We have now traveled nearly 1,200 miles and over the half-way point on our journey. Our next stop after Mesa Verde was Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon de-SHAY) National Monument in the heart of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona.
Category Archives: Airstream Travels
Ancient Cliff Dwellers
It’s 5:30 in the morning and a light rain has started to fall. The gentle sound of the raindrops on the Grey Goose is a soothing change from the dry and windy weather we’ve had over the last four days.
From Ronald Regan to Breaking Bad
We spent our fourth night on the road at an RV park on the outskirts of Gallup, New Mexico. We were glad to have full hookups again after a few cold nights at the Grand Canyon.
Crowds in the Canyon
After a leisurely breakfast, we drove to the visitor’s center and parked in the busy lot. Following the crowds, we made our way up the paved path to Mather Point, one of the most popular vistas on the south rim.
A Winter Wonderland
We left Kingman earlier this morning for a leisurely 3½ hour drive to the Canyon. We planned on stopping along the historic route 66 that parallels interstate 40 from here hoping to catch a glimpse of this iconic highway.
Two Old Friends
The first leg of our trip through the US Southwest took us from our home in San Clemente to Kingman, Arizona, a town of about 30,000 inhabitants and about an hour east of Needles. Continue reading
On to the Great Eclipse
We met Bob and Wendy at their house and were on the road at 7 am. It was Sunday, August 13th. Our plan was to reach the Grand Teton National Park by Tuesday afternoon, almost a week before the Total Solar Eclipse. Being Sunday morning, traffic was light and we made good time, stopping near Barstow for gas and a quick breakfast sandwich.
Father’s Day Hike
We’ve been up to Tahoe with Keiths familty had a wonderful time ended up hooking up our Airstream at their house in South Lake Tahoe. They have a full hook up with water, sewerage & electricity, and none of us have to drive anywhere. A big plus is they have three hunting dogs with a big back yard so our fur kids love it. Happy Family I’d say. Vince is one of 10 kids, 8 girls and 2 boys so there family reunions are quite something.
Cheryl, Kim and Roz
We hiked up in the Sierras for fathers day witH Vince, Cheryl, Kim and Ronnie as well as the dogs and went fishing up in the upper elevation lakes. It is truly a great feeling for us to have such a connection with Vince & Cheryl (Keiths niece) they are so welcoming to us. More photos of our hike:
We left Tahoe on Monday morning, headed for June Lake, one of our favorite places in the Sierras. Its favorite, not only because of the beauty, but my immediate family have all been here–loving memories for sure. Ended up with three nice trout for dinner. We’re planning on a bike ride today another leisurely dinner at camp site and then work our way back home tomorrow. We break up the 8 hour drive back to San Clemente by staying over one night at Lone Pine a couple hours from here and then leave about 4.00 am to try and get ahead of the LA traffic and get the Grey Goose parked back home safely.
Roz with our dinner catch:
June Lake and Tahoe Getaway
We left Tuesday morning after the car show weekend in the Grey Goose. Our plan was to spend a few days at June Lake then head up to South Lake Tahoe. There we would meet up with my niece, Cheryl, her husband and their children as well as my sister Karen who would be driving up from Sonora with her daughter, Donna.
We decided to leave mid morning at around 9 am. We made our final preparations and headed north up the 5 freeway to the 91 and then the 15. We stopped for gas at the Pilot truck stop just after the 395 turnoff. Traffic was surprisingly light for most of the trip and we made good time to our first night’s destination at Boulder Creek RV park just outside of Lone Pine. Lately we have been breaking up the drive to June Lake by staying at this campground, which is about 2 hours from June. This keeps our driving time to below 6 hours a day, and we can do the long grade outside of Bishop in the morning, rather than later in the day when the temperatures are much warmer.
Boulder Creek is a very comfortable RV park with some shade and decent space between sites. It has full hookups including Wifi. We left the trailer hooked up to the Escalade so the set up and take down was minimal. The park also has a large dog run, which Milo and Toby thoroughly enjoyed, checking out every rock, tree and bush for previous dog scents.
Prior to our departure on Wednesday we met a couple from Southern California parked nearby in a 1964 Airstream Globetrotter. Roger and Joan had restored the trailer, complete with white wall tires and were on there way to a vintage trailer meet in Virginia City, NV. They were traveling with Jaxx, a mountain dog/poodle mix. They planned to stop once more before arriving at their destination, and I suggested they check out June Lake, where we were going.
Roger’s 64 Globetrotter
Jaxx the mountain dog
We left Boulder Creek at 10:30 and headed north on the 395 to June Lake. We stopped for gas at Big Pine, passed through Bishop then headed up the grade toward Crowley Lake. By the time we made the June Lake junction, the winds were quite building.
We pulled into our site #32 in the Duck loop and set up the Grey Goose. By now, the winds were gusting up to 45mph, which eliminated our plans for grilled steak that evening. Instead, we threw a couple of pizzas in the oven, poured a glass of red wine and settled in for the evening.
We were enjoying our unobstructed views of the lake and mountains when, unexpectedly, a 40 foot monstrosity of a motor home pulled in right next to us, casting a large shadow over the Grey Goose. It now felt like we were camping in a city, with a huge skyscraper above us. We quickly got over this unwelcome intrusion, hoping they probably were only staying for one night. By the time we turned in, the winds seemed to be even stronger, with gusts occasionally rocking the trailer. Safe and warm in our aluminum shelter, we gradually fell into a sound sleep, Toby and Milo snuggled up next to us.
Anza Borrego
Welcome to our new blog site. I decide to change our format a bit which gives us greater flexibility when posting our stories and pictures. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy these as much as we do putting it together. Our first post is about our spring trip to the desert park Anza Borrego.
Anza Borrego is one our favorite California destinations. We’ve been coming here for over 20 years, starting first with tent camping, then a pop-up tent trailer and finally with our Airstream, affectionately called the Grey Goose.
Anza Borrego State Park lies about 50 miles northeast of San Diego and is an easy 2 1/2 hour drive from our home. It has a rich a rich history filled with ancient indian cultures, Spanish explorers, early settlers and prospectors. Additionally, this desert park offers unparalleled desert flora and geological interests.
It is the last week of March, well past the peak wildflower season, however there are many areas that still showcase the colorful cactus blooms.
We camped at the state campground just a few miles east of Borrego Springs. We like this site because it has full hookups and sits at the base of Palm Canyon, affording unobstructed views of the nearby mountains. The weather was sunny but cool and windy when we set up camp.
Our camp site
A camp neighbor told us about an area about 10 miles south of us that is the site of an old indian settlement and which still has wildflowers in bloom. We packed the boys in the Escalade and headed out. We missed the dirt road turnout to Mine Canyon twice as it is not well marked and headed down the road.
Headed down Mine Canyon Road
About a mile and a half down the road we came upon an old Indian settlement nestled among a large outcrop of boulders at the base of the Pinyon mountains. A short walk from the desert wash we came upon a number of morteros. The depth of these grinding holes indicate that the Kumeyaay Indians occupied this site for a long time. We explored the site for a short while and headed back toward the highway, stopping often to appreciate the many desert blooms on the side of the dry wash bed.
Kumeyaay Indian village site
Morteros
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