Dry Camping in Cali

I've read a lot about dry camping but this was the first time we actually did it.  We stayed at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa, CA for 3 nights.  It's a real nice campground with 31 campsites; 2 are first come, first served, the others are a mix between tents & RV sites and are by reservation. They have  potable water, restrooms with electrical outlets, flush toilets, a dump station and showers, although their showers are a bit on the expensive side at $2.00 for 5 minutes.  We didn't use the showers except for the last day when our fresh water tank was getting low.  

The great thing about being able to travel with your pets is that they are with you all the time, you don't have to board them so that saves on money.  The bad thing about traveling with your pets is when one of them barfs in your sleeping bag at 4am and that's the only thing you have to sleep in or if one pee's on it (the puppy, who is still going through the potty training stage).  Fortunately, this all happened on the last night and our next campground destination has full service including a laundromat so we will be able to wash everything.  All in all, I wouldn't change it.  It's no different than having kids except that you don't have to feed them all day, they don't whine when they are bored, they are happy to be laying down or sitting on your lap and our 24' RV fits us just fine.

On the second day of dry camping we decided to use a handy little barbecue grill we bought online.  It's from a company by the name of Fox Outfitters.  This grill is great because it folds flat! Since we have very limited storage this was a good addition to our collection of RV needs.  The one thing we didn't think of is that because this is a much smaller grill we may not need as many coals.  It heats up a lot faster and as a consequence burnt our tri-tip, only on one side.  We were able to cut around the burnt part and enjoyed the perfectly cooked other side.  

Great barbecue

1

Everything fits in this bag

Burnt tri-tip

I forgot to turn off the outside light before we went to sleep and it ran our battery down.  The campground has generator restrictions so we had to wait until 8am before we could turn it on to charge the battery and even then the battery didn't stay charged.  It was fine though, we were able to get by.

We packed up and set our sights on the next campground; Flying Flags RV Resort & Campground in Buellton, CA.    It took us about 6 hours to get there mostly because of the bay area traffic    but the view on the way was so pretty. 

I've never been to a campground like Flying Flags.  It's a little overwhelming at first with so many sites and being pretty close together.  Our site was on a corner just down from the playground and next to a trailer with 4 small boys, "yippee", not.  It wasn't bad really.  It was nice to see kids riding their bikes, laughing and yelling at each other.  They were having a great time and it reminded me of when our kids were younger.

We got everything set-up and had dinner and then we walked around.   It was a long day so we called it a night.  The next day we walked into town, just a few blocks up the road to Anderson's Pea Soup.  If you like pea soup you'll love Anderson's.    We walked into the gift store and I was surprised at all the different things they had.  There is definitely something for everyone, 

except us.  Remember in my earlier blog I told you we are collecting patches from our trips, well Anderson Pea Soup doesn't carry patches anymore because their supplier went out of business.  I guess they were the only supplier in the U.S. Maybe they weren't a big selling item.  We walked back to Flying Flags and took the girls out for a walk.  We sat at our site until we started getting hungry and decided to eat at the Campfire Cafe located in the Flying Flags campground. My husband had a country burger which had bacon, onion rings, bbq sauce and the usual fixins.  I opted to try the veggie burger made from tofu as I'm trying to stick as close as possible to my new eating regiment which is low carb high protein.  Surprisingly my burger was good, I enjoyed it.  Sitting outside at the cafe on the patio my husband noticed that their are mainly younger families with just a handful of us older RVers and all have top of the line travel trailers and trucks.  We enjoy walking around the camp sites and seeing the different set-ups people have.  One thing I really liked and I'm going to buy is a portable folding hammock.  I saw it at one of the RV sites and it looked so comfortable.  I have a hammock now but you need to put it onto 2 trees and finding the 2 perfectly spaced trees for it is difficult.  I guess I should have thought that through a bit more.

As close as the RV sites are at this campground

 we enjoyed it and would stay here again.  Tomorrow we pack up and head to Indio for the end of our trip.

Until then . . .

"Adventure is out there"

"California here we come . . ."

Our next trip is planned for California and the Central Coast.  I really like going to California, the North Bay to be exact.  I like the weather, the landscape, visiting friends and family, it never gets old.

To prepare for this trip we had to get some minor repairs done to the RV that we discovered from our Shake Down trip last month.  Being that it's a 2003 there's going to be some things the 'ol girl needs.  Things like; the handle for the TV antenna.  The screw that secures it was striped and it just fell off.  The handle to the vent in the bathroom keeps falling off and the fan blades drop after it runs for awhile and hit the frame (not a good sound. It will surely wake you up).  We had to have a new wall mount stereo installed.  We knew we weren't receiving radio stations but we thought either we were out of an reception area or that the antenna was never hooked up. We found out the old one doesn't work at all, hahaha, what do we know.  Last on the list was the refrigerator.  It's not getting any colder than 48 - 54 degrees. The place where we took the RV for the repairs was our second choice, a good choice too.  We first took our RV to Camping World in Mesa, AZ.  I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about this experience I just want to say that after a week of it being parked in the back dirt lot and being told it was in the shop being worked on we asked for the keys back and drove off.  The Yelp reviews were right, we should have stayed away.  

The new RV repair shop is great. They had everything repaired in 3 days, well not everything, the refrigerator is still an issue.  I guess that's to be expected from a 13 year old appliance.  To repair the frige we could either replace the cooling element or buy a new frige.  Either way it would cost $1500 - $2000.  So we decided to convert it into an icebox!  What a great idea (really?).  Not really.  We thought we would see how the refrigerator would do on this trip being that it won't be as warm as it was the last trip.  But just in case we bought 4 - 4x7 icepaks to help it out.  I know what you're thinking because we thought it too but we are hoping that by some miracle it will revive the refrigerator and save us $2000. More on this experiment after the trip.

We just got a new puppy.  She is a teacup chihuahua, 10 weeks old and we named her Chloe. She is so small that I had to make a harness for her so we could take her outside for potty training.   We are taking her with us on our California trip of course.  It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Until then . . .

"Adventure is out there"

Shake Down Trip, Part Three

Our last day at Trailer Village.  We packed up and headed to Grand Canyon Caverns; our next RV park destination located in Peach Springs.  It's along Route 66 which we were excited for because we were stopping to be tourists and take pictures at the various classic stores.  This is where Pixar/Disney got their ideas for the movie Cars. It was neat to see the "real live" places that are featured in animation in the movie.  We took pictures with our 'selfie stick', hahaha.  I laugh because if you could see my husband & I trying to figure out how to use it and when the picture actually clicked you would be laughing too. My husband decided that for every place we visit we should collect patches for the RV instead of stickers and he would collect hats.  So we bought a patch and a hat at the Market Plaza store at the Grand Canyon & the store at our Route 66 stop.

We headed off again to our final destination at the Grand Canyon Caverns.  It's fun to look at the terrain as we drive, I really enjoy it.

 
 My husband & I were looking along the road when we saw a big sign advertising "Grand Canyon Caverns" "Cavern Inn".  There was also a big green dinosaur placed  just before the sign.  It was unusual.  A bit odd to us to see this but we laughed about it and kept driving.

We reached the town of Peach Springs where I finally had WiFi so I could look up the directions to the RV park.  Seems like we drove right by the turn off so we had to turn around.  The RV park is located at mile marker 115 and we were at 102!  As we drove we couldn't see anything that resembles an RV park and we were getting a little concerned but as we got closer to mile marker 115 we quickly realized that the RV park was the Green Dinosaur' Grand Canyon Cavern sign and run down building.  Now, I like to remain optimistic with new experiences but even I had doubts about this place.  We saw the sign that pointed RV's to the park and we headed down a dusty bumpy road.  At the end was a building where I guess you check in and where you would book tours to see the caverns but we decided to take a ride around the campsites.  The campsites are just dirt with electrical units that some looked like they had been backed into, My pictures make it look pretty nice but the place is eerie.  Maybe if there were other RV's there?  I don't know it just made us feel uneasy.  There was NOBODY camping there except for a creepy little trailer not in any campsite in back of what looked like a wooden stage (why is there a stage there and what is it for???) There was a clothesline outside the trailer with clothes on it and some other things outside the trailer so we thought maybe that was where the groundskeeper lived???  My husband "said no way are we staying here.  It reminds me of a scene from the movie "The Hills Have Eyes".  The whole area reminded me of a scene from a horror movie where you come upon a rundown amusement park which you know you shouldn't enter but you do anyway and soon realize that you may never leave.  We got the heck out of there, forfeited our site fee and started looking for another RV park.

I have a Good Sam app on my cell phone so I pulled it up and found a few places in Kingman.  The one that stood out was Blake's Ranch RV Park & Horse Motel.  I spoke with Kim who was very polite and made a reservation for us.  We arrived there a short time later, met Kim and she gave us a choice of 13 sites and told us to drive around and whatever one we decide on to just give her a call and let her know.  We chose #6 because it had the most shade.  We set up camp and then took the dogs out for a walk.  Blake's Ranch is a meticulously kept RV park.  Each site has pea-gravel, 30 & 50 amp, water, sewer & cable! We didn't even have to level the RV when we parked. The park has free WiFi, laundry, restrooms & showers, a small convenience store, Koi pond and a dog run/park.  We made dinner and called it a night.  Tomorrow we head home.  It was a good trip.  We had a great time, learned a few new things about the RV and are planning our next trip.

Until next time.

"Adventure is out there"

Shake Down Trip, Part Two

We woke up bright and early, 6am to be exact.  What am I doing waking up this early!?  Once we were ready we decided to take a walk around the South Rim first and then drive.  We hooked up the dogs and off we went.  As we were walking towards the Rim I noticed how quiet and peaceful it was.  We had to walk through the Market Plaza parking lot, cross the street and through a wooded area before coming out to the Rim.  Let me tell you, if you haven't been to the Grand Canyon you must go.  I used to be one of those people that thought I'd seen it by looking at photos or documentaries.  Those are nothing to actually experiencing it for yourself.  It's majestic, spiritual, peaceful and beautiful.

We walked for quite awhile until we came to the Amphitheater.  There is a documentary that is played several times a day however, it was too early when we arrived so nothing was playing.  I imagine it would get pretty hot sitting outside watching the movie during the summer but in the Spring or Fall it should be enjoyable. The trail we walked around is called the Trail of Time. At various points of the trail there are these brass emblems embedded into the path that state the periods of time you are walking; i.e. 980 million years, 880 million years and so on.  There are also blocks of the Grand Canyon from the different layers displayed as you walk.  Each one has a description of the type of rock and the age.

Ampitheater

Nankoweap Sandstone 900 million years old

We walked for a little more but decided not to go all the way to the Yavapai Point Geology Museum so we turned around and headed back to camp.  Once back at camp we unhooked the RV and my husband got into the drivers seat, started it up and called out to me "ready to go?"  I said "sure but don't you want to put the slide-out in first?".  So I pushed the button to retract the slide-out and nothing happened. Oh crap, what do we do now?!  My husband thought we may have blown a fuse, but that wasn't it.  Then he thought we needed the generator on but that wasn't it.  So he shut off the generator went back outside and hooked up the electric cord for shore power thinking that was the issue but it wasn't.  He came back in and as we just looked at each other thinking I said "maybe the engine needs to be turned off".  Sure enough, that was the problem.  You can't operate the slide-out function while the RV engine is running.  It's a safety feature.  Glad we figured that out. Like I said, we're RV newbies :-)

There are a number of pull-outs along the Rim.  We stopped at all but Navajo Point.  They all have spectacular views of the Grand Canyon but my favorite was Lipan Point.  It had the best panoramic view, in my opinion.  We stopped at Tusayan Museum & Ruins which was very interesting.

Living quarters

tree dating explanation

When we got back to camp we relaxed awhile and decided to make dinner.  While I was washing up the dishes I reached over to check the tank levels (something I do periodically) and one of the tanks was full!  How did that happen in such a short amount of time???  This morning is was zero.  My husband rushed outside and hooked up the sewer hose (remember he didn't want to hook it up).  We both thought it had to be the grey tank because I had washed dishes twice each day and we both took showers.  So he dumped the grey tank and voila! nothing happened, the tank still showed full.  Oh crap, that means it's the black tank that's full.  Sure enough when he pulled the other handle a whoosh of yucky water flushed out.  The question now is why is the black tank full.  We hardly used it and we were experts in RV black water tanks.  We watched all the YouTube videos and read lots of blogs on the subject.  How could this happen? (hahaha, yeah right, experts).  We spent the next 20 minutes running water in the shower, bathroom sink, kitchen sink and flushing the toilet to try to figure out the problem.  This is what we found out; the bathroom sink and the shower empty to the grey water tank.  The kitchen sink and toilet empty into the black water tank.  At first we thought we had a major plumbing issue but we Googled (thank goodness for Google!) and found out that this is common in a lot of RV's.  So no more problem with our tanks or plumbing.  I think this trip was a shake down for us as well as the RV :-)

We finish our trip in the next part.  Until then.


"Adventure is out there"

Shake Down Trip, Part One

June 2016

We decided to go to the Grand Canyon for our first trip since neither one of us has ever been there.  We like to research anything we 'think' we want to do first before actually trying it.  This can be good and bad.  Since we have no experience RVing and know nothing of RV campgrounds except for YouTube and Google we of course Googled campgrounds at the Grand Canyon.  We decided to stay two nights at Trailer Village at the South Rim.  We went shopping for all our grocery necessities, packed the RV and off we went.

We have two little dogs, a chihuahua and a chihuahua/terrier mix.  We were a little apprehensive on how well they would do in the RV with all it's squeaks & rattles but they did fine.  The older one, Bailey who is the chihuahua, slept on the couch, her bed on the floor and my lap.  She really felt at home.  Ellie, the chihuahua/terrier mix, didn't like the RV as much as Bailey.  She spent the whole trip riding on my husbands lap or mine.  We're hoping she settles in the more we travel.

The ride to the Grand Canyon was exciting for us newbies.  One thing I want to mention is the park pass we purchased; America the Beautiful; Senior Pass.  Now, you can ask any of my friends or family members about me and Senior Discounts. I always said the day I'm eligible for senior discounts you bet I'm taking advantage.  No way am I hiding that I'm now 55 and eligible for all those discount goodies!  This is one of those times, not for me though as I don't yet qualify but my husband does :-)  This pass is a National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands lifetime pass for U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over. The pass provides access to, and use of, Federal recreation sites that charge an Entrance or Standard Amenity. All for the one time price of $10!  It came in handy at the Grand Canyon as the entrance fee is $30 per vehicle.  You can check out more about the various park passes here: https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/fees.htm.  I highly recommend buying a pass if you qualify.

My husband is super with navigation which came in handy when we were driving around trying to find Trailer Village.  If it were left to me we would still be driving around lost.  We arrived at Trailer Village where we checked in and received our site number.  The site was very nice as is the rest of Trailer Village although not a lot of shade.  They are the only RV park located inside the Grand Canyon with full RV hook-ups. The first thing to do was hook up all the necessities; electricity, sewer and water.  However, my husband thought that since we had a big enough black water tank he wouldn't hook up the sewer hose until the last day.  While we were setting up we had a surprise visitor, an Elk!  She just strolled into camp taking a look at us while munching on the grass as she nonchalantly walked by.  The dogs really didn't take notice, which I was thankful for because I didn't want them to start barking and disrupt our neighbors.

Once settled we decided to to take the shuttle to the Market Plaza where the Yavapai Lodge, general store, gift shop, Chase bank and connections to other shuttle buses will take you around the Grand Canyon.  We looked around and headed back to camp where we made dinner and sat outside for awhile.  It's nice to sit outside in the peaceful surroundings of nature and not be inundated with technology. We didn't have WiFi or cell phone reception and we didn't miss it!


More to follow.  Until next time.


"Adventure is out there"