scrubjaysnest travels rolled into 2015

[scrubjaysnest]

Spent Dec 29th dry camping in KOFA NWR at Crystal Hill. A new experience to say the least. Only two othe campers in the abandoned CG. No toilets or water. The wag bag worked but a vault toilet would have been a lot nicer.
Moved up to Joshua Tree on the 30th. Cottonwood CG is typical NP. A pull out dimple in the road or very small back in sites. Flush toilets and great water; at least we can't taste anything in the water. Drove through the CG's at the North end of the park. Belle is $5 bucks less per night but no water. Several nice sites for a TM among the rocks; 15 thru 18 are a piece of cake. Several others can be finessed. Didn't drive thru either of the ones that take reservations. White Tank you can get a TM in a couple of sites but with a 25 foot limit it will take a bit of work. The others are strictly tent although we did see two sites at Jumbo Rocks we could stuff the TM into.
Views are great along with the hikes. Some great interpretive trails. Some old mines to see. And great desert sunrise/sunsets. The littlest scrubjay packed up yesterday to be back at work today. This is a chore day and need to find propane as we went through a bottle in 7 days:eek:.
Solar panels have kept up with power needs; but takes almost all day to reach full charge. A third panel on the horizon I think.
No cell service but from Cottonwood back to the entrance is only seven miles with Verizon good enough for internet and Sprint worked also.

Next stop is Mojave Nation Preserve. They actually let you disperse camp there within their guide lines.

[scrubjaysnest]

After 7 days at Johusa Tree we moved over to Mojave National Preserve. What a change in deserts. This one has to be wetter 'cause we have grass at the camp site. More wild life also. Bigger camp sites and much further a part. Generator hours here are 7 AM to 7 PM. They also allow back country or dispersed camping in RV's. We drove through Mid Hills CG yesterday and although they don't recomend RV's on the road in was well graded and several sites will take a TM with out trouble. We liked sites 21 and 11 the best, nice and secluded with great views. Hole in the Wall is at 4000 feet while Mid Hills is about 5100 feet. Water at both with vault toilets. I'm guessing this was BLM before the park service took over in 1994. Toured a lava tube yesterday; the road in is classified as 4X4 but any experienced soft sand driver with high ground clearance shouldn't have trouble. Just use do care; this is very important as the roads get little to no traffic! The paved roads in the park are really a disgrace:mad:, pot holes in the patches on the patches on the pot holes. Cell coverage is spotty but verizon works well at Hole in the Wall. The pic is taken on the road between Johusa Tree and Amboy to pick up route 66 which turned out to be closed:eek:

[B_and_D]

Were there any flowers in bloom at Joshua Tree? I've only been able to see them on one of our trips.

[scrubjaysnest]

There was a low bush, maybe waist high that had a yellow bloom and over all for the type of desert it was fairly green.

Off to Death Valley today; route choices not to good 14 miles of rough dirt road and then another 23 of broken pavement, took us an hour to cover with out the TM. Or 90 miles out of our way. Time estimates are with 8 minutes of each but we will take the long way. Less hard on the TM.
Death Valley is calling for low 70's by this weekend for highs. That will be a nice change. 43 here at Hole in the Wall this morning and the heat just kicked on for the second time. Really have liked the Mojave National Preserve. If you make it here check out all the train info at the old Kelso station if your into trains, or go visit all the cinder cones and climb down into a lava tube.

[B_and_D]

Thanks for the flower report, sounds like it's not yet time.

We've only been to Death Valley once, but we went a lot of places and saw a lot of things that were fairly close to Furnace Creek.

Scotty's Castle was really interesting, even the kids liked it. We didn't take the Technology Tour but have heard good reports from others (I think Bill went there & liked it).

When we were there you could pay a nominal fee to spend some time in the pool & showers (IIRC about $3 per person) at the Furnace Creek Ranch (this is the one next to the visitor's center). The pool is huge, and fed by hot springs. It was a welcome place to hang out, relax & stretch out after some long days driving & hiking around.

We enjoyed the visitor's center, it is very informative and the rangers were very helpful in giving us some ideas about what to see given the limited time we had to spend there.

Looking forward to some trip reports! There is so much to see and Death Valley is huge!

You might find this website interesting, lots of local info on there: http://www.death-valley.net/forum/

[scrubjaysnest]

Death Valley is a great surprise so much to do, good thing they will let you stay 30 days at Texas Springs CG. Can't say much about the CG's; typical NPS. Jammed on top of your neighbors. Furnace Creek site is paved for RV, some full hook up. A crap shoot without reservations. Sunset CG you couldn't give us a site there. Texas Springs is generator free and can't be seen from 190 so is very quite. All have flush toilets and water. Furnace Creek and Sunset allow generators but Furnace Creek has so non-generator areas.
The park itself has plenty to do from the museum to great drives with over looks. Took us four hours to do Titus Canyon Rd, they say allow three. The Rd isn't bad and although they say 2wd at times with high ground clearance I would recommend 4X4 to minimize wheel spin in hair pin turns. Did see a caravan go blowing through but I bet the skidded over some spots. At the Ash Meadows visitor center as we have a good 4g lte signal.
Wifi available at Furnace Creek, $10 per day, showers and the pool are $5. 3g cell in the park at the Furnace Creek area but the hotspot is warning us about extra international charges. Get that in MS also but I think what it really is is roaming. Need to check with Verizon when we get home.Gas prices still running between $3.50 to $5.00 a gal in CA; $1.93 to $1.95 in NV and AZ go figure:confused:

[B_and_D]

Death Valley gas & supplies are REALLY expensive. There's not a whole lot of competition. We're paying $2.25 today for gas in Salinas, CA. And that includes a lot of state gas tax.

I'm glad you went to DV, it is surprising, isn't it? I want to go back there so badly! There are so many things we didn't get to see.

My daughter had her learner's permit and had fun driving the 4x4 Chevy around some of the roads (slowly).

We stayed at the RV park (hookups, etc.) at Furnace Creek; we had recently bought our TM and it was just easier for us with the kids. They liked being able to go in the pool (we had to pay extra) and we even found a coax cable sticking out of the ground somewhere in the back of the site that gave us some TV and a visitor's channel. One night when we were at the pool we ran into a teacher from a charter school in Sacramento who had brought his students to DV for a geology class. He knew DV very well and suggested some great places to see in a very short time as well as describing the geology of the area in a 15 minute conversation!

Glad to know that they still let people use the pool/showers at a nominal fee.

Keep those trip reports coming!

[scrubjaysnest]

Cheapest reg unleaded was at Stovepipe Wells @ $3.04, for a dollar more you could get two bags of ice also instead of one at Furnace Creek.

We have since moved on but I think two weeks would let one cover DV very well.

Stopped at Red Rock Canyon a BLM CG with water and vault toilets. About 5 minutes into Lost Wages, aka Vegas. We think Red Rock is a must see; great drive and many nice hikes.

After leaving Red Rock Canyon we over nighted at Burro Creek, a BLM with water and flush toilets. Our site over looked the creek. Would have stayed longer but we are meeting our daughter at Painted Rocks for the weekend.

On the way to Burro Creek stopped in Kingmen, AZ for gas and Propane. Both were $2.19 a gal. The gas was mid grade. and both are cheaper the Gila Bend. But then Gila Bend has free water and dump.
This is the first internet access since Hole in the Wall before Death Valley.
3 bars of 4 G on the hotspot.

We'll post some pics tomorrow.

[moaboy]

So Scrub,
What is or has been your biggest challenge in an extended trip relative to the TM?

[scrubjaysnest]

Filling the propane tanks and finding laundry mats.
Some trivia...if a place has a wally world there is usually one or more laundry mats:confused:.
The Flying J's/Piolet's and other travel centers are starting to have propane filling stations.

[mecicon]

Filling the propane tanks and finding laundry mats.
Some trivia...if a place has a wally world there is usually one or more laundry mats:confused:.
The Flying J's/Piolet's and other travel centers are starting to have propane filling stations.


Usually a higher density of lower socio-economic status (they can not afford a Washer and Dryer of their own) near WalMarts.

:SHOCKED:

[scrubjaysnest]

Usually a higher density of lower socio-economic status (they can not afford a Washer and Dryer of their own) near WalMarts.

:SHOCKED:

That is a thought...we ran into something new while at Death Valley, one of the volunteers there refereed to those of us spending a lot of time travelling as affluent homeless. Homeless maybe but not the affluent part. More trivia...since we started last March we are meeting a lot of single elder generation women camping year round in tents.

Arrived at Kartchner( sure that one is spelled wrong) after an interesting trip through Tucson. There were a couple of wide loads on I-10 taking their half out of the middle instead of one lane and the shoulder like one usually sees.

The CG is nice with large paved sites and plenty of distance between. No ground fires or charcoal allowed but they have a community fire ring in each loop and looks like the CG supplies the wood. Nice dry, hot showers also. Do the caverns tour tomorrow then run to get supplies and do laundry. Wed we move on to Rock Hound SP as we work our way to Big Bend.

[moaboy]

Thanks, I guess it is all part of the "experience."

[scrubjaysnest]

Arrived at Rock Hound SP in NM, 3 sites left; we got a keeper. Site is kinda off by it self with nice views of the mountains and Deming.
We will ride out the weather here, should see some snow and maybe a flake or two on the TM.
We skipped the cavern tour at Kartchner as they don't allow cameras:(

[scrubjaysnest]

After 14 days at Cottonwood CG in Big Bend NP we have moved on to Del Rio.
We ate at Governors Landing CG in Amistad NRA(NPS). Fithly CG, very run down. Sites are small, typical park service but several will take a TM. This one gets a lot of road noise as it is right on top of US 90. Very close to supplies though. A very nice visitor center. Later today we will check out their other CG's and see if we can find a quieter one. Payed $10 for propane at a private cg just up the road and catching up at laundry there also. Not a bad CG really for a private one. Will make a CVS and wally world run after laundry is done.

[scrubjaysnest]

When we left Del Rio we over nighted at Pedenarls(spelling) Falls SP and had a nightmare run around Austin, TX. The route I planned turned into a nightmare because of construction that made both the paper maps and GPS maps out of date.:eek: The only thing that saved us was there were just enough hwy signs to follow our road changes.
We arrived at Stubblefield and spent 5 great rainy and overcast days. The solar panels put a few watts back in the batteries but we were like the government, deficient spending. From Stubblefield it was rain all the way to Kincaid Lk a USFS CG near Alexandria LA. Sites here have water and elec, and bathrooms have hot showers. $15 a night, $9.50 inter agency pass. The sites are large and not to close to each other. Valentine Lk is a couple miles away with dry camping, a very nice CG. Sites there have a nice view of the lake. Water and flush toilets; $10 per night or $5 with the pass. Campers started arriving yesterday so it looks like a busy weekend. We move on Sunday unless the rain is to heavy for Clear Springs, east of Natchez, MS. The state park there is cheaper for seniors with a 10% discount but the sites are to close together for our tastes and Clear Springs is less busy. No cell service at Clear Springs unless you drive up to the entrance station.

[LoveToCamp]

Those site rates seem pretty reasonable to me! Out west, I find most NF sites are at least $15 per night, with a vault toilet, no running water.

[scrubjaysnest]

The prices are not bad, run a little higher out west where NF CG's tend to be run by concessionaire. When we hosted at Spruce Grove on the Grand Mesa NF it was $12 per night,$6 with the inter agency pass, dry camping and vault toilets. There was supposed to be water but there was a major leak. Day use was $3 with no discount. Mesa Lk day use about a mile away was $5 no discount but there was fishing and canoe or kayak use there.
Here at Kincaid day use $3, $1.50 with the discount, flush toilets and showers at the swimming beach. Two boat ramps also. On average we find NF elec and water sites run about $5 more then dry camping. On the dry camping we are not including the free ones with water and vault toilet as they are very hard to find. Free with vault toilet and no water are more common. Came across a nice one at the northern end of the ranger district, Calcasieu, that we are in.

[Wingedryder]

scrubjaysnest,

Am wondering what's the avg number of nights you've spent at one spot w/the TM on this journey? I'm curious just how many times you've unzipped & zipped back up the TM thus far. Not being facetious, just wondering if I'd have it in me for the rigors of such a trip!

Enjoying your narrative!

[moaboy]

By now, my guess is they can set up and take down in their sleep...

[scrubjaysnest]

We average three nights per stay at a CG. The TM is trained to set itself up. Over morning coffee the TM packs itself up.

Having moved from a pop-up to the TM setup/brake down is a breeze. No back breaking lift the bunk up while trying to get the support rods in place. No back braking crank up either. Hardest part of set up is lifting the big cabinet over the sink without elbow injury. When we started this trip in December the first 6 days were setup/brake down after a 200 to 300 mile drive. We prefer to keep it under 200 miles with a two day stop minimum.

We left Kincaid, drove 130 miles and set up for two nights at Clear Springs. Moved today to Service Park, a distance of 180 miles and will stay here until Monday. Monday we will over night at Open Pond or maybe get into FL and stop at a state park. This journey will end on Tuesday after which we will try to get the TM ready for an April departure for OR and WA. Have to do some repairs first, the Fiammia awning crank handle broke, lost a porch light cover, some trim inside needs to nailed down and re-glued. Also have to fix the shelf under the stove and run down a couple of small leaks that came up in the last two weeks of rain.

[scrubjaysnest]

The weather guessers are calling for freezing rain again:eek:. So far we have dodged that bullet this trip but Silias AL is just up the road and the weather radar shows it at Natchez, MS right now and pretty far south. We shall see.
Have started planning the 2015 trip for real and repaired the shelf under the oven. So getting caught up on a few things with weather today. DW has Lumber Jack stew in the crock pot, nice thing about an electric site other wise it would be in the big Club aluminum pot on a the gas stove.

[Wingedryder]

We average three nights per stay at a CG. The TM is trained to set itself up. Over morning coffee the TM packs itself up.

Thanks SJN. We're planning a much shorter trip than yours, but through all of S. Utah this season. I foresee 4-5 one-night stands, w/hookups of some type, before a 3-nighter, then heading back w/3 more one-nighters. Am sure we'll get on to it better, but seems a lot of unpacking & packing up every day to us.

Yes, zipping up & unzipping the pop-up tent trailer got to be a real pain!:rolleyes:

[scrubjaysnest]

We have 4 small totes that are in the TM, they come out and slide under it. The two solar panels ride on the couch along with 2 folding chairs and 2 fishing poles and a 5 foot ladder. That is all that requires handling with daily setup. There is always more junk with longer stays. After every trip we review what we used and didn't use. Stuff not used is left home.
On an over nighter the bikes usually don't out of the truck. A cooler is in the back of the truck with lunch makings in case we don't stop some where between CG's.

[Wingedryder]

Thx SJN. The TM's shells no problem, and we continue to experiment with diff packing methods - probably just a matter of making a bit more systematic. Wld like to cut down on the transfer of clothes & a cooler from TV to TM & back ea. time we arrive & depart a CG - our current practice. Think I'll try to convince DW to use the TM's wardrobe & frig more.

Utility hook-ups, rinsing out the electro-magic & slinky upon breaking camp being inevitable, other than actually hooking up or unhooking WDH & TM to/from TV, of course.

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!

[scrubjaysnest]

Thx SJN. The TM's shells no problem, and we continue to experiment with diff packing methods - probably just a matter of making a bit more systematic. Wld like to cut down on the transfer of clothes & a cooler from TV to TM & back ea. time we arrive & depart a CG - our current practice.snip........

Clothing is keep in his/hers large totes in the back seat area of the TV, easier that way for laundry. Get out what you need each day. The ward robe has a few winter items.

Refeer is kept stocked, the cooler is used for resupply town runs, lunch items, and a few beverages.

Utility hook-ups, rinsing out the electro-magic & slinky upon breaking camp being inevitable, other than actually hooking up or unhooking WDH & TM to/from TV, of course.

Enjoy the remainder of your trip!We have a set up at home for the final toilet cleaning. Slinky goes into a 5 gal bucket after rinse.

[Wingedryder]

Helpful hearing a veteran TMO's packing routine!:)

[scrubjaysnest]

Arrived home today...end of the winter camping trip. Now for clean up and repairs and leave for our 2015 summer trip in about 6 weeks. Have yet to figure the total mileage and mpg average for the trip.

[MarkoPolo]

Thanks for sharing your travels with us! It's been a great vicarious experience.

[scrubjaysnest]

Here are the mileages and avg mpg for the entire trip.
Total mileage ~10086
TM mileage ~ 5653
Avg MPG = 12.9
Best without towing 16.4
Worst while towing 10.6 heavy foot in the mountains?
They way we fuel up I don't think the Towing average -vs no towing average can be pulled out.
What a great journey it was:D

[ArkyDoodle]

@SJN --- Do you keep any kind of e-log of where you've camped and whether or not you'd return? I know there's stuff on the internet where folks rate campgrounds but I was wondering if you had created your own method....

[scrubjaysnest]

@SJN --- Do you keep any kind of e-log of where you've camped and whether or not you'd return? I know there's stuff on the internet where folks rate campgrounds but I was wondering if you had created your own method....
We write on the calendar the CG name, how long, and camping fee -vs - inter-agency pass cost. Specific CG site numbers we like go into the way point description area for that CG. If we wouldn't return to a CG it is deleted from the way point data base. For example when we stayed at Cottonwood CG in Big Bend I added site 10 to the CG way point. It had good shade, was a reasonable distance from the toilets, water and I could get good sun for the solar panels. Chisos Basin on the other hand was deleted. The one at Rio Grande Village, park service, not the one with hook ups was added to the data base.
Not a very high tech rating system I guess, but if it isn't in the data base I can't route to it.:)

The ones we really like are posted to the forums. Some times there will be exceptions like Balmorhea SP in TX. We wouldn't spend a week there, the CG isn't much to speak of, just a paved slot. But it is convenient to the I-10, and has nice amenities such as swimming.

[foxhaven0]

We write on the calendar the CG name, how long, and camping fee -vs - inter-agency pass cost. Specific CG site numbers we like go into the way point description area for that CG. If we wouldn't return to a CG it is deleted from the way point data base. For example when we stayed at Cottonwood CG in Big Bend I added site 10 to the CG way point. It had good shade, was a reasonable distance from the toilets, water and I could get good sun for the solar panels. Chisos Basin on the other hand was deleted. The one at Rio Grande Village, park service, not the one with hook ups was added to the data base.
Not a very high tech rating system I guess, but if it isn't in the data base I can't route to it.:)

The ones we really like are posted to the forums. Some times there will be exceptions like Balmorhea SP in TX. We wouldn't spend a week there, the CG isn't much to speak of, just a paved slot. But it is convenient to the I-10, and has nice amenities such as swimming.

I would think instead of deleting the campgrounds I didn't like I would make a note about it. With memories being the way they are I'd forget that it was a bad campground otherwise.