February 1, 2012

Solar flares. Michio Kaku. Mayan Predictions. Erich von Daniken. Magnetized car cases. Food as the most valuable commodity in a disaster. Global recession. Weather instability and massive animal die-offs. My Chuck, the electrical genius, aware and concerned about the power grid. These thoughts swirling around, seeping in over time.

And so, we begin our Arizona adventure. If the power grid were to go down, Phoenix, AZ has one of the most survivable climates. Chuck’s solution, go to Phoenix and set up an off-grid station – a place we could live on solar power doubling as our winter get away. It needs to be remote…and economical.

As we often do – we went to Craigslist – and found a remote, tiny 800 sq. ft. home powered by solar. Met the owner - a synthesized music artist – who lived there until he met his wife – through Craigslist! Per usual, there are issues. We worked it out so that we can rent for two months to see if we really want to pursue a purchase.

In the Southwest, water runs over the land leaving channels called washes. During heavy rains, areas without a sewer system flood and deepen the washes. In rural settings, you may come across a barrier that’s been swung across the road to prevent you from driving any further. In less populated areas, those who have to drive through a wash may leave additional, huge ruts. Sort of like “mudding” or “bajaing” as Nicky calls it. That would be where we are. Six miles off of paved road. Few street signs. Routes that have become impassable because of deepening washes. You’ll be driving along and all of a sudden realize that there is a deep wash in front of you that you’re probably not going to make…no, no, no….time to back up and go around. There are long trails established by the locals to avoid the washes – right across someone’s private property. No matter. If there’s no fence, feel free to go on through. If the property is totally abandoned, it may also become a dump for old tires, etc. On one occasion, Chuck told me to turn right; we hadn’t gone very far until it started to feel like we were driving in snow, slipping and sliding in addition to sinking! Turned out that we were driving right down a wash and were sinking in the sand (Note: “quick sand” when retelling). I had visions of spending the night stalked by snakes and coyotes but we were able to back out. We drove a route a couple of times, marking it with stakes, before attempting it with the RV – but got stuck in a wash anyway. Although the car wasn’t on it, the car dolly dragged the rear end down - effectively wedging us in. Chuck’s solution, put the jacks down to lift the back wheels and pile stones under the tires to lift us up. This worked - but not without a lot of damage to our newly dent-free RV.

Our neighbor on the other side of the mountain wandered out to see what the heck we were doing. Good things sometimes come out of a disaster and this was one of those times. Marsha, who has lived here for 23 years has been a lifeline…she’s amazing but the one thing I found most interesting about her is that there is a gila monster living under her porch! She has a tiny dog named Sweetie that they found wandering the desert. I’d be worried sick that Mr. Gila would use its venomous bite to bring Sweetie down but Marsha says Gila’s slow and doesn’t bother them. According to Wikipedia, if a gila gets you, you should submerge your hand in water but where you gonna find a horse trough here in the desert?

In addition to the gila, we’ve seen lizards and a large, as yet unidentified, beetle. From inside of the house, we watched a coyote – perhaps 25 feet away outside the fence. We’ve been told to watch for wandering cattle, deer and donkeys as well. Marsha mentioned that she had recently seen the tracks of a mountain lion. Now that caught my attention. I make Chuck accompany me on any night-time excursions between the house and the RV. We also brought the guns out. This IS the Wild West.

To our surprise, we’re beginning to actually enjoy watching the desert. Seguaros fascinate us since we learned that it can take up to 75 years before they start growing an arm. Marsha also pointed out the slight bulges that represent good rain years. Sunsets are stupendous.

On a day to day basis, it’s been a bit like camping. The solar panels weren’t functioning adequately in the beginning. When the sun went down, so did the power and it gets pretty cold at night. Chuck didn’t want to run the heater, but we did use a few amps on the electric blanket to make it tolerable. He’s improved the system and hooked up the propane generator now – so that’s all good.

Water remains an issue as there is no well. Folks without a well haul water from town in big 300 gallon containers. We got lucky as Marsha’s son is happy to do that for a modest sum. Still, we have to watch our use of water very carefully. Putting in a well would be the first priority. We’re also driving in to our nearest town – adorable Wickenburg – to do the laundry. Serious shopping “Costco” and Michaels (for beads) requires a trip to Surprise! We took out a mailbox. Apparently because of the Patriot Act, this required two forms of identification and a copy of our rental agreement. Hard to hide out these days.

Send mail. It’s post office box 2147, Wickenburg, AZ 85358.

Love,

Vicki and Chuck