“USA 🇺🇸~ Road Trip from Arizona! Oregon or Bust and What is Boondocking”

 

OFF WE GO!!
Oregon or Bust!

Kingman, Arizona to Barstow, California ⬇️

It felt so good to be underway. On the move. Going places! 🤣

We crossed into California, from Arizona, over the Colorado River, on a sunny day.

⬇️ Look at the color of that water!

Today, after an overnight in Barstow, behind the “In and Out Burger,” we head to our house at the Beach City in Orange County. Tomorrow, we get to go North: places, not traveled as often, so the change of scenery will be much welcomed!

BTW, these maps show time of travel, based on the top speeds allowed. In California, a three -axle vehicle, or a vehicle towing another vehicle, must maintain 55MPH; not the average 75 MPH. In our case, we are now both of those restrictions. It’s totally fine, too, because while we have always been a hefty 45,000 pounds of rolling metal, rubber and wood, we are now 60 feet in length.
We get much better fuel mileage at this slower speed, too!
It’s all good.

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Barstow, California to Orange County, California ⬇️

All was well at our house, and we got the bike and racks stored away.
California sun, at the beach cities  is stronger and brighter. It was time to get our hats on, while cruising around.

Now, it’s time for our favorite Sushi place, and then we have a hot tub date, tonight 💕

From staying next to our house, just overnight, some time in the night, we got a “parting gift” from the Sheriff’s department.

I’m pretty sure they know nobody abandons motor homes like ours……Just sayin.
AND, Before we left this morning, TWO patrol units came back out to talk with us, only 12 hours after their notice. Really? Nothing better to do?
Daryl was just finishing up some maintenance on our yard sprinkler system, and we left our house, continuing, North.
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Laguna Niguel California to Los Banos, California ⬇️

It was a long driving day. It took us 7 hours, including two fuel stops; one for DEF additive, and a dinner stop for an hour, before we could get to Los Banos.

We’ve been seeing all things farmlands for hours and hours and hours.
It was great, finally getting beyond Los Angeles, this morning, because there is always so much traffic through there.

Beyond LA, and heading through the Los Angelas National Forest and the pretty hills with wild flowers, was much more enjoyable.



Fuel costs, after the Grapevine Canyon were still $6.25/gal for diesel. 100 miles further, North, prices were back down to $4.19, for the same.
We have a 150 gallon fuel tank and can go a long way on one tank. We average, almost eight miles to the gallon, and we like to keep the tanks, full.
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What The Heck is Boondocking, anywayzzz?
⬇️
I gotta be honest here; I’m just not a huge fan of boondocking, but it is part of this lifestyle on occasion, for this time we are choosing to live in, so I just have to put on my big girl panties and carry on

I definitely prefer being hooked into shore power and a sewer system, with our outfit.
I love having the space to put out our slides on both sides, hence the Glamping notation I mention.
I like my floors mopped and swept, and everything in its proper place and convenient for use, but this is all in the perfect world, for which constant adjustments are necessary.

When I can’t have the convenience of full-hookups, I would enjoy nothing more than backpacking, then. That’s no joke. I’m an all in, or nothing kind of girl, apparently. 

The traveling like we are doing now, with one night overnight stays for day, after day, after day, has its drawbacks, but it sure beats staying in overpriced hotels.

Firstly, with the price of fuel, especially going through California, we try to overnight for free, wherever we can. I just can’t justify spending $80 or more/night in a campground, on top of fuel costs, so we find a place, put out our bedroom slide and passenger side living room slide.

The driver side slide stays in, because in a parking lot, we don’t want anybody driving into it, as it hangs out.
Our passenger side of The Whale must always butt-up against an edge, with no car traffic. So, this makes it tight in the bedroom, with the foot end of  bed slide out, in, but it’s roomier in the living room and kitchen.

We have a large fresh water tank, and equally large black/grey tanks. We have an awesome generator, and six lithium batteries, which trickle charge from a solar panel on the roof, plus charges-up as we drive. Without shore power, we simply push a button to make the system go in to inverter mode and it keeps our residential-sized fridge and freezer going, just fine.
We have plenty of lighting and the microwave, and stove top works, too.
When we stop to boondock, we auto-level The Whale with a four jack system, put slides out where we can, and turn on the generator. From this, we can run all three A/C or heating units on high, if we want.
With high temps outside, we run two of the A/C’s, and it cools us down within 20 minutes.

At bedtime, this time of the year, fortunately, it cools down, outside, so it is not too hot to sleep; so we turn everything off, except our bedroom fan.
The realistic expectation of RV A/C units is this: You will only average about 20 degrees cooler inside, from what the outside temps are. That’s still hot, if it’s 90 or 100 degrees, outside. 

Nope, boondocking is not always easy for us, because nothing is in its place; everything on counters must ride on the floor. What’s normally on the floor, must go up on the couch and chairs, because when slides are in, floor space disappears.
In the evenings, I end up on the reclined bed, since my recliner chair is loaded and pushed out of commission for use. Daryl sits in the captain chair that’s on a swivel. We end up on opposite ends of The Whale, so must communicate by walkie-talkies, because the A/C’s which are housed on the rooftops are noisy.
Items in closets always shift during travel, and the very hardest is limited water usage for multiple days in a row, so it will last.
We use the “Yellow can Mellow and Brown must go Down” method for saving on water usage when it comes to the toilets, after we stop. We control the water pump filling the bowl, too.
This method requires more toilet cleaning for sure, but saving on water usage, always trumps everything else.

Running the water till it’s hot enough for showering is always wasted water, for example. The same goes for washing dishes. It’s much easier to eat out and save the water for showering.

Before stopping for the night, when The Whale is in motion, we have about a foot of walking space until getting to the bedroom in the back. This narrows even more and one must turn sideways to enter said bedroom. From there, it is then necessary to crawl over the bed to get to the bathroom.
It’s actually easier to pull in to a rest stop and use those facilities.

Yes, we do have a second bathroom, which would eliminate the need to crawl over the bed, but as RV full-timers, for now, it is used for storage since we are prepped for three months worth of extra non-perishable food, something only the sink is accessible.

We empty our inside garbage anywhere we can: rest stops, fuel stops, and food stops, along the way.

Because we have a residential-sized fridge, the handles must be bound up with a tie strap, as well as a shower bar gizmo adhered between bottom freezer door and the 1/2 bath door, across from it, to keep all three doors closed, as we travel.
Of course one must remember that bar is there, to step over, as you walk sideways to the bedroom, before crawling over the bed.

Honestly, these big rigs are like a constant earthquake when under way. They shake and rattle, so it’s something to get used to for sure.
We are a Frieghtliner Chassis and a 450 hp diesel pusher Cummins engine, after all.

Have you ever watched a movie or a show where a family of five, plus the dog are on vacation and happily rolling down the road in their motorhome with ample room for lazing around, no clutter anywhere, and board games or puzzles underway? It’s a complete illusion! 🤣
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Los Banos California to Redding California ⬇️

We made it to Redding, California for the night, in a seven-hour day. This would include one dump/water station stop, which took 20 minutes, and one dinner stop for about an hour.
We are driving a lot of miles, but it’s so good to get out and GO again!
The weather is so perfect in California, even if it is a little hot. I know how much it rains in Oregon, so I’m preparing myself. I’m definitely gonna miss the sun, once we leave Cali.

We left Los Banos by 10AM. We drove through Sacramento, and on to Red Bluff, before stopping at the very nice KOA, there.

Speaking of weather, we are seeing full water reservoirs running all over, after so much precipitation this winter.
Sadly, though, we have also seen 100’s of acres of dead orchards: almonds and olives, from the previous drought.
I’ve been traveling this route from Oregon to Sam Jose, California my whole life. I’ve never seen so many dead trees 🥲

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Driving along I-5 North, coming into Red Bluff, one can see Mt Shasta in the distance, on a clear day. It was a little hazy, but I saw so much snow on it!
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For our stop in Red Bluff, we found the KOA, where we could dump both our tanks, fill up the fresh water tank, and empty inside trash.
$25 was a little steep IMHO, but a one night stay is $89.
Yikes, but t
hat’s California for ya.



The good news is, since we are new to this boondocking thing for so many days in a row, we had no measurement for how long we CAN go, before we HAVE to dump.
We now know, we can go about eight days, if dinner food-out is available, and about six days, if cooking dinner and cleaning up.

This is very good to figure out for our future drive of two weeks, up through Canada, to Alaska; and back down, through Canada.
We will be boondocking for most of the routes in Canada. We will be in the wilderness, so we will be cooking, too.

More Information You Didn’t Know, That You Didn’t Know, And Maybe Don’t Want to Know ⬇️

Modern RV’s, like ours, have wonderful gauges to show the “exact” levels of our water and waste, at any given time. Ha! If only they worked all the time. Sadly, a situation those of us who do this full time RVing, the tanks never have a chance to ever dry out, so TP and food particles and other unintentional items get stuck on the tank walls, temporarily, but consistently, as everything cycles out. These particles are just enough to mess with the sensors each tank has.

In another blog, I will explain, in more detail, but for the black tank it’s called a “poop pyramid.” I Kid You, Not! It’s a real thing, and a real problem; enough so, we changed-up our TP program, like other full-timers, so now only half of the TP ends up being flushed, and the other half goes in the trash bin.
Another good thing about changing things up for this is, we don’t have to buy, marine gauge TP, exclusively, anymore, which has become ever so expensive.
It’s still the only TP that can be flushed in the RV, just so ya know, but I will let you figure out when it gets used, verses the Charmin.

🤣🤣🤣

Moving on, we continue heading for the destination of Redding, for another free overnight in a Walmart parking lot.


As it would turn out, there was a car show going on in Redding, this weekend. I suspected as much, because we got to watch cars drive by us, all day long, heading the same way. So many, really cool Vintage cars!!
California is great for seeing old, restored cars on the road, at any given time.
Many people enjoy the hobby of owning Classic Cars, and showing them, in this state.

What we didn’t know, as we came off the Interstate, was, we were driving the parade route, JUST before they closed it for the parade!
People were lined-up on the roadside in their chairs. I gave them my best “Queen Wave,” as we drove along the route.
People waved back!!
I crack myself up! 🤣

… once we parked for the night, we spoke with a couple who were heading for the parade to drive in it. We were told, for a $60 fee, we could also drive IN the parade, since we have a Classic Car; and to hurry, the parade was starting in an hour!

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Today, while Mr Terrific drove all the miles, I was able to score several appointments during our stay, next week in Prineville, Oregon. She still needs to get her A/C and stereo, up and running.
Jonah will also get a detailing done for a good coat of wax, all over, by a mobile outfit.
It will take driving to Prineville, Redmond and Bend, to get all these appointments accomplished. 

It’s a bit of a challenge these days to find availability to get vehicle work done, since every business is short staffed, or worse, closed, during this covid era.
We also got an appointment for The Whale for oil/filter changes, tire check, and hopefully a leak fixed in the A/C at the front dash. We paid a guy to fix it and fill with freon in Las Vegas, and it still isn’t fixed.
Boy that makes me so mad! 

Something else I had been working on: trying to figure out two nights at a KOA near Crater Lake. I couldn’t make advanced reservations like I like to, because everything was so last minute, getting possession of Jonah, so we could leave Arizona.
The campground near Crater Lake appears to be full, (online) but they have been closed all winter, and only open up again, tomorrow. I will try to call them and hope they will answer phones and emails, again.
BTW, I did get a call back from this KOA, and they have to delay their spring re-opening this year, since they are under 4-foot of snow, still!
We’ve both been to Crater Lake, but it’s been many years for us. We wanted to have a day at Crater Lake, coming in from the California side, but the snow presented a problem.

FYI, there are other campgrounds around, but not for big rigs; only rv’s up to 30-foot, or there is always tent camping. 
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Redding, California to Klamath Falls, Oregon ⬇️

We made it!!

It always feels good to come back to my home state of Oregon, where I was born and raised.
We are looking forward to a family gathering next weekend, when we will be in Newberg for a few days: still 260 miles to get there.

We had intentionally held off on any more fuel fills, till we reached Oregon. We appreciate the cheaper (but still expensive) fuel.

We left Redding, California this morning at a slow pace. It was nice to linger a bit.

Today was the easiest of all drives, and definitely the most scenic, as we traveled through the beautiful Mt Shasta National Forest Recreation Area.

⬆️ Aptly named “Castle Crag”

We had left Interstate 5, not long after leaving Redding, California. We eventually hopped on California 99 Historic Hwy and 97.
We saw two bears, three deer and a Coyote. Sadly, they had all been hit by cars. I sure wish people could slow down and watch for innocent wildlife, better than they do!!!

There were many old, smalls towns we went through on this route, like Azalea, Dorris and Weed, as we approached Klamath Falls.
Wow, we could not have asked for a more beautiful day. I mean this is April in Oregon!



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Just this morning, I ended up finding a two-night stay in Klamath Falls at a brand spanking new place: Rjourney Klamath Falls RV Resort, which can handle big rigs. It’s very nice and reasonable pricing. It’s still getting all the finishing touches, as it only opened, the first of April.

⬆️ We were so happy to get into our camp site, hook-up to all things that turn boondocking into Glamping. We unhooked Jonah from The Whale, put the top down, and hopped in, to go get a bite to eat.

BECAUSE, You know what else I just love about Oregon?

Oregon Chinese Food; Americanized!

Other states don’t do Chinese food as good, IMHO, and I never cared for authentic Chines food, WHILE traveling IN China 🤣…. It’s really that different in Oregon!
So Yum!

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Tomorrow, will take Jonah and drive the 54 miles to Crater Lake. The South entrance is the only one open, so it will be a 1.5 hour trip in the morning, and while we know the entrance road up there gets plowed, constantly, we have no idea what the rim-drive roads will be like.
Maybe we will just end up getting hot cocoa at the lodge.
No matter what, it will be fun, because we have a car again and can go vroom-vroom when we want to! 
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Road-Trip STATS

We Drove Three States:   Arizona, California, Oregon 

Mileage We Drove:                                 1,100 miles 

We Took:                                   Four Days

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Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More