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The fire near Yosemite caused us to change our itinerary. Instead of visiting the Sierra mountains, we opted to head north from Ventura to Paso Robles located in California’s central coast.

Hearst Castle

This sprawling estate located atop a mountain above San Simeon overlooking the Pacific Ocean was the home of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It was designed by a female architect, Julia Morgan, and construction started in 1919 and continued until 1947. Hearst was very “hands on” in the building process, but the “castle” was never finished because Hearst fell ill before it could be completed. Hearst invited many Hollywood stars to stay at his estate, including Charlie Chaplin, his lover Marion Davies, Cary Grant and columnist Hedda Hopper. After Hearst’s death in 1951, the estate and its valuable contents were donated to the State of California and is now managed by California State Parks. They maintain the property as a museum, as the considerable collection of artwork, Grecian urns and tapestries are priceless.

 

Pacific Coast Highway – Cambria to Monterey

The PCH near Big Sur was closed for several months due to a massive landslide, so we were happy to learn that it was now open. We started our drive in Cambria, a cute town with lots of charming shops, drove north past Big Sur, drove through Carmel-by-the-Sea, took the scenic 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach and stopped for lunch in Monterey. It was very foggy along the coast, so we only caught glimpses of the beautiful coastline below us.

Morro Bay

Nicknamed ‘Gibraltar of the Pacific’, Morro Bay is best known for the immense rock that sits just off the coast. The puppies enjoyed their first visit to the beach, especially Monty who romped in the surf and chased shore birds.

We stayed at the Ventura Ranch KOA, located north of the small town of Santa Paula. The campground had been partially destroyed by the Thomas fire in December 2017, so rebuilding efforts were going on while we were there. The setting among pine trees was very nice and Monty was very interested in the peacocks that roamed the park. While we were in Southern California we visited Santa Barbara, Ojai, Solvang, drove along the coast and had a reunion dinner with our Holland river cruise friends (Ava, Rita and Bev) in Westlake Village.

Antelope Canyon

Since we were staying in Williams, AZ, we had to get up at 3:00 am in order to arrive in Page, AZ in time for our 6:30 am kayaking adventure on Lake Powell. After receiving instructions on how to safely get into and out of the kayak and a demonstration of the correct paddling techniques, we walked down a very long boat ramp and got into our kayak. Donya sat in back so that she could steer and I sat in front. We paddled out onto the calm waters of the lake and followed our guide to Antelope Canyon. We got out of the kayak and hiked into the stunning slot canyon, ooohing and aaahing at every turn.

On the return trip we stopped for a swim where several people in our group, including Donya, jumped off a cliff into the water. What a fantastic adventure!

The Grand Canyon

We opted to visit the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, as opposed to the more popular (and crowded) South Rim. The Hualapai tribe owns and operates the facilities at the West Rim, including the Skywalk,  a 10-foot-wide, horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that extends 70 feet out over the rim of the Canyon. Donya and I are not bothered by heights, so walking out on this platform wasn’t an issue for us.

After the Skywalk, we took a helicopter ride through the canyon and landed at the bottom where we boarded a boat for a cruise down the Colorado River.

The Colorado River is still carving the canyon, as evidenced by the erosion of the river bank (shown above). What an amazing way to experience this natural wonder.

Utah boasts five magnificent National Parks, and we visited all of them except for Zion, because we had been there on a previous (non-RV) trip.

We drove from Durango to Moab where we visited Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. A park ranger told us that Canyonlands is the beginning of the Grand Canyon. It was very impressive, but I liked Arches better. We hiked up a trail to Pine Tree arch, my favorite, because we could get up close and personal. The arch that you see in all of the posters is Delicate Arch, but to get to it required quite a hike – something that we didn’t want to do in 100+ degree temperatures. As it was, the hike to Pine Tree arch tested my abilities. We heeded the Park’s warnings and kept hydrated by filling our water bottles before setting out on the short hike.

Canyonlands National Park

In Moab we had dinner at a restaurant called Sunset Grill that was originally the home of Carl Steen known as the “Uranium King”. We were treated to a magnificent sunset that slowly slipped behind the red rock formations.

From Moab we drove to Cannonville, located near Capitol Reef National Park. It surrounds a long wrinkle in the earth known as the Waterpocket Fold (the “reef”), with layers of golden sandstone, canyons and beautiful rock formations. Among the park’s sights are the Chimney Rock and white sandstone domes that look like the dome of the capitol building.

We drove past an apricot orchard that allowed us to pick our own fruit for a dollar a pound, so we took advantage of this!

Our favorite Utah national park was Bryce with its hoodoos and spires intermingled with evergreen trees.

 

A large fire was burning north of Durango, and a Fire Camp was located just north of where we camped. Smoke permeated the air and helicopters frequently flew overhead, but we were heartened by the many ‘Thank You Firefighters’ signs that were posted everywhere.

We had signed up for a zipline adventure that was supposed to start at the train station in Durango, because the zipline was only accessible by train or by a 6-mile hike on foot. Unfortunately the iconic Durango-Silverton train was not running because of the fire, so we were instructed to go to a small train station north of Durango where we boarded a little open train car that took us Tree Top Adventures. The 30-minute scenic train ride ran along side the Animas River and was absolutely breathtaking. We arrived at Tall Timbers, a stop on the Durango-Silverton line, that was originally a high-end resort built in the 70’s. A zipline course was constructed for the resort’s guests, which fortunately survived after the resort closed. The course consisted of an amazing 27 traverses. Tree Top Adventures is very environmentally conscious and installed platforms in a manner that does not harm the trees.

After a safety briefing and being fit with harnesses, we soared through Ponderosa pines, crisscrossed the Animas River, stopped for a fabulous lunch, were raised 50 feet by a helicopter lift, rappelled down the same distance and ended with the longest run on the course – a whopping 1,400 feet. We couldn’t say enough good things about the professionalism of the staff members, the environmental talks that were given along the way and the wonderful upbeat attitude of these young men and women. This was the best zipline adventure I’ve ever had, and would highly recommend it.

A trip to southern Colorado isn’t complete without visiting Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300. Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archaeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.

While some of these cliff dwellings can be seen up close by hiking down steep, narrow pathways and climbing up and down ladders, we chose to drive the 21-mile loop where we viewed the amazing dwellings from above.

The first national park that we visited was Carlsbad Caverns, which had been on my bucket list for a long time. We read on the NPS website that if we’d been in a cave within the last 10 years and were wearing the same shoes or using the same camera, to had to disinfect them before entering the Caverns. This was to prevent spread of a fungus that was infecting and killing the bat population. We had been in caves in Italy and China but we weren’t wearing the same shoes; however, Donya did have her cell phone disinfected because she had used the camera in Italy. We rode an elevator  down to the entrance and took the self-guided tour of the Big Room, the largest chamber in the caverns and the largest by volume in North America. The cave was formed by the action of sulfuric acid eating away at the limestone (rather than water erosion as is the case with most limestone caves), so the stalactites and stalagmites were dry and not growing. We noticed a worker picking lint off of the mineral formations (nitpicking) – she said that lint sloughs off the clothes of visitors and they needed to do this periodically to keep them clean. The caverns were discovered by miners who were looking for bat guano used in making fertilizer. As in Austin, thousands of Mexican free-tail bats emerge from the cave at dusk to feed on insects.

After touring the caverns we returned to the RV, packed up and continued west to our next destination, Las Cruces. We had just passed the White Sands Missile Range when the fourth tire blew. Good Sam Roadside Assistance sent a young man to change the tire (using the spare tire), but  his jack wasn’t strong enough and it broke. He called for assistance, so another man arrived with a bigger jack. After the tire was changed, we asked them to follow us into Las Cruces in case the spare failed, which it did five  – miles later. Five blowouts in 36 hours – must be a record. However, the two men couldn’t help us because they didn’t have a tire, and Good Sam couldn’t find a tire company that was open on a Sunday night. Donya and I weighed our options and decided to get the RV into a safer place and spend the night on the side of the road. We walked down the highway using satellite GPS to find a place to pull into. We came upon some abandoned buildings and were trying to assess the area with a flashlight when we heard a man call out to us. This man was living in a nearby trailer and suggested that we park in front of an abandoned gas station. He gave us his phone number in case we needed anything. We walked back up the hill to the RV and limped back down the hill, being careful not to ruin the tire rim. We felt safer being off the road, but we had no power and had to decide if we were going to sleep in the RV with no A/C or go to a motel. It was well past midnight and we were very tired, so even though we found a motel with vacancy, we decided to make the best of it and sleep in the RV.

The next morning Good Sam Roadside Assistance sent out two men who put on two new 14-ply tires. That was enough to get us to a gas station (we had idled for hours running the truck A/C trying to keep cool, so we were low on diesel). We also wanted to weigh the truck and RV to make sure we weren’t overweight. After filling up and getting weighed (Livy weighed 13,500 and Stanley weighed 11,300 – well within the allowable weight limit), we drove to the tire company and had two more 14-ply tires put on. We now had four brand-new, top-of-the-line 14-ply tires plus two 10-ply spares. The Las Cruces KOA was just down the road, so after settling into our spot, we spent the next two days recovering from this trauma.

White Sands National Monument, located near Las Cruces, is absolutely amazing. The sand dunes are made of gypsum and calcium sulfate instead of quartz. Surprisingly, it is cool to the touch because of the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and the fact that the sands reflect the sun’s rays rather than absorb them. The park ranger told us that the sand is even cooler under the surface. We bought two disc-like sleds and tried to slide down the slopes, but we were too heavy for the degree of slope of the dunes. Instead we dug holes in the sand so that the dogs could cool their bellies.

Las Cruces doesn’t have a lot going for it, but it does boast a huge roadrunner sculpture made out of recycled parts and a motel proudly displays the largest red chile pepper I’ve ever seen. We took the dogs for a walk in a park next to the Rio Grande and before we knew it, Monty jumped in and went for a swim. Fortunately, he was still on leash so Donya was able to extricate him from the water.

Beautiful pueblo-style architecture in Santa Fe

 

Loved the art galleries along Canyon Road in Santa Fe

After my retirement luncheon on Friday, June 8, Donya and I packed up the  fifth wheel RV, whom we had named Livingstone (Livy for short), hitched her to our Ford F350 Super Duty long bed, extended cab diesel truck, whom we called Stanley, and drove out of the East Austin KOA campground that had been our home address for the past three months.

We drove north on the 130 toll road, and shortly after passing the Highway 79 exit (just 22 miles from our starting point) we heard a loud POP. One of the four tires on the fifth wheel had blown, so Donya eased us onto the shoulder of the highway and we got out to inspect the damage. The right front tire was in shreds and had ripped off the fender when it blew. Donya saw the fender lying several yards away, picked it up and put it into the truck bed. A passer-by stopped to help and suggested that we follow him to the next exit so that we could park in a safer area. We parked in a wide area near the toll booth and then called roadside assistance that came with our tire warranty. Roadside Assistance for the 130 Toll Road also stopped and put orange cones behind the RV. About an hour later, a man in a tow truck arrived, removed the damaged tire and put on the spare. He put the shredded tire in the back of the truck because the rim wasn’t damaged and we would need to get it repaired.

100 miles later, we were just outside of Llano TX when we heard another POP. This time the left front tire had blown, but it did more damage than the first blowout – it ripped off the left fender and damaged the middle jack and motor. We placed another call to roadside assistance, but since we didn’t have a spare it took a very long time until they found a tire shop that had our tire size (or close to it). Five hours after the blowout, a man arrived from Georgetown and put on a new tire, but it was slightly smaller than the other tires. He assured us that this wouldn’t create any problems, but suggested that we use it as a spare when we could get the tire replaced.

By now it was 1:00 am, so we didn’t get to our first campground in San Angelo until 4:30 am. We were so tired, that we just plugged in the power cord, turned on the A/C and crawled into my bed. Donya’s bedroom is not accessible unless the slides are out, and since we hadn’t unhitched, we weren’t sure if we could extend them. We got up at 8:30 am, and even though we were still tired, we decided to rally and head to our next destination, Carlsbad NM so that we could keep to our schedule. The campground manager came over to check on us, and after telling him about the blowouts, he suggested that we get 14-ply tires rather than the 10-ply tires that came with the RV. We asked him what was causing the blowouts, and he thought it was a combination of the heat (it had been in the 100’s since we left Austin), our speed and possibly the weight of our RV.

We continued our journey, not exceeding 60 mph, and prayed that we wouldn’t have any more incidences. Well, our prayers were not answered. Just outside of Andrews, TX the third tire blew. This time we called Good Sam Roadside Assistance because we had exhausted the number of claims that we could submit in a 7-day period with the tire warranty company. A very nice man with missing teeth arrived with two new tires – he changed the blown tire and put a tire on the spare rim. We did a high-five when we finally crossed into New Mexico, leaving Texas behind us.

Donya and I decided to start our RV adventure as soon as I retired, so after buying the RV and truck, we sold our house and put our belongings in storage. Since our house sold much faster than we thought it would, we moved into the RV in March and stayed at the Austin East KOA until I retired on June 8.

Living in the RV before we started traveling gave us an opportunity to learn how to use the RV functions, figure out what to take and what to leave behind, maximize storage space and get comfortable living in 450 square feet. Donya spent a lot of time on the Internet reading RV blogs and researching best known practices to set up our home on wheels. She bought every accessory that she thought we’d need to make life easy living on the road, and I think she did an absolute super job of getting us ready.

We arranged to store our car at my sister Kim’s house (she is also Donya’s mother), and my other sister Denay offered to handle our mail. We spent hours planning our route and making reservations at RV resorts and campgrounds, which was necessary because our total length is 63 feet, and we knew that we couldn’t fit into just any campground. Also, we wanted to make sure that we had Internet at each camp site so that Donya could work remotely.

As my retirement date approached, we felt confident that we were ready to hit the road.