Yosemite National Park - Yosemite, CA

Vernal Falls

Leaving Death Valley by the west exit required us to go over two mountain passes, while still in the park.  After leaving the park, we drove up the eastern side of the Sierra, which are still snow covered.  We have been talking about the Tioga Pass and the crowds at Yosemite, to a point that we are not even sure we want to go.  We finally decide that the pass is doable and if we get to the park late, we will avoid the crowds.  It all worked! The pass was really nothing compared to some of the places we have been, and it was easy to get around the park.  The campground is pretty tight, but we have nice spot that is pretty private, and with a little finagling, we got the front end of the RV off the road.  What’s really nice is the campsite is at the trailhead to Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.

We have been to Yosemite several times...the exact number has been another point of discussion, but we have never been here in the spring, when the waterfalls are at their peak.

Nevada Falls

With a moderate bike ride, we got to lodge for a bowl of chili at the bar.  Because this is a two day stop, we spent the second day hiking to the falls.  We decided to take the Mist trail, two seconds of thoughtful contemplation would have allowed us to understand why they would name a trail “The Mist Trail” especially at the height of the spring run off.  It was clear day, and we dried off rather quickly.  For our second evening, we had a bowl of asparagus soup at the bar.  

Stovepipe Wells Lodge - Death Valley, CA

We visited Death Valley years ago with the kids.  We took a few hikes and did a horse ride.  This time, it’s a two night stop, so we have an entire day to do things.  So first of all, it’s over 100 and our generator has gone a little fritzy.  Second of all, we keep finding full campgrounds.  So while we were in Flagstaff we reserved a place at the Stovepipe Wells Lodge.  It’s a basic parking lot, but it’s got hook-ups.  But it also has a saloon and a pool!  The other thing that we decided was that the RV was not the right vehicle for the job, so we rented a Jeep.  It had a hardtop and A/C which really helped.  In the morning we visited Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America, and then went to Dante’s View which is on a 5000’ Mountain right next to Badwater Basin.  Just because we could, we took a few 4 wheel drive detours along the way.

Titus Canyon

The man who rented us the Jeep, threw out a suggestion for a nice little 4 wheel drive experience. He suggested we visit Titus Canyon.  So the first thing you do is drive to Nevada, then come into the park over a 27 mile, 4 wheel drive road.  The first challenge is to drive over two 5000 foot passes with switch backs, boulders, and a few sections of washed out trail, while hugging canyon walls.  Then comes a few miles of driving through a slot canyon, in some places ten feet wide with rock faces, over a thousand feet up on both sides.  Once back at the Lodge, we headed for the saloon for dinner where we mostly just gloated and said “We did it!” And then looked at our pictures, again,  to make sure that we really did!

Joshua Tree National Park - Joshua Tree, CA

Indian Cove Campsite

Joshua Tree is another redo from our 2014 cross country trip.  It is extremely popular in the winter and spring, but deserted in the summer and fall because of the high heat.  Memorial Day is a peak time at the park.  Unfortunately, with a 24’ motorhome, it can be difficult to find parking places when the park is full of people.  We got to drive through the park, and fortunately, most people come in from the North.  We came in at the South Entrance, drove the 40 scenic miles to the North entrance.  As we were leaving the park at 4:00, there was still a half mile of cars trying to get in.

As serendipity would have it, the only campground that we could make reservations at (they have added more reservable sites since we booked) was Indian Cove which has a separate entrance from outside the park.  It’s quiet and remote and just as amazing, with huge boulders.  We are camped next to a fairly small boulder, maybe 40’ tall but a good practice rock climbing place.  Our camp neighbor is using his newly learned skills to climb our rock.  His kids are having no problem, but he is just a little too out of shape for this.  As he struggles with each step, Deb is squirming more and more.  As he gets to about 30’ up, she can no longer handle the angst, and decided that her Fitbit is calling her to walk away and keep walking.  He survived, she survived, we all lived to eat tuna casserole.

Lost Dutchman State Park - Apache Junction , AZ

Who new Saguaro cactus was so tall?

Lost Dutchman SP is a redo from our first cross country trip.  We were here in early September and the temperature was above 100.  Now we are here in Spring with a balmy 96 degree day.  After hiding in the RV for an hour, Deb’s Fitbit is having fits.  She suggests a short hike, or something.  I suggest the little bike ride around the park.  After about three minutes, Deb decides that she may have a mountain bike, but she is more of a paved path kinda of girl, so we return the bikes and walk the trail.  It turns out to be a four mile hike in the heat.  To paraphrase an old saying, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you very tired!”

We had the same site we had before with a spectacular view of Superstition Mountain.  We watched the sun set, and the moon rise, sat at the picnic table and ate hanger steak with corn on the cob.

Jumping Cholla cactus 

Flagstaff KOA - Flagstaff, AZ

Colorado River

Except for a stop at Navajo Bridge, the only place that you can cross the Grand Canyon, the drive was eventless.  Mercifully, it was also fairly short.  The Flagstaff KOA is tired, rundown, dirty place. But all the washers worked, they were cheap and available.  Deb did enough laundry to get most of her fitbitting done, and I fixed a loose hinge.

We decided to make tonight our eat out night, since last night at the North Rim didn’t totally work out.  After a brief Trip Advisor review to find some interesting restaurants and a Google satellite review to see what was RV accessible, we ended up at the Horsemen’s Lodge.  A nice Arizona style steakhouse.  We try to limit our meat consumption, but Deb always tells me to go up a size and save some for the dog.  I did, and as we were finishing, Deb told me she couldn’t eat all of hers, so I might as well finish it...I did!

North Rim - Grand Canyon National Park

We got up as early as we could, with the idea of taking the scenic drive at Bryce Canyon.  It’s a 17 mile drive along the rim of the canyon.  It’s good to get morning sun so that there a few shadows.  Since it’s along the rim, all of the vista points are on the left as you drive out, so they ask you to drive straight to the end and gawk at the view on the return.  Deb just loves this type of organization.  Back in town we settle in for a second cup of coffee and some internet.

The trip to the North Rim was a familiar trip for us.  Probably it would have been spectacular, but our senses had been dulled by the views of the previous week.  The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is only accessible by a 40 mile long dead-end road.  Since the last time we were here in 2015, they had a large fire that burn some 6,000 acres in 2016.  The recovery is amazing.  The whole forest floor is covered with three foot tall aspens.

From the campground, it’s a one mile bike ride to the lodge.

Bryce Scenic Drive

 Deb wanted to do dinner, but the earliest  reservation was 8:30 Arizona Time, which was way after dark, so no view of the canyon during dinner and a bike ride through the forest in the dark....probably not a good idea, so we went with plan B,  two beers sitting right on the edge of the canyon watching the shadows as the sun set.  Could life get any better? (Apparently for several of the people sitting near us, who where totally absorbed in their phones and not even noticing the view.)

Grand Canyon - A view with a brew

Kodachrome Basin State Park - Cannonland, UT

Bryce Ampitheater

Although southern Utah is rich in beauty, it is remarkably poor in internet access.  Passing through our first little town in the morning, we saw several people trying to grapple with only one bar of service.  We pushed onward searching for the perfect combination of vista and internet.  We found our spot on the Devil’s Backbone, a scary section of Route 12 where it’s a thousand foot sheer drop off on both sides of the road without any guardrails to give you a false sense of security.

By noon we had reached Bryce Canyon.  What Capital Reef had missed in dealing with the new interest in National Parks, Bryce Canyon had figured it out.  A free shuttle bus service. 

I only fell once!

We parked in a huge lot outside the park, rode the bus to Bryce Point, hiked the Rim Trail for about three miles, caught the bus at Sunset Point and rode it back to the parking lot.  We thought we had been to Bryce Canyon before, but it turns out, we never had.  What a gem!  

Because I was unable to get a campsite in the Park, I reserved a site in Kodachrome Basin State Park.  The park is in a little basin with rock pillars sticking up.  Deb was still a few thousand steps short of her goal, so we took out our trail bikes and went for a trail ride.  We got back just in time to put away the chairs before the two minute hail storm hit (and the solar panels survived!)

Our campsite at Kodachrome

Capital Reef National Park - Torrey, UT

The trip from Moab to Capital Reef is fairly short, but we want to get there early to grab a good site.  Most of the trip is across fairly barren grassland, but as we approach Capital Reef, we start getting into the beautiful canyons.  Everything we see is just gorgeous, and we remember, why we have such fond memories...until we see the dreaded “CAMPGROUND FULL” sign.  If Deb were head of the park service, it would be different.  According to the ranger that I tried to sweet talk into giving us a site (to no avail), the park has tripled the number of visitors in the past five years.  It’s good that more people are appreciating them, but the park service has not really changed anything to accommodate the influx.  With Deb still working through her seven levels of grief, we search out one of the fairly primitive campgrounds near the park.  We end up getting the second to last spot at Single Tree Campground.

It’s a lovely place, high up in the mountains, with a short Fitbit friendly hiking path that crosses a dog friendly stream.  Deb is coming around to accept this place, but feels that a campfire with marshmallows might get her over the hump.  

From here, we are only two hours from our next stop (with reservations). We are thinking of visiting Bryce Canyon, but I worry that the lines to get in will be as long as the lines we saw at Arches and Great Sand Dunes.  Maybe we should put Deb in charge! 

Canyonlands National Park - Monticello, UT

View of our campsite

This is suppose to be the scenic drive part of the trip, as we wind our way over the Rockies, and then through Utah.  We start out passing hundreds of railroad cars that have pushed up a mountain pass.  They are apparently obsolete, but they look in perfect condition.  If Deb were CEO of the railroad...things would be different.

Wolf Pass was exhilarating, with steep roads and tight curves.  Of course, we got above the snow line.  We drove by Mesa Verde, which we visited once with the whole family, so we knew we were on familiar roads.  Canyonlands is 40 miles in from the road!  The drive was spectacular...colorful canyons, within canyons, within canyons...all sandstone, in greys and blues, and reds.  When I reserve campsites, sometimes there are pictures of the site.  This one had pictures of the view.

In the evening, we had a campfire talk about rock art...all the

View from our campsite

ancient Indian artwork on the walls of the canyon.  In the morning, we packed up early to watch the sunrise from one of the vista points while we ate breakfast.  Then on to Moab, UT for internet.

Great Sand Dunes Oasis - Mosca, CO

Blue corn pancakes with pine nuts! Yummy!

We awake in Santa Fe to a 57 degree morning.  This actually works for us because the plan is to see Santa Fe and leave Drex in the RV.  The morning starts with Blue Corn Pancakes with Pecos PineNuts.  On to the Institute of American Indian Art (veterans and family - free), a nice art exhibit.  Then on to the New Mexico Historical Museum (veterans and family- free...thank-you Santa Fe, it is really appreciated).  New Mexico was an established European settlement when the pilgrims landed.  By the 1800’s there was fear and distrust of Mexicans by the US.  Hmmm!  By noon, we were ready for some Southwest cuisine.  Deb had a burrito covered with green chili, I had green chili and half a panini.  Back in the RV, the temperature had risen to 71.

Great Sand Dunes

Three hours later, we were checking into the Great Sand Dunes Oasis, a private RV lot.  The small campground in the park was full.  The restaurant at the Oasis, our planned date night locale, was not open for dinner until after Memorial Day.  With two meals in Santa Fe, that we couldn’t finish, it was probably just as well.  Corn Chowder for dinner, with a good Doctor Who episode.

This is a two day stop.  The morning is 48 degrees, we haven’t fired up the furnace since January.  Our mission is to hike the dunes.  These are the tallest dunes in North America.  You know how hard it is to climb up a dune by the beach in soft sand.  This is 750 ft of that!

Downtown Santa Fe

 Deb’s Fitbit is going crazy!  First of all, we are at over 8100 ft of elevation, and this is hard work.  As we are climbing we can see a mile long line of cars trying to get into the park.  Most of them will just hang around the base of the dunes.  Only a few of us ventured to the top.  Although the climb up was 50 steps between rests, the trip down was easy.  After our hike, and our lunch, we went to San Luis Lake.  The level of the lake is way down because of the low snow fall, but Drex was able to get his whole body in the lake.

More than most places, the weather here turns on a dime.  Everyone is hunkered down, then ten minutes later, they are all out tossing footballs, then the winds and the rains come, and they are hunkered down again.  In most of the country, they say, “Have a nice day”...here they say, “Enjoy the next ten minutes!” Tonight it’s dinner of beef stew.  Tomorrow we head for Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

Sante Fe KOA - Santa Fe, NM

Brantley Lake Campground

It was cool this morning, we had our coffee, ate our bagels and generally enjoyed the outdoors.  From Carlsbad to Santa Fe is a straight trip up  Rte 285.  The most exciting part of the day was Roswell.  We were going to stop in at the UFO museum but...no!  A short lunch stop with a pronghorn sighting (that’s the actual name of what plays in “Home on the Range” with an arrival at the Campground by 2:00.  With a rolling stop at the office, Deb was out and doing laundry.  With a good cleaning and a few maintenance items addressed, we get ready for our dip in the pool, but the large blue area on the map is actually labeled “sink”...there is no pool.

Tomorrow, we will spend some time in Santa Fe before our short journey to the Great Sand Dunes.  The temperature is suppose to be a high of 65 and a low of 39!  We don’t really believe it.

Lamp posts in Roswell

Brantley Lake State Park - Carlsbad, NM

Draperies

Up at 5:00, packed and on the road by 6:30.  We watched the sunrise on the Chisos Mountains; we were the only ones on the road till we got to Fort Stockton, then we started picking up some truck traffic, as we entered into the Fracking Capital of the world.  Hugh trucks carrying oil rigs, and water trucks, and brine trucks, flatbeds...you name it.  By the time we got to Pecos, we were stopped as they were moving one of those portable offices: 100 ft long, two lanes wide.  All traffic stopped in both directions as they moved it across the I-20 overpass.  Well, that added a half hour to the drive.  As we got to Carlsbad, we realized we should have turned off 25 miles back, that added another half hour to our drive. But wait, we switched from Central time in Texas to Mountain time in New Mexico, and gained an hour.  We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns right in time.  With the temperature at about 90, we were able to kennel Drex at the Visiter’s Center while we explored the cavern.  We took the elevator down the 750 ft and walked the mile and a half of walkway.  They have done a fantastic job of lighting the more interesting details.  Deb and I kept seeing ghoulish figures in the rocks! From nasty old men to mummies.  We could have taken the elevator back, but Deb’s Fitbit was calling her...take the one mile hike to the Natural Entrance (the Fitbit did not remind her that we had come down 750 ft, however).  It was a great hike, and cool!

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom

Back on earth, we stopped at Walmart, ran the generator so we could have some A/C.  The generator appeared to have overheated and shutdown, fortunately Deb was in the RV and made the necessary adjustments, but having the generator quit is troubling...we’ll see what happens.

Our routine is to sit outside, once we arrive...but recently it’s been way too hot for that so we had coffee and bagels in the morning this time, before the heat of the day.  It’s off to Santa Fe KOA for laundry, and the pool!

Rio Grande Village - Big Bend National Park, TX

From Del Rio, TX to Big Bend, is a drive through the desert, with an occasional town every 60 or 70 miles.  The major employer is the Border Patrol.  With hundreds of miles of deserts, it seems like a difficult place to cross.  The temperature in the morning is nice but it’s been rising steadily.  Deb is tired of sandwiches, so we make a vegetable soup in the crockpot that should be ready by 1:00.  We got to the visitors center about 12:30.  The sign says that the RV sites with electricity and water are full.

Roadrunner

We head for Rio Grande Village for a dry camping site.  Once we get there, it is pretty much empty.  Getting out of the RV, we realize that the heat has really come on.  It’s close to 100. The RV lot with utilities doesn’t look full!  More Texas Logic.  All the reserved spots are taken, the unreserved spots are still available.  As reported in Trip Advisor, the RV lot is actually a parking lot with hookups at he curb.  Now, realizing that the entrance etc is always on the right of an RV, if you back into the first spot on the left in the parking lot, you don’t see any of the RV’s, just the mountains.

Because this was another day-off, our second day started with a bike ride and a couple of hikes along the Rio Grande, and then a scenic drive to the other side of the park, about 130 miles round trip.  The highlight was the Santa Elena Canyon.  The Rio Grande runs down the floor of the canyon which is only 200 feet wide. With both sides rising 1,500 ft straight up.  We were all perplexed by where they were going to put that wall.

Rio Grande, Mexico on the left, US on the right

Returning to our little parking lot space with the electricity, we hide from the afternoon sun, waiting for the coolness of the evening.  If we can, we will stop in Carlsbad Caverns, but we need to get an early start to make that happen.

Amistad NRA - Del Rio, TX

Short walk from our campsite to Amistad Resevoir

With a fairly early start on Mother’s Day, we got to San Antonio’s Riverwalk at about 11:00.  We sorta found a parking space, that we might never be able to get out of, if somebody doesn’t park nicely.  After about thirty seconds, we decided this was a stop for another day (probably without the RV).  Had lunch at the Castroville Regional Park.  I walked the dog, while Deb walked her Fitbit. Then Deb talked with both our sons.

Strawberry Pitaya Cactus

Amistad Recreational Area is a manmade lake that spans the US Mexico border.  We are up on a ridge, overlooking the lake, among all sorts of cactus and other succulents.  We had our choice of campsites because we are the only ones here except for occasional visits by the Border Patrol and the Feds.  We had our first little rain followed by buffeting winds that kept waking us up all night, but then again, we were sort of sleeping with one eye open anyway.

Stephen Austin State Park - San Filipe, TX

We’re up by 7:00 with our transitional Bacon & Eggs Saturday breakfast.  It’s all Interstate Driving.  Lunch at the Texas Welcome Center,mile marker 880.  While Deb is driving, as usual I check the information on the next Campground reservation, site number, etc.  But the message on the calendar say, “Closed due to Hurricane Harvey, should open soon, check back later.  A quick online check indicates that the Campground is full.

Barred Owl Trail

This leaves me quietly pondering alternatives, in silence...probably not the best traveling companion. At the campground there is a sign that says the campground is totally reserved.  I put on my best puppy face to beg for a little spot, anywhere...side of the road, anything.  Turns out there are quite a few spots that have not been reserved, but they could have been...this is called Texas Logic!

We got the most gorgeous campsite, with full hook-ups, an acre of mowed grass to ourselves.  Deb has her new Fitbit that started counting every bump on I-10 as a steps. She was already up to 6,000 steps by the time we stopped.  We finished off her goal with a short walk to the river.  

After watching half of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” I let Drex out for his nightly relief.  There were so many Fireflys out, it looked like we were overlooking a small city.

By morning, Deb got to review her Fitbit sleeping habits...it turns out that she sleeps in fits and bits, how appropriate.

Baton Rouge KOA - Denham Springs, LA

Today was a short day, 250 Miles or so, finishing at a KOA...our maintenance stops.  We watched a 5th wheel decide to take an exit at the last minute, up on two wheels...gonna be some broken dishes in that rig.  Deb checking out the route ahead saw all red on Google maps.  Instead of getting into town and then doing a Walmart run, Deb suggested we stop a at Walmart ahead of the red, do our shopping and continue on later.

Our shopping included new sneakers for me.  I stepped up to $25 sneakers, maybe they will last longer than the $10 pairs that I hav3 been buying.  Deb wanted a Fitbit for Mothers’s day...what ever happened to flowers and chocolates.

Back on the highway again it was clear sailing.  Got to the KOA, they had just got their power back and were working on internet...seems there was a big accident on the interstate that cut the power to the whole town.  Of course, we already knew that.

Deb did laundry, I cleaned the bugs off the prow, and then we both went to the pool.

It’s Friday, so it’s date night.  I found a Cajun Restaurant rated #1 on Trip Advisor.  Deb had already said that we should do Cajun.  Dinner at the Don’s restaurant was awesome, we both had gumbo, hers chicken and andouille sausage, mine seafood.  Apparently, in my zeal to eat Cajun food, I missed Deb’s interest in the Greek restaurant across the street from the KOA.  My bad!

Ft Pickens (National Seashore) - Gulf Breeze, FL

Bike trail to Fort Pickens

We have been traveling a hard three days driving south and finally heading west along the Gulf of Mexico.  It’s time for a break!  Ft Pickens is a narrow sandbar off the coast of Pensacola.  It has been fortified from the Revolutionary War until World War II.  Strangely, it was a Union stronghold during the Civil War.  There is a plaque to some poor soldier, the only person ever killed by any of the guns here when one of the howitzers came loose from its mount during a practice firing and crushed him.

Almost all of the campsites are out in the sun with little shade.  By luck, we scored a fantastic site, the closest to the beach, with the shade of a small live oak.  We found out that if put one rear wheel right on the edge of the tarmac, our awning will miss one of the branches by at least half an inch.

So we started our day-off with teriyaki chicken, rice and a Greek salad sans olives.  In the morning, a bike ride to Ft Pickens which is the northern terminus of the Florida Trail, a 1,300 mile path to Key West.  With that trip, we have a mile under our belt...only 1,299 to go.  Back at camp, things were getting exciting when an armadillo wandered through.  I suppose for Floridians, they are like squirrels, but we thought it was interesting. After lunch, we strolled the beach, no dogs allowed.  Drex stayed in the air conditioning.  Back at camp Deb made Crock-pot meatloaf...we’ll see how that comes out!

Our first trip here, there was a camp store that sold ice cream...IT’S CLOSED!  we thought they might sell it at the Camper Registration Center, which was a mile away.  So back on the Florida Trail...now only 1,298 miles to go, but still no ice cream...maybe tomorrow in Baton Rouge.

Stephen Foster State Park (Okeefenokee Swamp) - Fargo, GA

The morning started out with a short hike, and the realization that the clinky noises we were hearing were coming from the rear hubcap which was in need of a few pop-rivets.  With our maintenance issue resolved, we headed out.  At lunch, we tried our first Crock-pot meal on wheels, a slow cooker meal in the sink, with the lid well secured.

Stephen Foster State Park was a place we visited four years ago, we had a memorable canoeing experience.  This time, we decided to rent a small motor boat instead, hoping that we could go a little further in the limited time that we had.  Unlike last time which was fairly cold, and mostly bird watching, this time we saw hundreds of alligators swimming all around us.  So first of all, the mandatory life jacket did not seem the most critical item if I accidentally fell overboard.  Second, there is no way I that I wanted to take a tippy canoe anywhere near this place.  Beautiful, yet exhilarating is the way I would describe it.

Santee State Park (Cypess View Campground) - Santee, SC

Santee SP, SC

Our first day out on our Jubilee Trip (I googled it and Jubilee can be anything special - not necessarily 50 years - in our case our fifth year).  Today was the “get out of Dodge day.”  Deb is okay with long days as long as she has some warning.  This was a 420 mile day, all interstate driving but non the less a fairly long day.  Fortunately for me, the campsite was in a gorgeous park, and right next to Lake Marion (site 39).  On arriving, Deb said we should do this again!  Either I brought the wrong wife, or my dasdardly plan worked!

We are breaking in a new rug for our patio area.  The rug that survived several years at the Bay School and then four years on the road finally gave into a burning mosquito coil last year.  We are also breaking in a couple of solar panels, we check them every so often to make sure they are still there. So far, so good.

Tomorrow, we plan on taking a short hike before heading out to the Okeefenokee Swamp.  This year we are trying out a tiny crock-pot that we can put in the sink while driving,  Tomorrow night, we will be having Brunswick Stew (in Georgia) or peanut butter sandwiches depending on how things go. And maybe boiled peanuts!

Jubilee Trip (2018)

We are all packed and ready for our last cross country RV trip.  The plan is to end the trip just before Father's Day and visit with family for a few days before heading home.