Cross Country Road Trip - Peer Review

[EvelynDickinson]

Hey there fellow AirStreamers,

My lovely wife, our two cats and I are headed out next week on an epic cross country road trip. We'll be towing Mr. Shiny (restored 22' 1969 GT) with Moby (1996 Chevy 2500 diesel named for the great white wale.)

We have the forums and thus by extension all of you to thank for making the trip planning a breeze since most of the preparation, way points and camp ground selections have been made by scouring these here forums.

That being said we're open for suggestions, constructive criticism, and most importantly recommendations for fun, frivolity and good food and drink.

Here's the eye-tent-err-air-ree such that it be:


Google Map...

Depart Port Hadlock, WA Oct 19.

South to Medford, OR
Overnight at Valley of the Rogue Sate Park, OR.

South to Modesto, CA.
Overnight at Modesto Reservoir Regional Park

South to Bakersfield, then on to Death Valley, CA Oct 25
Camping Panamint Springs, 2-3 days

East to Grand Canyon, South Rim
Camping at Trailer Village, 2 - 3 days

Navajo Nat'l Monument / Monument Valley
Camping Cottonwood RV Park 2 - 3 days

Canyon de Chelly
Boondocking at Cottonwood Campground 2 - 3 days

Albuquerque, NM
Central KOA

Oklahoma City
Red Rock Canyon State Park
Steak at the Ranch

Arkansas
Little Rock / Mt. View
Clinton Library & Soul Food

Memphis
Memphis-Graceland RV Park
Blues on Beale Street, Rum Boogie Cafe, Graceland, Etc.
BBQ at Payne's, Rendezvous, etc.

Smokey Mountains
Mountaineer Campground
Fishing, Telling Lies, etc.

Winston-Salem
Visting the Fam-Dam-ily

Savannah, GA
Skidaway Island State Park Nov 10/11th ish
Masada Cafe, Mrs. Wilkes', Maybe Vic's on the River

Orlando
Disney Fort Wilderness Nov 12 - 16
More Fam-Dam-ily.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing Epcot for Food & Wine Fest

Pensacola / Cantonment, FL
Yet More Fam-Dam-ily
McGuire's Irish Pub -- Steaks and Porter

New Orleans, LA
Camping - Bayou Segnette State Park - 5 days
Food wise basically anything that Swims, Crawls or Flys.
Cafe du Monde, Central Market muffaletta, Johnny's on St. Louis for po boys, ACME Oyster, Mr. B's Bistro, etc..
Jazz at Preservation Hall / Snug Harbor, Plantation Drive, See food, General Malfeasance etc.

Galveston, TX
Not sure where we're staying or what we're doing yet.

Austin, TX
Yet Yet More More Fam-Dam-ily
Lone Star RV Park (Other options we're already booked) 5 - 6 Days
Breakfast at Magnolia, Salt Rock, Clay Pit, Chuys, Thanksgiving Cookout, etc.

We're going to re-group at this point and plan the trip back but it's looking something like...

Austin -=> Big Bend -=> Saguaro -=> Joshua Tree -=> Los Angeles (friends) -=> San Luis Obispo -=> Big Sur -=> Carmel -=> Monterey -=> Napa -=> Head for Home for X-Mas

A brand new Canon G12 camera is en route to us now and we'll be documenting the whole trip on our blog. So we're be sure to keep the tread up to date with pictures, campground reviews, etc.

Thanks in advance for your advice and input.

[DKB_SATX]

Sounds like a fun trip... you said you're seeing family in Austin, so they'll know the way, but it'll be much easier to find the BBQ if you look for the Salt Lick instead of the Salt Rock.

If you like smoked meat, since you'll already be in the SE part of town, head south on 183 to Lockhart and try Kreuz' Market. If you go on the weekend they have pit ham, one of my favorites, but everything I've had there has been deeeeeee-licious.

[mgann]

Wow, what a trip !!! I'm so happy for you and so jealous too. We're located about halfway between Winston Salem, NC and Savannah, GA right on I-95 in Eastover NC adjacent to Fayetteville, NC. If you have time, stop in for a coke and visit or even an overnight. Great Luck.

[mgann]

Ref. the above, PM me if you want email and phone.

[Lily&Me]

Looks like a great trip! Many of our favorite areas.

Travel safe,


Maggie

[RangerJay]

Your really get the saliva juices rolling ....

Only one - very minor - suggestion ...... Memphis is a neat place - one - that in hindsight - we didn't spend enough time in - but despite the significance of Graceland (which we loved and will visit again) - Tom Sawyer campground - on the shores of the Mississippi - has got to be one of the best campground settings we have ever enjoyed - watching those barges chug by is an experience never (as in NEVER) to be enjoyed anywhere else .....


Jay

[RamblinManGa]

Yep, I'm jealous too. We very much enjoyed the Cowboy Museum in OKC. It's really an art gallery of Western/Cowboy art. great sculptures all round the place. Worth the stop said SWMBO. Have a great trip., regards,Craig

[Happycampers]

Sounds like a great trip. If you have time when in OK City go down to Meers OK about a hour from where you are staying. There is supposed to be a good restaurant there that serves long horn beef, I have heard a lot about it. We are going there on our way to Texas this fall.

Marvin

[Happycampers]

Meers Restaurant

Meers - Store & Restaurant

[EvelynDickinson]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great replays.

@DKB_SATX -=> Yes, right. Salt Lick. Salt Rock is a killer seafood place on the inter-coastal our on Indian Rocks Beach in Florida. Thanks for the tip on Kreuz' Market we'll be sure to check it out.

@mgann -=> Cool. We'll be in touch when we get close to your neck of the woods.

@RangerJay -=> Great tip. We've re-booked at Tom Sawyer campground. The view from our place on the Olympic peninsula in WA has similar views... only the barges are massive freighters. It's fun "spying" on them with our telescope.

@RamblinManGa -=> Cowboys & Art are two of my wife's favorite things! Excellent suggestion. We're there.

@HappyCampers -=> Meers looks like our kinda place. Not sure if I've ever had longhorn BBQ.

The trip blog is up but sparsely populated thus far...
Fortitudine Vincimus


Cheers,


Dave

[Babeebloos]

Originally Posted by Happycampers

Meers Restaurant

Meers - Store & Restaurant

I 'need' to go there.... no ... REALLY!

[kidsgone]

Google Diners,Drive-Ins and Dives and check out places to eat from the TV program...we've done several and had alot of fun doing this. But beware, some are not in the greatest places, but it is fun...and great food.

[EvelynDickinson]

@Kidsgone -=> What a coincidence, the DD&D volume 1 book just showed up from Amazon yesterday and it's on my nightstand. I've eaten at a few of the joints in the past and I agree with you. Not the best, but fun for sure. Thanks for sharing!

[EvelynDickinson]

Howdy Y'all,

Our first report from the road...

Well the good news is we're on the road but the bad news is that we have had to make some alterations to our trip since my best friend and business partner is in the hospital. Sad to say he's not doing so well, the docs found 3 masses on his brain and we're holding our breath until they find out just what in the heck they are.

He called just as we were heading out, about 50 miles from home, and asked me to cover his work as he wasn't able to concentrate due to vertigo and dizziness. Then a couple of days later, right after we setup camp in Death Valley we got the news that he had been admitted to the brain trauma ICU.

We debated heading back for home, but since Florida is where my buddy is we figured at least we'll be able to visit with him and his wife. And hopefully I'll be able to help out our IT clients there while we arrange for a temporary tech support outfit until he is back on his feet.

I have to admit it's tough to relax and have a good time knowing what he's going through but we're trying.

Since we got a late start our first day out we made it to Valley of the Rogue Sate Park in OR after dark. The park was very convenient, right off the highway sharing the exit with a rest area. Very quiet and the bathrooms and showers were clean.

We left early the next morning and drove to Modesto, CA Reservoir Regional Park. We we're right up on the reservoir and had the place practially to ourselves. The only downside was that the bathrooms and showers were unusable as they looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in a month.

The next morning we set out South to Bakersfield, and around East on to Panamint Springs Resort just inside the Death Valley national park. We came in from the West on 190. That was an absolutely gorgeous drive and the road was in decent shape but there are quite a few hair pin turns, saddles with no guard rails, etc... Fun but definitely a road to be taken seriously and never at night (at least not while towing.)

Panamint Springs Resort isn't really a resort which is a good thing because we're not really resort folks. It's a camp ground with a small general store, and restaurant / bar. The food was passable if expensive but they made up for it with over 100 brands of bottled micro brew in the coolers and friendly staff.

The WiFi is satellite based and basically un-usable. There is no digital cell service either. Which under normal weekend working holiday conditions would be fine for us.

We completed the full camp setup (awning deployed, firewood, lounge chairs at full tilt, etc.), watched the sun set and the moon come up over the crazy landscape and then hooked up the laptop and found out about my buddy getting checked into the ICU and clients freaking out since they we're not getting calls back, etc.

So we broke camp first thing the next morning, canceled the remainder of our stay at Panamint Resort and our reservations at Trailer Village in the Grand Canyon and headed South on Panamint Valley Road out of Death Valley, through Trona to Ridgecrest, CA. This was a much less challenging road, very smooth. There is only one low pass with a couple of switchback hair pin turns.

Saturday morning we stopped in Ridgecrest, CA where we setup office in the McDonald's - whoot for free WiFi, and got the details on our buddy's situation, work done and calmed the frayed nerves of our clients.

Since we now need to be in solid contact (phone and internet) for work we figured it best to bypass Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly on the way and hopefully catch them on the return trip.

Instead we headed to Kingman, AZ where we're camped at the KOA. We had a better than average T-Bone steak at the Kingman Steakhouse around the corner last night.

The plan is to stay here a few days and then head to Albuquerque, NM and use that as a base camp to explore the surrounding areas.

Well that's all the news that's fit to print at this point.


Safe travels,

Dave
All your green chili are belong to us!
10/24/10 Kingman, CA KOA

[nayl]

It may be a bit out of your way, but have you considered Nashville while you're in Tennessee? This past summer we took a trip traveling east to west heading down to New Orleans. We had some problems so stopped in Nashville, which was not on our original itinerary.

We loved Nashville. It's a beautiful city with a lot to offer. We actually stayed there a few days extra. Of course, we did the Country Western Hall of Fame with the Studio B tour. We also visited some of the venues where many famous singers had their start and saw the Chihuly exhibit at Cheekwood (still ongoing).

We ate at a number of different restaurants, my daughter's favorite was Demo's Steak and Spaghetti House.

We stayed at Seven Point's Army Corps of Engineers Campground. It's about 10 miles outside of Nashville, but it's an easy commute.

Enjoy your trip!

[EvelynDickinson]

Nayl,

My brother-in-law did his undergrad at Vanderbilt in Nashville when we used to live in Florida and we drove up to visit him many times. We never really spent much time exploring the city but what we did see of it we liked a bunch.

Thanks for the recommendations.

Dave

[EvelynDickinson]

Howdy folks,

We're in Oklahoma City at present staying at the very fine Twin Fountains RV Park. Trip updates are on the blog for those interested.


Fortitudine Vincimus


Happy camping!


Dave

[EvelynDickinson]

Hey guys & gals,

We're on the way back west now, in Tuscon at Desert Trails campground right outside Saguaro NP. Heading back to the coast to LA tomorrow.

Lots of updates and pics on the blog...

Fortitudine Vincimus




Cheers,


Dave

[Yhottys]

Thanks for sharing your blog Melissa and Dave.

We're glad you made it to Acme. Were you able to get to Central Grocery and pick up a muffaleta? We think of them longingly.

We love reading about your adventures and we love even more that you quote Shakleton! The Endurance! Great motto!

We'll look forward to reading more of your posts.

Your friends,

[crabbey1]

Hello! I was wondering where you stayed through Oklahoma and if you stopped in Meers? How was it? Thanks! I am traveling through there next week...