Ohio to California- Tips and Advice welcomed

[Lily&Me]

Thank you for your service, and welcome back.

Travel safe,


Maggie

[rogerdodger]

Originally Posted by mgm

Yeah, I have been checking out the route from the Airport to Azalea, I didnt want to wast the gas, but I think I may go to the campground and get everything set and then make the trip to go pick up my friend when he lands. He has a long flight from Syracuse, NY after he is in a wedding, so I m hoping he won't be too jet lagged when he arrives, because I will want to explore the next day.

I will be sure to fill up when I see a gas station on the way back. Thanks for the advice. Other then the Park, Any tips or favorite spots, bars or restaurant in the area to check out?

I don't eat out often, but one restruant is School house resturant and Tavern. It is located at Hwy 180 and Frankwood. It is a restored school house. here is their website. School House Restaurant and Tavern Sanger
Thank you foor your service, and enjoy your RV trip.

[mgm]

Well, I have been back home in the states for about two weeks now.

I made the trip to the Cuyhahoga National Parkl, and picked up my free Annual Parks Pass.

The Camper was taken to a local RV Shop I work with, and the Oven was installed, the wheel bearings and brakes gone over and the propane filled.

I made a trip to Jackson Center to have my additional Solar Panels installed and I now can pull around 20.5 AMPS per hour in optimal conditions with my 350 Watts of panels. And I will hold off on installing my last 95 Watt panel until I return from the trip. Hell, if the 350 Watts serve me well. I may even sell it. I guess I got caught up in the "go big or go home" talk lol.

Next up, I have taken all my dishes and pots and pans out for a good cleaning and wiped out all the drawers and did a good cleaning.

Today, I m going to switch out my Cieling lights to the LED lights I bought.

I m on a search today to get an extra wire basket shelf for my sliding galley, I may even just buy two.

I had my Camper/Towing Mirrors installed on my Silverado and other then waxing the surfboard and some final packing I m just be about set, minus my install of my Equalizer Hitch.

Life is good. Cant wait to hit the road

Here is a pic of my set up on the roof with 3 Panels - 110Watt, 95Watt, and 145Watt. Still have room for the last 95Watt one if I want it up there

[DanB]

dang, ya even mounted a basketball hoop up there! Who wudda thought!

Seriously, your setup looks great!

Please let us know when you will be "in-town" (northern Ohio). A group of us would love to camp with you, thank you, and celebrate your return home.

First round is on me, just don't ask me to cook for you. A meal might take a while

[mefly2]

Neat !!!

[mgm]

Dan- I will try and look you guys up when I get back in town, thanks so much for the kind words.

I just found the AIR forums application for my phone, so this should make posting updates a lot easier.

The holiday weekend slowed me down and I got off to a late start at 8pm on Sunday, but I drove through the night and 300 miles of driving got me as far as Indianapolis. I pulled over at a rest stop around 1:30 and called it a night. My route being I-71 to I-70

Sunday night I found that my flush tube on my toilet mysteriously was leaking so the duct tape came in handy.

I woke up early and made a breakfast sandwich and turned on some lights and hopped in the shower when I realized the lights dimmed when the water pump kicked on

With all the solar panels, 350 watts and my change to LED lights I was surprised the batteries discharged that fast, I was waiting to change my generic deep cycle batteries till after the trip. None the less, they are 3 years old and with my limited use of the trailer I never added water to then so I popped the caps and found that they were both low. I pulled out the rest stop with two missions on Monday morning, find a new flush tube and figure out if the batteries would come back to life.

Lesson learned, always use or test everything on the camper prior to a long trip.

I hit Missouri early that morning and my gas log had me right around 11 mpg. The rain from Isaac seemed to follow me, but it was pretty easy to keep the trailer and truck right at 60 mph.

After a few calls to my father, my honorary dispatcher - he found me a Camping World store along my route on I-44 near Springfield, Missouri. The batteries did not recover, and although both my controllers, stock and solar had them fully charged, the batteries still discharged super fast when under loads. So I decided to just get the camping world deep cycles, and will look into lifelines when I complete the trip, the flush tube was a vendor only part, but after some calls I was able to route a part to the Vegas camping world store, so as long as the duct tape holds through the grand canyon, I should be good.

After installing the batteries, I found that my old battery cable to put the positive terminal studs in parallel had an eyelet that was too small to fit on the new batteries, and all that camping world offered was a 24 inch cable that seem like overkill for the mere 6 inches i needed. So off to the nearest auto parts store I went. All in all the detour slowed me about 3 hours with lunch.

I made Tulsa around dinner time and cruised on I-44 to Oklahoma City, where I arrived near midnight and did my best to make a run at the Texas border but came up about 90 miles short. Couldn't find any west bound rest areas that were open so I made camp at a small rv dealership right off an exit that had a large parking lot and seemed nice and quiet, minus the hwy noise, it was a warm night but my fantastic fan earned its keep and the new batteries performed great.

I got up early and hit the road and made the Texas line before 10am. New Mexico's border came a few hours later and I spent all day driving on 40 lol, that state is wider then you think. I hit Arizona right around 4:30 and did a detour to Petrified Forest National Park, just did a few miles of the main route but was glad I stopped.

I made Flagstaff around 8:30 and pulled over to get gas and subway on I-40 en route to hwy 180 when I found a small Army base.

After a quick search with the phone I saw they had full hookups, and knowing that I was already late to get to my spot on the Grand Canyon, I figured I would crash there for the night. So I flashed my military Id and they saw my dod decal on the hood and on I went in.

Hooked everything up and crashed around 10pm and am just getting up now. My refrigerator was flashing LP when I got in last night and I have bee. Leaving it run on the road, after some searching this morning, I guess it could be either air in the line or the flue and burner need cleaned. The hot water tank fired right up as well as my range so I know it's not a propane issue, on electric now the frig is again nice and cold hmmmm. May peak my head in at the service desk at the camping world 2 miles away and see what they think before I head to the park.

Cold night here but I was warm in bed, prolly got down to the high 40s I would guess. Gonna eat breakfast and find the campground host to settle my meager debt for the night b4 I use the water to wash off the road grime from my two day jaunt and 1900 miles. Will post more when I can

[DanB]

Sounds like a great roadtrip so far. I like your method of planning but not keeping a tight schedule. It makes for a much more relaxed trip.

You might try shutting the fridge off completely, then powering it back on. If the LP doesn't light after three automatic attempts, I beleive it will electronically lock itself off to prevent damage.

Keep the silver side up!

[ddruker]

Couple of thoughts on Yosemite - we go several times a year.

This time of year most of the waterfalls will be dry, but the summer crowds will also be diminished. It's a great time of year to be in the park.

Half Dome is a long but amazing day hike - 18 miles and 6,000 vertical feet. Carry a minimum of two liters of water, and ideally a filter so you can fill up on the way. There is a spring about 1/2 mile past the half dome turnoff from the john muir trail - it's on your left - somewhat hidden behind a large chainsaw cut tree. Most people walk right by it. Bring some grippy work or gardening gloves with you as the cables are hard on your hands, and try to hike in shoes with grippy soles as the granite is somewhat slick.

There is now a daily lottery for permits - and you must have a permit - there will be a ranger (with an iPad no less) at the base of the subdome checking your permit. This time of year you should have a good chance of getting a last minute permit if you intend to hike up on a weekday. You need to apply two days before you want to do the hike - I would apply for every day you are at Yosemite - it's that great of a hike. They will be taking the cables down on Columbus Day - while it is not illegal to use the cables when they are down, I wouldn't recommend it.

Yosemite is not that Airstream friendly - there are a limited number of campsites that can handle your trailer. I would check every day on recreation.gov as there are always lots of cancellations. It's much better to stay in the valley than at Crane Flat - look for openings at one of the pines campgrounds. I would also recommend unhooking and driving up to either or both of Glacier Point and to Tuolumne Meadows - the scenery is unreal and nothing like what you will see in the valley.

On more secret - you can park your airstream in the trailhead parking lot in the valley - and leave it there overnight. There is almost always room even at the highest of the high season. They won't let you sleep in it overnight there, but it's nice to know you can have a place to park it.

If you do not get a half dome permit and still want to do a signature Yosemite hike - Two amazing alternatives this time of year are Clouds Rest out of Tuolumne meadows, and the Panorama Trail out of Glacier Point. Both are 10 out of 10 hikes. The secret for the Panorama Trail is to take a tour bus up from the valley (it leaves from Yosemite lodge) to Glacier Point and then hike back down. If this is your first time to Yosemite, I'd recommend the Panorama Trail as you will get up close to three active waterfalls, even at this time of year.

Below is a picture of my kids and I on top of halfdome about three weeks ago.

As to the rest of your agenda -

If you can spare some additional time - the pacific coast highway from Santa Barbara to Carmel / Monterey is about the most beautiful drive in the whole world this time of year. There are plenty of Airstream friendly parks to stay in - our favorite is Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. You'll find yourself want to stop about every 10 minutes to get out and look at the views, check out migrating whales, etc. Point Lobos is also incredible - park your trailer outside of the park along the highway and walk in.

In between Yosemite and Redwoods NP, the Shasta / Lassen area is also pretty amazing - you can head out of Calfornia this way up towards the 395. We also love McArthur Burney Falls state park in this area. There is a very nice and friendly KOA near Lassen Volcanic Park if you want hookups.

[mgm]

Thanks for the advice. I m crossing my fingers to get a half dome permit and have the number saved. I called months ago and they explained the whole process. I know Crane Flat wasn't the best for my excursions in the valley but they had openings and the reviews I read weren't too bad.

Just going to go with the flow when I figure out Half Dome or not, I enjoy the ranger programs as well so worse case I will expand my travels to include the meadows and glacier point or the Hetchy area.

Thanks for the tip on the water and gloves, I will be sure to bring some along

[mgm]

In Vegas now, I m still feeling the effects of the Grand Canyon though. I took off on Thursday morning from the South Rim and hiked down the South Kaibab trail, I made Phantom Ranch at around 9:00 and Cottonwood at 12:00. Took a half hour break and the last 7 miles out took me another 5.5 hours and it hurt!

It will be a few more days before my body forgives my ego. Took the shuttle back from the north rim on Friday morning and just relaxed on the south rim on Friday. Did finally switch out all my lights last night and put in the LEDs. I m very pleased with the lighting.

I Got up early and drove to Vegas. All hooked up and set up at Nellis Air Force Base now and am gonna get my oil changed at the base Firestone and relax.

The Frig is working great now as well, the propane must have just locked itself out while I was driving and needed reset.

My parents arrive tomorrow and I m looking forward to having some company.

Really enjoying the trip. Saw one Newer Airstream at the North Rim campground on Thursday and there was a 60's and early 2000's Airstream at Trailer Village in the south rim.

And luck would have it there is another 25ft Airstream at the Air Force base, it's an international and has to be pretty new, since the Airstream lettering isn't black on the front and rear end caps.

[mgm]

So, I learned a hard lesson. I met my parents at the Monte Carlo and parked at the temporary parking lot and now my Equalizer hitch head is gone.

I just should have taken it off or had a lock on it, lesson learned but it's definitely making for a shitty day.

I have an extra hitch with me, so I m not stranded, but I have a another 3000 miles to go on this trip and will have to spend some $$$ to replace it.

Lesson learned, just wish it was easier on my wallet

[surfpod]

Don't let it get you down. Your trip sounds great and this is just a bump. I am learning a lot from your posts. Thanks!

[mgm]

Stroke of some luck, found an equalizer hitch for sale in San Diego for a mere $150.00

So I just have to take it nice and easy from Vegas to California and then set up the new stuff. I will have some extra parts but buying a used system will save my wallet some money.

That and knowing I don't have to buy a new one will let me enjoy my last day in Vegas a little more. Now I just need a hitch lock for my receiver

[mgm]

Picked up the new hitch, it's actually in great condition and on a plus side, I now have a lot of extra parts and pins and extra arms. Lesson learned!

The drive from Vegas to San Onofre wasn't too bad, I kept it slow and the wind wasn't bad. A little overcast here, but it's great to be camping right on the shore. It was so hot yesterday, I drive with the frig on again, it ran just fine.

I spent the night showing the lil sister how to use the new oxygenics shower head, I still think she is going to fill my gray water tank!

I took some people's advice though and brought a bucket to dump some off down the toilet in the event it gets full during our 4 days on the beach. I have a big thetford tank dolley but it didn't make the cut on the final packing. The bucket did, since I m OCD about washing my truck and camper at campsites.

Gonna catch some waves today

[mgm]

Left the beach on Saturday and spent the weekend at Princess Campground in Kings Canyon National Park. Had a blast seeing General Sherman and the far side of the park. The Lodgepole pines blocked the sun pretty well but the batteries still got a pretty good charge. Azalea was full when I arrived Saturday, so that's how I ended up in Princess, but it worked out well. I was just a short drive from Hume Lake and right off 180 to get the Generals Highway.

Woke up early today and went to Sequoia National Park to see General Sherman and the big tree museum. Definitely was a day of attentive driving on the s curves and up and down the mountain.

We left Sequoia at 1130 and made it to Yosemite at 4:00. I was able to get permits for Half Dome and am excited for the hike tomorrow, just going to relax tonite at Crane Flat

[rogerdodger]

Your timing for Yosemite is perfect, the weather is going to cool down a lot next week, this week is going to be nice. Travel safely,

[mgm]

Half Dome hike went great! Shorter hike then the n my Rim to Rim Grand Canyon Hike two weeks ago but just as taxing. Pretty cool climb on the cables, my lil sister charged up and down with my friend and I and we made it back for a beer at the camper before dark. Spent all day today up at the Meadows and then left for San Francisco around 2:00

Staying at the KOA in Petaluma and after boon docking more or less for the last 4 nights it's nice to have full hook ups again. My company does not like my rationing of amps and water lol.

Dropping the lil sister off at the airport tomorrow and then done exploring down town.

[mgm]

San Fran went well, spent two days around the city. I did a boat tour u see the Golden Gate and walked around the Piers. I stayed at the KOA in Petaluma and it was a nice change after not having any hookups in the Parks for a while.

Spent a day in Napa Valley and after 6 wineries I called it a day at 7pm lol. Good time though

[mgm]

The last 3 days i have spent in Eureka, California. We drove up 101 and checked out the Redwoods and did the Avenue of Giants and Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

We decided to make a short side trip to Crater Lake and every route seemed to be pretty rough. So I left the camper in Eureka and just took the truck to Oregon and tent camped in the Park, which got fairly cold.

Back in Eureka now and my friend is flying back east to New York. I will make the solo drive to Colorado today, looking at a map now to see my best route back to 80

[AldeanFan]

What a great trip!

We've been talking about a 3-4 week trip to Alberta to visit some friends, and you've inspired me to try and pull it off next summer!