Category: Trips

Treks/Routes/Destinations Planned

10-24 May 2023: Japan

by JamesInternational Travel / Travel / Trips

Not a RV trip of course, but this was our first international trip since Italy in Dec 2019/Jan 2020. Our son Sean & family planned a long-awaited trip to Japan and invited us to join them. They planned a 3-week trip but we only planned for a two-week stay.
We would overlap in Tokyo for 5 days then travel separately to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. I’ve been to Japan several times but this was my first trip without my Mom, who was Japanese. I was hoping to explore areas of Japan I’ve missed on our many earlier trips. It was a very different travel experience without her. But thanks to Google Maps & T-Mobile, navigating the Japanese mass transit system was pretty easy. Even with all the trains, buses, and taxis, we averaged ~20,000 or more steps each day.

Covid-19 is still on everyone’s mind in Japan and (almost) everyone wears masks, even outdoors. Japan is so densely populated and the trains/subways/metros/buses are packed so it’s very understandable. Carol and I, who have gone 3yrs Covid-free, both came down with it this trip. Fortunately, symptoms were mild and neither of us were severely sick.
If you plan on traveling internationally, especially to Japan, be sure to bring Covid tests. Getting tested there as a tourist can be expensive & complicated – there are a few locations offering PCR testing for foreigners or refer to this US Embassy info page. When we were there and asked a local pharmacy, they said they only provide testing for residents. So Covid testing for foreigners isn’t as easy – refer to these sites that provide info on tourist testing.

11-16 May 2023: Tokyo

One of my biggest frustrations about traveling to Asia is crossing the International Date Line, so you immediately lose a day. Plus the flights are 11 or more hours long, so you are losing most of a second day. If you fly non-stop from SoCal at 1pm May 10th, you land in Narita Airport May 11th ~5pm. Going through customs, then traveling an hour to Tokyo from Narita, adds to the long travel day. You ‘gain’ a day coming back but a two-week trip to Japan is more like 10 days with all the travel involved.
But Japan is worth it and one of our favorite countries to visit. Going there with the grand-kids was refreshing plus Sean & Melissa planned full days of eclectic activities. We had very little to plan for the first five days of our trip.

Balcony View, Hotel Edmont
Tokyo Giants Baseball
Tokyo Dome City
  • 11 May: Hotel Metropolitan Edmont Tokyo – this hotel is centrally located and near the Suidobashi & Iidabashi train stations. The room was spacious by Japanese standard with a balcony with a view to the area (see photo 1). The Tokyo Dome (photo 2) and Tokyo Dome City (photo 3) are within walking distance. Catch a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome or just visit the shops, restaurants, gardens, amusement park & playgrounds of Tokyo Dome City.
  • 12 May: Tokyo
    • Gotokuji Temple: Toyko’s Maneki Neko ‘Lucky Cat’ Temple
    • Ghibli Museum 4:00PM
  • 13 May: Tokyo
    • MINI PIG CAFE 11 AM
    • Baseball Game 2:00PM
    • Tokyo Dome City
  • 14 May: Tokyo
    • Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens
    • Kanda Matsuri Festival
    • Sumo Tournament
    • Tokyo Skytree
  • 15 May: Hakone Day Trip
    • Open Air Museum
    • Hakone Ropeway to Owakudani
    • Lake Ashi
  • 16 May: Last Day in Tokyo
    • TeamLabs Tokyo- Art Exhibit 1:30-2 Entry
    • Shinkansen to Kyoto

16-19 May 2023: Kyoto

Sean & family’s plan was to stay in Tokyo till May 20th. Since our Japan trip was only two week, not three, we headed to Kyoto on May 16th. I’ve been to Kyoto a several times but this was my first visit without my Mom. Traveling so far has been pretty easy using Google directions to find our way. Having a Suica card in our iPhone wallet made riding the train and buses in Japan really easy. You place your iPhone on the IC reader and it automatically deducts the correct fare from your Suica card. It displays your balance so you can recharge your card whenever your balance gets low. We used T-Mobile’s $50 International Plan so our phones just worked normally. We did not need a mobile wifi device, Japanese e-sim card or eSim app like Airalo. Using something other than T-Mobile may have been cheaper. But having our regular phone numbers and iPhones working natively was worth the convenience.

  • 16 May: Sakura Terrace The Gallery Hotel – the hotel is a short two-minute walk from the Kyoto train station. It was the perfect base location for our itinerary in Kyoto. The hotel was wonderful with nightly complimentary welcome drinks & a special guest dinner menu. Their breakfast buffet was the best we had in Japan. If we get back to Kyoto, we will definitely stay here again.
  • 17 May: Kyoto
    • Fushimi Inari
  • 18 May: Kyoto
    • Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
    • Iwatayama Monkey Park
    • Sagano Romantic Train

19-20 May 2023: Nara

When we came back to the USA from Thailand in 1970, we stopped in Japan. One of my favorite memories of our visit to Japan besides visiting our Japanese relatives Obaasan Misa (grandma), Obasan (Aunt) Kiyoko and Kazuko, was our visit to Nara. In the family photo album was a favorite photo of me surrounded by deer. I remembered being amongst them as they roamed freely around the city – wild but habituated to people. I made it a point to spend one night in Nara versus just a day trip. Being in Nara in the early morning is special, before the crowds arrive and the deer get aggressive for rice crackers (Osembe). A day trip or even one night isn’t really a long enough stay. Like Hakone, there is so much to experience besides the usual tourist spots. I would have love to have at least one more day to hike Mt. Kasuga Primeval Forest.

  • 19 May: Nara Visitor’s Center & Inn – we stayed on the perimeter of Nara Park, in a huge (by Japanese standards) private room at the Nara Visitor’s Center & Inn. Kyoto and Nara have many traditional hotels (ryokans) but the location & amenities this place offered were hard to beat. They do not serve breakfast but provide cultural experiences and free luggage storage. There are several nearby coffee shops, including Starbucks, and restaurants for meals.
    • Nakatanidou Mochi Shop – a short must ‘must-see’ stop is a local mochi shop where every 20-30mins they pound mochi (sweet sticky rice) with wooden mallets. It’s quite the energetic show but only last a few minutes. The resulting rice cakes with sweet beans are the freshest you’ll ever find and delicious.
  • 20 May:

20-23 May 2023: Osaka

Of the many times I visited Japan, I do not remember staying in Osaka. After Kyoto, we typically traveled south to Kagoshima where my Mom grew up. This trip, Osaka would be the furthest south we would travel.

  • 20 May: Holiday Inn Osaka Namba – I decided this late in the trip we’d prefer a roomier hotel room than the typical Japanese hotel. Some are only 118-161 sq ft, so I booked a larger (269sqft) room at the Holiday Inn. We wanted to be walking distance to the river & Dontonburi and this hotel was one block away. Being a Holiday Inn, they provided a lot of American amenities (plus IHG points). But I’d have to say their breakfast buffet was a disappointment, worst we had in Japan. Still, it was great not being cramped in a small hotel room our last few days in Japan was relaxing.
    • Osaka Dotonburi
  • 21 May:
    • Osaka Aquarium
    • Dontonburi Night Photography
  • 22 May:
    • Osaka Castle
    • Tsutenkaku Hitachi Tower

23 May 2023: Osaka Shinkansen to Tokyo to Narita Airport

We considered traveling back to Tokyo for one night. But decided a long train ride from Osaka was less tedious than checking in and out of another hotel. It was a long busy day of travel but we had plenty of time to make our 5:20pm flight. It should be notable that although Japan has a great infrastructure of mass transit and taxis. You still can easily log more than 20000 steps in a day.

Day 1: Godzilla, Gotokuji Temple & Ghibli Museum

by JamesInternational Travel / Sightseeing / Travel / Trips

We started our two weeks in Japan in Tokyo. Staying at the Hotel Edmont that’s walking distance from the train station. This location was a great base location for our destinations around Tokyo. Sean & Melissa had planned most of the activities for us, buying tickets etc. It was great traveling to Japan with our kids and grand-kids since their viewpoints are so refreshing.

Day 1: “G-Day”

Shinjuku Godzilla Head, Toho Theatre

Just a short scavenger hunt to find Godzilla in Shinjuku. Rising over the Toho Theatre there, is Godzilla, well just the head & neck but a fun place if you are a Godzilla fan.

Gotokuji Temple: Toyko’s Maneki Neko ‘Lucky Cat’ Temple.
I expected to see live cats at this ‘cat temple’ but in hindsight I guess that’d be silly.
According to atlasobscura.com: “Legend has it that during the Edo period, the final era of traditional Japanese government, a cat under the care of a priest at Gotokuji Temple led a feudal lord to safety during a thunderstorm. The cat beckoned the lord and his servants inside with a waving gesture—hence all maneki-neko statues have one paw raised.”
The thousands of white ceramic waving-paw good luck cats will be very familiar to those seeking good luck & good fortune.

Ghibli Museum

A hard-to-get ticket in Tokyo is the Ghibli Museum but Sean managed to secured tickets for all of us for 4pm, the last entry time of the day. Like Disney in the US, the Ghibli characters, such as Totoro, are Japanese animation’s most beloved characters.
The museum describes & archives the humble beginnings and rigorous process of creating these amazing characters & animating them. The analog processes are described in detail through the many displays and authentic work-spaces. (Tip: ask the information desk for an English language guide since all the descriptions are in Japanese.) Unfortunately, photos inside the museum are forbidden so I could only photograph the rooftop garden & exterior spaces of this magical place.

22 Mar 2023: Saguaro National Park East

by JamesArizona / Day Trips / Hikes / National Parks / Trips

The weather continued to be cool and rainy but great for hiking and photography. Saguaro National Park East appears to have more hiking trails than the west. There’s also a popular scenic drive loop through the park that has many pull-outs and trailheads. I thought the terrain was more interesting than the valley of the national park west. Along the trails, there were more wildflowers and changes in elevation. We enjoyed the scenic drive while it rain, stopping at a few scenic spots.

When we had stopped at the Visitor Center for a trail map. We overheard the park ranger recommend the Garwood Trail to another group of hikers wanting an uncrowded hike. This trail is part of several trails on the northern edge of the park which includes Douglas Spring, Converse, Wildhorse Loop. On one of the bends of the Garwood Trail, 1.5mi from the trailhead, is a rare crested saguaro cactus. It became somewhat of a scavenger hunt for us since the crude map from the visitors center, where he drew an X, was not to scale. Trail markers were also confusing since many different trails criss-cross the Garwood Trail. So we wondered if we had missed it but we continued along the trail and finally found this beautiful, unusual cactus – definitely worth the hike.


The rain has pretty much stopped so hike conditions were pretty good – cool but not muddy. The rain added to the photography by saturating the colors and adding water droplets. We did a lot of closeup photos.

Along the main road, we spotted another crested saguaro. It wasn’t nearly as intricately detailed as the Garwood Trail cactus. Perhaps in ~20 more years it will develop the flowery lobes. It was on someone’s property so not part of Saguro National Park East.

20-23 Mar 2023: Tucson/Saguaro National Park

by JamesArizona / Day Trips / National Parks / RV Parks / Sightseeing / Travel Trailer / Trips

With unpredictable weather north of Phoenix, we decided to head south to Tucson. Our bucket-list of visiting all the national parks did not have a check mark next to Saguaro National Park. Plus the weather and driving conditions were noticeably better heading south.
We book three nights at the Tucson/Lazydays KOA primarily for its location. Saguaro National Park is split into east & west sections about 30mi apart, separated by Tucson. The KOA was about midway so we planned to visit the west park Tuesday then hike the east park Wednesday.
The easy, scenic drive from northern Phoenix to southern Tucson was a ~2.5hrs. We passed Picacho Peak State Park, surrounded by wildflowers, and added it to our list of places to visit next time. It’s midway between Phoenix and Tucson and it’s distinctive peak has some challenging trails. Plus it’s in a ‘dark-sky’ area so would be great for astrophotography.
March is a great time to visit Tucson and Saguaro NP but it was overcast with scattered showers two of the days we were there. The Tucson/Lazydays KOA is huge with a variety of RV sites ranging from covered pull-thrus ($110+/ni) to small back-in sites. There’s actually a BBQ restaurant-bar on-site so after we pulled-in and setup. We stopped there for BBQ & beer.


We had time to catch an Arizona sunset so an hour before, we headed to Gates Pass Scenic Outlook towards west Saguaro National Park. This is supposed to be the best place around town to catch the sunset. Being popular, it was recommended we get there early so we could find a parking space in the overlook’s small lot. With the overcast skies, we were not predicting a spectacular sunset. But the clouds were clear at the horizon so I hoped the sun might break through before disappearing behind the mountains. Not spectacular, but the sun did shine through for a short time just above the horizon.


17-20 Mar 2023: San Diego Padres Spring Training

by JamesArizona / Baseball / Day Trips / Sightseeing / Travel / Trips

Heading to Peoria in March has become an annual Spring getaway. Except for the Covid year off, we’ve made it tos see Padres Spring Training the last several years. This year, we decided to combine our usual long baseball weekend in March, with a RV trip. Since we are in Arizona, why not spend some time exploring in our RV after Peoria. As mentioned, our plans shifted due to the continued bad weather in northern Arizona and southern Utah. The three days of baseball were fun and we got a chance to see this year’s roster up close and personal. Although Fernando Tatis isn’t back into the line-up till April 20. He is playing & practicing during Spring Training.

16-26 Mar 2023: Spring Training/Arizona

by JamesArizona / Baseball / Campgrounds / RV Parks / RVing / Travel / Travel Trailer / Trips

We had ambitious plans for March. First going to San Diego Padres Spring Training in Peoria, Az for three days then heading to northern Arizona and Utah. Unfortunately, like February, the weather became a factor and all our northward plans to Page, to Monument Valley, to Flagstaff, to Lake Havasu, ending in Desert Hot Springs were cancelled. The unprecedented heavy snows this winter were still a factor especially on the route through Flagstaff. More snow & rain were forecast on our Mar 19 travel day.
I didn’t feel safe towing Howie north through Flagstaff even with plowed roads and chains. Alternate routes were just as bad or take too long and disrupt the schedule. Rain was forecast on our Upper Antelope Canyon (slot canyon) tour date. Monument Valley’s nightly temperatures were in the 20s, so we reluctantly decided to stay in southern Arizona and visit Saguaro National Park. Those northern destinations are still on our to-do list but later in the season.

16 Apr 2023 – Driving to Ehrenberg, AZ

Towing Howie to Phoenix in one shot is doable but not the way we prefer to travel. So we booked an overnight layover at the California-Arizona border, in Ehrenberg, Az. We considered boondocking since it’s not far from Quartzsite. But one night at River Sands RV Resort using our Passport America membership was only $35. Planning our one night layover here was fortuitous because the predicted 4 hour drive took over 9 hours because of a major fatality accident on the I-10 near Cabazon, CA. The traffic speeds were under 5mph for miles so it took hours till the road opened up in Palm Springs. We didn’t arrive to the border till 9pm – finding a boondocking site at night would have been tough. River Sands is just off the I-10, the first exit in Arizona. There’s also a Flying J Travel Center at the same exit.

River Sands RV Resort opened Jan 2023 and everything – restrooms (several large private, individual rooms w/ shower & toilet), pool-hot tub, clubhouse w/ pool/ping-pong/chess/foosball tables, full hook-ups – are all brand new. The resort is well laid out with hundreds of spacious RV sites along the Colorado River on the Arizona-side. The space to manuever a travel trailer & back-in is phenomenal plus there are many pull-thru sites. All the RV sites are wide and level. There was a meet-up of an AirStream group coincidentally so our section was filled with 48 all aluminum RVs and us.
My only ‘concern’ is there aren’t any trees or shade of any kind. So when it gets hot, there isn’t any protection other than jumping into the river. Still, we definately will stop here again when we have more time or want a winter get-away that’s (typically) 4-hours from home.

17-19 Apr 2023 – Desert’s Edge RV Resort

With our late arrival at River Sands RV Resort, they were kind enough to give us a 1pm checkout time so we could explore the place. With a 2 hour drive to Phoenix/Peoria, we didn’t want to arrive before the 2pm check-in at Desert’s Edge RV Resort. But after the unexpected driving delay yesterday, we left at noon so we’d be sure to make it to Phoenix before our night game started.
When trying to find a RV site for Spring Training, I think we got the last spot near Peoria. Our ‘pull-thru’ site right in front of the office was just big enough for our 20ft travel trailer & truck – there was no extra space. Desert’s Edge RV Resort is in northern Phoenix, about 12mi from the Peoria Sports Complex where the Padres play. This park definitely caters to Spring Training visitors with all the ‘streets’ named for teams that train in the area. With the change in our trip after Spring Training, we hoped to stay an extra day but this park is booked solid in Spring. After 3 days of Spring Training baseball, we headed south to Tucson.

20-23 Feb 2023: Wildflowers & Wildweather

by JamesAnza-Borrego State Park / Day Trips / Hikes / Sightseeing / State Parks / Trips

Finding a campsite for 3 days at Anza-Borrego State Park, even during the week, is challenging during peak season (Oct-May). Desert spaces are extremely popular during the winter, especially around Joshua Tree and Anza-Borrego. Fortunately, we found a spot at the Palm Canyon Hotel and RV Resort for 3 nights. It was a very different experience than last year when we dry-camped inside the park. This place has full hookups and is just west of downtown Borrego Springs. But for our first trip of 2023, we were happy just to be back on the road. We were hoping to see wildflowers everywhere but the ‘better-than-usual’ bloom was near its end.
Update: starting the day we headed home, there has been a week of continual rain and cold weather. So there will be a bunch of new blooms and if it turns into a Spring Superbloom, we’ll day-trip from Oceanside.

Borrego Palm Canyon (Our only hike)

We hiked the Borrego Palm Canyon trail our first morning in Borrego Springs. This has become one of our favorite hikes in the area – a 3-4mi easy hike with a potential Bighorn Sheep encounter (often at ~1130am near the trailhead). It’s a great hike to start the year. The Bighorn Sheep did appear but I unfortunately made the poor choice of taking the alternate trail back to the parking lot. The Bighorn Sheep were on the main trail so we only got a ‘tail-end glimpse’. I should have listened to Carol’s suggestion to hike the main trail back. The alternate trail meanders along the west side of the canyon and is the less-traveled trail. These particular sheep do not seem to mind being around people and are not skiddish. They might be the same group we saw last year, in nearly the same spot, same time of day (noonish).

Wildflowers

Anza-Borrego Wild Flowers Status Weblinks:

Anza-Borrego State Park Visitor Center posts wildflower locations (online as well)

There were wildflowers scattered around Borrego Springs/Anza-Borrego State Park when we visited. This was our first trip to specifically view them. But the weather was not our friend with high winds forecast for Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday. Now we are familiar with high winds around Desert Hot Springs and Indio because we have family there and visit often. But the winds that blew through this trip were extreme, unlike any we’ve ever encountered. So strong, they snapped the poles providing power to Borrego Springs. The miles of toppled power lines caused a regional power-outage all the way to La Quinta.
We had a nervous night trying to sleep in our wind-blown 20ft travel trailer. The wind break of trees and small slope behind our site helped but it was still an experience we won’t soon forget. The power went out Tues around midnight and didn’t come back till after midnight Wednesday. Because the power outage disabled the two gas stations in Borrego Spring. Wednesday became a search for gasoline since we needed to refuel before our Thurs departure. Not knowing when power might be restored, we ended up driving to Red Earth Casino, about 40mi, to fuel up.
The other consequence of the storm was the snow level had dropped to ~2000ft so chains were required on our planned route home. So we ended up driving the long way back through Palm Springs to avoid the continuing stormy weather and ice. Thursday morning the winds had slackened but it was raining hard, even hailing. We made it home without incident and Howie handle the craziness without issue.
This is the first time we’ve encountered these kind of conditions so it was good it happened on a short trip near home. Our preparedness for such a situation is okay – Howie has batteries and a solar panel. But we need to keep some fresh water in our tanks & be able to dry-camp even when we are staying at a full hookup campground.

17-20 Feb 2023: Desert Hot Springs

by JamesDay Trips / Indio/Palm Springs / RV Parks / Sightseeing / Trips

Our first trip of 2023 was supposed to be to Agua Caliente County Park Jan 2 2023 but we had to cancelled to help family. Which ended up being less disappointing because it rained the entire week and that area is prone to flash floods.

So we postponed our first RV trip to February, combining a family visit to Desert Hot Springs & a few days at Anza-Borrego State Park, to hopefully see wildflowers. With all the rain in southern California this season, the potential for a ‘better-than-usual’ (but not quite ‘superbloom’) wildflower bloom is anticipated.
We stayed at the Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA, which is close to our family in Desert Hot Springs. KOAs campgrounds are very family oriented with lots of activities for kids and adults. The Palm Springs/Joshua Tree KOA is especially family-friendly with mini golf, pickelball, bike/pedal car rentals, and a ‘kiddie train’ that loops through the park. We did not spend much time at the park since we were here to spend time with family. But we did enjoy the 3 different temperature (104°, 100°, 98°) hot springs hot tubs one evening which was wonderful. We plan to make this KOA a regular stop when we pass this way with Howie.

KOA Entrance Dillon Road
KOA Office
Nice pool fed by the hot springs
Miniature Golf
Pickleball Court
Basketball & general play area
Nice site with shade/windbreak
Hot Springs
Welcome to the Desert Sunset
Roomy KOA roadway

Our main family outing was to the Riverside County Fair in Indio which happened to coincide with our visit. We are not much for carnival rides but walking around the fairgrounds and people-watching is always fun. Plus there were probably a hundred diverse food booths serving up the usual ‘unusual’ unhealthy but delicious fair-food.

Rides I’ll probably never go on
Busy place
Himalayan with Susan & Bella
DCIM100GOPROG0143898.JPG
Pokemon booth (for Ronan)
Pig Hurdle Race
Are photo booths still a thing w/ young people?
Barbara finally popped a balloon & won a unicorn
Beautiful day to enjoy the fairgrounds

Next stop, a 90min drive to Palm Canyon RV Resort, Borrego Springs CA. One big plus of this RV resort is they allow check-in at 12:30. Which is perfect with an 11am departure at the KOA.

Trip-planning, Navigation, & Hiking Tools

by JamesNational Parks / RV Parks / RVing / State Parks / Travel / Trips

We’ve been taking trips around the western USA in our 20ft travel trailer Howie for over two years. I find myself relying on the same websites, apps and navigation tools to help get to where we are going.
Here are a few of my favs as of Feb 2023:

Trip Planning

  • recreation.gov app & recreation.gov – the must-visit website/app for planning a trip to a National Park. Camping, lodging, tickets, passes, permits, and even day-use passes can be bought or reserved here. We have a lifetime America the Beautiful pass ($80) and we’ve enjoyed getting into national parks for free.
  • Roadpass.com & app: although TogoRV,com-related websites & apps have free & trial versions. A Roadpass Pro subscription is one of the few I have. It gives me access to all the features of TogoRV-related websites & apps such as:
    • Roadtrippers – which has become my favorite desktop and mobile trip-planning tools
    • Campendium – is a great campground search tool & the pro features are included with a Roadpass Pro subscription. During a regional search, it’s map displays all the campsites, rv dump sites, state & county campgrounds, and dispersed (free) campgrounds. It can check for site availability & often take you to a booking portal. I use this and GoodSam to find campgrounds since we prefer hookups vs dry-camping/boondocking.
    • TogoRV.com & app – general RV information, maintenance reminders, discounts on products and campsites. If you follow RVMiles on YouTube, you can stay current on RV news, RV app news, and often get a discount code for the annual subscription ($10 off).
      TogoRV GPS app provides navigation that considers weight limits, overhead clearances, grades of terrain, and your route preferences to give you turn-by-turn directions specific to your RV.
  • GoodSam app & GoodSam.com – When we started RVing, I bought a multi-year membership from Camping World. It’s 10% discount on campsites has more than paid for itself over the past two years. I will very likely renew it this August, when it expires. GoodSam has a reliable campground review and rating system along with booking site portals.
  • FlattestRoute – is a free website that let’s you enter your start and end point and calculates the flattest route. It’ also works’s also great for bicycle route planning. It calculates & scores the different routes using a point system based on incline %grade, duration, & distance. I still prefer InRoute but this can show you some alternate options.
  • KOA app & .com: we’ve enjoyed staying at KOA campgrounds during our trips. They usually have available sites when others don’t, nice amenities, plus with a membership, are affordable. The only ‘quirky’ thing about KOAs is often their name vs location. They are named for nearby destination spots but are often many miles away. Monterey/Santa Cruz KOA is ~32mi away from Monterey; St.George KOA is 15mi from St. George; Joshua Tree KOA is 37mi away from Joshua Tree’s west entrance, 53mi away from the north entrance.
    Still, if you compare the KOA location vs your desired destination(s). You can decide if it’s worth the drive – campsite availability often decides for you.

Navigation (and Route-planning)

  • InRoute – free iPhone app that helps route planning AND navigation. The free version allows 8 locations and the subscription version allow 150 locations (destination, attractions on-route, waypoints, gas stations, etc). I find the 8 points adequate since I only use it for identifying the route that has the lowest elevations/inclines and least curvy. If you have more than 8 waypoints, you can break your trip into groups of 8.
    Like other RV navigation apps, it plans the optimal RV-friendly routes with height clearances (based on your RV height setting), no tolls, & no propane restrictions. I have yet to find another mobile app that graphically shows the elevation & curviness plus distances & drive times of three alternate routes. It has audible turn-by-turn directions but if Apple Maps shows the same course, I usually use it, synced with my Apple Watch.
  • Google Maps – of course, this is a great route planning & navigation app but often chooses shortest vs the best RV-friendly routes. I made the mistake of doubting InRoute and used Google Maps to navigate to Ventura Ranch KOA. It took me on the shortest but curviest white-knuckle route possible. So I only use it when unhooked or its route matches InRoute’s.
  • Apple Maps – same situation as Google Maps, I do not use it for RV route-planning. I will use it when towing if the directions match InRoute’s. It’s great for general directions and it syncs with my Apple Watch. Giving me haptic turn reminders so I can keep my eyes on the road.

Hiking

  • AllTrails app & AllTrails.com or GaiaGPS – I have both AllTrails and GaiaGPS but primarily use AllTrails since it just works for me. I prefer its interface, downloadable offline maps & hike-tracking features, enough to subscribe to AllTrails+. If you hike, bike, or off-road in areas without cell service, these apps are essential.
    Downloading Google Maps for use offline is an affordable alternative. But it you like saving your trek, then using either of these apps is great for recording your actual path.
  • Garmin app & .com – we still use a Garmin Inreach Mini 2 GPS for its SOS feature. We know that our new iPhones have SOS but the tried-and-true Garmin’s battery lasts a lot longer & is a reliable two-way satellite communicator. So, for us, for now, it’s still clipped to our gear when we hike anywhere.

08 Oct 2022: Barstow/Yermo KOA

by JamesCalifornia / RV Parks / RVing / Travel / Trips

There aren’t many good stopping point midway between Utah & Oceanside if you want to overnight in a RV Park. For our two-day drive home we wanted to have an early arrival day 2 (Oct 9th) so that meant driving longer day 1 (Oct 8th). If we stopped again at Thousand Trails Las Vegas, our day 2 drive would be 6 or more hours. So we stopped in Las Vegas just to fuel and have lunch, then continued to Barstow. I thought stopping at the north Las Vegas Maverik gas station truck stop would be easy but it wasn’t. Because of road construction, the exit detour takes you away from the gas station, so a u-turn is required. Fueling there wasn’t easy either since all the truck pumps were diesel. Non-diesel RVs fuel at the auto pumps which is fine but required us circle back around.
When we drove home from Utah in 2021, we stayed at the Barstow/Yermo KOA. It’s a good stopping point about 6hrs from Utah. So we booked a pull-thru hookup site with electric & water for one night. We’ve stayed at other KOAs and this one is pretty drab when compared to the others like Monterey/Santa Cruz KOA. But the site assigned to us this time was a lot nicer than last year’s, with trees and closer, cleaner restrooms.

There are other options if you don’t mind boondocking but with the +90° weather, we like having an electric hookup to run the A/C.
The Flying J Travel Center in Barstow or Peggy Sue’s diner parking lot in Yermo are free & pretty safe but noisy. You can also find BLM land along the 15 but we prefer to stay where we are more comfortable. Another affordable ($25 full-hookups) option is stopping at Clark’s Mobile Home & RV Park in Baker. We stop there last year on our way to Utah. It’s essentially a parking lot just off the 15 in Baker with full hookups but no other amenities. There is a market and a few restaurants nearby.