– Itinerary –
2018
January 1 – January 14 Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA
January 14 – January 28 Sunland RV Resort, Escondido, California
Grabbin’ a local brew in Oceanside, CA
January 28 – February 3 Silver Strand State Park, Coronado, California
Parked – literally on the beach. Too bad the sand dunes block our view. But this is amazing none the less.
Sunset on Coronado Island
Sportin’ the new hairstyle
February 3 – February 14 Eagle View RV Resort, Phoenix, AZ
February 14 Lost Dutchman State Park, just northeast of Phoenix, AZ
February 15 Superstition Mountain
February 16 You rarely see weather like this in the desert…
February 17 Then, the next day – that’s more like it
February 18 Guy Fieri’s Famous Barbeque Sauce Grilled Chicken
February 19 Canyon Lake – 15 miles north of Apache Junction, AZ. Was formed in 1925 when the Salt River was dammed. It sits at an elevation of 1660 feet above sea level, and encompasses approximately 1.5 square miles. It has several areas for boating and fishing, and also maintains a very nice campground along its southern shore.
February 20 High atop Superstition Mountain
February 22
February 23 Another fantastic evening in the Lost Dutchman State Park
February 24 Linda and Jim drive down from Denver to enjoy some of the warm weather in Arizona
February 25
February 26
February 27 Bad day to be a ladder on the back of this RV
February 28 On the road from Phoenix to Palm Springs
February 28 – March 15 Indian Wells RV Resort, Indian Wells, CA (not that nice in the overflow lot, but it’s better than nothing.
March 2 Large Sausage, Mushroom and Black Olive at Billy Qs in Palm Desert
March 3 It’s Saturday, so we decided to drive up into the mountains to Julian. Some of the best pies you can get anywhere at Julian Pie Company. But once you reach the mountains at over 4,000 feet elevation, we were in for a surprise. 41 degrees and rain. Yuck.
March 10 Took a little weekend road trip to Denver to visit my Mom and my Brother (his family lives in Boulder) The blurry night picture is the Welcome to New Mexico sign – HA. Beautiful and warm leaving Arizona. Then cold and snowy across the Continental Divide. It’s really cool how you can drive just 10 hours and get such different climates.
March 15 – March 31 Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA
March 25 Taking a hike high above Palm Desert, CA
March 31 Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction, Arizona – it ended up being about 90 degrees here today in Arizona. I think winter is officially over.
April 1 – April 7 Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort, Casa Grande, AZ
April 7 – April 12 Lost Dutchman State Park, Apache Junction, AZ
April 12 – April 21 Flagstaff KOA – Flagstaff, Arizona
When you come to Flagstaff, definitely visit the Mother Road Brewing Company. Really good micro-brews and a cool atmosphere. Their patio is dog friendly, too.
April 14 Visit to the Grand Canyon, South Rim – Visiting the Grand Canyon should be on everyone’s bucket list. It is amazing to stand on the rim and think about the 100s of millions of years it took to carve this huge hole in the ground. The Grand Canyon is nearly 10 miles long and almost a mile wide at its widest point. And with over 4,000 feet elevation change from the rim to the river, it makes for some awesome hiking. If you’re up to it. The hike from the South Rim, down the South Kaibab Trail to the river, camp at the Bright Angel Campground, then hike back up the North Rim to the visitor center can take up to three days. So, strap on your pack and go for it.
If you come in from the East off Route 89 and Route 64, you will enter the park at the Desert View Visitor Center. There you will find the highest viewpoint on the South Rim at 7,461 feet, as well as the Desert View Watchtower.
April 15 The next day we drove back up and hiked the South Kaibab Trail from the rim to Skeleton Point. This 3 mile hike sounds easy enough, but in this three miles you descend from 7,200 feet elevation at the rim, to 5,160 feet at Skeleton Point. Easy going down, not so much coming back up. Plan on whatever it took you to get down, and double that for going back. The weather was perfect today, a cool 40 degrees when we started at 7:30 am, but it warmed up nicely to about 60 degrees. Of course, it gets warmer as you descend into the canyon.
We also filmed the entire journey – the first video I have done in quite some time. So, look for that here in the next few days.
April 16 The South Rim – Grand Canyon
April 19 The video of the South Kaibab Trail is done. Click on the photo below to watch the video.
April 20 The photo of the day – I was scrolling through some photos we took in December, and I thought I would post this one. Miss you guys.
… And just a quick little snow storm in Flagstaff today – FUN.
April 21 The photo of the day – On the road from Flagstaff to Monument Valley, Utah. Stopped along Highway 160 just north of Tuba City, for a short potty break.
April 21 Monument Valley KOA About 60 degrees today and sunny – Awesome.
April 22 We decided to shorten the drive today and stop in Moab for the night. Fantastic drive today with perfect weather – 60 degrees and lots of sun. We also stopped along Highway 163 where they filmed the end of the long run scene from Forrest Gump. Very cool.
This is the section of Highway 163 just south of Mexican Hat where they filmed Forrest Gump.
And as they always say – “If it don’t fit, force it.”
And the campsite at Canyonlands RV Resort in downtown Moab was awesome – highly recommended. You can walk to everything in town from here.
April 23 On the road this morning from Moab to Silt, Colorado. Another perfect day for travel. Stopped at the junction of Route 128 and Interstate 70, north of Moab. Turning East toward Colorado.
April 23 – April 28 Glenwood Springs West KOA – Silt, Colorado – camping a hundred yards from the Colorado River. You can’t beat this. And the campground is basically empty. We almost have the entire place to ourselves. Going to hit a high of 75 degrees here today.
Photo of the Day – WOW!
APRIL 28, 2018 – Today is our 1 Year Anniversary of this trip of a lifetime. We have had a lot of ups and downs, and we have learned a lot about what is important.
We have seen the oceans
We have seen the mountains 
We have seen the deserts
and we have even caught King Salmon in Alaska 
It has been – amazing. The only thing I can say about this trip is – I just wish it would never end. I love this lifestyle. It has been said that this lifestyle of travel and exploration is simple, but it is not easier. We have many challenges along the way. But I would not trade it for anything. If ANY of you out there have even a little desire to get out there and explore this wonderful country – DO IT. Don’t wait for the stars to align. Don’t wait for enough money. Don’t wait. DO IT. Do it now. You won’t regret it.
Tonight – we celebrate our year with a hundred dollar bottle from O’Shaughnessy Winery in Napa Valley. We picked this up in our visit to Napa Valley last fall.
April 28 – May 29 Moab KOA – Moab, Utah
May 2 Needles Point Overlook, 45 minutes south of Moab off 191.
May 3 Photo of the Day
May 4 Overlooking the Colorado River on Lockhart Basin Road, south of Hurrah Pass and the Goose Neck turn off.
May 5 Photos of the Day
May 7 Today we tried the east entrance to Kane Creek Canyon Road off Highway 191 south of Moab, and just 1.2 miles in, this is what I found … end of MY road. About a four foot high rocky ledge where there is no way a motorcycle is getting over that – turning back now.
The trail was nice until that point.
May 8 Scouting some trails north of Moab today, off Highway 128. About 20 miles north on Highway 128 you will find the turnoff for Onion Creek. A super nice easy to moderate road turning to 4×4 trail about 3 miles in. Following this trail east, which then turns into Fisher Valley Road, then at the very end where the road ends at a private Ranch (Taylor’s Ranch), we take a left turn headed down Thompson Canyon Road.
This is now part of the Kokopelli Bike Trail, headed north and east up Cowhead Hill. This section ends at a T junction where we turn right to stay on the Kokopelli Trail, now called Polar Mesa Road. This section is a more graded gravel road which travels along the cliffs past Bull Draw Campground.
The road then turns to pavement from here (Castleton Gateway Road) and heads down the north edge of the La Sal Mountains to a fork in the road just past Rock Castle Campground. Here you have a choice – follow the La Sal Mountain Loop all the way around to the south, or turn right on Castle Valley Road and head north back to Highway 128, just south of where we entered at Onion Creek. All in all a nice ride that was just shy of 100 miles, and it took me about three hours.
May 9 Onion Creek – Photo of the Day
Top of the World – 2,000 foot elevation climb to reach the Top of the World, all in less than 4 miles. Moderate to difficult trail with multiple rocking climbs and sheer rock ledges. Not for the weak.
May 11 Today I rode Onion Creek again, in the hopes that I could make the loop out of Onion Creek, Cottonwood Canyon Road, all the way around to the north to Entrada Bluffs Road, then dumping out on Highway 128 at Dewey Bridge. No such luck. About 3 miles in Cottonwood Canyon Road I ran into this…
Very steep, very loose rock and sand. Decided I had enough and turned back at this point. It’s all good though – since I am really scouting trails to take Ian and Jim on next week with the BMW 1200 and the KTM 990 – this would be a bit much for the large bikes. There are many other trails – off to find them.
I will probably ride Sand Flats Road up to the Kokopelli Trail tomorrow. It eventually dumps out on La Sal Mountain Loop Road, then turn north up to Castle Valley Road where I was just the other day. That might be the loop we can do on the big bikes. More to come on that…
May 13 Jeep Arch Trail, north of Gold Bar on Highway 279 in Moab, UT
May 15 Hidden Valley Trail
May 20 Photo of the Day
May 21 Photo of the Day
May 22 Photo of the Day – Jim Streicher with the bikes on the Hurrah Pass
May 23 Photo of the Day – The 990s on the trail in Idaho
May 23 The White Rim Trail
May 23 Ian “Mad Max” Goodwin and the 990
May 24 Onion Creek, 20 miles north on Highway 128 out of Moab, UT
May 26 My brother Derek and his kids came out for the Memorial Weekend. Left to right – Derek, Cole, Alex and Kate. We hiked the Delicate Arch at sunset to get some sunset and night shots of the arch.
May 29 – June 9 St. Vrain State Park, just north of Denver, Colorado – Site #33
June 2, 5:52am “Oh my gosh, what the heck time is it? I don’t think I got enough sleep, dude. I feel like crap. Can I get a couple more hours please? Actually, when is the frickin coffee gonna be ready?”
June 12 Finally, on the road again to Alaska with the new equipment. Here at a rest stop in central Wyoming.
Our first official stop in the new camper – the KOA in Casper, Wyoming. Good times.
June 13 Cooney State Park, Southeast of Billings, Montana off Route 212
June 14 Missoula KOA
Xena needs as nap after the long drive today – well deserved. She was very well behaved in the truck all day.
June 15 – 17 Columbia Falls RV Park, Columbia Falls, Montana
June 16 Glacier National Park
June 18 – 20 Banff, AB, Canada – Camping spot K29
…and even Xena loves a downtown Banff shopping trip. Lululemon is her favorite store.
June 21 Beaverview RV Park and Campground – McBride, BC – Headed out of Banff this morning at 7am. Sad to leave because it is such a beautiful place. Going north through the Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. Here at a roadside rest stop in Jasper National Park.
Continuing north to Jasper and then turning left on Canada Route 16, the Yellowhead Highway. We stopped along Moose Lake in Mount Robson Provincial Park. You can’t beat this view anywhere.
Onward to McBride where we are going to stay for the night at Beaverview RV Park. It’s a nice little grassy knoll along Highway 16 just south of town.
June 22 Shady Rest RV Park, Houston, BC
June 23 Mountain Shadows, Iskut, BC – on the Cassiar Highway
For those of you who may be planning a trip to Alaska via the Cassiar Highway, this information sign will provide some nice information for you. These signs are at most of the rest stops along the highway.
Then at the turn to the Cassiar Highway, we took this shot of the truck in front of the gas station sign. And the same shot from last year with the Airstream. Much better weather this year – 65 and sunny.
Mountain Shadows is one of the best RV Parks along the Cassiar – at “mile” post 405 in Iskut (actually km)
The next morning we took this shot down by the lake behind the campground. You can’t get much better than this.
June 24 Watson Lake, Yukon – in Watson Lake there are few choices. The most convenient is the Downtown RV Park. Not fancy but it gets the job done.
Then a quick visit to the famous Sign Post Forest where we finally hung our sign. We meant to do it last year, but didn’t have it done in time. So we will hang it this year. If you are ever find yourself in Watson Lake, stop by the Sign Post Forest and find us. We are 13 posts to the right of the old firetruck display in the middle of the forest.
June 25 Whitehorse, BC – just good ‘ole Camp Walmart tonight
June 26 Destruction Bay, BC – we decided to skip over the planned stop in Destruction Bay and head straight to Tok, Alaska for tonight. It’s about 380 miles from Whitehorse to Tok. Not too bad.
Gas and lunch stop at Haines Junction
Then on to Destruction Bay
Finally crossing the border at Beaver Creek
Pulling into Tok, Alaska around 4:30pm – Rush hour is pretty heavy this time of night
Tok RV Village in downtown
June 27 Camp Goodwin – Wasilla, AK
July 4 – July 7 Homer, Alaska – Pulling into Homer today and we are blessed with a rare, clear, perfect day of sun and 65 degrees. If anyone has spent any time in this area, they know how rare this is.
Photo of the Day
July 12 We decided to leave Alaska a little early this year so we can spend more time in Colorado and Montana – one thing we did not get to do last year. Headed south from Alaska – to where you ask? We have no idea. Most likely Boulder, Colorado. But we do know we’ll make it to Destruction Bay tonight. Here at the Cottonwood RV Park south of Destruction Bay. Right along the lake and the views are killer.
July 13 Day 2 on the way “home” – stopped in Coal River, just south of Watson Lake. Not much there to speak of. The only place to stay was the Coal River Lodge and RV – eight spots so we grabbed one. Here on the way out the next morning because I forgot to take a photo of our spot since we arrived so late. It was 44 degrees and foggy when we left. We did have Xena wake us up at 4am because a heard of bison strolled through the camp ground.
Photo of the Day – Muncho Lake
July 14 Day 3 on the way home – Good ‘Ole Camp Walmart in Dawson Creek.
Photo of the Day – The mustard fields south of Dawson Creek
July 15 Day 4 – Made it all the way past Red Deer today. Hoped to get to Calgary but time just ran out on us. Found a great little Canada State Park – Red Lodge Provincial Park off Route 587 at the Bowden Exit on Highway 2.
July 16 Day 5 – Great Falls, Montana – the next photo is just above St. Mary, on the east side of Glacier National Park. Photo two – our wonderful view in the Great Falls KOA.
July 17 Day 6 – Casper, Wyoming – Casper KOA
Photo of the Day – US Highway 87 headed east out of Great Falls at 6:30am. This is why they call it Big Sky Country
July 18 Day 7 – Back at the parents home in Frederick, Colorado for a nice shower and some down time. The end of this year’s Alaska Adventure. Here are some interesting totals from our trip from Ian and Kristina’s home in Wasilla, Alaska to my parents home in Frederick, Colorado.
Total miles traveled 3,241
Time spent driving 63 hours
Gallons of gas consumed 313 gallons
July 22 – July 24 Olive Ridge Campground – just south of Estes Park, Colorado on Colorado Highway 7. This state park has a total of 56 camp sites, with 25 of them walk in only. The others can be reserved up to 6 months in advance on www.recreation.gov
August 12 Yampa River State Park, just 28 miles West of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Dinosaur National Monument – Harper’s Corner Road, Canyon Overlook – The awesome thing about coming to places like this, that are off the path a little and difficult to get to … there is never anyone here. We had the entire overlook picnic area to ourselves. It was 90 degrees here to day and not a cloud in the sky.
August 13 Starvation State Park, just west of Duchesne, Utah. We stayed in the Mountain View Campground. It was basically empty on this Monday night. There is a very large reservoir here that you can put in your boat, jet ski, paddle board or kayak. Most of the people here tonight stayed down in the Beach Campground, which is on the shores of the lake for easy access. We opted for the view from above.
August 14 – 16 Salt Lake City – Salt Lake City KOA
August 16 New Frontier RV Park – Winnemucca, NV
On Nevada State Road 140 just past Denio Junction
August 17 LaPine State Park, just 27 miles south of Bend, Oregon
August 18 First stop of the day is Crater Lake National Park. We had wanted to visit the park last year but ran out of nice weather in late fall. Crater Lake gets over 15 feet of snow during an average winter. The views are a bit hazy this year because of the nearby fires in Northern California.
The camping spot for tonight is the Collier Memorial State Park, just 30 miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Tomorrow we are heading north into Washington State.
August 19 – 20 Maryhill State Park, Maryhill, Washington
August 21 Snake River KOA
August 22 This is a shot along State Road 26 west of Colfax, Washington. Not much out here but wheat fields.
August 22 Ike Kinswa State Park, along US Highway 12 in MossyRock, Washington
August 23 Ocean City State Park, Ocean Shores, Washington
August 24 Tidelands RV Park, Ocean City, Washington
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August 25 Burlington / Anacortes KOA, north of Seattle – One of the nicest KOA campgrounds we have stayed. Super clean restrooms in a beautiful setting.
August 26 – 31 Rasar State Park, Concrete, Washington
August 31 – September 3 Douglas Fir Campground, Glacier, Washington – a fantastic little primitive campground along Washington State Road 542 in the northern Cascade Mountains.
The North Fork of the Nooksack River, along Washington State Road 542 east of Glacier, Washington
Nooksack Falls, east of Glacier, Washington along SR 542
September 4 Curlew Lake State Park, north of Republic, Washington along SR21 in northeast Washington
Kootenai Falls – along US Highway 2 in Montana, between Bonners Ferry, Idaho and Libby, Montana
The Kootenai Falls Suspension Bridge just west of the falls – and yes, I did go out on the bridge. Crazy.
September 5 – September 9 Columbia Falls RV Resort, Columbia Falls, Montana
September 9 – September 15 IGO Adventures Race – Whitefish, Montana
September 24 – 28 West Glenwood Springs KOA – Silt, Colorado – Temperatures were in the high 70s during the day and low 40s at night. Not a drop of rain all week.
September 28 – October 31 Moab KOA, Moab, Utah
October 31 – November 2 Yuba Lake State Park, UT
November 2 – November 3 West Wendover KOA
November 3 – November 4 Winnemucca, Nevada
November 4 – November 5 Boomtown KOA – Reno, Nevada
November 5 – November 6 Clear Lake State Park
November 6 – December 4 Napa Valley Expo RV Park, Napa, California
December 4 – December 8 Moss Landing KOA Express, Moss Landing, California
December 8 – December 15 Wine Country RV Resort, Paso Robles, California
December 15 – January 15 Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, California
. . . And that is gonna do it for 2018. The adventure is pretty much gonna stop here since we are spending most of 2019 in Moab, UT in a work camp arrangement. Come out to see us if you have the means. We’ll be in Moab until November 10, 2019.
Take care.
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