Musings from a RV Trip

If you follow Straddling the Gap or my personal account on Facebook, you know we recently went on a 19 day vacation all over the West.  In addition to the 4,000 miles of cool places, we did it in a RV.  We don't own a RV - we rented it - and it was a first for all of us.  During our 19 days on the road, we did learn a few things about RV travel and have a few tips.  In no particular order:

1.  You WILL bump your head (at least twice) and definitely on a cabinet door.  Ice packs in the freezer are a necessity.
2.  We let the kids roam around the RV which was probably the best thing we did.

3.  Get a Swiffer - wet and dry.  Small space, lots of foot traffic.
4.  "A place for everything and everything in its place."  Spend a few days in a RV and you'll understand what it means.

5.  Take a pair of heavy latex gloves and extra yucky shoes for dealing with the "black water" hookup and take down.
6.  Use nubby shelf liner on the table to keep things in place during driving.
7.  Take bungee cords with you.  You probably can't imagine all the ways you will need them.  We had two drawers that stopped latching and the bungees kept them closed.

8.   Wedging the tip of a hot dog into the carbon monoxide alarm works great to muffle the sound in the middle of the night.
9.  Bring a bucket - you never know when the black water valve might leak.
10.  You really need one of these things.  It keeps the hoses going downhill so the hoses drain while you are parked (as opposed to liquid sitting in the hose - ewww).

I don't know if my family would agree, but I would buy one of these in a heartbeat.  We shall see . . .

cindy

Day 19 - Great American Family Vacation - Back to Arizona!

If you've been following this travelogue for the last 19 days, thank you.  It's been an awesome odyssey, the best family vacation ever!

Our last day began in a rush to get out of Santa Fe.  We loved our long vacation, but we are all ready to get home.  Our one stop was the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest near Holbrook, Arizona.  (Please consider this the weekly "All About Arizona" because I am writing on a Saturday even if you won't see it until Sunday.)

Places all over the West are breathtaking, but Arizona will not be outdone in beauty.

At the Petrified Forest (where giant trees have turned into gorgeous quartz), we had our last hike of the trip.  Based on a deal the kids had with Kent, they have each now earned a Camelback water bottle.

After the Painted Desert, we headed downstate through the White Mountains and its gorgeous thick pines.  Weekend RV camping is sounding better and better to this family, who would never have considered staying outside of a hotel.  A typical summer monsoon thunderstorm chased us down the mountains, but it was still oh so beautiful, maybe more so because we are on the way home.

At about 6:00 p.m. we drove up to our home in the Sonoran Desert, smelly and exhausted, but happy to be home.  Tomorrow we will clean out the RV so it can be returned on Monday, Kent will go to work at church and I will get back to my job at the City of Phoenix on Monday morning.

Whew, what a trip!

cindy

Days 17-18 - Great American Road Trip - New Mexico

Day 17 was a travel day from the Denver area to Las Vegas, New Mexico.  We thought our campground was closer to Santa Fe, but not so.  New Mexico was high desert, pretty desolate and unpopulated.  That pretty much describes the campground where we stayed too.  The kids gamely tried out the swimming pool and we snapped a few pictures before they jumped out shivering.

That was pretty much the highlight of Day 17.  We couldn't light a fire because the area was under a fire restriction.  Thank goodness the KOA campground loaned DVDs.  "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" saved the evening.

Day 18 was much better.  We headed toward Santa Fe and our first stop was the Pecos National Historic Park.  This is one of the many locations in New Mexico where you can see where native cliff dwellers or pueblos were located.  A very large pueblo community existed at Pecos before the Spanish showed up in the 1600's.  The ruins of an old adobe church and underground kivas are still there to explore.

We also confirmed that New Mexico is the land of ants.  There are black ants and red ants with really big ant hills.  Kent is really susceptible to ant bites, so we were jumping around a bit.

Our next stop was Los Alamos Laboratory.  You can't actually go to Los Alamos, but we did find the Bradbury Museum which is a gem of a place dedicated to learning about the work of Los Alamos, especially the Manhattan Project and the first nuclear bomb.  It was free and we highly recommend it if you are ever in the Santa Fe area.  This is "Fat Man" a replica of the first plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

We probably stayed a little too long at the Bradbury Museum because we didn't get to downtown Santa Fe until just after 5:00 p.m.  I was a little disappointed because there were a few places I wanted to show the kids, including Loretto Chapel with the amazing staircase.  We trooped all over downtown Santa Fe, looking for a place to eat and finally found a little place where we could have our "last night" dinner which is a tradition for us at the end of vacation.

Tomorrow - goodbye New Mexico, hello Arizona and home!!

cindy

Day Four - Great American Road Trip - Salt Lake City

We spent a lot of time driving today from Bryce Canyon to Salt Lake City, so we didn't get to our campground until early afternoon.  While Kent took the kids to the pool, I called our RV rental place to talk about our little "black water" problem.  I alluded to this a couple of days ago, but didn't really specify.  Let's just say that where the "black water" comes out of the RV into a flexible pipe there is a leak in the valve which results in a persistent "dripping".  We're trying not to use the bathroom in the RV, but the good news is that the rental place will reimburse us if we fix it.  That's something we'll definitely do because we really don't like looking like the rednecks in the RV park with "black water" dripping into a bucket.  KWIM?

This evening we ventured into Salt Lake City on a free shuttle from the RV park to Temple Square.  On the 2 mile drive we were "toured" by an elderly couple who were married 52 years ago and sealed forever in the Temple into all eternity.  Hmmm . . . the free shuttle all of a sudden didn't sound free.

Sure enough, we were dropped on the side of Temple Square into the waiting arms of Sister Bradshaw and Sister Dizon who were waiting to take us on a full tour of the beautiful complex of buildings owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  These young ladies were very pleasant and answered all our questions (which we kept to subjects about the buildings).  We saw two visitor centers, the family history center, an auditorium with a gorgeous organ and of course, the outside of the Temple.

At the end we saw the big statute of Christ in a dome with the universe painted around him.

I would highly recommend the tour.  I'm not sure you can get through Temple Square without at least being approached by very friendly missionaries waiting to show you around.  It was very educational and the buildings are so nice.  Mackenzie especially liked the talk about "sealing families" in the Temple, so it was time to go to the food court at the nearby mall.  Over dinner we had a great conversation about Catholicism and Mormons.

On our way back to the RV park we couldn't help but stop and gaze at the beautiful snowy white Temple in the darkness.

I wish we could have spent more time in Salt Lake City.  I have to acknowledge our guides, Sister Bradshaw and Sister Dizon - we definitely would not have been able to see so much on Temple Square without them.

Tomorrow - on to Jackson Hole, Wyoming!

cindy

Day One - Great American Road Trip

Me.  My husband.  My kids.  In a RV.  For 20 days.  Traveling the West.  It's the Great American Road Trip and we'd love if you joined us (vicariously because there's no more room in this RV).  We didn't leave Scottsdale until 1:30 p.m. because we had to pick up the RV, learn to use it (we've never driven or stayed in one before) and pack it.

Today's route - through Flagstaff north of the Grand Canyon and ending in Kanab, Utah.  In between we saw gorgeous untouched parts of northern Arizona, near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We drove through the Painted Desert on the Navajo Reservation and saw the Vermilion Cliffs.

  

It was beautiful right at sunset even if we took the pictures from the car.  We then stopped at Lee's Ferry just below Lake Powell.

We finally arrived at Kanab, Utah 9 hours after we left.  This should be the longest driving day on the trip (hopefully).  It was surprisingly easy even though we got 6 miles to the gallon going up to Flagstaff.  At that rate it's going to be a little expensive.

The kids LOVE the RV which means Kent and I love the RV.  They can move about somewhat and have more options for activities.  We even ate lunch while driving!  I'm hoping we are as enthusiastic about this on day 19.  We only left a few items at home - that we know about at this point.

Tomorrow we are off to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon.  Tonight it's just time for bed.

See you tomorrow!

cindy