After leaving the FHU spot in Mesa, AZ, we wanted to try desert boondocking. We had four days to spend in the desert before returning to civilization. I decided to see what I could find on Campendium. I had heard about places outside of Yuma, AZ. Based on reviews and other bloggers I decided to give American Girl Mine (AGM) Road a try. It's just a bit up Ogilby Road north of I-8.
Before driving to our boondocking spot, we stopped at the rest area one exit west of Ogilby Road to fill up our fresh water tank. The rest stop is in the center median so it's easy to drive in the opposite direction when leaving. The water fill station is free but it does take awhile as it was only registering two gallons/minute on our water meter. Thankfully there wasn't a line. We got about 50-60 gallons and we were on our way.
It's a bit scary driving off the asphalt on purpose for the first time! AGM road is clearly marked so that was easy. It's hard packed dirt and plowed every so often for a smooth finish. We drove about a mile or two up the road before deciding to take an off-shoot road to an empty looking area.
We found the perfect spot!
We've got this all to ourselves! It was so quiet!! Our nearest neighbor was about 500 yards away. The first night we decided to leave our bedroom window shade up. The morning sunrise was right outside :-)
We only did that the one day though as we couldn't go back to sleep after the sun woke us up... LOL
The nearby two hills were quite close. One afternoon Ron took the e-bike for a spin and he rode out to the hillside. He came back with some nice photos and rock samples he believes may have gold in them. Who knows if it's real gold or fool's gold, but he had a great adventure.
On our third day we drove into Yuma for a bit. I wanted to check out the Chevron station just one exit east of Ogilby Road because they have a dump station. It's plenty big for us :-) The cost is $15 and includes dump and fresh water. We won't need water since we'll be going to another RV park after our boondocking time. While in town, we got a sandwich for lunch and then headed over to a riverside park so Rufus could have some fun too. The grass was much appreciated for him after walking on the desert sand and rock for a couple of days.
Back at camp we built a fire ring, collected dried kindling and had a fire that evening. No photos but we sure enjoyed ourselves :-)
Most of our time at AGM road was spent relaxing. But I also decided to take the e-bike out for a spin one afternoon. My ride was much shorter than Ron's but I know it's going to be a blast!
I've heard so much about the amazing sunsets. I'll admit they were nice, but I like it better when there are a few clouds. There's just something about pink and orange hued clouds...
We sure enjoyed our four wonderful desert boondocking days! Both Ron and I are looking forward to many more boondocking adventures!!
Sounds like you figured it all out. Do you have solar now or just generator? Nice to have those wide open spaces to yourselves. Glad to hear you're enjoying the new bike too.
ReplyDeleteWe are so glad we figured it out :-)) We have an onboard generator that came with the rig. The rig has two gas tanks on the side. A 20 gallon tank is devoted to the generator. A second 30 gallon tank is for the 'toys' and has a pump handle. So we use it to refill the generator tank when needed. Ron installed a 2000W inverter and 4-6V batteries so we can use our plugs without turning on the generator. We run the generator just to recharge the batteries. Eventually we plan to get a portable solar panel which can plug into our port on the side of the rig. The space was awesome!! I can totally see why so many people prefer this type of camping :-) We took a ride on the American River bike trail here in Sacramento. It's a learning curve with the added electronics of the bike. But we sure had a good time. Ron is making a basket for the back so we can take Rufus along too :-) Won't that be a sight! LOL
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