Going West !

[trukdoc]

We are going to see the Grandkids in California for Christmas. Heading out I-40 from Amarillo to Grand Canyon then into Phoenix to visit with a cousin and wifes neice and new baby. From there into Victorville Ca. Probably going to stay at Mojave Narrows or Victorville KOA. Nonavigator has an Aunt near Pomona so Dec. 30 -31 be at Pomona KOA. On the way back make a wide loop throuh Vegas (I hope) and take lesser traveled paths back. Looking at Hwy 82 from Arizona all the way back into Texas, at Paris head south back to Sulphur Springs. Any suggestions and recomendations for sites to see are welcome. Merry Christmas to everyone and may all you have a safe holiday as we travel about.

[sreigle]

Sounds like an enjoyable trip, Rick and Wanda!

I'm not familiar with highway 82. Is that a US or state highway? We really enjoy the non-interstate roads.

As for sightseeing, there are many, many things to see and do in that part of the country. Rather than trying to enumerate them and maybe miss some good ones, I'll suggest you do a quick perusal of our website (click the Our Travels link below). It's organized by year. In each year you can just scroll the left panel to see where we were and then click on any of interest. Email me if any questions. I will add that we have hardly scratched the surface in 44 months of fulltiming.

[patodonn]

Mojave Narrows = trains...lots of them, day and night!! No experience with Pomona KOA. Try to "time" your arrival in the Riverside area until after 10 AM or before 2PM. Earlier or later gets you invilved with the commute traffic, which can be "interesting", with or without towing a rig.

There is a nice Regional Park in Yucaipa.

Check road conditions closely in the Albuquerque area and the Flagstaff area. They both get snow, sometimes quite a bit. That whole area, including the Grand Canyon, can be MIGHTY cold in the winter!! Might consider going there via the train trip from Williams AZ.

Don't know your proposed route across AZ headed back to TX. If you are talking US 82, I think that highway doesn't begin until NM, at Alamagordo. I gotta tell you, it is a tough climb from there to the plateau at Cloudcroft. Also, there is snow up there quite often. It is over 8600 ft elevation....be really careful. I'm not familiar with US 82 from 50 miles east of Cloudcroft into Texas.

Again, check the weather and road conditions closely.

For myself, I stay out of the mountains with the rig in the winter if there is any possibility of snow or sub freezing weather up there. I use I-10 and I-20 this time of year for any travels east from S. Calif. Even I-20 an be a problem...look at Dallas this week!!

I may be overly cautious, but, then again, we are retired and don't need to do "inclement weather" in the rig. We are flying to Boise for Christmas, definitely not towing..

[padredw]

"I'm not familiar with highway 82. Is that a US or state highway? We really enjoy the non-interstate roads."

US 82 is an East/West US Highway. We use the section from Texarkana to Wichita Falls, Texas regularly as our preferred route to Amarillo and Colorado.

[txkrumm]

Of interest in Southern Ca, off the I-10 in Palm Springs is the Palm Springs aerial Tramway. It is a cable/tram car that goes from the floor of the desert up to the second highest mountain in Southern CA, San Jacinto. Restaurant up at the top and the views are amazing. Fun way to spend the afternoon! Google it if interested...
t
I totally agree with patodonn, stay away from Riverside during peak hours; its a mess and there is construction that makes it worse.

[Bowie]

We will add our warning to PJ's about the road from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft. When we lived in Alamo we were sure never to make that trip unless we KNEW the road was dry and no bad weather was forecast. However, if you do find yourself in Alamo, be sure to see White Sands. Safe travels!

[trukdoc]

I used to live in San Bernardino, very familiar with the traffic. Pretty much why I do not live there now. The regional park in Yuciapia used to have only one hookup, has that changed? And there was no reservations. Good information on HWY 82 elevation. Now that I have Cingulars Laptop Connect I will be able to check conditions on the fly.

[Parrothead]

We have stayed at the KOA in Pomona - across from the fairgrounds. Very nice park. There is another close by that is also nice if you get in the right section. Check out East Shore RV Park. It is less than a mile from the KOA. Ask for Section C.
Happy trails......................

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by trukdoc

We are going to see the Grandkids in California for Christmas. Heading out I-40 from Amarillo to Grand Canyon then into Phoenix to visit with a cousin and wifes neice and new baby. From there into Victorville Ca. Probably going to stay at Mojave Narrows or Victorville KOA. Nonavigator has an Aunt near Pomona so Dec. 30 -31 be at Pomona KOA. On the way back make a wide loop throuh Vegas (I hope) and take lesser traveled paths back. Looking at Hwy 82 from Arizona all the way back into Texas, at Paris head south back to Sulphur Springs. Any suggestions and recomendations for sites to see are welcome. Merry Christmas to everyone and may all you have a safe holiday as we travel about.

We feel really fortunate when we go to Victorville. Marge has an uncle there and we park in the neighbor's yard near her uncle's house. He provides us with water and even a telephone line from his house. We have solar power so we are set. He even has a place in his sewer line where we can pump our black water when we need to. Grey water empties around the shrubs.

Orv

[ragdoll]

trukdoc, pj and bowie are right about US82, you are still in the mountains after Cloudcroft but a beautiful drive fairly rolling to flat heading on into TX. Check road conditions and weather before attempting travel. I also grew up in Alamo and we were just down there Thanksgiving - as mentioned White Sands also visit the Space Hall of Fame. Several RV parks there, infact, saw a Monty in the RV park out on HWY 54 toward Tularosa.

Safe travels.
Lorraine

[sreigle]

Thanks, Padre. Soon as I read "Cloudcroft" in the above post I realized I've been on that stretch of road since we've been to Cloudcroft. And now I see 82 in Texas on S&T.

[trukdoc]

We are off. So far made it to Amarillo. Looking at weather and does not look like we are going to Grand Canyon. There is a smaller version of it here in Texas. Mabe we will check it out. There is a Monty parked here at Amarillo RV Ranch but have not seen anyone around to find out if they are fellow MOC'ers.

[ragdoll]

It has been cloudy, cool but not cold here in Albuq. They will be getting that storm coming in at Flagstaff - there was a dusting there on Monday from the storm on Sunday when we came back from Vegas. If you decide to go to the Grand Canyon there is several nice RV parks we noticed in Williams and the train to go to the canyon. Williams is a small town and all the stores on Route 66 are all lite up, a lovely site - we stayed at a motel there on our way out to Vegas.

Travel safe.
Lorraine

[8.1al]

If you have the time I would sit tight a few days till this storm blows over.

[trukdoc]

First stop before our destination in Victorville Ca. is Phoenix. Might just head for a more southern route.
It is about 31 deg out and after having the frige worked and paying for a pretrip inspection, the furnace is not working. What troublshooting I have been able to do so far is a short inside the unit. I can disconnect the hot wire and it does not blow a fuse. Hook up wire and blows instantly. Now that it is getting light I will take it out and see what I can find.

[trukdoc]

Here is the update.
Watching the weather I knew Grand Canyon was out, Nonnavigator wanted to stay in Amarillo, again watching the weather if we stayed in Amarillo we needed to be prepared to stay for awhile. So we beat feet west and Nonavigator was mad because I was pushing so hard. We were 30 miles from Flagstaff when it hit. And boy did it hit. First the ice then the snow. So heavy it was hard to see the road. I was determined to not get stuck in it.I continued to push on and as I cleared the pass it started getting better. We continued on to Seligman to a KOA. Nice little park, it has a new owner trying to revitalize the park. Looks like she is on the right track. I pulled up the weather on my Cingular Laptop Connectand showed Nonnavigator what we missed. We were in a chilly 28 degrees but not the 6 degrees in Flagstaff. We continued to Vegas I finally got to see Freemont street. There is a young man there doing art and he is amazing. Paints with nothing more than spray cans and creates beautiful art in a matter of minutes. What impressed me about him more than than the beauty of his work was that he had no particular theme ie: landscapes, caracters or cityscapes. He does them all and combines them as well. One he did while we watched was a cityscape in the reflection of Spiderman's eye.
So now we are in Phoenix er I mean Peoria. There is a little RV park behind the Ramada that unlike most around here accepts pets any size and us youngsters under 55. Never thought at 44 I would be told I was not old enough. At $26.00 per night and centrally located works for us. The amenities are WiFi in some areas and laundry showers and a meeting room. We have visited family mine and hers. We are going to a Mongolian BBQ this afternoon and will prepare to leave tomorrow morning for California. We had to replace our tires but will start a new thread on that.
Merry CHRISTMAS and happy trails to all.
(I hate the use of Xmas the day is about Christ not X)

[jrgwdenner]

So glad that you arrived safely through the storm. Glad to hear that there is a Mongolian BBQ in Peoria. We're heading that way and Glen LOVES Mongolian BBQ. Now I know he'll like Arizona. Have fun and a very blessed Merry CHRISTmas.

[Ozz]

trukdoc,
Thanks for the updates, you write a good newsy log. Glad you made it across, man, that is a windy weather prone stretch.
Are you coming anywhere near Lake Havasu City? Richfaa, Snfexpress & myself are here for awhile, Simonsrf is coming back here as well. Sue and I will be leaving the 4th, but the rest of the Ratpack should be here.
Have a safe one, and hope to see you on the road.
Ozz

[trukdoc]

That Mongo BBQ is in Phoenix just west of I-17 on W Northern ave. The name of the place is Lai Lai.
I'll try to post back in a bit and let you know how it is.

[jrgwdenner]

We'll be lookin', Rick, for your report and for the restaurant if it's good! Thanks!