Couple Finds Peace & Quiet In Wildlife Refuge Host Job

Well--it's almost RV boondocking: They do have a sewer hookup, but out in the "boonies" of Alabama's Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, it's about as different as "city RVing" as you can get. "They" are Lee and Judy Bransford, your typical fulltimers from Anywhere, USA.

The Bransfords are like many folks who exchange a few hours of work--in their case a 24-hour week--for a free RV site with great views. When these leaves come off these trees, it's going to be beautiful," Judy Bransford said. The Bransfords are volunteering a 3-month stint at the refuge, and from there, they'll be back on the road again.

Ever wondered what it would be like to take a "host assignment"? Check out the comments of these hosting first-timers in the story in the Decatur Daily News.

Noise in the night

At first we thought someone had fired up a chainsaw outside our fifth-wheel. My wife and I were boondocking on the Bureau of Land Management’s Imperial Dam long-term visitor area (LTVA) about 22 miles north of Yuma, Arizona, and had gone to bed a half-hour earlier. Suddenly, we were jarred awake by a raucous, snarling, grating noise. It revved several times, then faded a bit, and we realized the “chainsaw” was actually an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) down by the Senator Wash Reservoir.

“Who's driving that thing this time of night?” my wife wondered. “Don’t they know about quiet hours?” We lay in bed listening as the driver raced up and down the beach, occasionally venturing up the short access spur that led to the LTVA. The driver would pause at the top of the spur, revving the engine, then roar back down to the beach. The still desert night seemed to magnify the noise, and we had no doubt that all our fellow RVers were also wide awake.

Finally, the ATV shut down and the driver joined his buddies partying by the beach. Their rock music and whooping sounded right next door. All too soon, the ATV started up again and resumed racing about. I inserted earplugs, but the noise shot through like an arrow penetrating cardboard. After a while the ATVer went back to the party, only to restart the machine a few minutes later. And so it went, hour after hour. “Inconsiderate jerks,” I muttered at one point.

Somebody in the LTVA eventually called the sheriff’s office, and around 3:15 a.m. a patrol car arrived to shoo the offenders away. At last silence returned to the night. We quickly fell asleep.

When we got up later in the morning, other RVers were chatting about the incident, and from them we learned some surprising details. The ATVer and his friends were Marines stationed at the air station in Yuma. They had just returned from duty in Iraq and were “letting off steam,” as they explained it to the officer. Suddenly, our lingering resentment faded. Sure, the soldiers should have known they were disturbing people, but no longer did I think of them as inconsiderate jerks. Marines. Sacrifice. Fighting terrorists in a hostile land far away. They had earned the right to make some noise.

Water Everywhere But in Your Rig?

Boondocking with your recreational vehicle has its great rewards. Wonderful scenery, quiet solitude, the constant search for water-- Whoa! That is one of the boondocking drawbacks--where do you get your water? In the one of the great winter boondocking Meccas, Quartzsite, RVers have been working that problem out for decades.

Like most boondockers, once we get our rig "settled in," we're not real inclined to want to move it again until it's time to leave. Packing up the rig once or twice a week to go for water just doesn't cut it. So we worked out our method: We obtained a 50 gallon plastic barrel, suitable for "food grade" purposes, and when it was time for a fresh water refill, put it on the back of the pickup and drove out to our water source. Perching the barrel on top of our truck bed toolbox, we filled it up, then drove carefully back home so as to not upset the barrel, and let a gravity siphon feed fill up the RV tank. If the trip is to scarey for you, then get yourself a 12 volt water pump and leave the barrel in the bed of the truck. Back "home," simply hook the pump up to the vehicle battery and pump your water into your RV.

Other options? Some RV suppliers sell a "roof top water bladder" that looks suspicioiusly like a large air mattress. The food-grade plastic bladder can be lain on top of your rig's roof, filled with water, and gravity fed back into the RV tank. Or, use a water pump. We met one RVer in Quartzsite who simply bought an "air bed" from the Walmart sporting good section, and after "sanitizing" it with bleach water and "freshening" it with soda water, skipped the high cost of the commercial water bladder. Not sure how safe the plastic is in this, but it is an option.

Others use plastic bottles and jugs, fill 'em up, and tote them back to their rig. We found, in a pinch in upstate New York that this works ok, albeit slowly. In our case we simply cut a 16" chunk of water hose, leaving the female end of the hose in place. We shoved the free end of the hose down in our water fill port, then using a hand to clamp the hose fitting onto the open mouth of a one gallon water jug, we could quickly empty the jug with very little spillage.

Quartzite bound this year? You can buy water barrels from the RV Pitstop on Highway 95, a few blocks north of the B-10 (Main Street).

Phoenix Metro Boondocking--It's Gotta Be Tonto

Planning a visit to the Phoenix, Arizona area with your RV? "Boondocking the Big City" can be a bit of a challenge, but it's not impossible, if you don't mind going a few miles out of the metro area and out in the bush. We've spent several favorable nights north of the metro area, and can tell you it's quiet, even if not free.

From the Mesa area, locate US 60--the Superstition Freeway--and take exit 191 to South Ellsworth Road. Follow Ellsworth north, and it will eventually become Usery Pass Road. Usery Pass interstects with the Bush Highway north of the edge of "civilization" and at that fork in the road you can make your decision as to where to go. The whole area is now a part of the Tonto National Forest--don't expect to see many trees, though.

The whole area up here is rife with little places for camping; sad to say, the Tonto National Forest web site needs a little work to make it usable, but here are links to some information on some of the more popular camping areas:

"Water Users": www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/recreation/rogs/wateractiv/mrd/WaterUsers.pdf

"Coon Bluff": www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/recreation/rogs/wateractiv/mrd/CoonBluff.pdf

"Goldfield": www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/recreation/rogs/wateractiv/mrd/Goldfield.pdf

"Phon D. Sutton: www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/recreation/rogs/wateractiv/mrd/PhonDSutton.pdf

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Photo: A little hideaway in the Tonto National Forest by R&T DeMaris