Our first failed back road adventure

When we first arrived at the Sonoran Desert we had no idea where we would go afterwards. That didn’t stop Kerri who found yet another long dirt road that she wanted to travel. It happened to be just across the highway from where our current dirt road would re-enter civilization. The hope was that this new road would lead us through a mountain range and back to Interstate 8 over the course of our 3 day weekend.

The start of this dirt road seemed to be well known enough to other snowbirds. It wasn’t the prettiest, or the most secluded, but there were numerous large and flat areas right at the gate (so to speak). A few were occupied, mostly with other van-folks, but we rolled on. In fact, it was with great satisfaction to keep motoring down the dirt path, past the standard boondocking areas, to find even greater adventures. At the time, I wondered if people watched Big Blue rolling further down a rugged 4WD road and thought to themselves, “Aw man, that’s great” with envious eyes … or “what idiots, they are going to die”. Nevertheless – great satisfaction.

Ironically enough, and just as that satisfaction was starting to form a smug smile on my face, we crested a small rise and there lay three large 5th wheels in a wagon circle in a large open cutout. Here I was feeling all dangerous, and these guys brought those monsters down here. What the…? So, It was with great satisfaction to keep motoring down the path, past the crazy 5th wheelers, to find even greater adventures.

The road worsened. We drove another mile. No way those 5th wheelers would make it down here! Another mile or so passed with us slowly crawling further and further into our weekend adventures. Until finally it all came to an end. I knew it was always lurking over Big Blue and that one day it would happen. Surprisingly, this was the first time it has happened since Kerri and I started full-time in the van at the beginning of 2018. We could go no further. The road leading out of the wash directly in front of us was too steep. It changed angle too abruptly for BB’s long rear overhang. It I had tried to climb up it, the rear bumper would hit the ground and we would be stuck. Damn!

We spent the night in a small patch of bald desert right at that wash – a few miles down a rutted dirt road, all by ourselves. We had hoped to be able to do the whole weekend on this road, but some adventures just cant be had in 2WD. The following morning [late] we retraced the road back out to the highway. The 5th wheelers and other boondockers were already gone by the time we rolled past. At least Big Blue didn’t have an audience to his walk of shame back to asphalt.