Shakedown Trip - San Clemente State Beach

We've made our plans for our shakedown trip! We're going to San Clemente State Beach (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=646).We have never been there before, but its on a bluff over the beach and has full hook ups, so it seems perfect. I still really want to go to Rincon, but I guess we'll save that for the next time since it has no hook ups.
So now we've got to stock the trailer. The master bedroom is almost done, with a new memory foam mattress topper, memory foam pillows and a new down comforter. We have not decided what to do with the bunks... whether or not to make them up with sheets and blankets or just use sleeping bags. For next weekend, sleeping bags seem ok, but for our Road Trip, 32 days seems too long to sleep in a sleeping bag. Then there is the kitchen. We have some stuff from the old trailer, pots and pans and dinner ware; some pantry staples. Its all a matter of putting things where they go and seeing what we still need. I love every minute of it!

More Reservations!

From Map

  Well, I made 3 more reservations today!  It's so exciting to be making real plans!  I have decided not to make reservations in our stop over places, just the destinations.  That way, we can be a little more flexible in between.  I made reservations today for Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro AR, American Heritage Park in Williamsburg, Va, and Cherry Hill in College Park, MD (for DC).  Here is a new picture of our final route.  We'll skip Oklahoma on the way east, instead staying in north Texas.  It seems easier to get to the Crater of Diamonds this way.  Also in our final itinerary, we've opted to drive hard the days we need to travel, starting early in the morning.  This makes for long days of driving, but gives us more time at our destinations.

  Closer to home... we are planning our maiden voyage in our trailer, in about a week.  I want to go to the beach, not sure what campground yet, or whether or not to try and find hook-ups.  I really like Rincon Parkway, maybe there will be hook up sites available at Hobson or Faria (doubt it!).  The whales should be heading south, would be cool to see a pod!

  And lastly... I'm off to put the new memory foam topper on the queen bed in the trailer... woo hooooooo!

Our Trailer is Home!

DH and I went through a 3 hour PDI yesterday morning and brought our baby home! We diligently filmed most of the inspection so that when it comes time to remember whether or not we need the dehumidifier on the refrigerator we'll know the answer! We LOVE it! Some of my favorite features are the outside shower (no more sand in the trailer!) and the garage door storage in the bunk room. The fridge is huge! It comes with a range cover and sink covers. The interior design is called wine.
It is 32 ft (34 including the hitch assembly) but fits in our driveway. We had a sway control installed, and also a Prodigy brake control.
Over all we're very pleased with it, and with our dealer. Anyone need a referral?

I Made Our First Reservation!

  We know DH's schedule now for the next couple of months and it perfectly coincides with our vacation, so we will actually be leaving on March 15th! 

  I made our first reservation tonight, at the Grand Canyon Railway Rv Park in Williams, AZ.  I also booked train tickets!  We'll take the train up to the Grand Canyon, have a look around and then take the train back.  Everything I have read says this is the thing to do when visiting with kids.  The parks near the Grand Canyon either don't fit our rig or have really bad reviews, so I'm excited about staying in Williams and taking the train.  The girls are going to love it!  Here's the link to the Grand Canyon Railway:   http://www.thetrain.com/home.cfm

  Because we have an extra 5 days with DH's RDO's, we are adding the Diamond Mine back in our plans and the girls are really excited.  We're also adding a day in Indianapolis to see a Pioneer farm/living museum.

 

TRAILER UPDATE

 

  We have an appt at 9am on Friday to pick up our trailer!!!  Its been at the dealership since last Friday, and I can't wait to see it.  We will be doing our PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) and having our Suburban fitted with the correct wiring and we are having a brake controller installed.  We hope to make our maiden voyage the first full weekend in January!

Our New Trailer

We're counting down to the delivery of our new travel trailer!  We expect it mid-December.  We're getting a Fleetwood Wilderness 32dbhs.  It sleeps 10!  Don't worry, we still only need sleeping for 6, but we intend to hang on to this trailer for some time and this way the girls can bring friends, and maybe my sister will even bring the new baby (counting down to June 2007).  There are quad bunks in the back, a full bathroom, a full kitchen and a separate master bedroom (see the floor plan picture below; click to enlarge it!).  There is a slide, and the sofa contains a queen size pull out sofa-bed.  The floor plan is what sold us, but the Wilderness is great on other levels as well.  The chassis is enclosed, which makes cold weather camping easier.  The tank sizes are huge, which makes dry camping easier.  And... it has a stove!! I can't wait for hot cornbread and camp chili!  The trailer is an ostentatious 32 feet long (nearly 34 with the hitch), but its still well below our our suburban's (454) towing capacity.  We're having a sway control mechanism added for easier towing.  I can't wait until its here and we can take it on our first test run before our Road Trip!

GPS is sooooo cool!

     So my GPS receiver and Microsoft Streets & Trips came in the mail today!  Here's the first draft of our route (I've used the alternate route, though we still may end up adding the Diamond Crater back in, we're still in negotiations).  Click on the photo to enlarge it. This software is soooo cool!  I can't believe we ever found the end our our driveway without it!  It gives drive time, in route fuel checkpoints, it will even add bathroom breaks and calculates fuel cost and drive time, etc etc etc.  It was totally worth it.  We need to check it out with the real time drive directions.  Its supposed to have voice commands.

Alternate Itinerary

Ok, here is an alternate itinerary.  If we drive hard the first few days, skip the Grand Canyon (its close to home, we can do it later) and skip the Crater of Diamonds (ouch, I know), we can gain 3 days.  Also, I think we can get to Williamsburg in 2 days instead of 3, and we gain gain a day there.  This way, we can spend more time in the cities we want to see.  The last week is still hard though.

 

Mar 18  674 mi  Grant, NM

Mar 19  655 mi  Oklahoma, OK

Mar 20  571 mi  Tupelo, MS

            4 days                        

Mar 25  392 mi  Knoxville, TN

Mar 26  486 mi  Williamsburg, VA

            2 days                          

Mar 29  183 mi  Washington DC

           1 day                                    

Mar 31  112 mi Philadelphia, PA

           2 days                                    

Apr 3    124 mi  New York

           2 days                                    

Apr 6    234 mi  Boston, MA

           2 days                                    

Apr 9    479 mi Niagara Falls

Apr 10  512 mi  Indianapolis, IN

Apr 11  457 mi Springfield, MO

Apr 12  546 mi  Amarillo, TX

Apr 13  518 mi  Holbrook, AZ

Apr 14  530 mi  home     

6473                                         

 

Preliminary Itinerary

     Ok, so here is the scoop.  I've ordered Microsoft Streets and Trips, with a GPS locator and a power inverter.  Yup, turning my laptop into one big GPS device.  I can't wait until it arrives and I can hone my route.  In the meantime, I'm working on our preliminary itinerary.  There's a couple of things we'll need to keep in mind... back east there are a lot of tunnels... and they don't allow trailers carrying propane in them, so we'll have to route around them.  I think this may only affect us in Baltimore; we'll see.  Also, there are far more toll roads back east than there are in Southern California.  I think we may end up on them anyway though, because time is of the essence.  Will be a hefty toll, towing a trailer.  Also, on the way back, we'll go south to avoid the Rockies in early April.

 

Mar 18, Grand Canyon.  I think we'll either stay in Williams at a KOA or maybe Trailer Village closer to the South Rim.

Mar 19, Albuquerque NM.  Staying at Albuquerque Central KOA

Mar 20, Elk City, OK.  Staying at Elk City KOA

Mar 21, Murfreesboro, AR.  Would like to stay at Crater of Diamonds State Park. We'll spend an extra day here, hoping to coax a diamond to come with us.

Mar 23, Tupelo, MS.  We've got friends here, so will stay several days.

Mar 28, Trenton, GA.  Would like to stay at Cloudland Canyon State Park
Mar 29, Radford, VA. Sportsman Campground, hopefully have dinner with some friends in Blacksburg.
Mar 30, Williamsburg, VA.  May stay at the KOA, may stay at Anvil Campground. Will stay an extra day and check out Colonial Williamsburg, maybe Jamestown.
Apr  1, College Park, MD.  Hope to stay at Cherry Hill.  Will stay an extra day to check out Wash DC.

Apr  3, Coatesville, PA.  Will stay at the KOA, spend an extra day checking out Philadelphia and maybe Amish country.

Apr  5, Jersey City, NJ.  Hope to stay at Liberty Harbor.  Will stay an extra day to check out Manhattan.

Apr  7, Middleboro, MA.  Will stay at the KOA, spend an extra day checking out Plymouth and Boston.

Apr  9, Grand Island, NY... Niagara Falls

Apr 10, Columbus, OH, not sure where we'll stay, hope to have dinner with some friends in Grove City.

Apr 11, St Louis, MO.  Still need to find a place to stay here, will have been a long day driving.

Apr 12, Tulsa, OK. 

Apr 13, Tucumcari, NM

Apr 14, Holbrook, AZ

Apr 15 Needles, CA

Apr 16, home!

 

I still need to figure out where to stay after Niagara Falls, most of the cities have KOA's though.  We also joined Passport America and will be getting their discount in a few campgrounds on the way.

 

The Planning Begins!

Los Angeles to Boston and back in 4 weeks!  Don’t laugh, I’m serious.  Here’s all the places we’d like to see:

            Grand Canyon

            Crater of Diamonds

            Tupelo

            Colonial Williamsburg

            Washington DC

            Philadelphia

            New York

            Boston

            Niagra Falls

 

I’ll post our itinerary soon!