Weeks 90-91: the one with all the 90s!
Hello from Arizona!
Hello, hello, and welcome back to another update — this time from sunny Arizona, where it’s currently 94 degrees as I type this. Yes, you read that right — it’s been in the 90s here already as a record heat wave hits the southwest US!
Speaking of 90s, it’s hard to believe that it’s been 91 weeks since we sold our house in Austin, Texas to travel full time, but there you have it.
Before I get to the weekly update I wanted to ask for your help:
We need your help! Our beloved Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park are under threat. ‼️⚠️
The current administration wants to build a steel wall through these parks. Yes, you read that right. A STEEL wall through our parks.
As someone who has been going to the Big Bend region for over 25 years I can tell you that it’s not needed — and it’s not wanted by local residents (their reaction was “almost completely 100% negative,” said Sam Karas, Big Bend Sentinel reporter). It’s a total waste of money. Homeland Security’s own numbers show that this is an extremely low border crossing area. (Sources)
It’s 100 miles to the nearest town through harsh desert and mountainous terrain. There’s no water. I’ve hiked and backpacked in Big Bend and I can tell you that water is everything.
They’re waiving 28 (!) environmental laws and trying to fast-track this.
It’s happening now. 🚨
A border wall will cause irreparable damage to this fragile desert ecosystem. It will block wildlife crossings. The surveillance towers, lighting systems, and sensor arrays will ruin this International Dark Sky reserve.
Please join the fight to stop the wall.
Ways to help:
Sign the petition. It just takes a minute.
Contact your senators — the @5calls app makes it easy and even has a script you can follow. Find more at 5calls.org.
Contact Texas Governor Greg Abbott — calling is best.
Help get the word out! If you’ve been to Big Bend, post your pictures and share your story on social media. (Tag @nobigbendwall.)
If you haven’t been to Big Bend, here’s a post I shared on Instagram with views of this vast landscape, plus some sketches I’ve done over the years:
Further reading:
No Big Bend Wall has taken the lead in getting the word out about the wall.
More Than Just Parks has an excellent summary loaded with facts about the situation.
The Big Bend Sentinel is the local newspaper and they’re keeping a running account of what’s happening here
Marfa Public Radio is another good source of local news.
Texas Monthly has a good writeup too.
Thanks so much for your help! Hopefully together we can stop this.
Now Back to the Weekly Update
Tucson, Arizona
When we left off last time we had just arrived in Tucson, Arizona so that we could run errands. We ended up staying for 3 nights at Gilbert Ray Campground — but we were never there during the daytime — because it was a non-stop marathon of shopping and laundry. I even got to go to Trader Joe’s. The best part? Stopping by Arizona Art Supply and getting some more gouache! More on that below.
Saguaro National Park
The campground is just down the road from Saguaro National Park so of course we had to stop on our way out. It had rained earlier that morning and it made for some dramatic lighting on the saguaros:
The coolest thing was that we could see Ragged Top Mountain in Ironwood Forest National Monument from the observation deck — and that’s where we headed next!
Ragged Top Mountain is only 21 miles away from Saguaro National Park as the raven flies — but it feels so much more remote.
Ironwood Forest National Monument
When we arrived in Ironwood Forest National Monument our old campsite was taken, darn it! Every spot we passed was filled. I was starting to get a little worried. Ironwood Forest has (free) dispersed camping, and it’s first come-first serve, and we found out later from a fellow camper that there was a hunt coming up over the weekend.
Luckily the last time we were here we had hiked around and found some backup sites. We headed to one of those and noone was there — whew! I think now that we’ve been here for a few days we like it even more than our old favorite.
Just look at this view of Ragged Top Mountain — it’s like we have a front-row seat:
Amazing Rainbow
Friday we had an unexpected rain shower — and an amazing rainbow! This was the view right out the door of the van:
Wow!
The air smelled so good — there’s just nothing like the smell of rain in the desert. It’s called petrichor!
Spectacular Sunsets
We’ve had some truly spectacular sunsets here — every night I have to stop and watch the sky show. You know me — I love sunsets!
Here are just a few favorites — which one do you like best?
Van Update!
This is the hottest weather we’ve had our new AEONrv van in, y’all — and we’ve been really amazed at how well it does in the heat.
When it hit the upper 80s we put up the awning for the first time ever — it’s a MoonShade XL — and when I posted it in my Instagram stories AEONrv contacted me because they wanted to post it too.
This video will also give you a better idea of what our campsite looks like:
Today (Sunday), the temperature hit 94 F and we decided to try out the air conditioner — another first! It’s been keeping the van nice and comfortable (along with the terrific insulation of the fiberglass composite panel walls). It used a burst of power to cool off the van initially, then it used much less power to keep the van comfortable.
We’ve had the AC on all afternoon and so far our battery bank has stayed at 91% — the same as when we started.
Super impressive!
Art News
One of my art goals for the year is to learn about gouache — I think it will be really helpful to be able to layer lights over darks, especially in desert landscapes like Ironwood Forest.
I started with this basic set from M. Graham, and been having so much fun I had to pick up a few more colors when we were at Arizona Art Supply. Next I want to try making a dried gouache palette. I’ll keep you updated on how this experiment goes!
This week I also took an Art Toolkit workshop on sketching teacups with Barbara Luel — I’ve always been terrible at drawing teacups so this class was a huge eye-opener!
I plan to keep up this practice and (hopefully) get better. Her method was so much fun because she used all kinds of mixed media — a great excuse to play and have fun!
Also, friends who know me know that one of the hardest things about selling our house to travel full time was parting with my mug collection — I gave most of them to friends so that I could come and visit them someday!
That’s a Wrap
That’s it for this week! The weather is supposed to go back down in the 70s by Tuesday — if so we’ll stay here at Ironwood National Monument for our full two weeks. We don’t know where we’re headed after this yet — so stay tuned!
As always, thanks so much for following along on our adventures — it really means so much to have you along for the ride! And thanks again for your help on stopping the border wall in Big Bend. — Lisa, Jason, and Henry-the-Van
Again, no way to choose a favourite sunset picture :)
Always amazing pictures! I love the saguaro! 🌵