Below you will find pages that utilize the taxonomy term “Travel”
October 10, 2017
Jackson Airstream Rally
What: Jackson Airstream Rally
Where: Jackson Rancheria RV resort
When: October 5-10th 2017
Probably the biggest rally for the relatively unstructured Northern California Airstreamers. The group is very casual, no officers or dues. A wagonmaster volunteers to host a rally, they do all the legwork to make reservations, gather names and registration fees, and deal with the inevitable changes and cancellations. Because they want to. An amazing group of folks.
May 21, 2017
Burney Falls
What: Annual Family camping trip
Where: Mcarthur-Burney Falls State Park, Burney, California
Stops: Durango RV Resort, Red Bluff, California
When: May 23-30th, 2017
Description: My wife’s family has been doing an annual camping trip on Memorial day weekend for over 50 years. When I started going, I didn’t really call it camping, because the park has bathrooms and showers. I was really more interested in camping in remote areas that I’d use my 4wd to trek into.
February 24, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day thirteen+, Pinnacles Airstream Rally
We arrived at our final stop Friday, the Airstream Rally at Pinnacles National Park. We’d planned to stay here 4 nights, but Sydnee got really sick. She spent Saturday in Serenity with a fever, all the covers, and the dogs. We left first thing Sunday morning. Good thing, she got sicker on return, saw the doctor to get some strong cough medicine and an inhaler, and nearly caught pneumonia!
February 23, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day twelve, Visalia
Campground was tight, muddy, had people coming/going late and early, and a development right next door was getting roofing installed. At 7am. With radios and compressors. And one of those inconsiderate neighbors that for some reason needs to start their loud diesel truck in the morning, and run it for 30 minutes, not hooked up to the trailer. What is up with that? Also, not cheap. Might have been the most expensive KOA on the trip.
February 22, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day eleven, Calico Ghost Town
We’d been a stone’s through from here before, on day two, when we stayed at the Barstow KOA (which is closer to Calico than Barstow). Got here early so we could spend the afternoon at the “Ghost Town”. Helpful hint, admission is free if you camp at their campground! The campground is huge, mostly dirt, clean bathrooms. Sites vary a lot, from not too shabby to packed in. If the campground were full, it’d be unpleasant, but there were only a handful of other campers while we were there.
February 21, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day ten, Salton Sea and Joshua Tree
I’d never been near the Salton Sea. Saw it on travel shows, where everything looked dead and falling apart, and locals looked like folks who’d moved there, then couldn’t leave. That was not what we found. Yes, the water-oriented businesses were closed and abandoned, but there were a lot of newer well maintained houses, a lot of residents, but obviously 1/10th or less the potential population, the roads and layout were designed for way more houses.
February 19, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day eight/nine, San Diego
Visited my sister, niece, step-nephew and great nephew. Good times, camped in front of my nieces’ house, which was convenient. Had a great visit hanging out, visiting town, sampling beers. I have remarkably few photos, will have to look into that. All I took was a picture of food!
Also, got to eat Sushi!
February 18, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day seven, Winterhaven
Drove through rain all day long. Found a spot just outside Yuma, in Winterhaven. It was crowded, lots of long-term folks, was really soggy, sites were small, and one trailer had something beeping 3-5 times a second for our entire stay. Had to play the stereo at night to help drown out the beeping. Oh, and the mens restroom, just down the way, was out of service when we arrived. Was working again when we left, probably rain related.
February 17, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day six, Mesa
Stopped by to visit relatives in Mesa. Had a lovely visit, fun dinner, great breakfast, then we hit the road again!
February 16, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day four/five, more Tucson
Had a great time visiting with Frank and Steph. Good and cheap margaritas at the KOA Cantina
Plus, they had a decent selection of Pinball!
They took us to the Sonoran Desert Museum, a place we’ll have to return to. Raptor free-flight, two aviaries, tons of native plants. So much to see and learn, in a really well laid out park. The cafeteria was surprisingly good too.
Really well made evolution sculpture:
February 14, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day three, Tucson!
Day three – Barstow to Tucson – 9 hours, 494 miles
We got a great spot at the Tucson KOA. Had a gas fireplace, a nice table, and two adirondack chairs. The campground was clean, really well run, had a fitness center, a Cantina with decent and reasonably priced food and a great happy hour for drinks. Also lots of varied activities, including live music. It also has 400 sites, which we thought would be crazy, but the layout and organization made it a non-issue.
February 13, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day two, stop in Barstow
Day two: Fairfield to Barstow – 6.5 hours, 430 miles
The door issue meant we had to do two long travel days, with no side trips, so today was just a long drive, and an after dark arrival. Campground was convenient, but we didn’t really time to look around. One note, the Chevron near here, by Calico Ghost Town, is convenient, but had the most expensive fuel we found on the entire trip.
February 12, 2017
To Tucson, and Beyond! Day one, stuck in Fairfield
Summary:
14 Days
2876 Miles driven
54 Hours driving
12.5 MPG average (14.7 MPG Max, 8.5 MPG Min)
53 MPH average
General driving observations:
California roads are terrible. Just terrible. Other states would post “rough road ahead” on nearly every California highway.
Drivers in any semi-urban area are terrible, are always in a great hurry, and you can predict them cutting you off and slamming on their brakes to take an exit, rather than losing 2 seconds and doing it safely.
August 16, 2016
Serenity's maiden voyage
We’d been seriously looking at trailers and RV’s for about 3 years. We’d gone to RV shows, and realized there were a ton of trailers, all more or less the same. Then, there were Airstreams. A lot of things, like appliances and fixtures are identical, there was something just a bit more special about them. But, part of them being special was them being twice the cost. So, we just kept looking, didn’t expect we’d get anything soon.
May 26, 2009
Burney Falls Camping
Every Memorial Day weekend for the last 43 years, my wife’s family has gone camping. It started as a Sportsmen’s club event with her Dad, and became a family tradition. At some point, the location her family settled on was Burney Falls State Park. A lovely park with hiking and tons of stocked fishing nearby, perfect since her whole family love to fish. Mostly catch and release, but a few trout are eaten as well.