We recently returned from a 19 day trip from Mississippi out to Rosarito Beach, Mexico and back to Mississippi.
3 nights were spent in San Diego, visiting family.
9 nights were spent in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
6 nights were spent on the road.
We took the lower route, 40 to the 30 to the 20 to the 10 to the 8 because of colder weather (ice & snow) along the more northern route, straight across the 40.
We still had 5 nights that were in the 20's.
The truck pulled well, the trailer was a great home away from home, we had a great time and are already planning on repeating this trip next year.
The truck can go further between stops than us. Here we are pulled over for a break, somewhere in New Mexico-
And another break at a rest area in Arizona-
This is a rest area outside of El Centro, CA. We stayed here for the night, this pic is in the morning, right before leaving out.
I did not get pics of our first two nights on the road. The first was at a Walmart between Texarkana and Dallas. The second was at a Rest Area in New Mexico.
The only real climb we had was coming into San Diego...not much at all.
We arrived at families house in San Diego, CA. We stayed here for 3 nights, spending Thanksgiving here and visiting family, before heading down to Mexico.
More in next post-
3 nights were spent in San Diego, visiting family.
9 nights were spent in Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
6 nights were spent on the road.
We took the lower route, 40 to the 30 to the 20 to the 10 to the 8 because of colder weather (ice & snow) along the more northern route, straight across the 40.
We still had 5 nights that were in the 20's.
The truck pulled well, the trailer was a great home away from home, we had a great time and are already planning on repeating this trip next year.
The truck can go further between stops than us. Here we are pulled over for a break, somewhere in New Mexico-
And another break at a rest area in Arizona-
This is a rest area outside of El Centro, CA. We stayed here for the night, this pic is in the morning, right before leaving out.
I did not get pics of our first two nights on the road. The first was at a Walmart between Texarkana and Dallas. The second was at a Rest Area in New Mexico.
The only real climb we had was coming into San Diego...not much at all.
We arrived at families house in San Diego, CA. We stayed here for 3 nights, spending Thanksgiving here and visiting family, before heading down to Mexico.
More in next post-
We got delayed today, several times.
Traffic, had to stop and get on the computer to do some work, and then some shopping for the grand-baby...
Leaving New Mexico to begin the long haul thru Texas.
One of many wind farms we passed.
Started getting dark...
...so we called it a day and stopped at a Rest Area. No photo. It was a nice place. Got a good level spot. Plenty of space, less than half full.
We spent all day in Texas, and besides traffic on the 635 around Dallas, the rest was...well, we have no photo's of note. 🙂
We stopped at a Walmart east of Dallas, no over night parking allowed, so decided to head for a Flying J....but less than half a mile from the Walmart was a Buffet Palace. Ended up parking there, along with a half a dozen 18 wheelers.
Here's a photo of the next morning before heading out-
We'll be back home today. Gotta finish up Texas, then run thru Arkansas...
...in Arkansas, on the west bound lanes they were doing some repair work on a bridge. This traffic was backed up for over 10 miles! eeek!
Crossing the Mighty Mississippi River into....
Tennessee. Clipping just a corner of the State...
...before getting back home to Mississippi!
We had a great time! Truck and trailer performed flawlessly. It was our longest trip of this nature. 19 days & 4300 miles.
We've done many long motorcycle trips, longest was 53 days, and it was a bit strange to be without the bike. But it was very enjoyable, and just confirmed that we made a good decision in going with this set up.
Our longest trip previous to this was 6 days. So this gave us a bit more info on various things.
We had 6 nights in the low 30's/high 20's. Every night in Mexico was in the low 50's. So we ran the propane furnace every night.
(when hooked to shore/generator we could have used our oil filled radiator heater with a little fan, we already know it works really well, but we wanted to see what the propane usage would be, so we only used the furnace)
Propane was also used for cooking, a couple of times each day, and for the hot water heater each day also. The fridge also uses propane when not on shore/generator.
We used less than 30#'s of propane. Surprisingly efficient.
We already knew our fresh and gray tanks are good for about 6 days...that was confirmed this trip also. (We do dump some of our gray from the sink into the black.)
We found out that the longest we should go without shore power/generator power is 3-4 days when running everything normally. Lights, TV, computer plugged into inverter, water pump, furnace fan, even the fridge on propane takes some 12 volt. Oh, and the tank heater and plumbing pipe heaters take 12 volt also.
I have two 100 amp 12 volt batts, so that gives me a max of 100 amps use-able...but some of that is recharged each day while driving, but not completely.
The TPMS worked, giving me peace of mind regarding the tires. All the mods we've made to the inside have made it very comfortable, and everything has a place with room to spare.
Two things we learned we needed-
1. Lights that shine on the trailer tires at night so that I can see them in the mirrors.
2. Something on the steps into the trailer for when it is icy. Those are dangerous when slick!
A big Thank You to everyone on the forum that posts useful info, we've learned a lot, really collapsing the learning curve. Thank you!!!
We had a blast and we're looking forward to many more trips, especially with the motorcycles!
Traffic, had to stop and get on the computer to do some work, and then some shopping for the grand-baby...
Leaving New Mexico to begin the long haul thru Texas.
One of many wind farms we passed.
Started getting dark...
...so we called it a day and stopped at a Rest Area. No photo. It was a nice place. Got a good level spot. Plenty of space, less than half full.
We spent all day in Texas, and besides traffic on the 635 around Dallas, the rest was...well, we have no photo's of note. 🙂
We stopped at a Walmart east of Dallas, no over night parking allowed, so decided to head for a Flying J....but less than half a mile from the Walmart was a Buffet Palace. Ended up parking there, along with a half a dozen 18 wheelers.
Here's a photo of the next morning before heading out-
We'll be back home today. Gotta finish up Texas, then run thru Arkansas...
...in Arkansas, on the west bound lanes they were doing some repair work on a bridge. This traffic was backed up for over 10 miles! eeek!
Crossing the Mighty Mississippi River into....
Tennessee. Clipping just a corner of the State...
...before getting back home to Mississippi!
We had a great time! Truck and trailer performed flawlessly. It was our longest trip of this nature. 19 days & 4300 miles.
We've done many long motorcycle trips, longest was 53 days, and it was a bit strange to be without the bike. But it was very enjoyable, and just confirmed that we made a good decision in going with this set up.
Our longest trip previous to this was 6 days. So this gave us a bit more info on various things.
We had 6 nights in the low 30's/high 20's. Every night in Mexico was in the low 50's. So we ran the propane furnace every night.
(when hooked to shore/generator we could have used our oil filled radiator heater with a little fan, we already know it works really well, but we wanted to see what the propane usage would be, so we only used the furnace)
Propane was also used for cooking, a couple of times each day, and for the hot water heater each day also. The fridge also uses propane when not on shore/generator.
We used less than 30#'s of propane. Surprisingly efficient.
We already knew our fresh and gray tanks are good for about 6 days...that was confirmed this trip also. (We do dump some of our gray from the sink into the black.)
We found out that the longest we should go without shore power/generator power is 3-4 days when running everything normally. Lights, TV, computer plugged into inverter, water pump, furnace fan, even the fridge on propane takes some 12 volt. Oh, and the tank heater and plumbing pipe heaters take 12 volt also.
I have two 100 amp 12 volt batts, so that gives me a max of 100 amps use-able...but some of that is recharged each day while driving, but not completely.
The TPMS worked, giving me peace of mind regarding the tires. All the mods we've made to the inside have made it very comfortable, and everything has a place with room to spare.
Two things we learned we needed-
1. Lights that shine on the trailer tires at night so that I can see them in the mirrors.
2. Something on the steps into the trailer for when it is icy. Those are dangerous when slick!
A big Thank You to everyone on the forum that posts useful info, we've learned a lot, really collapsing the learning curve. Thank you!!!
We had a blast and we're looking forward to many more trips, especially with the motorcycles!
Headed home-
This pic is between Rosarito and TJ. Of in the distance you can see downtown San Diego
With all the caravan activity that's been happening, we did not know what to expect, just the week before the border had actually closed for a few hours...
Here we are in line at the San Ysidro Border Crossing.
The line is not bad at all. We remember, decades ago, waiting in lines much longer than this.
BUT, as we get closer, we see more concrete blocks and Razor Wire, creating choke points. Never saw that before!
I thought I might have chosen the wrong lane. It was a pretty tight fit...had about 6 inches on one side and 8" on the other.
We thought for certain we would be routed to secondary. Nope. Answered a couple of questions, agent stuck his head in the trailer, and we were on our way.
Back in the States, rolling thru San Diego County.
Running up the little mountain range east of San Diego....
...the HDPP handled it easily. It was windy and even in the curves it was rock-solid. Going down the 6% grade the engine braking worked like a charm, never had to touch the brakes.
Crossing into Arizona-
Once out of California I decided to run between 70-72 mph. I had kept it at 65 mph on the way out. The trailer tires are rated for 75 mph, and I am monitoring them with TPMS, so decided to cut a few hours off the trip by running a bit faster.
Entering New Mexico-
We called it a day, around dark, and stopped for the night in a Walmart in NM.
Did a little shopping, took showers, ate dinner, watched a show, & did some work before turning in. Love having our home on wheels! Immensely better than staying in motels/hotels.
Conclusion in next post.
This pic is between Rosarito and TJ. Of in the distance you can see downtown San Diego
With all the caravan activity that's been happening, we did not know what to expect, just the week before the border had actually closed for a few hours...
Here we are in line at the San Ysidro Border Crossing.
The line is not bad at all. We remember, decades ago, waiting in lines much longer than this.
BUT, as we get closer, we see more concrete blocks and Razor Wire, creating choke points. Never saw that before!
I thought I might have chosen the wrong lane. It was a pretty tight fit...had about 6 inches on one side and 8" on the other.
We thought for certain we would be routed to secondary. Nope. Answered a couple of questions, agent stuck his head in the trailer, and we were on our way.
Back in the States, rolling thru San Diego County.
Running up the little mountain range east of San Diego....
...the HDPP handled it easily. It was windy and even in the curves it was rock-solid. Going down the 6% grade the engine braking worked like a charm, never had to touch the brakes.
Crossing into Arizona-
Once out of California I decided to run between 70-72 mph. I had kept it at 65 mph on the way out. The trailer tires are rated for 75 mph, and I am monitoring them with TPMS, so decided to cut a few hours off the trip by running a bit faster.
Entering New Mexico-
We called it a day, around dark, and stopped for the night in a Walmart in NM.
Did a little shopping, took showers, ate dinner, watched a show, & did some work before turning in. Love having our home on wheels! Immensely better than staying in motels/hotels.
Conclusion in next post.
At the far end of the bay are tents set up selling fish and meals, etc. You can barely see them in this photo on the upper right-
The tide was a bit high, but we took a walk down there. With some timing we did not get too wet. lol
Mary was able to get some fresh Halibut and Red Snapper, at a fraction of the price in the States.
Making our way back...I put an arrow showing where you can barely see our trailer.
We timed the waves pretty good and did not get wet at all on the way back.
Back "home", fish put away, Mary's Happy!
This is our last afternoon in Rosarito. Tomorrow we head back to the States.
Couple of shots of the last sunset for us in RB, until next year!
In the morning, trailer hooked up, headed out for the border crossing.
More photos of the border crossing and the drive home to Mississippi coming, as time allows.
The tide was a bit high, but we took a walk down there. With some timing we did not get too wet. lol
Mary was able to get some fresh Halibut and Red Snapper, at a fraction of the price in the States.
Making our way back...I put an arrow showing where you can barely see our trailer.
We timed the waves pretty good and did not get wet at all on the way back.
Back "home", fish put away, Mary's Happy!
This is our last afternoon in Rosarito. Tomorrow we head back to the States.
Couple of shots of the last sunset for us in RB, until next year!
In the morning, trailer hooked up, headed out for the border crossing.
More photos of the border crossing and the drive home to Mississippi coming, as time allows.
There was a day and a half when we got some rain.
Headed down into TJ you could normally see for miles ahead on this road (see pic posted previously). Rain coming down pretty good on the way in this morning-
Back in Rosarito in the afternoon, it stormed off an on til the next day. Wind was blowing pretty strong up the bluff and hitting the TH pretty much broadside.
Next day it was clear and dry again!
We headed south of a nice meal before going up to TJ in the late afternoon.
Waiter made some flowers out of napkins-
After a leisurely AND good meal, with a spectacular view, we headed north toward TJ. Coastal view from the toll road-
They were collecting tolls that afternoon. 🙂
Back "home" that evening. For $5 you can drive down on the beach during low tide. Lot's of folks did it most every day, picnic, surfing, just messing around.
I thought about going down in our truck...but in the end decided not to, did not want to get salt all over it, besides, we can walk down faster than driving around to the entrance to the beach.
Here's a photo of a couple of vehicles that did not leave soon enough as the tide was coming in....and got stuck for almost 24 hours before the tide was back out enough for a tow truck to get them out. :eek:
More photos as time allows.
Headed down into TJ you could normally see for miles ahead on this road (see pic posted previously). Rain coming down pretty good on the way in this morning-
Back in Rosarito in the afternoon, it stormed off an on til the next day. Wind was blowing pretty strong up the bluff and hitting the TH pretty much broadside.
Next day it was clear and dry again!
We headed south of a nice meal before going up to TJ in the late afternoon.
Waiter made some flowers out of napkins-
After a leisurely AND good meal, with a spectacular view, we headed north toward TJ. Coastal view from the toll road-
They were collecting tolls that afternoon. 🙂
Back "home" that evening. For $5 you can drive down on the beach during low tide. Lot's of folks did it most every day, picnic, surfing, just messing around.
I thought about going down in our truck...but in the end decided not to, did not want to get salt all over it, besides, we can walk down faster than driving around to the entrance to the beach.
Here's a photo of a couple of vehicles that did not leave soon enough as the tide was coming in....and got stuck for almost 24 hours before the tide was back out enough for a tow truck to get them out. :eek:
More photos as time allows.
