico!
The market also buys in bulk from local supermarkets that have overbought.
She told me the store has been here on Main Street in Mesa for forty-five years. Another shopper was evesdropping and chimed in, “Yeah and no one knew about it until last year when Daphne Munro (you know, the Smart Shopper TV talk show?) did a huge TV special about it. It’s been crazy here ever since!”
How about strawberries —
three 1 lb. boxes for a dollar!
Long lines or not, what a boon for everyone in Mesa!
Most of the shoppers we saw were savvy seniors that live in the area or are snow-birding here, and it was an absolute zoo scene all around us.
Some five or six cashiers were frantically busy — and very cheery — as lines of shoppers six and eight deep kept forming in front of them, their carts overflowing with cauliflower, grapes, lettuce, peppers, mangoes and other things, all purchased for dimes on the dollar.
At Safeway those same three boxes
of strawberries will cost $9. Ouch!!
We braved the crowds and bought our share, murmuring along with a few others, “I wish I’d known about this place a long time ago!”
Just for kicks, on the way home, we stopped at Safeway.
Yikes!
— Strawberries were on sale, 2 one lb. boxes for $6.
— Pineapples were an “everyday” low price of $3.99 each.
— Grape tomatoes were $2.99 per 10 oz. container.
— Rusett potatoes were 99 cents a pound.
We don’t always come across great finds like this in our travels. Much of the time we end up paying a premium because we don’t know the best places to shop. But every so often we bump into something that is a true gold mine like this fun little grocery store on Main Street in Mesa.
Superstition Ranch Market is at 4755 E Main St, Mesa, AZ, (480) 832-3421.
They have a second store at 7 N 114th St., Apache Junction, AZ (480) 984-3568.
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Living totally off the grid on battery power in an RV or sailboat requires a good sized inverter to power the AC appliances like TVs, laptops, microwave, camera and cell phone chargers, hair dryers and vacuum cleaner.
But what is “good sized?” How much is too much — or not enough? What happens if you go over the limit? A recent mishap when we first returned to living in our trailer a few months ago sent us back to the basics and reminded us about limits, living skinny and living large while boondocking and living on a small inverter.
Our Exeltech XP 1100 watt pure sine wave inverter lives in the
fifth wheel basement.
Figuring out the math behind the theory — the amps, volts, watts and conversions between them — and doing that for each appliance while guessing how much time each one will be used every day is downright daunting.
What’s worse — for people like I once was who are dealing with this stuff for the first time when they contemplate full-timing — just the terms “inverter,” “converter,” and “inverter/charger” leave us scratching our heads in bewilderment. Techie phrases like “modified sine wave” and “pure sine wave” made my head spin when we first started out.
If that is the case for you too, have a look at our multi-part Solar Power Tutorial series where those terms (and many more) are explained in plain words.
As for inverter capacity, it is given in watts, and after living on several different sized inverters and inverter/chargers for almost seven years in two trailers and a sailboat, we have gotten a pretty good feel for what our moveable household of two people requires. But that doesn’t mean we are immune to slipping up!
When we bought our full-time fifth wheel trailer in 2008, like most trailers, it did not have a factory installed inverter. It had a 55 watt converter, and that was it. (Most motorhomes have a factory installed inverter/charger that is wired to the AC outlets instead of a converter.) So, we installed a pure sine wave Exeltech XP 1100 watt inverter.
This is a top quality inverter that is built to such high standards that it can run very sensitive medical equipment off the grid. Exeltech inverters are used on the International Space Station to provide AC power to both the American and Russian sides of the station!
This 600 watt pure sine wave inverter powered almost all
of our activities on the boat.
We chose that size because there was a huge increase in pure sine wave inverter prices once you got over about 1100 watts, and we had no single appliance on board that required more than that. (In 2014 prices, the XP1100 inverter is ~$600 while the XP2000 inverter is ~$1,300).
The trailer’s microwave is 900 watts, and everything else we use (except the air conditioning which requires a generator anyways) is much less than that. As long as we used only one big appliance at a time, all would be well.
The only real conflict that ever came up was when we used the microwave. We had to be sure the TV was off and the laptops were running on battery power for the few minutes we used the microwave. No big deal.
The sailboat we bought and moved aboard a few years after the trailer came with two factory installed inverters: a 2500 watt Xantrex Freedom 25 modified sine wave inverter/charger and Sinergex 600 watt pure sine wave inverter. The big inverter/charger was wired to all the AC outlets on the boat. However, the little 600 watt pure sine wave inverter had been installed exclusively for the entertainment system: the two AC outlets on the inverter had two ordinary extension cords that went directly to the TV and the Bose 3-2-1 surround sound system. This little inverter was independent of the boat’s AC wiring system.
The big modified sine wave Freedom 25 2500 watt inverter
powered the microwave and vacuum.
Because we had used a pure sine wave inverter in our trailer for a few years (and liked the idea of feeding our expensive computers a good quality signal), and because we assumed the big Xantrex inverter/charger would use a fair bit of power just to run in a “no load” state, we decided to rearrange the extension cords on the small pure sine wave inverter and use it as our primary inverter instead, running our laptops and charging up all our small appliances on it.
So, effectively, the only time we ever turned on the Xantrex inverter/charger was to use the boat’s 500 watt microwave that the factory had wired into the AC system, and to use our little dirt devil vacuum cleaner. Everything else — 22″ LED TV, 13″ MacBook laptops, cameras, portable GPS/VHF radio, GMRS walkie/talkie radios, toothbrush, etc. — got plugged into a power strip coming from the 600 watt pure sine wave inverter’s AC connector.
Mark inspects the Exeltech inverter
This worked really well for us for the 3.5 years we lived off the grid on the boat.
However, when we moved back into our trailer, we were still living in the mindset we’d had on the boat, which made us careless with the microwave. Whereas, on the boat, the 500 watt microwave was on a very big standalone inverter and we could use it without thinking, in the trailer, our 900 watt microwave shares the 1100 watt pure sine wave inverter with everything else on board.
One day, shortly after we moved back into the trailer, Mark popped some potatoes into the microwave for a few minutes. We were deep in conversation as he puttered around the kitchen and I messed around with photos on my laptop.
I thought it was odd when I noticed the charging light on my laptop go out, and he thought it was odd when he went to hit the button on the microwave for the next round of potato-cooking to find that none of the buttons on the microwave worked.
What the heck?
Well, at least nothing is visibly smoking!
We checked the usual things, and then went outside and around to the basement to see what the inverter was up to. Eventually, we realized that the inverter had just died.
Yikes!! This little black box is our life blood! And it would be a pricey devil to replace.
After a rather solemn dinner with almost-cooked potatos, Mark removed the inverter from the basement and opened it up to have a look inside.
Ouch. All four slow-blow fuses had blown. But thank heavens the rest of it was fully intact and there were no charred marks or burnt looking things anywhere.
The trailer repair gods were definitely smiling on us. We called Exeltech the next day to find out the fuse sizes (there were no sizes printed or etched on the blown fuses), and they were kind enough to put a few sets of fuses in the mail for us (free of charge!) to replace the four dead ones and to give us some spares in case of future mess-ups!
Wait, what’s up with the four “slow blow” fuses?
However, we had a five day wait until the replacement fuses arrived. It turns out that the size of these things is unique (35 amp slow blow). A sweep of the local auto parts stores turned up a few 30 amp slow blow fuses, which Exeltech said would work in a pinch, but Mark didn’t want to do the repair twice.
We liked our boondocking spot and didn’t feel like moving just to get electrical hookups, so, for the next five days we lived on a 350 watt modified sine wave inverter.
Sound crazy? Well, it CAN be done! We didn’t have to sacrifice too much. We just had to pay attention.
We aren’t big TV watchers unless the Olympics or Tour de France is on, but we use our two laptops for hours every day.
In the good old days of 2007, this little inverter of ours could power our white 13″ MacBook without a hitch, no matter what application we ran or how discharged the laptop was.
All four “slow blow” 35 amp fuses are blown
However, we soon discovered that today’s 13″ MacBook Pro’s (2011 and 2012 vintage, non-retina display) — and today’s software (2014 vintage) — all use a lot more power. Plus, we now have two laptops instead of one, which is more than the 350 watt inverter can handle. So, we had to devise a sharing scheme.
There are a few tricks to this.
The power required to charge a laptop varies depending on the laptop’s state of charge and the way in which it is being used:
I don’t have any firm numbers, but my hunch numbers are that it takes about 5-10 times more power to charge a laptop that is nearly discharged and is humming away on a bunch of really big photo manipulation programs (or moving lots of files around on disk) than it does to charge a laptop that is near full charge already, is shut down and is simply plugged into AC power.
With all these things in mind — and since our laptop use was our biggest power use in the trailer (we didn’t even try running our 26″ TV with surround sound on the 350 watt inverter) — this was our daily strategy:
This 7-year-old 350 watt modified sine wave inverter powered our lives for five days.
First thing in the morning, we would run the laptops from their own internal batteries until they were about 50% discharged (about an hour or two). If we weren’t done on the computers at that point, one of us would connect to the little inverter while the other continued on battery power.
After an hour or so, we would usually want to get outdoors. We would turn both laptops off and connect the most discharged on to the inverter to get charged up.
We’d return home later and either begin charging the other laptop up, or, if we both wanted to get back on our computers, we would alternate use of the inverter and go through the cycle again.
As for the Exeltech XP1100 inverter repair, as soon as we got the replacement fuses, Mark popped them into the inverter, installed it back in its home in the basement, and life was good and AC power was abundant in our home once again.
We were in a good spot. Why leave if we could make things work
for a while with a small inverter?
What did we learn from all this?
We can live simply when we need to!
Also, I’m really glad I asked the NuWa factory to install a cigarette lighter style DC outlet in the living room part of our trailer behind the TV (it came with one in the bedroom already). This makes it easy to use a small portable inverter in a pinch. In all honesty, I had questioned my sanity in asking the factory for this upgrade until this episode!
Then — on our next trailer (not that we’re getting a new one, but it’s always nice to think about that dreamy “next one”) — we will get a bigger inverter. There is nothing wrong with 1100 watts, as long as we think for a moment before flipping the switch on the microwave. However, in the next installation, we will be much more willing to spend double to get Exeltech’s 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter instead of their 1100 watt version. A bigger inverter will also allow us to use our Vita-Mix (1600 watts) which has been waiting in storage until we finish this crazy off-the-grid traveling lifestyle (which isn’t happening any time soon!).
Lastly… we learned that the Exeltech XP1100 inverter is well protected from absent-minded users with four wonderfully precious slow blow fuses. Very fortunately for me, it was an easy fix for Mark to do. But it seems that it is a fix that anyone who dares open the inverter case could accomplish. They were inline buss fuses and they didn’t even require a fuse puller — just a screwdriver to lift them out.
Learn more at our page: RV Electrical Power Overhual: New Batteries, Inverter and Converter
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Mark pauses by the Salt River
February, 2014 – We were really enjoying the waterways in Phoenix, Arizona, and we soaked in the ebb and flow of river life and all the daily patterns that surrounded it.
The rivers in Phoenix can be reached from many different access points, and we rode our bikes parallel to the Salt River, ducking in towards the shore at various spots to get a glimpse of the river.
We hiked and scrambled along the edge of the water too, marveling at the bright reds and greens of the algae, the surprising presence of all kinds of sea shells, and the thick, jungly nature of the scrubby vegetation that grew alongside.
Colorful shoreline of the Salt River
One morning we came across a fly fisherman, and we were mesmerized by the flowing and rippling action of his rod as he stood knee deep mid-stream.
He didn’t seem to catch anything, but the fun seemed to be more in the casting than the catching anyways, so it didn’t seem to matter too much.
Other animals and birds stood in the water up to their knees and were fishing too.
We spotted a lot of different kinds of birds, and we heard that there were even beaver here. We were really surprised when we smelled a skunk a few times too.
Peaceful banks at the river’s edge
I’d lived in Phoenix for a long time and wasn’t even aware that skunks can make a living here in the desert. They seem like so much more of a woods animal than a desert one.
A fly fisherman casts his line
The river was at a standstill in a lot of places, giving off perfect reflections of the trees above.
Shorebirds hope for a catch too
In other places, though, it rushed along at a good clip. One morning we watched three ducks taking a fast joy-ride down the river.
Three ducks take a joy-ride downstream
They slipped through some mini-rapids lickety split, and you could almost see the grins on their faces and hear them quack, “Wheeee!” as they effortlessly zoomed past at full speed.
Saguaro cactus give a standing ovation
In between the waterways, the saguaro cactus stood guard in armies that seemed to have been positioned with an almost military precision.
Saguaro cactus aren’t really loners at heart; they prefer to gather in groups. However, each cactus likes to have a bit of space around it.
They’ll stake out a claim across a valley or down a hillside, and stand at attention as if waiting for someone to issue a battle cry.
Or maybe they’re just cheering together in a standing ovation for some performer that just wowed them on the stage of the opposite hillside!
Trying to get the perfect cactus photo with mountains behind, I stumble across another part of the Salt River
We love these desert people and have ridden our bikes past them on these roads so many times over the years. Yet, little did we know — as we snuck through a fence into the open desert one day — that just a quarter mile in from the highway the Salt River flows full and strong.
I was hunting down the ideal saguaro cactus to photograph, staggering through the desert, tripod over my shoulder and eyes fixed on the horizon as I tried to line a cactus up with the mountains behind it, when I just about walked into the river.
What a surprise!
There it was: water flowing, ducks paddling, and saguaros right down to the river’s edge.
The drive to Saguaro Lake is just gorgeous
It had never occurred to me that the roads here are cut at such odd angles because they run parallel to the waterways.
And I sure didn’t know as I drove and rode my bike along these roads for all those years that a river was just out of sight to one side.
Whether by bike or car, the road from Fountain Hills to Saguaro Lake is one of the most scenic drives around Phoenix.
We kept finding ourselves taking detours to include this drive in our route, even when it sent us a bit out of our way.
Wild horses come down to the river for a drink
The road winds and curves and soars up and down, making its way between thick groves of cactus and casually stacked boulders, while a view of some rock cliffs in the distance slowly takes shape ahead.
After the road dips for a final dive down a steep descent — making you feel like you are being thrown into the open embrace of these stunning cliffs — it swings past a scenic overlook.
One day we spotted wild horses as we passed this overlook, standing in the water far below.
Cliffs along the Salt River spring to life as the sun goes down
But it is in the late afternoon when this special spot really comes alive.
As the sun falls low in the sky, the shimmering rock faces of the cliffs light up in brilliant hues of orange and red while the water at the base mirrors it all in vivid shades.
One afternoon, when the lighting at this overlook was just way to beautiful to drive past, we stopped to find a group of photographers hanging out with their tripods all around the water’s edge.
We joined right in with the group, savoring this golden hour and wondering what the sunset might bring.
The sunset didn’t materialize that night, but Saguaro Lake itself drew us back again the next day to scope out the scenic vistas there.
Saguaro Lake Marina — water toys in the desert!
Brittlebush bloom on the shores of Saguaro Lake
What a spot! We love all the Phoenix area lakes, but this has to be one of the prettiest.
The bright yellow flowers of the brittlebush had just come into full bloom, and the shores were dancing in their golden spray.
Saguaro Lake was formed by damming up the Salt River. It is wide and lake-like at the dammed end, but it wanders on a snaky, riverlike path upstream.
There is a marina in the widest part of the lake, and the boats were shimmering in the noon-time sun.
A funny little factoid is that Arizona has the highest number of boats per capita of any state.
There it is – a saguaro on the lake at Saguaro Lake!
This is odd for a state that contains so much desert land, but the low number of citizens in the state — and their very parched nature after they have lived here a while — surely contributes to this unexpected statistic.
Saguaro Lake Marina
We wandered along the waterfront, and dined at the wonderful Lakeshore Restaurant where we got seats on the patio overlooking the action on the water.
What a great way to while away an afternoon!
We didn’t take the little excursion paddle boat ride on Desert Belle this time around, but it is a delightful outing we did once, years ago, to celebrate Mark’s birthday.
The paddleboat Desert Belle goes
upriver on enjoyable outings
We watched folks eagerly lining up now just as we had done way back when.
Happy days together!
At the further end of the lake there is a small, gravelly beach where tall, very undesert-like trees grow.
This isn’t much of a beach, as beaches go, but it is an intriguing spot in the desert. The trees are very large and it is a great spot to launch a kayak to explore the lake and the river upstream.
Saguaro Lake has a wonderfully natural feeling to it, even though it is a lake that was made by damming up a river.
A lovely cottonwood tree spreads its branches over the beach
In contrast, the lake in the center of nearby Fountain Hills is totally manmade without the help of a river.
It was made by digging a hole, lining it, and filling it with water. At its center there is a fountain that shoots water way up in the air every hour for a few minutes.
This lake is an urban lake, with a paved walking path encircling it, and pretty landscaped lawns all around.
Whereas the desert around Saguaro Lake is natural, and you have to guess what kind of cactus put all those sharp needles into your hiking boots, there is a garden by the Fountain Hills lake where all the desert plants are labeled — and de-thorned.
An unusual “desert scene” on the beach Saguaro Lake
Each lake is lovely in its own way, the one a bit wild and free with towering cliffs for a backdrop and seagulls and powerboats punctuating the scenery, while the other is small and civilized and boasts one of the tallest fountains in the world.
The most intriguing thing about both lakes is that their presence makes it seem like water is plentiful and in total abundance in the middle of the Arizona desert.
Not exactly “natural,” but the fountain at Fountain Hills is very cool
Water is flung about with carefree abandon, shooting into the sky and supporting a myriad of boating activities.
This seemingly endless supply of water may be an illusion, but it is an illusion that is alive and well in Phoenix.
Illusion or no, we were enjoying ourselves in this part of Arizona so much that we felt utterly content and felt absolutely no compulsion to go anywhere else.
Mark channels Ansel Adams in the Sonoran Desert
The days ran into each other pell mell, and we basked in the unusually warm weather and even warmer friendships we were forming with other travelers we were meeting everyday.
At the end of each day we looked at each other and said, “Wow, what a great day that was!”
The days streamed by in a happy blur
We were busy from morning til night and each day was completely different from the one before it.
The buggy says “goodnight” to the sun
The more we saw, the more we wanted to see, and do, and experience, before we moved on.
So we settled in and relaxed and made the most of this very special and unusually summery winter in Phoenix.
The Sonoran Desert is a special and unique landscape
February, 2014 – We had been living among the saguaro cactus on the outer fringes of Phoenix Arizona for a few weeks, loving life in the sweet Sonoran desert.
One of the most elaborately shaped
saguaro cactus we’ve seen
The weather continued to be stunningly warm, with temps in the high 70’s every afternoon, and we hiked and biked all over the place, soaking in the beautiful views of the aged and stately cactus whose personal histories reached back before Arizona achieved statehood in 1912. Heck, these guys were saplings in the 1800’s!
Peeking through the trees at the Salt River
While visiting friends in nearby Fountain Hills, we took a bike ride through the Fort McDowell Indian reservation. Poking around the back roads, we took a turn down a lane and suddenly found ourselves standing next to a flowing river.
It’s funny, even though we’ve called Phoenix “home” for a long time, it hadn’t really sunk in for me that there are rivers here that flow year round.
You just don’t notice them as you drive around town.
The Verde River joins the Salt River
These are vibrant riparian habitats where long legged birds go fishing, animals of all kinds come down for a drink of water, and tall reeds grow by the water’s edge.
Several rivers flow through Phoenix, and we spent a few weeks exploring the shores of two of them, the Verde River and the Salt River.
In the Phoenix area the Salt River runs east-west and the Verde runs north-south.
Kayakers fly downstream
The scenic confluence of the Salt and Verde Rivers
They converge in a corner of the Tonto National Forest tucked between Fountain Hills and Mesa.
This confluence is a very special spot where kayakers paddle up and downstream, fishermen stand patiently by the water’s edge waiting for a catch, and people of all ages picnic and hike along the craggy shoreline.
What a surprise it is to see a river that flows non-stop through the desert
After being immersed in the Sonoran desert for a few weeks — a landscape rich with flora and fauna that can thrive on just an occasional spritz of dampness — we loved watching the leaves and algae and twigs floating lazily downstream on this steadily flowing body of water.
Red Mountain forms a beautiful backdrop
Fishermen wait for the catch of the day
Whether stalking that next beautiful photograph with camera and tripod, or riding our bikes on a road that paralleled the flowing water, or hiking along the rocky banks at the river’s edge, we were floored by the change of scenery from the classic Sonoran desert to this watery world, a transformation that takes place in just a few steps.
A little girl in pink boots tries her luck with the fishing rod
In the late afternoons the shoreside trees and reeds come alive with the raucous clamor of birds singing and calling each other and deciding who is going to roost where (and with whom!).
The Salt River doesn’t flow fast, but it is steady.
A long legged egret waits for fish among the reeds
“It sounds like I’m in the Amazon,” Mark said to me one afternoon. We had staked out a spot to catch the late afternoon light, and the shrubs were alive with exotic squeeks and squawks.
There is easy access to the south side of the river, but the north side doesn’t have any roads or trails, so I was surprised when I suddenly heard the loud crunching noises of branches breaking from across the water on the north side of the river.
It sounded like the deliberate movements of something very large that was cracking tree limbs. I stared into the reeds wondering who the heck was over there.
I couldn’t imagine there could be a person weed-whacking their way through the dense vegetation. It had to be an animal.
We had heard reports that wild horses had been spotted down by the river, and I studied the shore across the way, hoping for a glimpse of a wild horse.
A cow comes down to the river’s edge for a drink
After a few minutes, the tall reeds parted and a big brown cow emerged and slowly made its way down to the water.
Well, it wasn’t as cool as a wild horse, but it was still pretty darn cool considering the concrete jungle of freeways and humanity that were the essence of greater Phoenix all around us just a few miles away.
A little reckless driving in the early morning
The cow took a long drink, stared at me for a while, and then dipped its head for another sip before slowly vanishing into the reeds once again.
Dusk on the riverbanks was beautiful and different every evening
This incredibly beautiful and peaceful spot can’t keep the insanity of the city at bay all the time, though, and one day while we were out on a bike ride we saw the bizarre sight of a car flipped upside down on one of the small national forest roads.
For us these were happy lazy days
We found out a young fellow had come blasting down the tiny, twisty roads of the area at breakneck speeds.
Luckily, he escaped breaking his neck when he lost control of his car.
Mark took this wonderful photo of our friends Mike & Donna’s rig
and they put it on their blog banner at www.flyingthekoop.com!
He was seen walking off into the desert, although police later found a loaded gun in his car.
Trouble in paradise, I guess!
The Golden Hour on the river
For us, however, life was full of contentment, and we enjoyed a steady stream of quiet, happy days.
Mark got the barbecue going in the evenings, something we had not done in our boating lives and that we had missed sorely, and we met up with new friends of ours, Mike and Donna, whom we had met in San Diego.
They began full-timing last July and have a fun blog, www.flyingthekoop.com, with the delightful motto, “From real estate to wheel estate.”
Rain nearby gave us beautiful orange cloud formations
The late afternoons and evenings continued to lure us down to the water’s edge every day, and we were treated to some glorious sunsets.
There is a “golden hour” just before the sun leaves the sky when everything seems to be lit from within with a truly golden glow.
We caught this heavenly light one afternoon when the water was totally still. This created a perfect mirror for everything on shore.
Rain was falling in the distance, and the clouds were streaked and heavy with moisture, creating a mystical air in the twilight.
River reflections
The light turned from a crisp, radiant yellow to a burnt orange and finally to a soft pink blush that lit the river’s edge in a luminous warmth. There was a peace here that soothed our souls.
We loved the mirrored hues of late afternoon
The last blush of sunset
A fisherman amid sunset reflections in the river
We didn’t realize what an unusual sunset this was until we after we had tried to recapture it every night for a week.
Every afternoon, as the sun began its final descent, we ran down to the water’s edge, tripods in hand, hoping for a repeat of that ethereal light.
However, the special light we saw that night, that warm glow that faded from gold to a pink blush to a lavender mist was never quite the same again.
Many sunsets were spectacular, but that fleeting moment where the whole river seemed to hold its breath as everything shimmered in a rose colored halo had been utterly unique and never happened again.
So it is with nature, and we are learning to savor every day that comes.