2016 Wild West Adventure - The Journey West

When we began looking at travel trailers back in 2014, some friends of ours (the Hagalas from Tacoma, Washington) said that if we bought a trailer, they would meet us half-way at Mount Rushmore for a joint summer vacation. To make a long story short, we bought our travel trailer and spent a week with them exploring the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had so much fun, we decided to make that a biennial tradition.

At Mount Rushmore (2 years ago) with the Hagalas

Two years have passed since our epic journey to South Dakota and the Colorado Rockies. As the time approached for our next joint summer vacation, we decided to meet "half-way" at the Grand Canyon. However, plans changed earlier this year when the Hagala's daughter announced her engagement and upcoming wedding. Understandably, they needed to save money for the wedding and wouldn't be able to make the trip. Although our vacation wouldn't be the same without the Hagalas, we decided to go ahead with our plans and head west.

I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but have never gotten the opportunity. My family actually took a vacation to the Grand Canyon when I was in High School - but the summer they went was the same summer I was accepted into the South Carolina Governor's School of the Arts, so they went without me. Finally, I was going to see and experience one of the seven natural wonders of the world!

Hauling a travel trailer across the country can be quite exhausting. So, for long trips, I like to break the driving up into shorter hauls no longer than 6-7 hours. For our journey out to Arizona, I decided to break the trip into 4 days with 3 stops: Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

Our Wild West Adventure travel plan

In this blog post, I will document our journey west. Haley recorded a daily vlog of our adventures. I'll add links to her vlogs for those of you who are interested.

Day 1

On Saturday morning June 18th, after packing the last few things into the trailer and saying a prayer over our trip, we headed off on our two week adventure. Our first destination was the Little Rock North / Jct. I-40 KOA, just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.

After several uneventful hours of driving and fuel stops, we finally arrived at the Little Rock KOA, set up camp, and got ready for dinner.

The North Little Rock KOA is an older campground (established in 1978), but the facilities are nice and well kept. The pool is clean and the Kamp store has an ice cream parlor. The campground boasts free cable and wi-fi (which worked fine), but the free wi-fi is limited to 2 devices. Any additional device connections are $1 per day.

Haley's vlog - Day 1

Day 2

After a bit of a late start, we filled up the truck with gas and continued west. Within a couple of hours, we crossed the Oklahoma border and entered the Cherokee Nation. For the rest of the day, we passed through numerous reservations and saw signs for Indian Casinos and trading posts. On the other side of Oklahoma City, we met up with historic Route 66 - finally arriving at the Elk City / Clinton KOA around 7:00 PM.

After getting the trailer set up and situated, we headed to the campground's "dining room" for dinner. After dinner, we decided to walk around and explore a little.

At the back of the campground, there is a short trail that takes you to Clinton Lake. We took the trail to the lake and actually watched the sun set. It was beautiful and memorable.

The campground office is literally right on historic Route 66. 

In talking with the owner, I found out that the campground was established back in the 1960s, so this KOA was probably an actual Route 66 campground. It is under new ownership and the new owners have done a lot of maintenance and upgrades in the year since they purchased the campground. While this isn't a "destination" KOA with a lot of features, it is really nice for what it has. The campsites are all paved, with free cable TV and unlimited wi-fi connections. The campground also has a nice pool, store, and restaurant.

Haley's vlog - Day 2

Day 3

With a longer drive ahead of us, we got an early start and soon left Oklahoma behind us. Just inside the Texas panhandle, we made a quick stop in Shamrock, Texas. The reason for our quick detour: in the past, the Shamrock McDonald's sold Shamrock Shakes year-round. We wanted to see if Shamrock Shakes were still available.

As we pulled into the McDonald's parking area, I noticed a famous Route 66 landmark just down the road. So we temporarily suspended our search for Shamrock Shakes and headed down to the historic Conoco Tower service station and U-Drop-Inn Cafe. This building was the inspiration for Ramone's House of Body Art in the Disney/Pixar town of Radiator Springs.

The service station and cafe are now a Route 66 museum and gift shop.

Vintage gas pump

We dropped in to the U-Drop-Inn Cafe

After perusing the museum and buying a few souvenirs, we headed back to the McDonald's. To our disappointment, they no longer sell year-round Shamrock Shakes. In fact, the cashier didn't even know what a Shamrock Shake was. Not to be deterred from treats, we went ahead and got shakes (in flavors that were available) and hit the road again.

We made a quick stop in Tucumcari, New Mexico for lunch. Tucumcari Mountain (pictured above) is supposedly the inspiration for the mountain in Disney/Pixar's Radiator Springs. Radiator Springs had an "RS" where Tucumcari has a "T."

Within a few hours, we crossed the Sandia Mountains, descended into the Rio Grande valley, and arrived at our next destination: the Albuquerque KOA.

The Albuquerque KOA is located in a residential area right at the base of the Sandia Mountains. It is a Journey KOA, so the sites are a bit cramped, but it has all the necessities. There really isn't any grass in the campground (which our dog didn't like) and shade trees are few and far between. This particular KOA limits its free wi-fi to 3 connections per reservation.

After dinner, we unhitched the truck and headed into Albuquerque to grab some Starbucks and go shopping for some needed supplies.

Haley's vlog - Day 3

Day 4

The next morning, we hitched up the trailer and headed off on the last day of our journey west. Since Lea's paternal family is from the area, we have been to Albuquerque several times over the years - but this point forward would be unchartered territory for me - and I was excited! We crossed the Rio Grande, climbed the mesa on the far side of Albuquerque, and headed into the great American desert Southwest.

Within a few hours, we crossed Western New Mexico and entered Arizona.

Just inside the Arizona border, we took a detour to Petrified Forest National Park.

The Northern section of Petrified National Park offers scenic views of the Painted Desert.

Also located in the Northern section of the park is the nearly 100 year old Painted Desert Inn. Originally built in 1920, the inn provided a stopping place for tourists on the Santa Fe Railroad and travelers along Route 66.

Adobe-style Painted Desert Inn outbuildings

Overlooking the Painted Desert with Pilot Rock in the background

The Southern section of the park (south of I-40) is where most of the petrified wood can be found. Most of the area is vibrantly colored badlands. These conical-shaped formations are called the Tepees. 

This is Agate Bridge. It is a 110-foot long petrified log "bridge" across a small crevice. In the past, visitors used to stand on the log. Now it is undergirded with concrete and walking across the bridge is not allowed.  

Petrified logs in the Jasper Forest

Geologists believe, based on the fossils and petrified trees, that this area used to be a lush green prehistoric rainforest.

On our way back to the interstate, we drove through Holbrook, AZ and right past the Wigwam Motel - the inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in Radiator Springs. Since I was driving, I didn't snap a picture - so the picture above is "borrowed."

After Holbrook, came Winslow - and after Winslow was Flagstaff - towns that I have heard about in songs my whole life. As we got closer to Flagstaff and began climbing elevation, the terrain quickly shifted from desert plains to the beautiful Kaibab National Forest thick with ponderosa pines.

Finally, after a long day of driving and sight-seeing, we finally arrived at our ultimate destination: The Circle Pines KOA, just outside of Williams, Arizona. Four days of driving and over 1,500 miles of asphalt - we were here!!

Haley's vlog - Day 4

I hope you enjoyed our journey west. There is much more to this Wild-west adventure. Stay tuned for more. Next post: Arizona!

2nd Annual End-of-School Backpacking Adventure

Last year, I took my son and a couple of his friends on a short overnight backpacking trip to celebrate the end of the school year. To read about our trip last year, click here. He and his friends enjoyed it so much, they decided to make it a yearly tradition. This year, Aaron invited one more person along:

Our hiking party: From the left - Aaron, Nick, Josiah, and James

South Cumberland State Park is a large state park made up of several non-contiguous natural areas. Last year, we hiked the Westernmost section of the Savage Gulf area, near the Stone Door Ranger Station. This year, for a change of scenery, we decided to hike the Easternmost section of Savage Gulf.

The plan was to park the truck at the Savage Gulf Ranger Station and hike the Savage Day Loop trail to Savage Falls. From there, we would pick up the South Rim trail and hike to the Stagecoach Road Campground. After camping one night at the campground, we would hike back out (retracing our steps) the next morning.

Normally, I take my DSLR camera with me on our adventures. This time out, I made a big amateur-level mistake: I packed all my camera gear, but left the camera battery in the charger at home. Thankfully, I discovered this at the ranger station before we set off on the hike; and left my useless gear in the truck instead of bringing that extra weight along. Because of my absent-minded lapse, all of the following pictures were taken on my iPhone.

After arriving at the Ranger Station and unloading the truck, we headed off on our adventure.

After about a mile along the Savage Day Loop trail, we came to a suspension bridge crossing Savage Creek. The bridge only allowed 2 people to cross at a time, so Aaron and James went first...

...Followed by Josiah and Nick.

Being the last in our party to cross, I stopped in the middle of the bridge and snapped a picture of Savage Creek. It's hard to believe this little creek carved the gorge that we were hiking along.

Mountain Laurel in bloom along the trail.

After about another half-mile, we came to Savage Falls. This is taken from the top of the falls, looking West into the gorge. The creek flows through a small cleft in the limestone to form the falls. There is a small splinter trail that leads to the base of the falls. At this point, we off-loaded our packs and descended a wooden staircase to enjoy the falls.

Savage Falls

We found some wildlife basking in the sun around the Savage Falls pool. It wasn't poisonous, but we gave it plenty of space anyway.

The boys enjoyed exploring the creek and climbing on the rocks.

After we got our fill of Savage Falls, we donned our packs once again and began heading to the top of the gorge via the South Rim trail.

Once we climbed to the top of the plateau, we found a scenic overlook to stop at for lunch. The South Rim trail has several overlooks along the 4+ miles between Savage Falls and the campground. However, none of them are directly on the trail. Overlooks are marked by short, blue-blazed splinter trails along the main path.

View from the overlook, looking West into the gorge.

Another view, looking North across the gorge. During lunch, we saw a few hikers on the rock outcropping hiking the North Rim trail.

After lunch, we hit the trail again and headed toward the Stagecoach Road campground. Being early in the hiking season, the trail was pretty overgrown in sections - either because this trail is less traveled than others, or because the maintenance crew hadn't been out to clear the trail of overgrowth yet. One thing was for sure: it was definitely the season for ticks - and the overgrown trail gave plenty of ticks the opportunity to find us. A few of the boys kept finding ticks and flicking them off throughout our trip.

One way to make a 45-year old man feel old, is to make him try to keep up with a group of athletic teenage boys. I thought I was moving at a pretty good pace, but the boys quickly left me in their dust.

I finally caught up to them when they stopped to take in the view from one of the last overlooks off the trail.

Looking Northeast across Savage Gulf.

Looking Northeast

While we had the opportunity, we went for the obligatory scenic group photo

 From the overlook, it was only a few more minutes of hiking to reach the campground. The Stagecoach Road Campground has 10 sites, some bigger than others. Site 2 is actually a group site and costs more to reserve. All other sites are $8 a night (plus a reservation fee). Not knowing how big our party was going to be, I reserved 2 sites (site 8 and 9). Site 8 was a little bigger than site 9, so we decided to setup camp there.

We quickly got to work setting up camp: pitching our tents and gathering wood. Within short time, we had a proper campsite.

The water source for the campground is a small spring located right at the beginning of the campground trail. This area was actually in a moderate drought, due to a unusually dry Spring. Because of that, most of the water was stagnant. We spent a few minutes looking up and down the spring and finally found a place where water was bubbling up from the ground. We made a small make-shift dam with some rocks and used that small pool as our water source.

After gathering enough water for our stay, we headed back to camp and cooked our dinner. After dinner, we built our fire and conducted our ceremonial burning of the Geometry workbooks. Before it got too dark, the boys went for a short exploratory walk around the campground. By 9:30, we were all tucked into our tents for the night.

The next morning, we all struck camp, had breakfast, filled up our water bottles, and headed back to the ranger station by 10 am. We made pretty quick time heading back, hiking all 6 miles without any stops. All the while, the boys were talking about fast food and trying to decide where we would stop for lunch. In case you were wondering - Taco Bell won the discussion.

All-in-all, the boys had a great time, and are already looking forward to next year's trip.

Natchez Trace State Park

Each Spring, we usually take a short family camping trip over a weekend to get the RV out of hibernation, de-winterize it, and make sure everything is in working order. This spring, we decided to go to Natchez Trace State Park. The park is less than a 2-hour drive from our house, and has several campgrounds - one being a full-service RV park on one of the park's 3 lakes (which is a rarity among Tennessee State Parks).

Pin Oak RV Campground is located on Pin Oak Lake, near the South end of the park. We reserved site 76, the last "lake side" site available for the weekend.

Site 76 is in a quiet circle, right beside one of the fingers of the lake. The campsites are quite roomy, fully equipped with electricity, water, sewer, fire ring, and charcoal grill. There is no cable or wi-fi available, but we were able to pick up several Jackson, TN area TV stations using our aerial antenna.

While there are things to do at Natchez Trace State Park (hiking, fishing, mountain biking), I was actually looking for a peaceful weekend without any pressing agenda. Our quiet and spacious site on the lake helped to make that wish a reality. Most of the families with younger kids were camped closer to the swimming beach and playground, so our morning was peaceful and slow-paced. After breakfast, Aaron and I rode our bikes up to the Pin Oak Lodge to check it out and get some park maps.

For lunch, we "brown-bagged" some sandwiches and chips, walked over to the covered picnic pavilion near the swimming area, and enjoyed a relaxing lunch with a view of the lake.

We saw a little "wildlife" in the park. The campground had its own flock of Canadian geese that wandered around looking for scraps to eat - and you can always count on seeing a squirrel here and there. 

Our daughter had to work a shift that Saturday morning. After getting off work, she drove out to the park to meet up with us that afternoon. Once she arrived, we drove up to the Cub Lake area of the park, which boasts a swimming beach, recreation lodge, a couple of tent campgrounds, and hiking trails. Our short excursion provided a perfect opportunity to shoot some photos of the area:

A purple martin resting on a wire inside the boat house.

The bumble bees were out in force.

A martin house right by the swimming beach.

Walking bridge across Cub Lake.

A spider staking out territory on the bridge.

The Cub Lake recreation area has a boat house with Pedal Boats and Jon Boats for rent. However, boat rentals don't open until Memorial Day, and are open through Labor Day.

After we got our fill of the Cub Lake area, we headed back to camp to get ready for dinner and prepare the fire pit for our obligatory camp fire. Tennessee State Parks ban the burning of any non-native firewood. If you don't live in the area and don't have access to a private stash of native wood, firewood can be purchased at the Pin Oak Lodge for $5 a bundle.

After getting the hamburgers off the grill; Haley, Aaron, Angel the dog, and I quickly headed into the woods behind our campsite to see if we could catch the sun setting over the Lake. We weren't quick enough to catch the sun sinking below the horizon, but we were able to catch a little bit of color in the sky after the sun had set.

Check out time at the campground is a generous 12:00 noon - so the next morning, we were still able to have a relaxing morning, taking our time packing up before the deadline.

All-in-all, we really enjoyed our stay at Natchez Trace State Park. It's not a terribly long drive to the park, the campground is nice, and the sites are spacious with a nice view of the lake. I'm sure we will revisit the park again soon.