RVer's Advice, 50 days starting Phoenix for UK couple

This is a very old thread but I thought I would add that I am close to agreeing a deal to buy an RV privately in the USA. The owner is an Aussie and has registered and insured the vehicle in Florida as a foreign resident. You need a US address to do this but they are easily acquired. He does say that his insurance is maybe double what it would be if he had a US drivers license. He also has a bank account, but I will be asking him about this, harder to get than the insurance.

I hope if the deal goes through to register in Arizona, no annual test outside of Phoenix and Tucson and warm enough not to need winterising when away. Regarding the Visa Waiver program we plan to do our Road Trip in 2 month sections, gives us a little spare time for emergencies that may arise.

Hi tourist and welcome to RTA ! I would make sure you are certain of everything else for you personally before going ahead and making a purchase and know exactly whats involved and the overall cost of getting it registered and legal for the road, its a bit of a minefield. I am not sure what you mean about doing your trips in 2 month sections but with an ESTA and as a visitor you can only spend 90 days a year in the US [I think] so it isnt a case of just flying in and out as you please. Good luck !!

Hello Tourist and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

So I take it you are not a US citizen, and you are buying an RV from an Aussie who no longer needs it.

If you plan on taking multiple trips of two months at a time, that would work. Will you be storing and insuring it in AZ, and if so where will you get your address? It would be good to hear what insurance company you will be using, as I found only one which would insure non-residents. However, the office with which I dealt has now closed, and trying to contact other offices of the same company has been a challenge.

If you are going to store your RV in AZ have you enquired about the storage costs? My van is stored in a commercial storage in NC for $19/month - but most I looked at out west ran well into the hundreds per month.

All these costs add up.

Lifey

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Originally Posted by Tourist

The owner is an Aussie and has registered and insured the vehicle in Florida as a foreign resident. You need a US address to do this but they are easily acquired.

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Getting an address in the US is getting more difficult. At one point, you could essentially rent a mailbox and be good to go, but most states now require that you actually prove that you live at that address by providing some kind of rental agreement or utility bill.

Additionally, most states require you to have a US Drivers License to register the car. Now, I don't know the requirements for Arizona, but do not just assume that because someone else was able to make things work in Florida that it will be easy for you to do something similar in another state.

Thanks for all the info and advice, some things I will follow up on. I have been in touch with the department of motor vehicles in AZ about registering and there didn't seem to be any issues I couldn't cross, had one about a Social Security Number but I received an email telling me the work-around. What I would have liked to find would be an agency that would do all that stuff for us but have not yet managed to find one, at least not one that replies to emails!

I do have insurance company names from the current owner, though it's not automatic they would cover me too. However I haven't seen the RV yet, that's the next thing. If the worst comes to the worst we'll change the owner details in Florida and do exactly what he did. However as the vehicle is out west it would be nice to start there.

Re storage. It won't be free but we should not be doing this is we could not afford storage. $100 a month covered I think is about the level. This will add up (hopefully) to a once in a lifetime trip and a great memory. We just sat down and decided we won't be here for ever and not everything can be done on a monthly income, some savings are going to have to be burned. I looked at rental and its just out of the question!

So what are your long-term plans? You plan to be on the road for 2 months, but are you planning to come back again in the future?

You talk about this as being once in a lifetime trip, which is why I'm a bit confused. Renting an RV can certainly be expensive, but people typically really underestimate just how much ownership really costs - especially since a lot of the costs are hidden. If you are going to be on the road for less than 3 months, typically it is actually cheaper to rent.

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

So what are your long-term plans? You plan to be on the road for 2 months, but are you planning to come back again in the future?

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We planned to make several visits, the exact number we have not yet agreed. Due to other plans we cannot come in 2016 so we thought we'd do Jan Feb 2017, July Aug 2017, and by then we'll have some further forward planning. I doubt we'll want to do it beyond a third year, too many other fun things for the retired... so long as we live.

I should add we own an RV in UK, of course it's 2/3rds the size and 1/3rd the engine capacity, but we have some clue on costs.

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Originally Posted by Tourist

What I would have liked to find would be an agency that would do all that stuff for us but have not yet managed to find one, at least not one that replies to emails!

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That is what I did. It was not particularly cheap, but so worthwhile. Did everything, other than the insurance. Even though I did most by email, I did do a lot by phone. I ring the freecall number using Skype, and costs nothing at this end.

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I do have insurance company names from the current owner, though it's not automatic they would cover me too. However I haven't seen the RV yet, that's the next thing. If the worst comes to the worst we'll change the owner details in Florida and do exactly what he did. However as the vehicle is out west it would be nice to start there.

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At the end of each trip I cancel my insurance and get refunded the balance. So each time I have to re insure, which I am in the middle of doing right now.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

I am not sure what you mean about doing your trips in 2 month sections but with an ESTA and as a visitor you can only spend 90 days a year in the US ........

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Dave, I think that is not quite right. Even though I have the visa, I am able to travel in and out without questions being asked, so long as I have left North America. I think they would ask questions if you were flying in and out every fourteen weeks during a full year.

But I agree with Michael, for two 2 month stints it would just not be worth it. I was looking for a thread on here from travellers from Canada, who bought an RV second hand and had a nightmare of a trip. which ended by leaving the RV and could not even take all their possessions home. And they were much closer than you are.

[I bought my van in 2011, used it for 6 months in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and will be going back soon for another 5 months. That makes it worthwhile.]

Lifey

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Originally Posted by Lifemagician

But I agree with Michael, for two 2 month stints it would just not be worth it. I was looking for a thread on here from travellers from Canada, who bought an RV second hand and had a nightmare of a trip. which ended by leaving the RV and could not even take all their possessions home. And they were much closer than you are.

[I bought my van in 2011, used it for 6 months in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and will be going back soon for another 5 months. That makes it worthwhile.]
Lifey

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Thanks for all the info. Actually the idea is four months each year for two or three years, we'll just be breaking up the times so we can enjoy other stuff, if it was just one year I'd be tempted to agree with you. Now the questions -

In which state did you register? Would your agent be of use to me? I could Skype the agent I sent an email to, but promises that they can achieve stuff are better if they're on paper in the first instance.

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Originally Posted by Tourist

In which state did you register? Would your agent be of use to me? I could Skype the agent I sent an email to, but promises that they can achieve stuff are better if they're on paper in the first instance.

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It is irrelevant where the vehicle is located, so long as it is in a State which will allow the vehicle to be registered in MT. I know CA is one of the States which does not allow it for local reasons. If you make contact ask for Duncan and be sure to tell him Lifemagician sent you. Not that I get anything out of it, but it is nice to keep in contact. There is a fee for their services and then an annual fee to keep the vehicle registered. From what I gather Duncan is the one who does all these registrations for non-residents. Most of what we discussed was confirmed in emails. It was just lovely to be able to explain what I do and why I do it the way I do. He's a great guy. So is his boss.

I have met folk on the road who had used the same firm and person. they were from Sydney. I recognised them by the flag in their rear window - which is something I always do, have the flag in the rear window of your vehicle.

[Duncan loved it when I sent him the Youtube video of Slim Dusty singing Gotta Have a Drink With Duncan.]

I will probably call in in July to pay my fees for next year. Can be done in other ways, but since I am likely to be up there, may as well do it in person.

Now, before buying, I would contact the local dealership of the brand to give it a thorough check over. I organised that by phone as well. I looked up the Ford Dealer in the town where the vehicle was for sale, and spoke to the service manager. They collected it, checked it out and took it back. I had given a list of things by those who know these things, to have checked. Because doing this long distance they usually want payment up front, or at least a credit card, and will send the invoice, comments and receipt by email.

You may be interested in checking out this thread..... with all its woes along the way. lol

Lifey

Thanks Lifey and all others, I thought I had already thanked you but I see there's no post so I must have forgotten to press a button. I'm sure there will be more stuff but I'll start a new thread or join a different one. My next task is to collate all the details of the vehicle and insurance ready for a visit in April to view the beast.

So much on the RTA forum is about car trips, and of course we will work out our own so this is a little cheeky but advice is always welcome if you did something similar. We have acquired an RV and tow car, stored now in Phoenix, and we will be coming out on a 60 day ESTA on about Jan 4th 2017. Allowing for problems and storage we thought 50 days a good basis for planning. We thought to allow for 30 miles a day, meaning only staying 3 days means a 90 mile catch-up stay a week and it's 210 rather than a daily must-do. So max distance 1500 miles.

At the end of the 50 days, about Feb 24 say, we'd like to head north to a storage facility close to an airline hub or railway junction for return to the UK, (Denver??), in preparation for another 50 days heading north in summer. A hard days drive or two at the end might be OK.

Naturally we'd like to cover the best bits of the southwest, and I'd like to see Quartzsite just for its RV-ness and Las Vegas, because its there! Seeing less and enjoying more is also good, so if we need to stick mostly to the big natural wonders, that'll be more than OK. I like a good view but eat the food and meet the people is also important.

60 or 90 days, can't remember, is the ESTA limit but we think 60 days is also our limit, home and family duties and other fun things for the retired will be calling us by then.

Thanks
John

Moderator Note: We prefer to keep everything about one trip together, so I've moved the posts from your previous discussion here.

I take it you've gotten all of the details worked out in regards to the registration and insurance of your new RV? Any advice you could provide others in that regard would be helpful, as that is typically the most difficult hurdle for a non-resident visitor to overcome when planning a trip like this.

At this point in your planning, I wouldn't worry too much about mileage. It's good not to try to do too much of course, but 30 miles a day is nothing when you're traveling in the American West. I mean, if that's your guideline, you're locking yourself into spending nearly 2 full weeks in Quartzsite and Las Vegas, just factoring in the 350 miles for that small section of your trip. Maybe that is what you'll end up wanting to do, but I would start by focusing more on figuring out which places you want to focus your time on before becoming too concerned about the schedule.

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but 30 miles a day is nothing when you're traveling in the American West

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Some folks commute that mileage -- one way -- to get to work every day, here in the US! 30 miles is a day trip for many of us. :-)


Donna

John, you will be amazed when you arrive just how far an hour in the car/RV will take you. It is the same downunder. The distances on these continents is at first hard to grasp by miost who come from Europe.

As for me, 30 miles would not take me acrosss town. It is sometimes how far I travel to do my shopping.

Be aware that the closer to an airport hub a storage facility is, the higher the cost. In some places the demand is such that you may have to pay the storage to keep the place for you, after picking up the vehicle. Balance the extra cost of the storage against a cheap airfare between the hub and the storage.

Like Michael, I too would like to hear how you went with the registration and insurance.

Lifey

Hi Lifey, I followed your advice of course, to the letter, with my new best friend up north!

I think I explained I didn't really mean 30 miles a day, might be 200, 0,0,0,0, 50, 10, quien sabe? And Michael I think two weeks to cover Quartzsite, Vegas and maybe the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead sounds about right, maybe a bit fast!

By the way I regularly drive the 1500 miles from UK to my home in Spain in three comfortable days, but it's more work than pleasure, this is more about the quality of the Road Trip.

Storage is booked and paid for in Phoenix, after that I don't know.

Now that's all out of the way, route suggestions, camp sites, all the junk you care to share please, maybe via PM?

John

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Originally Posted by Tourist

... with my new best friend up north!

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Yeah, Duncan is a great guy. Trust you will have a chance to meet him.... and his boss, who is also very nice. So did you use your own name, or a non de plum? (No prices for guessing what my LLC is called.)

I should be calling in there early July, to pay my dues for a couple of years in advance. Too expensive to have to transmit money from afar.

Lifey

Lifey, you have a pm. John

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

I take it you've gotten all of the details worked out in regards to the registration and insurance of your new RV? Any advice you could provide others in that regard would be helpful, as that is typically the most difficult hurdle for a non-resident visitor to overcome when planning a trip like this.

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Lifey shared her system with me via p m and I'd be happy to do the same. Obviously it's (a) legal and (b) involves 3rd party's who might or might not enjoy the publicity, but (c) I can say it involves registration in Montana.

I see my last post was back in May, in the meantime the vehicles have been purchased, are in storage Phoenix, have their new plates on. Our plan to come in January has changed because I didn't realise how cold it would be north of Flagstaff having only looked at the Phoenix temperatures. I'm coming in January on my own, the main purpose of the visit is to make sure 6 months in storage hasn't created any issues, if all is OK I will visit Quartzsite before returning to UK. Main trip start date now April.

All things going well we'll have an extra day between Monument Valley and our booking at the Grand Canyon. Without greatly adding to the 177 mile trip is there somewhere really nice, a good camp ground or BLM to park an RV for the night? Say between Tonalea and Tuba City?

Thanks

Merged threads again. As mentioned before, please keep all questions here.

If you want to do a bit of 'Boondocking' and didn't mind going back on yourselves then you could check out Goosenecks State park. A little further on from Tuba you will find Cameron Trading Post with one caveat. The actual RV park is more of a car park with mobile homes behind for the workers. The Trading post itself is pretty cool with stores and a nice restaurant. You could consider heading to Flagstaff and check out the local area as it's only a short distance from MV to Tuba/Cameron and it's quite baron.

Hello:

We all seem to have our favorite recommendations for folks who come to this Forum seeking advice. Me? I like to recommend Canyon de Chelly. If you're going to be in Monument Valley, it seems a shame not to go a little out of your way to view this marvelous canyon, which has amazing sandstone formations, as well as wonderful cliff dwellings, and Navajo farms on the canyon floor. The most direct route from Kayenta to Tuba City is about 75 miles. If you stop at Canyon de Chelly, you'd be going about 150 miles out of your way, altogether, but along with Canyon de Chelly, you could also get a taste of the Hopi Reservation, by crossing Black Mesa on AZ 264 on your way to rejoin US 89 and proceed to the south rim.

If that sounds interesting, here's what you could do: take US 160 east from Kayenta, less than 10 miles, to Navajo Route 59. Follow that through Rough Rock to Many Farms (about 50 or 60 miles altogether, all on a good paved road). In Many Farms you'll join US 191, which you'll take south to Chinle, the gateway to Canyon de Chelly. There's no entrance fee to this national monument, and you can see quite a lot from the rim drives. Spider Rock Campground at the end of the South Rim Drive would be a good spot to overnight in your RV. Next day, follow US 191 south, about 30 miles, to AZ 264. Follow that through all three of the Hopi Mesas (small, very traditional villages, including Old Oraibi, the oldest continuously occupied community in North America). After transiting Hopiland, you'll end up in Tuba City. This would be a fascinating route, I should think, both in terms of scenery, and the opportunity to take a tour through the heartland of two very different Native American cultures. The Hopi culture is ancient--their roots in the region go back 2,000 years, and they are considered the least assimilated of all the American tribes.

I can provide more specific information if you'd like. I also have a post in my blog about
Canyon de Chelly. Click the link if you'd like to read it. They call this area the four corners (because four states join in one spot: Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico). I'm an Arizona native, and in my opinion, this area encompasses some of the very best of what Arizona has to offer.

Rick

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Merged threads again. As mentioned before, please keep all questions here.

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Thanks to the guys who replied, short of any better options I think we'll opt for the Quality Inn RV site in Tuba City, just an overnight. The trading post might be a coffee stop, adding to the mileage is not really something I want to do. It's not in itself the distance, more that we're cramming loads into three weeks when two months was the first plan. The idea is that it should also be a holiday not an endurance test.

Although I should not say this, having seen nothing yet, I'm most looking forward to Durango, some golf, a train ride, the hot springs, and three days without the engine.

I had forgotten about this merging of threads and must say I still don't like it. Most of the early stuff is about registering vehicles in the USA and interesting as it might be the result is to progressively lose the impact of any new query three or four pages further on, and the pool of responders must reduce too from the occasional visitor with something to add to the dedicated few. This is less fulfilling as the number responses to this latest query shows.

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This is less fulfilling as the number responses to this latest query shows.

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In less than 24 hours, you received 2 responses, both filled with very detailed information and ideas, to answer your most recent question - including one from someone who had never responded to your thread before.

If you think you would have received a better response if this was a new thread, I can tell you with absolute certainty that you are wrong. In fact, what you would have seen would have either been little to no response, or responses that ask what the heck does the rest of your trip look like. The information about what your entire trip looks like (which they can now find by looking at the entire thread) is essential to providing detailed information and a worthwhile response, without it people are forced to guess what may or may not be useful, and if they have to guess, they are far less likely to volunteer their time to respond at all.

It helps other members, especially new members, to see how the trip has evolved, and why. Many seem to think that they either have to stick to their original plan, no matter what, or else figure that any change at all means it is a different trip.

Maybe your comment more reflects the way you read forums, and taking the time to read through several pages, or many pages - such as you would find in the trip reports forum - to get the information you are seeking. Often these are the threads which have an abundance of suggestions for a place you may want to visit, complete with photos.

So valuable!!

Lifey

Lifey, on this forum, suggested I should write something about my travels. Of course having not written anything for two years it would start to look like “War and Peace”, longer running than “Ben Hur”, also boring. The American comedian George Burns said, “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and have the two as close together as possible!”, I will do my best.

Sometimes in life we all do stupid things, carried away by circumstances into thinking it’s the right thing to do. In that vein I bought my first U.S. RV, a Safari Trek. I had admired Trek’s from way back and it was owned by Australians who had been touring for 4 years, and it was for sale. Surely this was sent by the Gods, what could go wrong?

The bit I should have paid more attention to was the “touring for 4 years” part. The lack of the quiet attention a vehicle as complex as an American RV would normally get in domestic ownership is bound to create “deferred maintenance” issues which came back to bite me, but after the pain and the dollars I then bought a very expensive Coach Net service contract to put anything right that went wrong. Naturally nothing else did until the day before I was selling.

My then partner of 10 years was not a bit pleased when she saw it, didn’t enjoy riding in it, did not meet her idea of style, nevertheless we had a nice enough time. Our journey was reduced to a month by a family death so we had a canter round AZ, NM, CO, UT and back to AZ, Phoenix to Phoenix.

Saw the sights and you know the big ones, but extras that impressed along the way were Santa Fe and the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge steam train. Fabulous journey in their first opening weeks of the season, sunny in Durango, snow storm in Silverton, loved every minute, going up, coming down and being there. I recommend it. Stunning images of snow laden fir trees and raging torrents through gorge below. The guard on duty told some funny and interesting tales including stuff about the Tesla designed power station on the route, filming of the Butch Cassidy movie and much more. Who had heard of Tesla before Musk?

Apart from the drama of the Grand Canyon we both agreed Mesa Verde was the most moving and interesting experience, who thought there was anything that old in America! Walking out onto the viewing platform, not seeing anything, not sure what there was to see, and suddenly this vista of hidden villages built directly into the rock face comes into view. Like looking down on a Lilliputian scene of domesticity and seeing how very protected they were by the construction from weather and enemies. So well defended, and then one starts to see more similar places in the cliff face. An ancient civilisation in the cliffs. We declined the option to climb into one, and from another viewpoint we watched as people did just this, we both agreed we had made a wise choice. My darling started to feel unwell, almost certainly altitude sickness as it’s very high, so we scooted back to the RV for reviving gins.

Back in Phoenix with a few days to spare the temperature was up over the 100 and one of us was suffering so we went back up towards Flagstaff a little way and took our clothes off at the Shangri La Ranch, did a little swimming and sunning before a dash to store the RV and get to the airport. Booked a car to the airport and it turned out to be a Tesla, that was a surprise too. And this ended the first year.

Year two started in January 2018 and now I am alone. I arrived just into the New Year, all was well with the Trek. A terrific guy named Charlie had looked after it for me, saved me money and done some essential work, then up to Gene’s RV in Mesa for a habitation check and some bits I wanted doing and I was away to Quartzsite. Quartzsite may not be on every road trip but if it’s winter and you’re in an RV it is one of the wonders of the world. Basically it’s a sun bleached little town of about 3000 souls on a cross road in the desert with nothing to say for itself except that somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 people from colder climes gather there in RV’s to spend a few days or a few months. Some areas are free for short stays, in others you can stay for $40 a month on BLM lands, pick your own desert spot and camp out. I stayed for four days meeting up with 50 other Trek owners in a big wagon train circle around a fire pit. Great creac and good to meet all the other owners with whom I had been asking advice and communicating for the previous year.

Being alone is sometimes challenging, for me anyway, and walking into the bakery there I saw a sign on the wall, it said, “No Snivelling – minimum fine $50”. I laughed to myself and decided it was to be my motto.

From Quartzsite to Yuma and a free stay in a Casino car park. The reason was to tick Mexico off the list so I took the toad to the border and walked into Algodones. Many things in life we take for granted. It was true some people crossing were going for the tequila, very much in evidence on the return. (A lady in front of me had wet herself and was being carried back by her friends, she will be embarrassed for years! She was not alone in needing assistance). However most were sick and infirm U.S. citizens crossing for dental or medical stuff they could not afford in the USA. I found this profoundly upsetting and realised, for all its faults and failings, my own country provides all that out of general taxation, there was nothing in Algodones I wanted or needed to buy. I did have lunch and a Margarita, just the one! Not for the first or last time I questioned to myself the reality of the USA as an advanced society, in so many ways it isn’t, care being one of them, the God problem being another, but I digress.

Thence to Los Angeles. I’m skipping a bit here in order not to bore but got on I-5 in need of relief, didn’t really think that was an issue since I was carrying my own facilities, but not once from San Diego to Corona did I see a single rest area. That and the six lanes of unforgiving hostility made the journey one to forget, leaving Arizona was a culture shock, as were the prices! I arrived in one piece at the Glen Eden Sun Club which I had decided in advance would be a good base for LA. I was very wrong. The Glen Eden was terrific, another time I’ll talk about that, the problem lay in the 40 miles to down town. Two and a half hours on day one, I realised then that the motor car had built Los Angeles and will probably kill it, didn’t see anything similar until I got to Seattle. Day two I took the train, but the station was still a 15 minute drive away, though the train was a great way into the city.

More than enough for now. More when I find the energy. Here endeth today's lesson.

Thanks for sharing your story.

The Durango/Mesa Verde area is pretty amazing. Do you remember which cliff dwelling tour you did? (They're all pretty amazing, but I'm fond of Balcony House)

I haven't been to Algodones, but your experience sounds about like what I know of it. It's very much a medical tourism town, which makes it one of the safer spots you can go to in Mexico, but also quite a bit different experience from most of the country.

Your experience in LA isn't too surprising - it really is tough to understand the level of sprawl without experiencing it for yourself.

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Originally Posted by Midwest Michael

Thanks for sharing your story.

The Durango/Mesa Verde area is pretty amazing. Do you remember which cliff dwelling tour you did? (They're all pretty amazing, but I'm fond of Balcony House)

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We didn't actually take a tour inside, Balcony House was closed, the one offered involved climbing up an open ladder maybe 30 feet high over a drop and we decided against it. Took a walk through scrub to another view point and saw these intrepid viewers climbing that ladder, some didn't seem too happy, we felt very happy! Joking aside it was a wonderful experience.

Now read on… I am in Los Angeles. Day two was Hollywood and the Universal Studios tour. A young man with as stunning body, unfortunately we all got to see most of it, decided to take his clothes off on the underground train, (forgotten what the train’s called, Metro, Underground, quien sabe). He was dancing to his reflection in the window at the end of the car and started to strip. Two ladies moved, others more stoic sat the performance out. He was constantly pulling at his clothes in a driven way and bit by bit the layers came off. He also used the horizontal rails as a gym doing pull-ups. Some sense of his situation did hold off the final exposure before he got dressed again and then started patrolling the carriage, finally sitting behind me, I was pleased when the journey ended because I was getting as disturbed as he! I assume he was on something, in many ways very sad, a good looking young man gone bonkers but at a personal level a bit disconcerting. On the return journey there was something similar, but enough.

Universal Studio. The tour was great. On the way in there was a sign by the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey not to proceed if you suffer from Vertigo or movement sickness, well I do but I thought, “How bad can this be? Little children are getting on”, the answer folks is very bad. A few minutes of my life I’m still trying to forget. In the short moments when my eyes were open I must say the effects were stunning, but the effect on me was altogether too stunning. While faced, sick, dizzy and shaken I staggered off in need of the 30 minutes before the studio tour, which was really excellent. There was a bit of old malarkey going on when the guide said there were places he could not talk as filming was taking place, possibly true but the noise these tour cars make as they grind along is surely as intrusive. Great White was a bit dated, Jurassic Park (maybe some other movie but the idea is right) was fabulous, being spat on by a large lizard surely a first! Fast and Furious too remote to be engaging but clever, the earthquake train station sequence holds up really well, excellent all round. I also like the Special Effects show. In other news thought Hollywood a rather run down and uninteresting everyday not-quite-in-the-centre bit of cityscape, and why do some stars have more than one?

Back on the road, in shorthand, Ventura quite nice, Santa Barbara wonderful, Pismo Beach worth avoiding except for the Monarch butterfly grove, (outstanding). Morro Bay, the place I’d like to live if I wanted to move here, (its State Park and golf course excellent and Bayshore Cafe fabulous, thank you Marbella). San Simeon so much better than I imagined, Elephant Seals, interesting in the way watching paint dry is. Had to reverse course at this point as landslides had closed the road north. So fast road to Salinas and Monterey. My Dad played golf against the USA at Pebble Beach but the road to it was closed due to a tournament so I didn’t get there. I was looking forward to the Steinbeck Center but it was at best OK, the high point for me seeing his RV. “Travels with Charley” being in my top 10 books and probably the reason I’m here, and of course why my RV email address includes “Travels in Charley”.

And so to bed. A drive inland via the San Luis reservoirs for the night and parked up in The Truck Storage Yard, Merced where Charley was faithfully stored for four months. Why Merced? Because it has a 10 seater scheduled flight to/from Oakland, very inexpensive and thusly a convenient storage location for an airline traveller.

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Originally Posted by Tourist

Lifey, on this forum, suggested I should write something about my travels. Of course having not written anything for two years it would start to look like “War and Peace”, longer running than “Ben Hur”, also boring.

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So far I have enjoyed every word - not boring at all!

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The American comedian George Burns said, “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, and have the two as close together as possible!”.

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For those wishing to go there, the detail in your relating the adventure could be of great interest. For those who have been there, it is reliving the experience with you.

Looking forward to the next chapter.

Lifey

I left you, though you do not know it, in Merced in February 2018. It is June 28 and I am back. I had made a decision, Charley was to be sold. My lover and I are no longer a couple, I do not need the closet space, and the inconvenience of an A class in considerable. There was interest from the user group, and in the end Jay purchased from me. However he and his delightful partner said, hey go on, do Yosemite, see you on the other side.

Workhorse chassis from the period, in any duty, were installed with an auto park brake. One of the many problems with this is that it defaults to “on” if it fails, it fails on stop. Coach Net, God Bless Em, organised a tow. I asked for Monday and told the authorities it could not be done sooner, liar me!! I was unlikely to be there again in my life and had tours booked. (On the second night, parked on the edge of the road by Bridal Veil Falls, I was accosted by Rangers, ladies both, ladies in uniform, umm. Well anyway they accepted that I had called 911, (I had), and let me sleep on).

Should I tell you about Yosemite, well go, please go, it is magnificent, and if I manage to write something without the aid of Rum I will detail this for you. However back in the ordinary I was towed into Fresno where a wonderful man, Zarkis Martirosian, (budeberwein.com) repaired the brakes on the RV and sent me on my way. I invited him to visit in UK, I hope he comes.

Jay and Julie stuck by me and purchased the A class despite the adventure, they have the benefit of a 9 month Coach Net policy to repair any faults but still I expected some difficulty and got none. Lovely family. Americans are very friendly.

So my pal on Puget Sound said, “I’ve found this B class for you, come and look”. I asked for details and he told me 1988. “Whoa, hold the phone, 1988, no way!” He said, come and look, you MUST come and look. So now I am the owner of a Dodge Xplorer 228, 1988. It looks like it just rolled out of the showroom.

Deciding a small trip was needed before the flight home I headed south from Whidbey, paused at Potlatch State Park, and thence to Westport. Went up the lighthouse, met friends of friends, but a man I met on the road, said, “Lots of rich surfing widows in Westport”, how could I resist. Not obviously so folks, it seemed a dump to me! Onwards to Cape Disappointment, two nights hiking and a visit to Astoria for tuna and chips, bowpicker.com, don’t miss it.

Met with friends who had been coming north from Phoenix for months, and here I will pause. I have missed so much, a time for getting my ducks in a row.

Well I wrote the last mail on August 3rd last year, I still get into trouble with US dates, (can't have written that on March 8th), and I was keen to finish up. I think the only serious bit I left out was Mount St Helens. Apart from being spectacular and really interesting the two most notable road trip elements were the drive in where low cloud had me thinking I'd see nothing and in the final climb to the view point I broke through the cloud, the sudden spectacle was amazing. The other notable moment was the talk given on the terrace by a ranger, these things can be tedious or special depending the presentation, his was terrific adding those interesting little nuggets that make facts and figures so much more acceptable.

So I am in the UK and the van is parked up on Whidbey Island, WA, (which by the way is a glorious place full of friendly people). The problem for me is that the weather there is just like the UK. In the last two years I've done 6 weeks winter and 6 weeks summer but the winter jaunt is really an escape from our weather so I'm not going out this time and the next visit will be June. So the advice requests for a summer trip start here...

Victoria - Vancouver - Trans Canada Highway to Calgary, south to Butte, Yellowstone maybe the Sawtooths and that's the plan, BUT then I'm head down to Las Vegas for a flight home and a storage location ready for next winter. After that I have some choices in that I should turn left and head east to "do" the USA, but I have a yearning to revisit places and tick the bits I missed so I may just stay West. One of the motivators here is that I missed a lot with the A class and would like to do it again in the van with a lot more back roads, hot springs, little towns and conversation rather than mega tourist centre to mega tourist centre. Also I do a broadcasting job each August and I'm committed again for 2019 but I'd love to do "Burning Man" but the dates collide. Still that's the future, any advice on the essentials for Canada, Yellowstone, Sawtooths and all in between welcome.