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

[Tourist]

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.

[Southwest Dave]

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.

[Rick Quinn]

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

[Tourist]

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

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.

[Midwest Michael]

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

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.

[Lifemagician]

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

[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. 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.

[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)

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.

[Tourist]

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)

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.

[Tourist]

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.