7-15 April Morgan Hill, CA to New Orleans, LA

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Albuquerque, Arizona, Baton Rouge, Bayou, california, Congo Eel, Grand Canyon, koa, Lousiana, Meteor Crater, Mississippi River, New Mexico, New Orleans, Roswell, Route 66, San Angelo, San Antonio, Seligman, Teche Bayou, Texas, VanDeCampSeesAmerica17, Vasalia

15 April 2017 – New Orleans, LA

While we booked the Coyote Valley RV Resort until 8 April, work was done early on the 7th and we decided to get an early start on the great Eastward march. Leaving Morgan Hill, CA we took about 4 hours to reach the Visalia/Sequoia National Park KOA in Visalia, CA.

From Visalia, CA we continued South East to Seligman, AZ (Route 66 KOA). Most of the day we spent parallel Route 66 and watching the ruins of the small towns once dotting the famous road pass us by on Interstate 40.  The panoramic vistas including multi-colored sandstone and gigantic rock monoliths were amazing, especially in the setting sun.

We got a small taste of the old Route 66 at our destination in Seligman, CA. The town still had several motels, curiosities, restaurants, and shops which made Route 66 famous. Seligman is also the supposed model for the Radiator Springs of Cars with real cars from the 30s, 40s, and 50s dotting the roadside and parking lots.

Breakfast at Lilo’s Westside Cafe on Route 66 in Seligman, AZ

The reason we chose Seligman, CA was the proximity to the Grand Canyon – only 90 minutes to the South Rim. On 9 April we woke up and had a classic American breakfast at Lilo’s Westside Cafe on Route 66 before heading to the Grand Canyon – an American adventure experienced for 80 years.

Read more about our Grand Canyon visit.

On 10 April we left Seligman, AZ and traveled to Albuquerque, NM. We stopped for lunch and sightseeing at Meteor Crater, the largest confirmed and best-preserved meteor strike in the world. On the way we passed through Roswell, NM – the infamous site of a 1947 military weather balloon crash which led to stories of an alien craft crash landing and many conspiracy theories. It’s fun to drive through the two and see the green aliens everywhere. The town really owns and plays up the story and the kids had a great time spotting all of the aliens around town.

Read more about our Meteor Crater visit.

Texas oil derrick

On 11 April we left Albuquerque, NM and drove into central Texas destined for San Angelo, TX.  Leaving Albuquerque we left behind amazing sandstone rock formations and hills and was quickly greeted by flat plains, amazingly red dirt, and countless oil and natural gas derricks constantly siphoning out that “black gold”/”Texas tea.”  The drive was the longest of the journey so far with over 450 miles and 12 hours.

12 April saw a short 4-hour drive from San Angelo in central Texas into San Antonio and Texas hill country.  We parked at San Antonio KOA, unhitched, and relaxed in the warmth of central Texas.  The kids immediately hit the pool and playground for some long-deserved play time.

13 April we spent the morning working and then went to San Antonio to visit the Alamo and the Riverwalk.

Read more about our visit to San Antonio.

Walking along Bayou Teche

After two nights in San Antonio – a brief but welcome respite from the road – we were off to Louisiana.

We stopped over in Breaux Bridge, LA on the Teche Bayou in Pioneer Acadian Village.  We woke up and took a short walk to the Bayou which was at the end of the RV park.  There was a small pier into the river and gave us our first close-up view of the Bayou.

Sherrie spotted a crawfish trap and lifted it up with a stick only to find two crawfish, a frog, and a congo eel in the trap.  She freaked out and thought it was a cottonmouth snake – but the small feet on the side of the animal identified it as not a snake.

 

Congo Eel in crawfish trap

From Breaux Bridge, LA on 15 April we traveled the final 2 hours into New Orleans giving us our first glimpse of the Mississippi River and several riverboats along the Baton Rouge port.

 

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Lake Isabella/Kern Valley

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black widow, california, campfire, kern valley, koa, lake isabella, s'mores, spider, VanDeCampSeesAmerica17

16 – 19 March 2017 at Lake Isabella/Kern Valley KOA

 

Lake Isabella KOA Pioneer Playground

Heading from Anaheim into the Sequoia National Forest and southern Sierra Nevada mountains outside Bakersfield, CA was a change of scenery.  We gained about 4,000ft of elevation – most of which Sherrie did without tow/haul mode engaged all the while wondering why it was struggling to stay above 45MPH.

 

Lake Isabella is fairly remote and boasts mostly white water rafting and mountain biking trails nearby.  The remoteness focuses your attention instead on the beautiful high desert mountainous scenery and enormous sky vistas.  At night, there is no nearby light pollution and wide open spaces which provided an unparalleled view of the stars.  Of course, that wouldn’t be complete without a campfire and s’mores.

 

Campfire at Lake Isabella KOA

The Lake Isabella/Kern Valley KOA is small and family friendly.  They have a great playground for the kids.  Our kids gave it all thumbs up and spent many hours playing in the folly western town, wagon, slide, and swings.

 

Isabella, being the mindful child she is, always asks if there is anything dangerous which lives where we’re visiting.  Here, we discussed rattlesnakes and black widows.  She knows of rattlesnakes from Yakima but we had to describe a black widow, sure she wouldn’t need to know.  Of course, she was the first visitor in 3 years to find one in the park 🙂

 

Black Widow at Lake Isabella

As with most of our stops, the kids make instant friends with other campers.  Here, they met Casey with whom you could always find Lucas racing their bikes around the campground.  Luckily, Casey also joined us for s’mores on our last evening – his first time making s’mores!

 

We spent half-a-day visiting the Silver City Ghost Town, which may be the only thing to really do for a young family nearby.  Overall, it was a very relaxing site and a nice change of pace from Disneyland.  Real camping in the mountains under the stars.

From Lake Isabella, we headed back to Anaheim for work meetings.

Day Two: Grant’s Pass, OR to Modesto, CA

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california, Grant's Pass, koa, Modesto, Oregon, Snow, VanDeCampSeesAmerica17

5 March 2017 – Modesto, CA

We woke up without the kids stirring all night at a very reasonable 7:05 AM.  I mentioned I like sleep, right?  I was kind of afraid sleep was a thing of the past embarking on this trip.  Six people in a minimally insulated mobile hotel room?  Scoffs.  Turns out the doors work some minor wonders!  Exhaustion probably helps, too.

Sergio made the kids oatmeal and our coffee, and as we were cleaning up and finishing getting dressed, our lucky feeling started going away.  The snow began to fall heavily, and we had already accumulated over an inch in less than an hour.  We stuck the kids in the Suburban with a movie and started going down the breakdown checklist.  Sergio started raising the stabilizer jacks with the drill we brought and realized it wasn’t working anymore so manually did it with the included tool.  That wasn’t too hard!  I walked with another couple up to the KOA office to inquire about road conditions.  They were a fellow self-employed couple who were headed to Vegas for a heavy construction equipment conference.  I have the feeling we’re going to meet some awesome and colorful people on this trip!  The good news is that Grant’s Pass was right on the edge of the storm and the roads south, including the pass, were pretty clear.  We finished packing up the trailer doing all the things I mentioned the previous night in reverse.  We’re figuring it out, or so we thought.  We turned off the fridge, the LP gas, the lights, folded down all the tables, stowed everything away, and then actually said, “Hey, the snow on the slideout will squeegee off when we bring it in.  No problem.”  Ahem, yes it was a problem.  When we pulled it in, I stood on top of the cooler to see if the slide out (now inside) was mostly free of snow and saw there was still an inch of snow.  After laughing and debating how to solve the problem (hey, let’s just slide it back out and then broom it off outside didn’t work, haha), we decided I was going to stay on the cooler and use the broom to slide the snow to the sides, where Sergio would try to catch the snow in a salad bowl to dump back outside.  I’m laughing while writing this!  He caught some of the snow in the bowl, and the floor caught the rest, but I fairly quickly got it off the slide and pushed it back out so we could clean off the floor.  Swept that all up (plus the gravel that SOMEONE tracked inside with their slippers), then pulled the slide back in.  Laughed some more and added that experience to our mental checklist of things to do/not to do.  Nothing like life to keep you humble!

We pulled out just before 10:00 AM with the help of the 4WD and drove over the first pass easily.  We stopped at an Albertson’s to pick up some lunch things – worst organized grocery store ever! – and Sergio took a work call.  He’s been asked to keynote a conference in July at MITRE, which was exciting enough on its own but then I really got excited when I learned they wanted him to present on my nonprofit, Global Emancipation Network, for which he serves as the Technical Director.  Squeal!

Sunset at RiverPoint Marina

RV Camp Site at Riverpoint Marina

We hit the road again and went up over a second pass and crossed over into California.  We took turns driving and eventually pulled into RiverPoint Landing Marina Park.  We started by debating whether or not we had to take the sway bars off the Equalizer 4-way weight distribution hitch and decided we didn’t have to, but being nervous newbies, we decided to do it anyway.  Probably with amusement, another couple came out of their giant motorhome and asked if we needed help as Sergio and I began the dance of backing the trailer into a spot for the first time (yes, in the dark).  I was driving the Suburban and Sergio was behind the trailer, both with walkie talkies in hand.  I nodded enthusiastically, and the lady stood by my window helping me sort out which way to turn the wheel while the two men shouted directions through the walkie talkie to me.  It was great!  We got in without too much trouble, so I felt pretty good about everything.  Night two in the books!

Day One: Woodinville, WA to Grant’s Pass, OR

Tags

Grant's Pass, koa, Oregon, VanDeCampSeesAmerica17

4 March 2017 – Grants Pass, OR

Sergio woke me up bright and early Saturday morning – accent on early (6:30 AM is brutal for this lady) – with a smile and cheerily asked, “Are you ready to go camping?!”  After taking what I fear to be the last long and hot shower for a while (yes, there is a shower in the trailer but only 5 minutes’ worth of hot water), we frantically loaded all the last items in the car, bolted up the house, ran keys to friends and neighbors, and waved goodbye.

Our first stop was the Battle Ground, Washington rest area where we met my family for Rocky’s Pizza and a quick goodbye peek at our new “rig.”  We’re learning the lingo already.  J  Then we hit the road again with our first destination plugged into Waze: Grant’s Pass, Oregon.  The trip was estimated to take 7 hours, 20 minutes but you know, kids.  And also RV.  So a zillion of potty stops, not to mention gas fill-ups (hello, average 12.5 mi/gal fuel efficiency while towing!), and a Taco Bell run for dinner, we ended up towing for the first time ever in the dark.  And the snow.  In construction.  But you know, it’s cool, it’s all part of the adventure!  We both drove and learned how to use the towing brake and figured out lane changes and how not to bust a tire on a curb.  We pulled into the Grant’s Pass KOA with minutes to spare as the office closed at 8:30 PM.  They took pity on the newbies and moved us into a bigger pull through the lot by the office where we basically could just pull in and out without any maneuvering.  Yay!

Sergio and I began going through our checklist, which included a million things, like: lowering the post, setting out the stabilizer jack blocks and lowering those, putting out the tire chocks, setting up the drinking water hose with the L joint, water filter, and pressure regulator, and setting up the electrical plug with the power conditioner and hooking it up.  Did I mention it was dark and snowing?  We got all the outside stuff done in about 20 minutes since we decided to leave the trailer hitched.  We extended the single slide out, turned on the furnace to heat up the ice box, turned on the water heater, and prayed to the RV camping gods that we did everything right, and we wouldn’t roll away or blow up in the middle of the night.

The kids tornadoed into the trailer, and we eventually managed to wrangle them into pajamas and bribe them into bed.  We finally got them quiet and possibly asleep around 10:30 and were just drifting off to sleep when I tried to turn on my heating blanket and realized hey, we no longer have electricity flowing.  The interior lights can work off the battery, but the outlets do not function if the RV isn’t plugged in.  That’s probably a good thing.  Sergio had realized earlier that something was wrong when the kids OK to Wake clock suddenly lost power but chocked it up to an issue with the clock.  The heating blanket definitely tipped us off to another problem.  Serg buttoned back up and went outside to find the power conditioner had actually fallen off the hookup post, so the fix was very simple.  Sweet, sweet blanket heat followed, and we collapsed quickly into dreamland.