The trip lasted 33 days and we logged over 8000 miles, hit 18 states and weathered everything from upper 90’s to the low 30’s. We took our time, visiting landmarks and tourist traps along the way.
Leaving on April 18, we made our first stop in Bakersfield, then on to Flagstaff, Arizona. We did our first car repair in Flagstaff, getting our A/C recharged. We visited the Wupatki and Sunset Volcano National Monument, exploring the pueblo dwellings. The pueblo indians initially settled here in 500 AD and then grew in numbers after the volcano erupted in the 11th century. What may be considered a natural disaster actually allowed for a richer soil and enabling agriculture in the region.
On to New Mexico and a real tourist trap...Camel Rock. Good thing we saw this before we did the southern Utah parks. It was disappointing enough. But we did have a relaxing stay at the Camel Rock Casino across the road.
We crossed the Texas panhandle, stopping for the night at Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Texans consider this a mini-Grand Canyon which may be overstated, but it was beautiful.
Next stop was Lake Eufala in Oklahoma for an overnight, then on to Tennessee. We got to Memphis early enough to do a tour of Graceland, then headed back over the bridge to West Memphis in Arkansas to spend the night camped on the Mississippi.
From Memphis, it was on to Nashville where we toured the Belle Meade Plantation, stopped at the Grand Ole Opry, and walked through the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. We stayed in a KOA overnight in Lebanon, then headed to Asheville, North Carolina and a full afternoon at the Biltmore Estates. What a place!! Well worth the price which was not cheap.
We headed south through North and South Carolina and into Georgia where we spent the afternoon and evening with an old friend and his wife.
On our way back up to South Carolina, we did a quick tour of both Savannah and Charleston, but enjoyed Georgetown SC the most. We arrived in Pawley’s Island in time for the rehearsal dinner for my great nephew’s wedding. Met a lot of new folks and caught up with my brother and his family.
The wedding was the next day so we spent the morning with my brother and his wife, then drove up to Myrtle Beach to check into our Marriott timeshare. We had just enough time to dress and get back down to the wedding. It was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great time. We returned for breakfast with the family the next day and then went back to the Marriott for our week. Our cruising buddies, Second Wind, came from North Carolina to spend a couple of days with us and after they left, we drove down to Georgetown to have lunch with our Georgia friends. The rest of the time, we relaxed by the pool, played the daily card games and roamed the parklike setting. We experienced some high winds and it rained overnight, but the week was idyllic.
After our week, we headed north with a stop for breakfast with Second Wind in Wilmington. On to the Outer Banks where we stayed for 2 nights in Kill Devil Hills Campground. We toured the Wright Brothers’ Memorial, the Monument for 100 years in Aviation, Duck City Boardwalk, and Cape Hatteras. The Banks is home to lots of wind surfing, kite surfing and regular surfing and we saw it all.
In Virginia, we drove through the Smoky Mountains and spent the night in a holler down by a crik. Pretty rustic spot. And it was close to freezing when we woke the next morning. Glad to have our heater!! We enjoyed driving through the Virginia countryside with the brick homes and wide expanses of mowed green lawns and rare fences. It rained through West Virginia and then cleared up as we entered Kentucky with its white picket fences and huge horse ranches.
We cut through the bottom of Indiana and Illinois on to Missouri. We stayed in a city RV park along 370 and enjoyed our extra hour with the time change.
Into Kansas where we saw herds of buffalo on our way to Abilene where we toured Eisenhower’s presidential museum and childhood home.
We were surprised how flat eastern Colorado is but soon saw the Rockies in the distance. We spent the night in Bear Creek Lake Park along with a couple hundred bicycle racers. We left before the big race the following morning and headed to Utah.
This was one of the toughest driving days for Rog. It was extremely windy and gusty so it was not a relaxing trip. We got to Archview RV in Moab and headed to Arches National Park after lunch. Gorgeous park. We were both snapping pictures like crazy. Every rock is unique and looks different from all sides and with different lights. Pictures don’t do it justice but this is a park that everyone should visit.
Of course Moab is a destination for every 4WD and ATV enthusiast. I think Tess, our van, got a bit jealous and she acted out a bit. We spent Mother’s Day waiting for our auto assistance program to come by to jumpstart our battery so we could drive into Moab and buy a new battery. I helped Rog install it and we spent the rest of the day relaxing since Tess had an obnoxious engine light on. The next morning, we hit the auto repair shop at 7:30 and were the first ones on the docket. They did a diagnostic but didn’t find any major problems so we hoped it was related to the battery and journeyed on to Cortez, Colorado to visit Mesa Verde National Park.
The engine light turned back on again along the way, so we stopped at an auto repair in Cortez. Another diagnostic and still no major problem so we decided to ignore it. We did change our original plan to go home via Salt Lake City and cut a full day off the schedule. It also eliminated going over Donner Pass which might have pushed Tess a bit too much. Not to mention, Donner expected snow. With this new plan, we checked into our RV park and then headed to Mesa Verde. Rog has always wanted to see pueblo indian cliff dwellings and this is the place. The dwellings have been there for over 1000 years and are in remarkably good condition. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing this place.
The next day we wove back and forth from Colorado to New Mexico to Arizona to Utah back to Arizona and finally into Utah for a 3 day stay in Leeds outside of St. George. Along the way, we hit the Four Corners, a monument in the Navajo nation marking the corner of four states; Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. A REAL tourist trap with a charge of $5pp. One more item checked off that bucket list:)
Our first day in Leeds was cold and rainy so we relaxed the day away. We did take a break midday to head into St George for a belated Mother’s Day meal at the Painted Pony. Then we drove by the winter home of Brigham Young. The following day was gorgeous; clear and sunny, although a bit chilly. We drove to Zion National Park and ate breakfast in the parking lot before heading in to catch the shuttle. This park shuttles visitors around the park with 9 stops for hikes and picture taking. I about froze my buns off, but I loved the park. One of the most gorgeous parks I have seen. Loved it. We spent the entire morning and finally thawed out close to noon.
After lunch, we headed back to Leeds, stopping at Red Cliffs Park for a short hike to see some dinosaur prints and more red rock formations.
Having finally had our fill of red arches, rocks and cliffs, we headed back through Nevada and on to California. We spent a night at Orange Grove RV getting acclimated to upper 90 degree temps. A real contrast to the low 30’s we left in southern Utah. We spent a little time at the pool, then enjoyed the air conditioned lounge and played a couple of billiard games.
The next day we pulled into our driveway close to noon and spent the rest of the day washing and putting things away. As usual, always good to be home.
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