Southwest trip

[Dbraw]

Just returned from a 4,860 mile trip in our '71- 23' Safari. Visited 10 states without any problems. Camped in different kinds of parks. National Forest campgrounds to fancy RV resorts. Highest price we paid was $39 in Golden, Colorado across from the Coors plant. Lowest price was $5 at 10X campground near the south entrance of Grand Canyon.
Pulled our Safari with our '03 Silverado and averaged 14.5 mpg. Highest price for gas was $2.59 at Grand Canyon. Lowest price was $1.80 on a reservation in New Mexico.
Noticed our lights in the front of camper were dim and the electric jack quit working. Replaced the two year old batteries and everything started working again.
Traveled out west from Tennessee on I-40 which was really rough and returned on I-70 from Denver which was smooth and straight.
Lots of Airstreams on the road. Most flashed their headlights and waved.
Highlight of the trip was Monument Valley.
Dan

[ssolid]

Dan,
We are going out to Grand Canyonand surrounding area in September. Any more details on monument valley and the surrounding area.

Thanks.
Steve

[Dbraw]

Ssolid,
If you go to Monument Valley area, the best place to camp is at Gouldings RV Park at Monument Valley, Utah. They have full hook-ups as well as an indoor pool. It is a wonderful area. They have a lodge, restaurant, grocery and museum about the movies that were made there. We also went to Arches National Park and it was nice. However, I wish we had gone to Mesa Verde instead.
Have a good trip.
Dan
P.S. There isn't much else available in Monument Valley area instead of Gouldings.

[mtpalms]

If you are staying at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Tusayan is not recommended:

Originally Posted by eubank

Ouch! How much do these people think that a lowly campground-owner-on-vacation can pay for a site, anyway? ( ).

In all truth, some of them do get out of line, in my view. Last month we traveled over to the Grand Canyon and stayed at the RV park in Tusayan, outside of the south entrance. New owners, appearently. They've doubled their rates: We paid $44/night + tax for a water-electric site (no sewer). To make matters worse, the place was pretty dirty, and the dump station was covered with nice, dried human feces; the water faucet at the dump station was out of service. Ugh!

Personally, I hope that the new owners listened just a little to the many complaints that were voiced even while we were there. We've heard from others of our guests here that the place used to be relatively clean and reasonably priced.


Lynn

We checked out Trailer Village at the Canyon last March (we took the train from Williams, so stayed at one of the lodges), and it looks nice, and it's very affordable:

Originally Posted by mtpalms

I just made reservations yesterday at the Grand Canyon for the following:
2 nights at Phantom Ranch via muleback, and 6 nights at the Park's RV Park. We will drive up one day, rest one day, do the mule thing, rest one day, do the mule thing in reverse, rest one day, and go home. That means the trailer will sit empty for 3 days. The total for the trailer park for 6 nights is $154 (which I ound very reasonable con$idering the location). That may sound crazy since we won't even use the trailer 2 nights, but the room rates at the lodges are from $120 on up per night. Sounds like a bargain to me, and the trailer will be in a relatively secure location while we're gone.

That works out (with tax) to a little over $25 a night, and there is a 15 min free shuttle that takes you anywhere you want to go on the south rim. Also, Trailer Village shares showers and laundry with the tent campground, so it isn't very convenient, if that matters to you.
Here's the link: http://www.airforums.com/forum...hlight=tusayan

[dscluchfc]

Mesa Verde is ok, but we enjoyed Moab much more. Great facilitites available at several parks depending upon your needs and budget. Arches hiking was great. Canyonlands and Dead Horse State Park are fabulous, and the Fisher Towers Area and Potash Road/Schafer Trail areas too. Then there is fishing and rafting on the Colorado River, mountain biking, 4x4ing, horseback riding.....
I would go back to Moab in a heartbeat, and drive right past Mesa Verde to do it.
Just my 2 cents.....

[Safari Tim]

Dan. Glad to hear your '71 held up so well. I have a vested interest in it;-)

Any good road stories to tell?

[Dbraw]

Safari Tim,
The best story I can tell is about a young couple from NY who we met at Lo Lo Mai campground south of Sedona. They had pulled a 27' International out for a few weeks of camping. Everything went well for them. One morning when the husband was going for a walk, he spotted an Airstream in the storage lot of the campground. After asking about it, he eventually bought it. It was a 31' 1972 in mint condition. The stove top had never been lit. Full awnings all around. Everything worked. He planned to tow the 27' to California and fly home. Then he planned to come back this summer and tow the 31' to NY state and buy some land to place it on. Thereby, having an Airstream on each coast. The highlight of this story is that he bought the 31' for $2,000 which included the hitch with equalizer bars and sway bar.
Some people have all the luck.
Dan

[71_safari]

Great story!

Dan, I am also impressed with your mileage - 14.5 is pretty good with a Safari in tow. Just curious - which engine, gears, pull in OD?, speed?

Thanks,

john

[Safari Tim]

Dan, sounds like they did get real lucky with that purchase!

Glad you had a good trip. It encourages me to ventrue out a little further. The most we have gone is about 3-4 hours from the house so far.

Time to put some more miles under our belts ;-)

[Dbraw]

71 Safari,
I tow our Safari with a '03 Silverado, 5.3 engine, 3.73 rear end. Speed was between 60 and 65 miles per hour except going up some of those steep hills. I never used overdrive but always used the tow/haul button on the gear shift.
Before the trip, I had the bearings repacked and the seals inspected. No problems. The longest day was coming across Kansas from Golden, Colorado to Topeka, Kansas. About 500 miles. However, the road was straight and smooth. Most travel days were about 250 to 300 miles. We were out 23 days total.
Dan

[71_safari]

That's great Dan, thanks for the follow-up.

john