Lake Isabella KOA

September 13-14, 2015
Lake Isabella KOA

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

One of the nicer KOA's we stayed at.  A bit out of the way though.  We had to drive through the Mojave Dessert on the way.  106 degrees.  Yuck!

The park had nice sized spaces and the kids enjoyed the pool.

Hands Down, THE worst day of the trip came leaving this campground. And, it wasn't the cows fault.

I asked at the KOA the best way to get where we were going.  I was OK with a bit longer if it was more scenic.  She told me to go North through the Sierra Nevada's , past the Trail of 100 Giants and then just follow Hwy. 290 out to the freeway. 20 extra minutes tops.

It added a good 2 HOURS to the trip. Shortly after the cows, the road went along a cliff, with no guardrails, and constant turns, weaves and hairpins.  For over an hour.  All three of us got car sick.  It was awful. We had no idea how long the road was and just had to keep going.  It was so bad, the kids don't even want to go back to California and I've had to promise multiple times we will never, ever, go on that road again. Ever.

I still have nightmares about this road. 

The final night of our trip was spent in Grants Pass at a motel. 

Final tally - 4,164 miles.  15 nights.  10 states.  105 Geocaches.

Las Vegas

September 12-13, 2015
Las Vegas, NV

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

Our next stop was The Grand Canyon. I'm embarrassed to admit we were only there for about 30 minutes.  It was much too hot for us to hike, and we admired the views as much as we wanted to.

We pressed on, and made it to Las Vegas for the night.

Lake Powell

September 10-12, 2015
Wahweap Campground, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Park

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

We drove through 4 corners and on to Antelope, Arizona.  I had not made reservations for most of the trip as it was the off-season.  When we arrived in town, it was 104 degrees and I wasn't looking forward to tent camping.  We went looking for a hotel, but the entire town was literally sold out except for a few rooms for $250.  We went back to the campground only to find, it was now sold out as well. Thankfully, they told us about another campground about 15 miles out of town.  Turned out to be a National Park Service campground and it was amazing.  Gorgeous views, cheap, and you could use the pool at the resort next door!  We liked it so much, we stayed 2 nights.

While staying there, we took a tour of Antelope Canyon.  Another amazing sight seen only in photos.

We also went to Horsehoe Bend.

 

Mesa Verde RV Park

September 9-10, 2015
Mesa Verde RV Park, CO

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

We really liked this park.  Nice big sites, beautiful scenery and a pool.  Almost stayed 2 nights, but it was so cold overnight we decided to move on.

On the way there, we stopped at Arches National Park in Utah.  Very beautiful.  It was very hot for us Washingtonians, so we didn't hike around too much, but did still see several arches.

The next day, we visited Mesa Verde National Park. Definitely the highlight of the trip.  It was amazing to see in person.  Hard to believe people used to live in these cliff dwellings.

Grand Junction

September 8-9, 2015
Grand Junction, CO

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

I wasn't quite ready to go back to the tent, so we spent the night in a hotel.

Driving over the pass, we visited the Argo Mine.  We also stopped at the Glenwood Caverns.  We got there late in the day, so only got to visit one cavern, but still very neat!

Loveland

September 4-8, 2015

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

We spent the next several days of our trip in Loveland at Eric's sisters house with Laura, Corwin and Chloe.

Lyman KOA

September 3-4, 2015
Lyman KOA, WY

Road Trip!  10 States, 4000 miles

Who: Dianne, Joshua, Nora

Our third night we made it to Wyoming.  This campground was nice and wide open.  Very warm during the day, but definitely chilly overnight!