We committed to the Gomez Family, grandson Happy in particular, that we’d be there to celebrate his 5th birthday. That required we depart Coronado Island on 28 April and travel 2,665 miles in 13 days. We were challenged by longer driving distances between stops (306 to 437 miles) , and only being able to stop…
The drive from Seal Beach to San Diego was only an hour and a half, but because our check-in wasn’t until 2 pm, we lunched at Nectarine Grove Cafe & Bakehouse in Encinitas just to kill time. They served only “fresh and organic, 100% gluten-free, local, and sustainable meals.” Ohh-kay, we must be in California….
The drive from Needles to Seal Beach (pop. 23,896) was 264 miles across the Mojave Desert. We stopped in Barstow, CA (pop. 23,915) and got our second cup of coffee, filled our personal thermoses for the remaining drive, ate lunch at Panera Bread, and had Arthur cleaned at Blue Beacon Truck Wash. We’re new fans…
We will be attending the wedding of our nephew Max (the son of MFI’s brother Jim) in Rosarita, Baja California, Mexico at the end of April. As such, we needed to work our way west to ensure we’re there in plenty of time and able to reserve a campsite on the U.S. side. With that…
We left Arthur decorated until after the New Year. It wasn’t until we took down the decorations that the strange weather happened. The first event was the biggest snowfall of the season, although very little snow fell during our stay overall. The second event was heavy rainfall, sufficient enough to flood the street corner where…
This was the third time we’ve stayed at Sandy Lake RV and Tiny Home Park in Carrollton, TX (population 139,248). Not the best campground really, but we hadn’t found a suitable alternative that met our needs: reasonable cost; close to interstate highways; and convenient to Jon’s family in Richardson, the condo in Arlington, and our…
We would be in Carrollton, TX for the winter after just two more stops. But first, we needed to get out of New Mexico. After a 278-mile leg, including 50 miles of the Llano Estacado, we stopped in Amarillo, TX (population 199,371). There was no doubting in which state we had entered. We were treated…
We weren’t very far past Winslow when I-40 was closed because of an accident, and we were directed north on what became a 100-mile detour across more of the Colorado Plateau and the Defiance Plateau. Being retired has taught us to not be in any hurry and to take what comes along in stress-free stride….
Our next leg of 249 miles took us from Needles (elevation 495′) on a slow climb across west central Arizona to Flagstaff (elevation 6,909′) and onto the Colorado Plateau. We stopped at the Meteor Crater RV Park about 20 miles west of Winslow and 5 miles north of the Meteor Crater Natural Landmark. We had…
Few things scream coastal California better than a classic woody station wagon. We had lots of friends to visit in the Los Angeles area before heading east to winter in Carrollton, TX; so we again stayed for a week at the Walnut RV Park in Northridge, CA. From experience, I chose a better-located spot within…
