Lost Together: March 2022 Travel Stories and Highlights

From California Oceans to Arizona Sunsets

The first week of March we left a busy resort-style RV park in San Diego where we’d spent seven weeks and settled in for three weeks of boondocking in Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona. Boondocking means camping without hookups on public land; you can find more answers in our boondocking FAQ.

The silence was profound.

One of the best parts of RV life is variety. It’s not just about visiting new places — it’s about the contrast in daily rhythms. The San Diego resort buzzed with kids on bikes, vacationers coming and going, dogs being walked, maintenance crews, and neighbors chatting around fires and grills. Vacation energy is contagious and entertaining.

But a few weeks in the Arizona desert reminded us why we love quiet, open spaces. There the people are few and far between, and the main draw is solitude and wide horizons.

I genuinely enjoy both experiences. This time it took a couple of days to adjust to the desert quiet, but once I did it became restorative.

Silence offers little distraction from your inner life. After losing our son two years ago, I experienced emotions I feared would break me. They didn’t — but solitude can still make those feelings feel raw. Time alone reminds me I can feel deeply and still keep going. Solitude often brings clarity, creativity, and a renewed sense of self-contentment.

RV Renovation Project: Garage Remodel

Our fifth wheel is a toy hauler, which means it has a rear “garage” space designed to carry motorcycles and ATVs. The ramp folds down so Steve can ride the motorcycle inside and secure it for travel. For us, that garage is truly multipurpose: it’s Steve’s office during the week and converts to a guest room when we have visitors.

The original garage configuration was typical: bench seating, a removable table, and a motorized bed on a track. It worked, but it didn’t match our needs. Over the past several months we’ve gradually transformed the space into something more functional and comfortable.

How we converted the toy hauler garage into a multi-purpose living space

• Replaced the bench seating, table, and track bed with a Coddle sofa that folds into a bed and added a standing desk for workspace flexibility.
• Removed faux wood paneling and applied wallpaper for a warmer, more modern look.
• Swapped low-quality ceiling speakers for hanging light fixtures that improve ambiance.
• Tossed the thin RV carpet and added plush shag rugs for comfort.
• Upgraded the TV, relocated it across from the sofa, and routed wiring through the ceiling. Game consoles are now tucked away in loft storage.
• Removed a corner cabinet that exposed wiring and organized cables inside decorative travel suitcases; integrated old controls into our home automation and Alexa.
• Replaced the cramped half-bath door with a curtain to create more usable space.
• Removed cheap plastic shades and vinyl valances and installed accordion shades for a cleaner look.
• Enclosed the loft by swapping a railing for a cabinet door, creating accessible storage and a place to hang a carved wood world map.
• Hung curtains across the sliding glass doors and installed a large wood cabinet for extra storage.

A Few of Our Favorite Things About Ironwood Forest National Monument

Ironwood Forest National Monument covers roughly 129,000 acres of desert northwest of Tucson. It’s named for the desert ironwood tree that dots the landscape.

We parked on BLM land at Pump Station Road dispersed camping. Besides being quiet and accessible with spectacular sunsets, these are some reasons we love boondocking in Ironwood:

• Reliable sun exposure makes solar power practical — long hours of unobstructed sunlight.
• It feels remote, yet Marana is about 10 minutes away and Tucson about 45 minutes away for supplies and services.
• There are many flat, accessible campsites with good privacy.
• The area offers excellent hiking, mountain biking, and motorcycle riding options.

During our first week in Ironwood we rode bicycles, met a friend for lunch, and took the motorcycle to Tombstone, Arizona, a town steeped in Wild West history. The second week was less glamorous — we spent time repairing our sewer system — but that’s part of life on the road.

Just Because the Manufacturer Says an RV is “Four Season” Doesn’t Mean It Is

We came into full-time RV life aware that repairs are part of the lifestyle. Quality control in the RV industry varies, and even brand-new, high-end rigs can have problems. Warranties help, but warranty repairs often take a long time and don’t always fix the issue completely.

From the beginning we decided to handle most repairs ourselves. That’s possible because Steve has the skills and determination to tackle nearly everything that breaks.

Our RV included a “yeti package” intended to protect tanks and pipes from freezing. After spending November and December in Colorado, we discovered that the package had not worked as intended. In Arizona, we removed the belly pan and found one heating pad unplugged and other components inadequately installed.

Steve repaired the freeze damage and properly insulated our tanks and pipes. We’re in much better shape for winter now. The project was challenging, but it also boosted our confidence in maintaining our home on wheels.

Problems can be opportunities. Each repair has taught Steve more about how our rig is constructed, and he often improves the original systems as he fixes them.

The Southwest Corner of Utah

We spent the last week of March in Bluff, a tiny town in southeastern Utah with about 300 residents. It doesn’t have a grocery store, but it does offer a surprising number of excellent restaurants. Our favorite was Cottonwood Steakhouse — fantastic steak followed by homemade cherry pie.

Utah is full of scenic drives, and if you visit this region we recommend:

• Utah 95 from Blanding to Hanksville. This 133-mile stretch passes parts of Lake Powell, dramatic red-rock cliffs in Glen Canyon, and winding canyon roads.
• US 163 through Monument Valley. This iconic route includes “Forrest Gump Point,” where the movie character stops running and heads home.
• Goosenecks State Park toward Natural Bridges National Monument. Goosenecks offers primitive first-come-first-serve camping along a deep canyon carved by the San Juan River. We didn’t camp there this trip, but the overlook and surrounding drive were spectacular and worth a future return visit.

Tools of Our Lives: Keeping My Wiretap Connected

by Steve Blackwell

Our internet setup has evolved over two years. It began with a MOFI4500 running an unlimited T-Mobile plan from RV-4G.com and grew as our digital needs increased.

We added a Verizon hotspot for backup and eventually invested in a Pepwave MAX Transit CAT18, a Parsec Husky Pro 9 antenna, and an AT&T unlimited plan through MobileMustHave. The Pepwave required a roof-mounted 9-in-1 antenna (four LTE, four WiFi, and GPS) and became the core of our system.

At first we mixed SIMs across devices: AT&T and Verizon in the Pepwave and T-Mobile in the MOFI. Managing multiple connections led me to add a Synology RT2700ac router for dual WAN capability so we could switch seamlessly between internet sources. All networking gear runs on 12V power, so if AC power or the inverter fails, our internet can remain online.

We’ve had setbacks: AT&T service was throttled after reaching data usage limits, and at one point our T-Mobile SIM died. RV-4G sent a replacement SIM and MobileMustHave helped with AT&T support. Those experiences pushed me to learn more about the Pepwave’s features, like using park Wi-Fi as a WAN source and connecting an external MOFI into the Pepwave’s LAN for faster failover.

Our current internet setup

Key elements of our setup include a Pepwave MAX Transit CAT18 paired with a Parsec Husky Pro 9 antenna, two MOFI4500 units, and a Synology router to manage multiple WANs. The Pepwave’s capability and reliability make it one of the best purchases we’ve made for life on the road.

Learning to use the Pepwave

At a park in Lyons, CO, I discovered the Pepwave could use the park’s Wi-Fi as a WAN source. I also learned the device has a dedicated WAN port to which I could connect my second MOFI. That setup provided much faster and more reliable switching between carriers. I also configured data limits on AT&T SIMs to avoid unexpected throttling. In retrospect, if starting over I might rely only on the Pepwave for WAN management.

Cost and recommendations

The Pepwave solution is not inexpensive, but for us — both working online full time — it’s essential. For occasional campers, the MOFI4500 and pay-as-you-go plans from RV-4G are a simpler, cheaper choice.

For tech-savvy readers, here’s the technical breakdown:

Data Plans:

• T-Mobile unlimited SIM from RV-4G.com
• Verizon hotspot SIM
• AT&T unlimited SIM (500GB) from MobileMustHave

Hardware:

• Synology RT2700ac Dual WAN wireless router
• Pepwave MAX Transit CAT18
• Two MOFI4500 4GXeLTE units
• Weboost antenna (limited usefulness)
• Parsec Husky Pro 9, 9-in-1 5G antenna

Do we need all this? Probably not for everyone. Are we glad we have it? Absolutely.

More Resources for RVers

• What is boondocking? — FAQs about boondocking and dry camping.
• Past issues of Let’s Get Lost
• Camping recipes
• Favorite Blackstone griddle recipes
• Our yearly travel schedule

Thanks for reading!

We’ll see you next month. If you have questions or comments, please leave a comment — we love hearing from readers.