I met a friend, The Ace, who has a 21 ft Avenger RB travel trailer and since he has done little traveling in the past he wanted to start now. So I signed on as first mate. So far my duties have included: itinerary researcher and writer, reservation maker, equipment list maker. The Ace has concentrated on the vehicles and their care and upkeep. We are only days away from leaving with just a few important things left to accomplish. Last winter the trailer was winterized and we are waiting for mother nature to be kind enough to take out the non-toxic antifreeze, flush the systems and refill. We have tested the refrigerator and freezer, installed the wireless TireMinder, checked the tire pressure, greased the wheel bearings, tested the battery and hooked it up, loaded the propane and tested the heating and A/C. We have loaded our clothing and basic staples as well as all the equipment needed to live and eat like a King and Queen for 63 days. Yup, it is a long one and very intense. But if you followed my last blog you know I drove 9654 miles in my Prius by myself and camped the whole way over a period of 10 weeks. Compared to that, this should be much easier………… we hope.
How do you write a Grand Circle Tour itinerary? This time I started with maps of the US spread all over the house and jotted down what The Ace needed to see and what I wanted to see and tried to fit them into a logical sequence. I have already traveled to some of the places but there are musts for The Ace. But I have added a twist where possible and added places I missed the first time. We'll have our first major stop in Branson, then to the west to Canyon de Chelly, Four Corners, Monument Valley, "The Wave", Bryce, and Vegas. Then we intend to get all the way to the Pacific and do the whole coast road Route 1 north from San Luis Obispo to Olympic National Park. That stretch will be 1000 miles done over 10 days so that we can drive a few miles every day but still have time to LOOK AROUND. Then we will work our way back east via Mt Rainier, Coeur d'Alene, Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Black Hills.
Our home away from home has pretty much everything we need. The Avenger 21RB is considered an ultra light trailer so you can supposedly tow it with a large SUV or pickup. If you Google the floor plan of the unit you can see it has a great lay out. TV, CD/radio, refrig, freezer, banquet table and booths that makes into a bed, Sofa that makes into a bed, double sink, 3 burner gas stove, oven, microwave and tons of over-head storage. There is a heater, fan, A/C, separate bath with tub shower, vanity, bath sink and toilet and a separate queen bed area with hanging storage. Under storage across the whole front and a back storage area for the barbecue. Sewer, electric and water hookups when necessary/available. 12 volt battery and propane. Awning that extends electrically, lights for the awning.
We have reservations at a few key locations or places I felt would be heavily trafficked. We have already heard from a State Park in San Simeon that they have no water because of the drought. We also wanted to be on the side of Yellowstone where you can only camp if you have a hard sided trailer. Why you ask???? I wanna see a bear…….. from a distance. The last trip the Bear Policies in every national park were different and it was pretty funny particularly at Kings Canyon where they wanted us to guard our food if a bear came along. That was so that the bears wouldn't learn to steal food. Yikes. I would have run so fast despite carrying a canister of Pepper spray all the time! Apparently the bears in all of the different national parks have different levels of experience of living near campers. Some, as the sophisticated ones in Yosemite know what a cooler is, what it contains and will tear into a car to get to it.
The Ace just bought a new camera in Sint Maarten so we are all set for taking some great pictures which I hope to post on the blog for you. If we get in to see "The Wave" near Kanab, UT (done by lottery on the day of) I will be ecstatic. We also intend to see a different slot Canyon in Antelope Canyon near Page.
Kickoff day is coming and I am very excited. I could be gone as soon as we do the water system! I will post on Facebook when I have posted to the blog.
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