Week 29: the one with cake!

Tucson to Darby Wells, Arizona

Hello, friends! Hey there, fam! It’s hard to believe that it’s been 29 weeks since we sold our house in Austin, Texas to travel full time — and my first birthday in the van woo hoo!

Read on for our adventures!

Another amazing Arizona sunset from the campground!

Tucson, Arizona

We started the week off at the Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park so we could finish up some errands, the biggest one being going to the Amazon counter at Whole Foods in downtown Tucson. The fan on our induction cooktop started making a funny noise so we decided to order a new one so we weren’t stuck out in the middle of nowhere if/when it died. No worries everyone — we have our Instant Pot, microwave, and backpacking stove that we can use in a pinch.

The first thing I cooked on it was KALE in the parking lot lol! I sautéed some kale with a little soy sauce and sprinkled some sesame seeds on it to go with our veg sushi that we got at Whole Foods, then ate it at the picnic tables. Yum!

Being there reminded me of the old Whole Foods in Austin with some Wheatsville Co-op vibes thrown in, too.

We stopped at a Goodwill and donated our old stove — hope it lasts a while for some lucky soul!

Birthday Hike at Saguaro National Park

On Tuesday, December 17th, we went for a quick birthday hike at Saguaro National Park. The King Canyon Wash hike started in a big wash and looped around and back to the parking lot.

The big wash! It was a slog in places, but still super fun! Wouldn’t want to be down there when it was running!

It was a beautiful day in the low 80s and I sure wish we could have gone on a longer hike, but we had too much to do while we were in town, darn!

There were so many cool saguaros — and other cacti too — like this one growing out of a crack in a rock. Talk about growing where you’re planted, right?

So many cool saguaros — I wanted to sketch them allllll!

I was thinking that I definitely wouldn’t want to be in the wash during monsoon season, but it would be cool to see it running from a safe distance!

We added the Saguaro National Park (SAGU) sticker to our collection!

I did some sketches and stamped my sketchbook at the visitor center — but I forgot to get pictures - oops! Guess we’ll just have to go back someday.

Amazing Arizona Sky Shows

Arizona really knows how to do sunsets — and sunrises!

Here are just a few for ya to enjoy, all from Gilbert Ray Campground:

That last one was taken right from our campsite — amazing, right?

They make me feel so peaceful. Needed that.

Christmas Cards

I mailed a bunch of Christmas cards earlier this week — hoping they make it there in time! I thought I’d post ‘em here in case you needed some simple last minute card ideas.

The photos totally don’t do them justice — the camera can’t capture the shimmer and shine of the gold and silver paint that I used. Check out a quick video of them here on Instagram that shows them better.

I used the Holiday Hues collab palette that I did with Letter Sparrow — it sold out super fast! Kelly still has some sample dot cards of the collab palette in her shop, and she’s running a bunch of specials right now too.

I need to make more cards because I didn’t have time to get enough done — but they’re gonna have to be New Year’s cards! :)

Darby Wells BLM Area

We left Gilbert Ray on Friday and headed out to Darby Wells Bureau of Land Management (BLM) area near Ajo, Arizona to do some dispersed camping.

It’s not far from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, but we didn’t want to go there right now in case there was a government shutdown and it closed.

The first night we camped just off the main road at a campsite that could easily hold 3 big rigs:

The views were incredible. Just look at all the saguaros!

And there was this funny guy peeking up over a peak:

In case ya haven’t figured it out by now, I love saguaros — and well all cacti really. :)

The next morning we set off in search of a quieter spot off the main road — and we found one!

We’ll be spending Christmas here — I can’t wait to get to know this landscape and do some paintings in this special place.

We even have our own organ pipe cactus by the van - and a really neat cholla too!

This is the view from inside the van!

Before I go I just had to share the birthday cake J made me — so good!

It tastes like one of those molten lava cakes you can get at a fancy pants restaurant, but can be made in minutes in the microwave! So darn good. Here’s the recipe. You’d never guess it’s oil free, gluten free, and vegan!

That’s it for this week! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Love from the desert — Lisa & Jason

Wishing you peace, love and joy from the desert. Photo taken on the solstice from camp.