October 2018 - Arkansas Trip

In October, 2018 - we took our longest RV trip to date.  We had talked about visiting the "Hill Country" in Texas (Fredericksburg, Austin, etc.) and I've visited Northwest Arkansas on a few occasions by myself.  So we decided to make it in one trip.

Day 1 - Roseville, CA  to Blythe, CA - 626 miles; 9 hours driving

We were ready to go when we went to bed at home Thursday October 4.  Our goal was to be on the road by 5am on Friday and we made it.  With stops for fuel and let the dogs relieve themselves, we had about 11 hours on the road.  We checked into our hotel in Blythe around 4pm and settled in for the night.  The hotel (Clarion Inn) was barely passable for us, but we were able to park our RV right outside our door to give us a little more peace of mind.  On the long drive days, Holly and I agreed to share the driving load somewhat.  We started with me driving 3 hours and then she would drive for 1 hour.  This worked well, giving me a much needed break from the wheel.


Day 2 - Blythe, CA  to El Paso, TX - 586 miles; 8 hours driving

We hit the road early again, waking up around 3:30 am and on the road by 4 am.  After another 10 hours on the road, we pulled into our hotel in El Paso by around 2 pm.  We settled into our hotel, had dinner and went to bed early.  The dogs traveled fabulously.




Day 3 - El Paso, TX to Fredericksburg, TX -  494 miles, 7 hours driving

We left early again, plus had the extra hour from transitioning from Pacific Time to Mountain Time.  We left around 4 am Mountain time and arrived in Fredericksburg around 1pm.  We had booked the Chalet at Barons Creekside.  My dad and stepmom drove in from Houston earlier that day and we began our 2 day visit with them.  My dad and I drove into Fredericksburg and ordered food to go from a local bar & grill.  We were there on Sunday, the last day of a big Oktoberfest festival in Fredericksburg (a predominantly German-heritage town).

Day 4 - Fredericksburg, TX to Austin, TX - 78 miles; 1.5 hours driving

After checking out, we made the relatively short drive to Austin.  On the way, we stopped at the Becker Vineyards tasting room just outside of Fredericksburg.  After sampling some wines, we continued on to La Hacienda RV Resort.  We had booked a cottage for my parents and an adjacent RV spot to the cottage.  The resort was packed for October.  The weather was a little rainy (scattered thunderstorms).  Interestingly, the week after we left there was more rain and flooding that we missed.  We went to dinner at a nearby restaurant (mediocre food) and then visited into the evening.

Day 5 - Austin, TX to Mt Pleasant, TX - 314 miles; 5 hours driving

We had breakfast together, checked out, said our goodbyes and headed out.  There was a line of thunderstorms coming our was running all the way up through Dallas.  We decided to detour in Waco and take a more easterly route to try to outrun the storms.  It added about 45 minutes more to the drive but we were spared the downpours near Dallas.  We arrived at the KOA site in Mt Pleasant around 2pm, checked in and settled in for the night.  There was a nice fenced dog run to exercise the dogs and the location was very pleasant.

Day 6 - Mt Pleasant, TX to Russellville, AR - 234 miles; 4.5 hours driving

We had a more leisurely morning, stopped by the store to buy provisions, and took the northern route through the Ozarks.  It was slow-going, but beautiful scenery.  We were able to really get a sense of the Ozarks and the back-roads of Arkansas.  We arrived at Lake Dardanelle State Park around 4pm (Central Time).  The weather was sunny and calm.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  There was a hiking trail and we exercised the dogs.

Day 7 - Lake Dardanelle State Park. - No driving

We spent another relaxing day, enjoying the weather and the lake.  We finally shook off the "jet lag" of the long drives and time changes and really began to relax.  There were a lot of boaters at this lake.  Apparently, it is one of the best fishing lakes around.  In fact, when we left the next day - we counted more than 100 boat trailers parked as there was a fishing tournament underway.  At the RV park, we noticed a lot of different types of RV's.  From B and C class to the huge A class and a lot of travel trailers.  However - there was one type that just didn't look right.  It was the type of RV that you put in the bed of a truck (seen lots of them on the road).  However - there was no truck!  Sort of looks like a disembodied RV.





Day 8 - Russellville, AR to Cotter, AR - 116 miles; 2.5 hours driving

We took our time in the morning, having only about 3 hours on the road to Cotter.  We took the scenic route, and while it was very scenic - the road was not friendly to RV's.  Thankfully, our Mercedes Chassis could handle the steep inclines/declines and hairpin turns.  Anything larger would have been a no-go.  That is one of the main gripes I have with Google Maps.  It may show the "fastest" route, but doesn't take into consideration the size of the vehicle on the road.  After about an hour of white-knuckle driving through the mountains we were on a more suitable highway.  We arrived at Denton Ferry RV site, on the bank of the White River.  The location was beautiful, but we were losing our sunny days, giving way to rain showers.

Day 9 - Cotter, AR to Tulsa, OK - 219 miles; 4 hours driving

Now - I must note, we were booked for 2 nights in Cotter and would have been here all day 9 and leave day 10.  However, the rain was increasing and there was no sign of slowing.  Additionally, more weather was forming through the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma, including freezing weather in Amarillo (where we were going to stay Day 10).  So - we got online and cancelled our hotel in Amarillo, booked a night in Tulsa, and headed out around 11 am to leave Arkansas.  We arrived in Tulsa in the mid-afternoon and were booked at the Double Tree hotel (uptown).  The hotel was in a business park in uptown Tulsa.  The problem was, there was a parking garage into which we were too tall to fit.  We were able to utilize a valet parking lot, which helped a lot.  We had dinner at the hotel and settled in.

Day 10 - Tulsa, OK to Albuquerque, NM - 647 miles; 9.25 hours driving

This was probably the longest and most unpleasant leg of our journey.  Going across western Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle proved to be near-freezing temperatures and up to 30 mph winds.  We were glad we made the change as the temperature that night was to be around 24 degrees in Amarillo.  It was around 36 degrees in the afternoon.  We arrived in Albuquerque in the late afternoon, found a good parking spot (Homewood Suites - uptown), went to BJ's restaurant for dinner, and got some rest.

Day 11 - Albuquerque, NM to Williams, AZ - 359 miles; 5 hours driving

We went shopping in the morning, re-supplying at the Sam's Club before heading out.  The drive was uneventful, except for a fuel stop in New Mexico that felt unsafe.  There were several locals going car-to-car looking for hand-outs at the fuel station.  We fueled up and drove to a nearby hotel parking lot to eat our lunch.  The locals then followed us so we moved down the road a few miles to eat.

We arrived at my mom's house in Williams in the mid-afternoon and began our visit.  The temperature was dropping and while it wasn't technically freezing, there were snow flurries that day/night.  Our Rig held up nicely in the colder weather.

Day 12 - Williams, AZ to Kingman, AZ - 114 miles; 1.75 hours driving

The next day, we had breakfast with my parents and visited.  In the afternoon we went to a late lunch at Bearazona, a really nice park that had local animals (bears, panthers, otters, etc.).  It continued to snow without sticking to the ground.  We began to worry about ice in the morning for our long drive home.  So we decided that afternoon to head down the mountain and spend the night at a lower elevation in Kingman.  We found a hotel and settled in.  One more night on the road.

Day 13 - Kingman, AZ to Home!  629 miles; 9.5 hours driving

Our last day on the road was uneventful.  There was no wind to speak of in the desert that morning.  We took I40 to highway 58, to highway 99.  In Stockton, we moved over to I5 to have a little better road to drive on.  We arrived home that evening.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip.  We saw a lot and really got to know our RV very well.  13 days and 4,200 miles on this trip.  We learned a few things.  First, our RV (which we love) is great for trips where we only stay a day or two at a location.  If we were staying in one place for more than a few days, perhaps a larger RV would work better with a towed vehicle.  Second, we learned how difficult it is with three dogs in wet weather.  Taking them out for bathroom duties and then back in was an ordeal, to assure they didn't track water and/or mud into the Rig.  Finally - we learned to be flexible with our plans.  Leaving earlier than expected saved us some weather issues.  We were also prepared to extend our trip if needed, as we had a few days left of our time off from work by the time we arrived home.

August 2018 - Big Sur California

We were originally planning (and booked) to go to Umpqua Lighthouse park on the central coast of Oregon.  But the 7.5 hour one way trip was weighing on us, so we opted to go to the central California coast instead.  We found a place east of Big Sur, Ponderosa Campground, which stated it had RV spots (with no hook-ups).  We were excited to "boon dock" for the first time.  We filled our water tank, topped off our propane, and headed out.  It was a 4.5 hour drive and we arrived around 7pm, passing through the Fort Leggett base.  We were in a very remote area of the mountains east of Big Sur.  The road in was narrow and winding.  Not for the faint of heart.  We had no cell signal, no host, no electric hookup, no sewer and no water hookup (there were a couple of water fountains in various spots throughout the campground.

We had selected site number 6 online.  It was clear that this campground was not intended for RV's but rather a smaller vehicle and tent camping.  Our site was nice (if we were going to pitch a tent), but the parking area for our RV was 100' from the camping area.  We were tired, made dinner, and went to bed.  One nice feature was the silence.  No sounds other than nature could be heard.  for a while it appeared we were the only ones in the campground (but there were reserved signs on all the spots for the upcoming Labor Day Weekend.  The stars were beautiful without any light pollution.

In the morning, we walked the dogs around the campground.  There was one car that had pulled in overnight (no tent), but other than that - nobody else.  As we walked, we found what seemed to be a more suitable spot for us (Number 13).  Since we had no cell signal, we attempted to call the forest service number with our satellite phone, but the phone tree took too long (didn't want to burn too many minutes).  Instead, we walked to the entrance and self-registered for spot 13 for the night ($25).  We wrote a note about our reservation on spot 6 and asked if they would credit one of the nights.  We will see.

Spot 13 was much better.  Closer to the camping area and better views of the area.  We setup our mat and chairs with the hope of relaxing outside.  But the bugs were a problem.  Unfortunately, we forgot our bug repellent.  The gnats, flies, and bees were relentless.  We ultimately were relegated to staying indoors.  There were also a lot of fox-tails and stickers so we had to limit where we walked our dogs.

After lunch, we decided that we would rather drive home that evening rather than stay cooped up in the RV avoiding the bugs.  So - we headed out and got home around 8pm.

Overall the campground was well-maintained and very suitable for tent camping.  Since returning, we have already stocked up on bug spray for future trips to avoid a similar problem.

Next month - we finally go to Yosemite!

July 2018 - Lassen National Park

Our trip for July had some last minute changes.  We originally were booked to go near Yosemite, but a fire had started the previous Friday and was no where near containment (actually grew from a few thousand to nearly 20,000 acres.  The area we were going to (Groveland) wasn't directly affected, but due to the heat (95+ degrees F) and the excessive smoke pouring into Yosemite Valley, we decided to swap our September trip to Lassen with the Yosemite trip.  One note, the two sites near Yosemite were unsympathetic to the fire and smoke issue.  Since we were cancelling just a few days before, the cancellation charges would be steep (from $25 to full price).  So we rescheduled for September without a charge.

We had been researching locations in the Lassen area for September and quickly made some phone calls and found one site that had two nights available - Hat Creek Hereford Campground.  The reviews were good and we set out on Wednesday 7/18, during very hot weather (about 105 on the way up).  It was a good test of our rig's capabilities driving up a mountain in very hot conditions.

We arrived at the campground around 5:15pm, after a 3.5 hour drive.  When we checked in, the attendant stated she only had two left and checked us in.  I walked back to the rig and told Holly "well, this will be an adventure".  While we are relatively new at the RV experience, we have done enough to have some sort of expectation.  First of which is a pad (either paved or gravel) perhaps with a little grass area or picnic table or something.  Not this time.  Our site was just off the main entrance, near the office and we had to parallel park to get to our hookups.  We had a little area just outside our RV on which we could setup our chairs, etc.

So - we settled in, hooked up, and started prepping for dinner.  It was about 95 degrees outside.  We started having a power problem immediately.  We had the A/C running (obviously), but when Holly tried to use the microwave our power would cut out for a few seconds.  Then turn back on.  We managed to get dinner done by waiting during the power interruptions.  I walked over to the office which had the "closed" sign but saw the attendant who waived me in the unlocked door.  I asked if they were having power issues.  She said, "not that I know of...I know that we are full and sometimes you can't run the A/C and the microwave at the same time".  Fortunately, I purchased and use a power surge protector on my rig.  It is likely that it is the surge protector that was cutting off the power when there was a problem.

As we settled in for the night, the A/C continued to have interruptions.  Finally, it cooled down enough outside to shut off the A/C and use the vent windows and the house fan.

The property was nice.  There was a lake area, a grassy area for volleyball, etc.  There were many families with multiple generations fishing, swimming, etc.  Everyone seemed to have a good time.  But - with the location of our spot and the power issues, we left in the morning (even though we were paid for 2 nights) and went looking for something else.

We had been researching another place in the Burney area (Burney Falls Trailer Resort).  We also wanted to hike to Burney Falls or some other hiking trail in that area.  We found a trail near Baum lake, but decided against it as the trail didn't seem well maintained and full of stickers and fox tails.

So - we headed to look at the RV Resort.  As we pulled in, it was unclear where the office was.  It was 11am.  The obvious choice was a house at the entrance, but there was no signage.  I did see some brochures sitting outside so I tried the door.  A nice lady met me.  The office was her house.  No counter, no business setup.  Just her living room.  I asked if she had a spot for the night.  She checked and found that she did.  She went to her kitchen to get her cell phone to setup the Square device to take our payment.  After I paid the $35 for the night, she handed me a cut square of paper on which I filled in my information.  She gave me another cut piece of paper with the WiFi password.

I left the office and drove around to see the location.  We didn't get a good vibe about the place.  There were obvious long-term residents (which isn't a problem for us normally).  But the area didn't seem well maintained and there was literally no where to walk our dogs or hike.  We would have been relegated to another night of just staying in the RV to avoid the heat.

Holly had been reading about another resort called Lassen RV Resort.  We called to see if they had a spot, they did.  So we kept driving (another 30 minutes) into the wilderness near the Lassen National Park.  We turned off the main highway and drove another few miles until we found this very remote Resort.  We were impressed right away.  The gravel roads were well maintained, there was very good signage.  I checked in, and the attendant was very helpful.  He then escorted us (via golf cart) to our spot.  We had full hookups with the closest occupied spot a good 50+ yards away.  We were sold.

We made camp and hooked up.  The power was perfect, water pressure great, and the area was remote and quiet.  They had WiFi, but only near the clubhouse (which was fine - we were disconnected but could check in whenever we wanted).  After lunch and a little nap, we took the dogs for a hike around the vast property.  After dinner and a movie we settled in for the night.  Very happy with this place!

The next morning we made the 4 hours drive home before it got too hot!

Take away's from this trip:  We need a smaller frying pay (probably 8").  Our new "movie" setup worked fabulously.  We now have access to all of our movie library on the road.  While we like that we have a fold-up bed in the back (queen), we will probably keep it down and made for most of our trips (the front full-size will be put up every day).  While we have blinds for the cab windows, we will order a custom cover for the windows on the outside to help with heat/cold in the cab area.  We learned that we can access our back storage from under the seats in the back (surprise!  I actually complained about no access to the manufacturer and dumb me didn't know I had access).  This will change how we store our linens.

June 2018 - Point Reyes

This month, we decided to go to the California Coast (Northern).  We found an RV park in the Point Reyes area, Olema RV park (just about 2 hours from home).

We arrived at the park around 5pm, and did an "after-hours" check-in.  We found our spot easily.  It had power and water but no sewer (which was ok, as they had a dump station).  The area was quiet, but it was a little windy.  Lots of families enjoying the cooler coastal weather.  We made camp, dinner, and settled in for the night.

The next day, we broke camp and headed to the coast to go for a hike.  We took the Kehoe Beach trail with the dogs (fitted with their new packs and leashes.

After the hike, we took the long, slow, bumpy ride to the Point Reyes Lighthouse.  It was very windy, so not as enjoyable as we would have liked.  After seeing the lighthouse, we headed back to the RV park, made camp and relaxed for the evening.  The next morning we set out early and headed home.

May 2018 - Lake Shasta

We decided that in addition to our 2 longer trips each year (about 2 weeks), we needed to do a short trip each month to "get to know" our RV.  In May, we booked 2 nights near Lake Shasta, CA at the Mountain Gate RV park.

We figured our short trips would be 2 to 4 hours radius.  We learned a lot from our first official trip.  We started to identify what we needed, what we didn't, how to cook, sleep, live, etc. in the rig.  The dogs took to the rig famously.  In fact, while driving, they even assumed the same positions that they do when we are driving (Lula behind Holly, Dexter behind me, and Atticus in the middle - the baby).

We broke camp after the first night and went for a hike with the dogs at the Flanagan Trail.  We only hiked about 5 miles and were ready to head back to relax.  There was a dog run at the Mountain Gate RV park, which worked well.

The next morning, we headed home.  I then got to learn about all the plumbing, tanks, etc. and prepped it for storage (we rented an indoor storage unit to keep her in between trips).  All-in-all, a good first outing.

April 2018 - Las Vegas/Arizona

It's been a while since we've blogged.  Our aforementioned RV was finally ready for us in April.  We drove to Las Vegas to complete the transaction and take delivery.  In the meantime, Holly's mom had a recurrence of esophageal cancer (she beat it 9 years ago); same cancer, same place.  We set her treatment in motion and set off for a quick 3 day trip to Las Vegas (with a stop at my mom's in Arizona).

We couldn't be happier with our new rig.  We christened her "The Lula Mae" after our 13-year-old Poodle, Lula (as she love's to travel and is nearing the end of her life).

So - back to the trip.  Or - let's regress and talk about the scheduling of the delivery.  In December, when we purchased the RV (or put a deposit for it being built), there were two rigs to choose from.  One had a standard be (didn't want that) and the other had a power-fold-down bed (that's for us).  We chose the latter and were told it would arrive in late March.  So - we started planning our March pickup as well as our April vacation to take our new rig to Washington State.  However, as we got close, and no word of delivery, we were informed that there was a miscommunication.  The "standard" bed RV was delivering in late March and ours was delivering in April.  So - scratch Washington.

But - we had 2 weeks of vacation in April booked.  So - no problem going to pick it up.  However - at the end of the first week, still no work on when it would arrive.  On the Sunday in the middle of our 2 week vacation, as we are at my in-laws following her port-a-cath placement, we got the call "it's here!!".  Oh bother.

So - called Avis, rented a car and set out the next morning for the 8 to 9 hour drive.  Arrived around 1pm, went to the bank for a cashier's check for the down payment, and finally arrived at the dealership (with all three dogs in tow).  Very hot, so Holly waited in the care while I did my part of the paperwork, then we switched.

After all was done, we went to the Oasis RV resort near the dealer.  The site was nice, very large, and packed.  The amenities (restaurant, store, etc.) were perfect.  So we slept the first night in our rig.  The next day we returned to the dealer as the door was sticking (house door).  The fixed it very quickly.  Then we returned the rental car, and headed back to the park for a nap (still tired from the previous day's driving and purchasing activities).  But - around 3pm or so we were ready to move on.  We left and headed to Arizona (about 4 hours).  We had dinner with my parents, spent the night in our rig (my dad had setup a 30amp plug just for our rig).  We had breakfast the next morning and started the 11 hour drive home.

The delivery was confusing and exhausting.  But - the dealer (despite the miscommunication) was awesome (Wagon Trail RV - think they might have changed their name recently).  The RV itself....how do I say it....we LOVE it!  Everything we wanted and more.

So - stay tuned.  We plan to use the heck out of this thing.