Adventures in our Keystone

[DarceysHusband]

Hi all! I am new to the community but wanted to share about our first real adventure with friends! We took our Keystone Cougar to the great state of Arizona and it was an absolute blast! Cruising through the Arizona desert and winding roads felt like a real-life adventure especially cause we have spent our whole lives in the Midwest! Let me tell you the Grand Canyon and Sedona did not disappoint!  Evenings were all about campfires, stargazing, and swapping stories with fellow road warriors. Honestly, this RV trip was less of a vacation and more of a wild ride through the heart of the Southwest. I can tell you this will not be our last trip to Arizona.

Any suggestions on where we should head to next? Darcey really wants to continue into southern California! 

Our Keystone with Darcey's lightsGrilling with a viewDarcey and I

[DarceysHusband]

just saw the update where you could now tag products to your post. The grill is Coleman RoadTrip Classic Grill, Blue Heininger DestinationGear Portable Propane Fire Pit in Multicolor It's not the same propane fire pit but pretty cool! 

[laknox]

If you get to San Diego, Campland on the Bay is a really neat place to stay.  We've been there a couple times.  If you go late in the year, they have boat racing in Mission Bay, including Unlimited Hydros.  Amazing!

Lyle

[opnspaces]

Hi, welcome to the forum. That looks like a great trip. Those are some great pictures. were they taken out in open desert dry camping or in a campground? Just looking at this pictures is reminding me that I haven't been out to the desert for almost two months. I'm going to need to rectify that.

As far as places to go, I took the kids camping in Death Valley Furnace Springs area for two different Thanksgivings. The weather was great and there was a lot to see including a few ghost towns in the area..

[DarceysHusband]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. 

@opnspaces We have a friend of a friend who owns a horse ranch so this was "out in the desert" dry camping haha. We were there for 4 days. Out in the open the rises and sun sets were just amazing. 

[opnspaces]

Now that's my kind of camping. I've been boondocking for so long that campgrounds are now a little tight.

[DarceysHusband]

Agreed! On our last morning, I got up and just started wandering around and exploring. So peaceful and quiet. Can't do that at the campground... 

[DarceysHusband]

Wow... thank you so much for the heads up... something I would have never even considered for Southern CA. It was pretty smooth sailing to AZ. I wonder if a trip planner would be helpful in advising which route to take. Any ideas? 

[laknox]

If you do go to DV, don't skip Scotty's Castle, if possible.  Neat place.

Lyle

[opnspaces]

You know laknox I was going to say the same about Scotty's Castle. But then I did a search and apparently it suffered severe flash flood damage back in 2019 and is still closed. It was so bad the outdoor pool even filled up with mud. I hope they get it repaired soon as it was really cool to visit.

Here's a link to the National Parks website about Scotty's Castle.
Link 

[laknox]

I just checked, and they =are= running limited tours to Scotty's Castle, but they have to be a paid tour; can't just drive up and pay there.

Lyle

[laknox]

I =do= remember that.  I'd say "amazing that they still haven't fixed it", but it =is= a gov't run entity...  😞

Lyle

[Goodwitch49]

I'm new to this forum so I'm just reading posts. Your trip looked great. You mentioned wanting to venture into Southern California. I don't have suggestions but I do want to warn you about interstate traffic! We live in the midwest but I'm from SoCal. I haven't been back in over 20 years until this past October. The traffic was incredible (as in awful) and I was in a small Mazda but I was thinking what it would be like pulling a fifth wheel! So keep that in mind and be prepared. I hope you have safe and fun travels wherever you end up.