Going to California!

[Timothy]

Leaving on a 3 week trip Saturday morning :D :D :D I hope to be about half way through Nebraska before we stop for the night the first night, don't know where we'll stop the second night and hope to arrive in Crescent City on the third day to see the Redwood forest, then we are driving down the coast to SanFran. I want to see Alcatraz (I work for the Wisconsin DOC, you think I could use this as a business related trip LOL) We also want to see Yosemite, Kings Canyon and the giant Sequoia before heading into Nevada. We never have made any reservations in our 10 years of RV travel and have always found someplace to stay, besides we like to play it by ear and often make unplanned side trips, ususally have one or two destinations in mind and then just go where the road takes us! We don't plan on going to S. Cal. this year.
Any suggestions must see things in Northern Cal?
2.5 days and counting!!! :D :D :D

[nandj1966]

I can hear the excitement in your post! :D
Course, I'd be excited too if I was taking such a long trip. DH & I plan to head out West thru Colorado, Nevada, etc. some day, lol. Guess it will have to be after I retire in a few years. He wants to take at least a month to go.

We LOVE just going where the road takes us, too! It's more fun (to us) to do it that way. Course, like you said, you always have a campground in mind, but can veer off course if you want.

Hope you have a safe & enjoyable trip! You can tell us all about it when you return. :) 8) :wink: :D

[RJ82much]

Ahhh, my way of traveling. Where-ever the road leads. In the MH, or for years, by automobile. No reservations, lots of patience & curiosity. Camera by my side, always at the ready.

[Timothy]

I love traveling this way, I think we have often found more interesting things to see on the way to our destinations then the destination itself.
Before we bought our first Travel Trailer we had a conversion van and a tent. Sometimes I think we had more fun traveling like that (but don't think I'll go back, dont' think sleeping on the ground would agree with me anymore lol) Anyway, we have only have California, Nevada and Texas to go and we have been in all of the contiguous 48, started taking 3 week trips around 2001 when the trips were getting longer. The ultimate trip will be Alaska but that'll have to wait for retirement.
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer.......Tim

[GStream40]

Sounds like a fun trip.

Safe travels and update us when you return.

Ron

[lockdoc]

OK Tim....I see you are back now! We want details!! Did you guys have a good trip? Everything go OK with the GS?

Glad to see you back on line again.....

Kevin

[Timothy]

OK, I'm back. Whew, still trying to get caught up with things at home and work.
We traveled 6372 miles in 3 weeks! Made it out to the Redwood Forest, drove highway 1 down the coast 1/2 way to SF (breathtaking views but very slow traveling, if we had more time I would have stayed on it). We visited San Francisco, went for a boat tour of the bay and shopped downtown. Went by the Hippie district and got a picture on the corner of Haight/Ashbury. Visited Yosemite, Los Vegas, the petrified forest and painted desert, and stopped in Albuqurqe NM to visit with my daughter.
And countless small towns and interesting things along the way.

The only downside to the trip was a blown tire in the Arizona desert and a broken stabilzer jack which I was able to semi repair. I have a pressure pro system and all the tire pressures were constantly monitored, looks to be defective tires, I just bought them in late March of this year :evil: My insurance is covering the repairs to the trailer which consist of replaceing the fender, side molding and radius skirt (it broke my heart to have to cut off the skirt on the side of the highway but no way it was repairable and I couldn't drive with it hanging) After the tire blew I looked the others over and noticed the center bulging out on another one so I bought 2 new tires and headed on to New Mexico. The morning I was leaving from visiting my daughter I noticed another tire with a bulge in the side but still in the tread area. Bought 2 more new tires so I now have 4 new Maxxis load range E tires to replace the Denman load range E tires that I bought in March.

No problems with the trailer, towed great and kept us warm on the coast and cool in the desert! All in all it was a great trip but next one will have to be a little more time or a little less driving! I still had time to take over 700 pictures with my digital camera!
Been back one week and we are going camping this weekend! We were planning on going to visit my wife's step mom in North Dakota she is very ill and has little time left but work commitments will keep us home at least another week.
Hope everybody's enjoying their summer!

[coolchas11]

We hope to travel to AZ and NM in October. What are these states like and what can we expect regarding cg's or state parks? Thanks, Charlie

[Timothy]

Charlie, you shouldn't have any problems finding a campground in either state, might be a little busier in October then July but probably not real busy until the end of December. I know the balloon festival in Albuqurque is around that time so you may want to check when that is for sure, campgrounds in that area may be booked in advance.
Have fun.
Oh, also I keep the trailer Live and KOA directories handy when traveling.