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.
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