Enroute to GCNP - Little Rock Arkansas. Photos added June 1

Today's drive was a long one. We pulled out of our site around 9:00 AM, dumped our holding tanks and topped off the gas tank. We were on the road by 9:30. The truck traffic on I-40 west was extreme. We are all certain there were more trucks than cars today. We maintained a steady pace with only a few short traffic delays through Nashville and Little Rock.

We arrived at Maumelle Park around 5:15. Lesson one: Google maps time estimates don't work for RV travel. The pace is slower so the driving times are somewhat longer. My GPS estimated a 2:30 'ish arrival. Did not happen that way at all. We had one rest stop, a lunch stop and a fueling stop. Our total non-driving time was probably about an hour.

The drive was worth it however as this park is gorgeous. It was built and is managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The sites are spacious (3-4 times larger than Cedars of Lebanon) and our site is right on the Arkansas River. The pads are paved and the picnic tables are huge. We have electric and water hook ups. Cost for a night is $24, but with the National Parks Senior Access Pass, there is a 50% discount. Can't beat that anywhere. Anyone who likes camping near water and doesn't mind a long drive should try this park.

 After setting up camp, we enjoyed a little respite before dinner watching the water flow by, a few boaters, and a flock of Canadian Geese. From left to right: Em, Em, and Ay.

Restrooms are clean and efficient.

Tomorrow we continue west to stop outside Oklahoma City.

Continuing the trek west - Photo Added 5-31

On Wednesday, May 31 we leave Cedars of Lebanon State Park and begin the five-day drive to Grand Canyon National Park. This has been on our bucket list for a long time and we are finally going to be on our way. We pull out at 9:00 AM with a planned 6h 45m drive (according to Good Sam) to stop at Maumelle Park outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.

We had a stormy time at Cedars - with another round of strong thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail moving through the area this afternoon and evening. So, everything is wet - but will dry as we head down the road. But we also had as much good weather as bad - and the good was during the day when we were out sightseeing.

Cedars is a pretty park, but not as well maintained as the Virginia state parks we have visited. This is our first experience in another state's park so don't have others to compare against. As we were doing some laundry today, another camper mentioned that she was waiting for the registration office to open so she could get change for the laundry machines. It was 2:00 PM. Another complaint would be that the trash dumpsters had not been emptied since we got here on Friday and they were overflowing with trash.

Most sites have been occupied since we got here - but it is a holiday weekend and week. The patrons do seem well-behaved, quiet and thoughtful and there is no evidence of "permanent" guests. The facilities are clean and functional, but old and in need of modernization.

Overall, we had a great time and would return to this park.

On Our Way

May 28, 2017

Cedars of Lebanon State Park, Tennessee

Our departure was delayed two days due to an illness in the family. We finally got on the road at around 3:30 PM on Thursday, May 25 and decided to save camper set up and take down time by overnighting in a hotel. We used some reward points for a free night at Fairfield Inn in Wytheville, VA just a little south of Hokie Country (Blacksburg). We thought that if we got an early start the next day, we could get to Cedars by 2-2:30, have time to set up camp, and be able to join our friends Ay and Em for dinner and the Grande Ole Opry.

The trip to Wytheville was plagued with heavy rain, high wind, and hail. Not fun. At one point, after refueling, a motorist pulled alongside and pointed to the side of our RV. The sewer compartment hatch had opened up and was sticking straight out of the side of the rig. We pulled over and closed the hatch and pulled on it to ensure it was secure. Fortunately, nothing fell our and it did not give us any more trouble for the rest of the drive. But we checked it every time we stopped.

About 20 minutes later, we saw flashing blue lights in our mirror and pulled over onto the shoulder. The state trooper pointed to our steps and said, “that’s a problem”. Drivers had called 911 to report that our steps had not retracted and they were having to dodge them. WOW!!! We were lucky the steps did not get hit and torn off. I think they got hung up on the ground when we stopped to close the hatch – and then did not retract when we drove off. Fortunately, there was no damage to the steps.

Now, we thought that parking the RV at a hotel would be simple. It took 45 minutes! First, finding a safe place that would allow us to turn around on leaving and a spot that was somewhat level was difficult. The service road to the hotel was plenty wide, but had a very high crown and was on a slightly steep hill. When we deployed the leveling jacks, the right side wheels were several inches off the ground. This did not sound safe, so we moved back along the road to a more level location. This was a little better, but we were still “feet high”. Finally, we moved to a dead-end road with no businesses along it and parked right in the middle of it. The front left wheel was still an inch or so off the ground, but we gave up at this point and left it for the night.

The hotel was great. Fairfield Inns are generally great facilities and this one was no exception. We had a large suite with a comfy king bed, sofa, desk, microwave and refrigerator. There was free breakfast and plenty of coffee the next morning.

Getting underway was easy and we were on the road by 7:30. We drove through more rain, but not as bad as on Thursday. We stopped to refuel at a Pilot, pulled into a rest stop to prepare and eat lunch, and continued our drive. In Crossville, TN we stopped at a Wal-Mart to stretch our legs and pick up a few forgotten items. The break felt good.

We arrived at Cedars of Lebanon State Park around 2:30 on Friday May 26. The park is deep in a cedar forest and is fairly large. However, we are disappointed in how close together the RV sites are – more like a commercial campground than the public ones we have experienced in Virginia. The pads are paved, but have lots of grit and gravel. The roads to access the campsites are narrow but trees are well trimmed and don’t pose a hazard as long as drivers are careful to say in the center of the roadway. There are electric and water hook ups in good condition. Despite the proximity of units and the number of people in camp, it is very quiet and peaceful most of the time. Rest room and shower facilities are as clean as one could expect.

Friday evening we left the park for dinner at Mission Bar-B-Que in Opry Mills in Nashville. Following dinner, we took in the live radio show at the Grande Ole Opry Theater. It was great!!

On Saturday, we relaxed most of the day and attended the wedding of a daughter of a friend of Ay and Em. Sunday was spent touring The Hermitage, home of General Andrew Jackson, war hero and seventh President of the United States, dubbed “The People’s President”. We also toured the Belmont Mansion in downtown Nashville.

Final Check Out

We completed our final check out and dry run prior to the big adventure in 10 days. We spent two nights at Lake Anna State Park and despite the rainy weather, we had a blast.

First, a little about Lake Anna State Park. This was our first visit, and all I can say is WOW!! This is a gorgeous park with fantastic campsites. Our site (#39) was long, level, and well-treed. We had electric and water hook ups (some of the sites are electric only) with no campsites behind us, just nice lush forest. The site was clean and huge with the closest neighbors just a bit beyond shouting distance. The comfort station was clean and the showers were very roomy and clean. I don't think you will find a better park anywhere. And by the way, for those hot summer days, the lake has a nice sandy beach for swimming and lots of hiking trails through the woods.

Our RV is in great shape and we are confident that everything is in working order. That is except for the oven which we still cannot get to light. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but will research this over the next few days.

We also saw, to our dismay, evidence of continued rodent activity in our living spaces. We will need to do a thorough assessment of entry points and attempt to seal them well before fall. We also requested our storage lot owner for a new site away from the open field, hoping to get into a less mouse-friendly location. He happened to have a site available and arranged for us to park there when we returned today. Thanks, Tom, for your help at Cedar Knoll Boat and RV Storage. 

This trip, we were joined by some neighbors, A and S, who are seasoned RV'ers and frequent visitors to Lake Anna. We spent time discussing past camping trips, work careers and our families as we got to know each other better. We had a great time dining together, walking to the beach, playing Mexican Train, and watching an evening movie (Medicine Man staring Sean Connery). The rain pretty much kept us indoors on Thursday. Not the ideal day weather-wise - but with good friends, good food and fun games, we enjoyed it immensely.

Many thanks to A and S for hauling our old RV mattress to the county convenience center (aka dump). We have purchased a new mattress as the original one was not very comfortable. We'll report on our choice another time.

Route and Itinerary - Part 1

Our long planning process continues with the first half of the trip finalized. We will head out on May 23 traveling south along I-81 to pick up I-40 West in Tennessee. Our first destination is the Cedars of Lebanon State Park east of Nashville. To keep our travel days within our objective of 6 hours driving time, we'll stop en route to Cedars of Lebanon in Blountville, TN just past Bristol which is on the border between Virginia and Tennessee. Drive time is just shy of 6 hours. From there, we continue west to the state park where we'll meet our friends Ay and Em. We made reservations at the state park several months ago because we wanted to guarantee a site. Our friends are attending a wedding there over the Memorial Day weekend. Drive time from Blountville is a little over 4 hours.

While in Lebanon, we'll do some exploring in the park as well as in the city of Nashville. We have tickets for the Grand Ole Opry for Friday night.Neither of us are taking along a toad (dinghy) so we'll be renting a car while in Lebanon. Enterprise will pick us up.

On May 31, we continue our trek west along I-40 - destination Grand Canyon National Park. We will take 5 days with stops at campgrounds near Little Rock, AR, Yukon, OK, Tucumcari, NM and Gallup, NM. Most of these are either Good Sam or KOA parks just off the Interstate. The exception is in Little Rock where we'll camp at a Corps of Engineers property called Maumelle Park. Along the way, we'll make stops at points of interest to be determined - we'll be looking for the "brown signs" indicating an attraction or point of interest. We might even stop at a casino to see if we can win enough to pay for some gas.

About 40 miles past Tuscon, we'll head north on US 64 which takes us into the Grand Canyon National Park. Total distance from Cedars of Lebanon to Grand Canyon Village is 1,689 miles estimated to take 28 plus hours of driving. 

We wanted badly to stay at the RV Village within the park so this was another reservation made months in advance. While we are not at the peak of the travel season, we are arriving during a holiday week; so playing it safe, we reserved a spot way back in September. Our plan was to rent a car while in GCNP. But, alas, there are no rental car companies in or near the park. However, the park service operates a fleet of buses that provide transportation throughout the park, so not having a car there should not be a problem.

We'll be in GCNP for 7 nights and then will continue north and west around the canyon to Hurricane, UT. Drive time will be approximately 4 and one-half hours. This will be our base camp for 5 nights while we visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon as well as Zion and Bryce National Parks and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. We'll be renting a car in Hurricane. For GSENM, we've booked a 3 hour tour to the Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon. I hope our Hummer will not be named "Minnow".

I'll pause for a moment to explain why we are not camping exclusively in the National Parks. Most do not accept reservations (GC is an exception) and most have either water only hook ups, or no hook ups at all. For us, creature comforts are important so we are choosing full hook up sites when we can and accepting Electric/Water hookups elsewhere. Availability of cable and WiFi is not mandatory; but will be nice when provided. [Note: we're not expecting much from the commercial-site WiFi; indications are that WiFi is slow and unreliable in many locations.]

Utah has 5 National Parks!! We decided to see them all. So, after leaving Hurricane, we will head north on I-15 for the 234 mile drive to Capitol Reef National Park. This park is said to have a beautiful campground but it operates on a first-come-first-served basis. We called the park and they said we should arrive there first thing in the morning and grab a site as others check out. They advised us to arrive by 9:00 AM meaning a 4 AM departure from Hurricane. NOT!!! This is vacation. So, our plan for Capitol Reef is to to visit the park, then backtrack a bit to a commercial Good Sam park in Torrey, UT. We'll be there on June 16.

Our friends will head for their home near Boulder, CO from there while Em and I continue to explore the parks of Utah. From Torrey, we'll move on to Moab, UT to explore Canyonlands and Arches National Parks as well as some of the other public lands in that area. We have a car reserved in Moab. This marks the half-way point of our trip. There is more to come as we continue to plan out our routes and stops.

Update

With less than three weeks before the big trip, we thought we'd bring you up to date on current status and planning. Last week, we completed our pre-trip check out by a professional service center. We took our RV to Corbin's RV in Fredericksburg and asked Brian to do a thorough check of all systems including the chassis and to do an oil change. We also asked for some accommodation on time to complete the work given that we would not have any transportation while the rig was in his shop. Corbin's did both and kept to their promise and their estimate of cost (after an initial assessment) and time. While it ended up costing more than originally planned, we felt the service was well worth the expense. They had our rig for a day and a half. Wonderful neighbors (thanks D and K) provided transportation to home and back to the shop.

All systems checked out and functioned correctly except for one minor problem Every one of our propane-powered appliances had mud-dabber (wasps) in them and that needed to be cleaned out. That explained the sooty performance of our the hot water heater and probably caused poor performance of our other appliances. It's a common problem with RVs. Corbin's cleaned them all up for us. That would have taken me hours to do myself.

Our planning continues as we plot a course from Utah east to include Kansas, Missouri, and then south to Texas. I mentioned use of the Good Sam Trip Planner tool before. This tool not only maps out the best route, taking into account roadway restrictions for RVs, it also shows campgrounds and attractions along the way. You have to be a member of Good Sam to use it, but the membership cost is very nominal and opens up other savings opportunities in the form of discounts at campgrounds, gas stations (Pilot Flying J) and Camping World. [As an aside, Camping World just announced they are joining forces with Gander Mountain to expand their outlets across the country.] Good Sam also offers a variety of insurance products at competitive prices.

One of the hardest decisions is which campground to use when there are several options. The trip planner provides links to ratings; but nothing beats visiting the campground's web site to check out their amenities and rates as well as to view photos of the facility. Reading reviews provided by the Trip Planner as well as those on the facility's web site provides a lot of insight as well.

Another great tool is the satellite view in Google Maps. This provides a great overhead perspective of the actual campground and gives you the ability to visualize tree density and proximity to neighbors and facilities.

We have one more trial run planned before departing for points west. We'll be at Lake Anna State Park next week making lists and doing a final systems check. We'll keep you posted.