Back from West Coast Trip
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Back from West Coast Trip
by Scruffy and Tater on 5/30/2009, 4:41 pm
We left home on May 11. We stayed that night at Midessa Oil Patch RV Park in between Midland and Odessa, TX. We visited the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum which is a few miles east of the campground. We didn't get there early enough to see the indoor part of the museum, but there was a lot to see of the outdoor part. The outdoor part is a self guided driving tour, with places to park and explore along the way. There were many antique oil pumps and drilling rigs, and it was all very interesting. Someday we might get here early enough to see the indoor museum.
Our second night was at Las Cruces NM at the KOA. We made arrangements before the trip to meet Gary and Glenda (Retired2), and they came up to the campground after we got set up. They took us to Old Mesilla a historic old town with much of the original architecture. I love historic places, so was very impressed with Old Mesilla. We ate in a restaurant called LaPosta. It occupies a square of buildings that were built so that the inside area was an open courtyard. The courtyard has since been covered, and is part of the restaurants entry and dining area. The shops around the courtyard are now dining rooms. Dinner was very good.... thanks for taking us there Gary and Glenda. After dinner Gary drove us around town and through some famous pecan orchards. It was very interesting to us how the orchards are irrigated - they are completely flooded, and the water is allowed to soak into the ground.
Night three was a relatively short drive from Las Cruces - Benson, AZ. We stayed at Butterfield RV Park. This park is so pristine it is almost sterile. We planned our trip so we could stay at Benson and drive to and through Saguaro National Park East (Rincon Mtn. District). The next morning Scruffy discovered we had a flat tire. Good Sam Emergency Road Service had a guy out very quickly. He removed the tire and put on the spare. Then we drove to his garage where he checked the tire and found out we had a cracked rim (not our first, BTW). There were no rims to be had in Benson, so we drove on to -
Yuma, AZ. We stayed at a RV park called Shangri-la. Scruffy asked at the registration office where a tire place was, and they sent him to a place right across the highway. They didn't have any rims. The next morning we drove to Discount Tires. They didn't have any rims, so the guy there called every tire place in Yuma, including the Mexican ones where we probably would have had a communication problem. Nobody had the right rims. So, we were going to have to drive over the mountains that I absolutely dreaded without a spare. Well, I figured a spare wouldn't help much anyway if we had a blowout and went over the side.
We made it over the mountain. By now our dil called. She was going to work a half day but decided to take the entire day off. Our son would work until about 10:30 or 11. Bless her heart, she volunteered to calling the Discount Tires in their area; so Scruffy gave her the details of what we needed. When our son got home, he started calling too. They could find one rim in one store, another rim in another store, etc., but not 4 rims in one store. Okay, we could drive around and pick them up one at a time and take them to one Discount Tire store for installation. Yuck! When our dil called one store, they didn't have the steel rims, but they did have aluminum rims, and they quoted her a pretty decent price. We had reservations at Escondido (Sunland) RV park, but decided to drive to their home and park on the street to sort things out. When we got there, our dil mentioned the aluminum rims and asked if we'd take them at the quoted price. Scruffy said, "Yes!" So, she called the nearest Discount Tires and asked if they would meet the price from the other Discount Tire. The guy she talked with didn't quite believe her, and asked her to wait while he called the other place. The other place confirmed the quote they made, and agreed to the price, and Scruffy and our son were off to Discount Tires to get 4 beautiful aluminum rims. The spare would have to still be the steel one we bought in January to replace another one that was cracked. Well, we could enjoy the rest of our trip without the fear of getting another flat. After we got the new rims, we went to Escondido RV Park and got the site we had requested.
We had a nice visit with our son, daughter-in-law, and 25 yo grandson. One day we visited Cabrillo National Monument. It was beautiful up there and we saw John Coleman. He's a weather man in the Southern California area now, but years ago he was a weatherman in the Chicago area, and having lived in the Chicago area back then, we remembered him (after our dil spotted him and told us who he was). He has gotten older - so have we. :)
A few days later (Monday) we were off to Sam's Town Casino Campground in Las Vegas. We didn't leave Escondido real early as we wanted to avoid the rush hour traffic around Riverside, CA. Traffic wasn't bad when we got up there, it was a little backed up in one place, but not bad. We got to Las Vegas around 1 or 1:30pm. We had sort of planned on meeting Maxtor and his wife, but they had to check out before our arrival. Got set up in a very nice site right next to one that Maxtor had recommended. We had wonderful afternoon shade that was very much appreciated in the extreme heat. The next day our son and dil (same ones we visited in Southern CA) arrived by plane. We picked them up at the airport and took them Downtown to Golden Nugget, where they had reservations.
One of the days we were in Las Vegas we drove up to Mount Charleston. It was very pretty there. We ate a late breakfast at the lodge, and then drove on as far as the road would take us. The road ended at the ski slopes.... there was quite a bit of snow up there, and it was pleasantly cool.
Another day we went to Valley of Fire. The red rock formations were beautiful. I started taking pictures, and soon my camera battery went dead. I've got to start remembering to recharge the battery more often when I'm taking lots of pictures. Well, we'll just have to store the images in our heads. :)
One of our little side trips took us to Silverton Casino/Bass Pro Shops. It's always a treat to walk through BPS. They are all similar but have distinct differences - at least that's our experience with the few that we've visited. We noticed that Silverton RV Park was gone. We were thinking of staying there sometime. Maybe they bulldozed it to make a new one, but we doubt it.
We stayed at Sam's Town until the day after Memorial Day so we would avoid any holiday traffic.
We left Las Vegas and drove over Hoover Dam. The new bridge is coming along quite well. We don't know if it's on schedule - probably not - but it sure is impressive. When it's done, we think they will stop all motorized traffic on the dam, except maybe one lane for dam service vehicles. At least we hope they close the dam to traffic - it needs a rest. The water in Lake Mead is very low. They need a HUGE amount of rain and a HUGE amount of snow melt for several years to get the lake to a decent level again.
Our first stop on our way back home was Holbrook/Petrified Forest KOA. We were going to get set up and drive through Petrified Forest, but we had a little glitch. Our living room slide wouldn't go out all the way at the top. Bottom was tight, top was letting light come through. Scruffy made some adjustments on the slide mechanism and got it to close tighter, but by then it was getting too late for our drive. So we went to the Dairy Queen for Blizzards instead.
Next stop - Santa Rosa Campground and RV Park. We drove in rain for about 5 minutes before getting into Santa Rosa. We found the campground and it stopped raining before we started setting up. We had a wonderfully relaxing evening.
Our last night was at a campground in Vernon, TX. We choose to not give the name of this place. Let's just pretend that it doesn't exist. Well, if we were desperate, we'd stay here again.
May 29, finally, home - it's great to travel, but eventually we long for good old home. Big king-size bed, big shower, porch swing, plenty of kitchen counter space, great neighbors. Now it's time to plan our next trip. :)
Our second night was at Las Cruces NM at the KOA. We made arrangements before the trip to meet Gary and Glenda (Retired2), and they came up to the campground after we got set up. They took us to Old Mesilla a historic old town with much of the original architecture. I love historic places, so was very impressed with Old Mesilla. We ate in a restaurant called LaPosta. It occupies a square of buildings that were built so that the inside area was an open courtyard. The courtyard has since been covered, and is part of the restaurants entry and dining area. The shops around the courtyard are now dining rooms. Dinner was very good.... thanks for taking us there Gary and Glenda. After dinner Gary drove us around town and through some famous pecan orchards. It was very interesting to us how the orchards are irrigated - they are completely flooded, and the water is allowed to soak into the ground.
Night three was a relatively short drive from Las Cruces - Benson, AZ. We stayed at Butterfield RV Park. This park is so pristine it is almost sterile. We planned our trip so we could stay at Benson and drive to and through Saguaro National Park East (Rincon Mtn. District). The next morning Scruffy discovered we had a flat tire. Good Sam Emergency Road Service had a guy out very quickly. He removed the tire and put on the spare. Then we drove to his garage where he checked the tire and found out we had a cracked rim (not our first, BTW). There were no rims to be had in Benson, so we drove on to -
Yuma, AZ. We stayed at a RV park called Shangri-la. Scruffy asked at the registration office where a tire place was, and they sent him to a place right across the highway. They didn't have any rims. The next morning we drove to Discount Tires. They didn't have any rims, so the guy there called every tire place in Yuma, including the Mexican ones where we probably would have had a communication problem. Nobody had the right rims. So, we were going to have to drive over the mountains that I absolutely dreaded without a spare. Well, I figured a spare wouldn't help much anyway if we had a blowout and went over the side.
We made it over the mountain. By now our dil called. She was going to work a half day but decided to take the entire day off. Our son would work until about 10:30 or 11. Bless her heart, she volunteered to calling the Discount Tires in their area; so Scruffy gave her the details of what we needed. When our son got home, he started calling too. They could find one rim in one store, another rim in another store, etc., but not 4 rims in one store. Okay, we could drive around and pick them up one at a time and take them to one Discount Tire store for installation. Yuck! When our dil called one store, they didn't have the steel rims, but they did have aluminum rims, and they quoted her a pretty decent price. We had reservations at Escondido (Sunland) RV park, but decided to drive to their home and park on the street to sort things out. When we got there, our dil mentioned the aluminum rims and asked if we'd take them at the quoted price. Scruffy said, "Yes!" So, she called the nearest Discount Tires and asked if they would meet the price from the other Discount Tire. The guy she talked with didn't quite believe her, and asked her to wait while he called the other place. The other place confirmed the quote they made, and agreed to the price, and Scruffy and our son were off to Discount Tires to get 4 beautiful aluminum rims. The spare would have to still be the steel one we bought in January to replace another one that was cracked. Well, we could enjoy the rest of our trip without the fear of getting another flat. After we got the new rims, we went to Escondido RV Park and got the site we had requested.
We had a nice visit with our son, daughter-in-law, and 25 yo grandson. One day we visited Cabrillo National Monument. It was beautiful up there and we saw John Coleman. He's a weather man in the Southern California area now, but years ago he was a weatherman in the Chicago area, and having lived in the Chicago area back then, we remembered him (after our dil spotted him and told us who he was). He has gotten older - so have we. :)
A few days later (Monday) we were off to Sam's Town Casino Campground in Las Vegas. We didn't leave Escondido real early as we wanted to avoid the rush hour traffic around Riverside, CA. Traffic wasn't bad when we got up there, it was a little backed up in one place, but not bad. We got to Las Vegas around 1 or 1:30pm. We had sort of planned on meeting Maxtor and his wife, but they had to check out before our arrival. Got set up in a very nice site right next to one that Maxtor had recommended. We had wonderful afternoon shade that was very much appreciated in the extreme heat. The next day our son and dil (same ones we visited in Southern CA) arrived by plane. We picked them up at the airport and took them Downtown to Golden Nugget, where they had reservations.
One of the days we were in Las Vegas we drove up to Mount Charleston. It was very pretty there. We ate a late breakfast at the lodge, and then drove on as far as the road would take us. The road ended at the ski slopes.... there was quite a bit of snow up there, and it was pleasantly cool.
Another day we went to Valley of Fire. The red rock formations were beautiful. I started taking pictures, and soon my camera battery went dead. I've got to start remembering to recharge the battery more often when I'm taking lots of pictures. Well, we'll just have to store the images in our heads. :)
One of our little side trips took us to Silverton Casino/Bass Pro Shops. It's always a treat to walk through BPS. They are all similar but have distinct differences - at least that's our experience with the few that we've visited. We noticed that Silverton RV Park was gone. We were thinking of staying there sometime. Maybe they bulldozed it to make a new one, but we doubt it.
We stayed at Sam's Town until the day after Memorial Day so we would avoid any holiday traffic.
We left Las Vegas and drove over Hoover Dam. The new bridge is coming along quite well. We don't know if it's on schedule - probably not - but it sure is impressive. When it's done, we think they will stop all motorized traffic on the dam, except maybe one lane for dam service vehicles. At least we hope they close the dam to traffic - it needs a rest. The water in Lake Mead is very low. They need a HUGE amount of rain and a HUGE amount of snow melt for several years to get the lake to a decent level again.
Our first stop on our way back home was Holbrook/Petrified Forest KOA. We were going to get set up and drive through Petrified Forest, but we had a little glitch. Our living room slide wouldn't go out all the way at the top. Bottom was tight, top was letting light come through. Scruffy made some adjustments on the slide mechanism and got it to close tighter, but by then it was getting too late for our drive. So we went to the Dairy Queen for Blizzards instead.
Next stop - Santa Rosa Campground and RV Park. We drove in rain for about 5 minutes before getting into Santa Rosa. We found the campground and it stopped raining before we started setting up. We had a wonderfully relaxing evening.
Our last night was at a campground in Vernon, TX. We choose to not give the name of this place. Let's just pretend that it doesn't exist. Well, if we were desperate, we'd stay here again.
May 29, finally, home - it's great to travel, but eventually we long for good old home. Big king-size bed, big shower, porch swing, plenty of kitchen counter space, great neighbors. Now it's time to plan our next trip. :)
_________________
Best Regards, Scruffy and Tater
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ScruffyAndTater
2007 29rlbs -- 2006 F250 diesel 4-door -- Super-glide hitch
Our first trailer - a used Fleetwing - photo taken in early 70's
Scruffy and Tater- Wildcat resident guru
- Number of posts: 3867
Registration date: 2008-04-05
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 
Re: Back from West Coast Trip
by Admin on 5/31/2009, 1:35 am
Now it's time to plan our next trip. :)
_________________
Phillip , Carol & Meredith
2007 Wildcat 32Qbbs
2001 Ford F350, SRW 7.3 PSD,Mich tires, Reese 16K ,FW tailgate.
Admin- Admin
- Number of posts: 3002
Registration date: 2008-04-04
Age: 50
Location: Milledgeville,GA -
Re: Back from West Coast Trip
by Scruffy and Tater on 5/31/2009, 9:05 am
I went out to the trailer to bring some stuff back into the house, and just sat there for awhile, thinking about our next trip. I think it will be a 3-4 day trip to Arkansas to look for a site for the little rally for people in this area. :)
_________________
Best Regards, Scruffy and Tater
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ScruffyAndTater
2007 29rlbs -- 2006 F250 diesel 4-door -- Super-glide hitch
Our first trailer - a used Fleetwing - photo taken in early 70's
Scruffy and Tater- Wildcat resident guru
- Number of posts: 3867
Registration date: 2008-04-05
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas -
Re: Back from West Coast Trip
by talala on 7/12/2009, 10:57 am
Scruffy and Tater,
Let us know when/where and we will see if we can join you.
Understand you are from Tulsa, we live in Owasso.
Let us know when/where and we will see if we can join you.
Understand you are from Tulsa, we live in Owasso.
talala- Member
- Number of posts: 199
Registration date: 2009-07-11
Age: 72
Location: N.E. Oklahoma -
Re: Back from West Coast Trip
by Scruffy and Tater on 7/12/2009, 2:29 pm
We lived in Tulsa from April, 1999 to June, 2007. Now we are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Right now the rally is on hold. We have to check out some campgrounds. It's really too darn hot to hook up and go. :) I'll keep everyone informed. Maybe we can find a few days in September or October to look over some spots in the Eureka Springs, Arkansas or Grove, Oklahoma areas..... and have a rally next summer. Do you think it will be any cooler next summer?
Right now the rally is on hold. We have to check out some campgrounds. It's really too darn hot to hook up and go. :) I'll keep everyone informed. Maybe we can find a few days in September or October to look over some spots in the Eureka Springs, Arkansas or Grove, Oklahoma areas..... and have a rally next summer. Do you think it will be any cooler next summer?
_________________
Best Regards, Scruffy and Tater
Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/ScruffyAndTater
2007 29rlbs -- 2006 F250 diesel 4-door -- Super-glide hitch
Our first trailer - a used Fleetwing - photo taken in early 70's
Scruffy and Tater- Wildcat resident guru
- Number of posts: 3867
Registration date: 2008-04-05
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas -
Re: Back from West Coast Trip
by Maxtor on 7/12/2009, 5:32 pm
Sounds like you had a great time. We also stayed at Santa Rosa rv park, and liked that they delivered a steak dinner to your rv for a small charge. RVing is great,,, and we are all fortunate to be able to enjoy this good life.
We have been working on our race car, so all trips are on hold until it is finished.
Life is good...
We have been working on our race car, so all trips are on hold until it is finished.
Life is good...
_________________
2007 29rlbs, West Coast Model
2012 Ford F250 XLT, 6.7 PSD,SC/LB, SRW
Arma Spray in bed liner,
100% uv protection on windows.
EZ-Flex
74 Gal. Fuel Tank/Tool Box
Maxtor- Wildcat resident guru
- Number of posts: 1351
Registration date: 2008-04-05
Location: Redding Ca. -
Re: Back from West Coast Trip
by talala on 7/13/2009, 12:35 am
Let's see now, Okla+summer= cooler Naah
Grove would be nice in Sep.
We are looking at a trip to Calif in Oct. Gotta see son and family in Modesto.
Grove would be nice in Sep.
We are looking at a trip to Calif in Oct. Gotta see son and family in Modesto.
talala- Member
- Number of posts: 199
Registration date: 2009-07-11
Age: 72
Location: N.E. Oklahoma -
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