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Old 03-18-2023, 03:32 PM   #48
The Gritz Carlton
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: THOR Chateua 35SF
State: Florida
Posts: 5,850
THOR #11130
Quote:
Originally Posted by RVwife View Post
Don't know if you CAN tame that wild west, but you sure will have fun. These are our brief highlights from the states we've been to over the years:

TN - pre RV days
  • Chattanooga - the battlefield NP and the aquarium are worth visits
  • Oak Ridge - one of the trio of Manhattan Project sites was quite interesting. We were there 20+ years ago and it was rather easy to get in to see the sites. Now you do have to reserve ahead. We plan on revisiting it on our upcoming trip this spring. If you collect cancellations in a National Parks passport, they have a unique stamp. It is 3 parts (with the other 2 being Los Alamos, NM and Hanford, WA).

AR - we vised in the fall of 2020, so much was closed or very restricted. They do have beautiful state parks with very nice facilities. We also stayed in the KOA in Hot Springs; very friendly and they had a shuttle into town which was handy since we don't have a toad.
  • Little Rock Desegregation VC is small but very in-depth and informative. Due to the lack of crowds, we got our own personal ranger tour. He was very knowledgeable and we had a great conversation with him. Be sure to visit the commemorative sculpture display of the Little Rock Nine that is situated next to the state capital. Brought reality front and center as you walked around it.
  • Crater of Diamonds SP was great fun digging in the dirt like kids in a sand box. We didn't strike it lucky on our day, but shortly before our visit someone had found a sizable diamond and just recently someone found one over 2 carats. When we were there, we ended up talking to a lady who had previously found a small one. She had it in a little box and showed it too us. Pretty cool.

OK & KS - we were following Rt 66. It was a "kick" with plenty of photo opps if you enjoy that. Travel photography and scrapbooking are some of my hobbies, so this was the mother load. Next trip we'll allow more time. I under estimated how many interesting stops and how much time we would take. There are lots of guide books and publications, so I won't repeat them here. Just take a few along for all their info.

TX - still on Rt 66 on our way to NM
We camped at Palo Duro Canyon even though it was bit off our path. So glad we did and wish I had reserved a few more days. It was amazingly beautiful. Plenty of hikes to do, but you could just chill at your campsite and take it all in too. The road down into the canyon is steep and windy, but as long as you down shift it wasn't a problem.

NM
  • Albuquerque was strange. I don't know if it was just because it was early post covid (fall 2021). The downtown was absolutely deserted on a Saturday morning, save for some homeless and mentally unbalanced people roaming the streets. Although there were interesting things to see, I have to say we didn't feel particularly safe, so we didn't spend much time in town.
  • We did camp at a very cute camp ground on the outskirts though. It had a vintage theme and was very nicely kept up. The hot tub and pool were just what we needed after nearly a week on the road in some sweltering temperatures. (We never knew OK could be so hot.) Even with AC on and drinking plenty of water, it took a bit out of us. We northerners were not conditioned to those temps.
  • Santa Fe was fun. Lots of history, culture, art, shopping, you name it. Allow more than just a day. We had several. They have some great museums and a discount pass program that saves some decent $$ if you plan to visit several museums and a few other state historic sites.
  • Bandalier NP - we camped here for 5 nights and used it to day trip to Valles Caldera and Los Alamos/Manhattan Project NP, as well as enjoy the tours of the ruins. Some of the hiking could potentially be strenuous, but there were a few short easier ones too. I have some limitations that make long hikes a challenge, but we found plenty of fun things to do. The basic ranger tours are largely on packed gravel pathways with benches for those in your group who may not want to go the whole distance. Different rangers covered different topics so we took several tours and enjoyed all of them.
  • Capulin Volcano NP was one of my favorites. Due to a partial road washout, RVs were not allowed to drive the road to the top of the cone, but at 4:30 they close the road to vehicles and you can hike or bike up. It would have been a bit of a hike (2+ miles up pretty steep climb) but riding our ebikes up the road was absolutely amazing! We had the most fantastic weather and no one else around. WOW is all I can say. Go. Weather you take your toad up or bike it, it is so cool. There was a little mom & pop campground right near the base. Nothing fancy, but so convenient after our bike ride.

We did a short stop in Trinidad, CO as we started to follow the Santa Fe Trail back to Missouri. I wish we'd known more about what was to be seen there and had more time. It was a cute town and a half day was not enough. The trail was fun too and could be a trip in itself.


AZ(in our pre-RV days)
  • Phoenix - visit the Musical Instrument Museum and allow a full day or even 2 if you are into music. DH & I are not major music folks but my cousin said this was a must do and boy was she right. There are numerous galleries, each devoted to a different continent. Each gallery is broken down into countries with instrument displays and music that plays as you pass each display. It was truly amazing. We ran out of time to do N America and Europe, but plan to definitely be back.
  • Tucson & Phoenix - botanical gardens were great. We are both plant nerds, so of course.
  • Patagonia - quaint, very small town almost to the southern border (so close that we actually encountered an ICE checkpoint). Toured Biosphere on the way.
  • Stayed in Prescott for a few nights. It was OK, but not real special. We did make the drive over the mountain to Jerome, an old mining town; Sedona which had cute craft shops but is rather touristy. The red rocks are gorgeous and worth the look though. Cottonwood was also amusing; small town where we stopped at a local organic cafe for lunch. Got quite a chuckle when a local cowboy came riding down the main street, hooked his horse to the hitching post, got his tag-a-long dog a bowl of water and himself his lunch. When he was done he mounted back up and trotted on down the road. No question but that he was a local working cowboy. It was quite the fun sight (especially since I'm a horse person).
  • Tuzigoot, Montazuma's Castle, and some petroglyphs in the near-by national forest were very interesting if you enjoy history & other cultures. They are small sites and the walks were not strenuous. You can do all 3 in the same day.

And lastly DO come to Michigan. There is so much beauty here too. Kewenaw NP and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are in the Upper Peninsula. Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore is in northwest lower MI. It would be easy to spend several days to a week at each. One thing I will warn you (not really a surprise) but you will find it impossible to get a site at Sleeping Bear from 4th of July until well after Labor Day, but....
we live just 10 miles from Sleeping Bear and are happy to offer a site to boondock (well, we do have 15 amp service we can run from the barn and the BEST fresh well water in the world) on our 10 acre horse farm. Give us a shout if you're interested.

Now I've written a novel already, but if you are interested, I have more detailed itineraries of our Rt 66/Illinois and Rt 66/NM/Santa Fe Trail RV trips. I like to travel with my handy dandy custom made chart where I've planned out places to see, where we have camp reservations, mileages we plan/need to travel each day, hours & fees for attractions, and more. If you'd like I can turn them into PDFs to email to you and anyone else (others just add your email in a post reply and I'll send them as a group). Let me know if you'd like the more detailed info.
WOW...WOW, what an incredible response and yes, please send whatever you wish to share. I've read through every comment and suggestion made here...multiple times. I've copied them by "name" to a document. April and I read through them, research the suggestions that fit our profile and limitations, adding them to our route. Thank you so.much to everyone here for sharing these qualified points of interest. One reason for downsizing was to eliminate a toad and be more versatile during the days, as this smaller camper can go and park nearly everywhere and our loving, old Bugsie can sit in the A/C as we make short stints to the things we want to see and do. We're not much on hiking but it appears most of the "venues" can be enjoyed cruising through or by some of the short hikes to the overlooks. And...I'm a foodie...I've made notes of the don't miss food joints along the way as well. Please keep this priceless advice coming! I have a huge steak dinner waiting on me near the South Rim...but...if anyone else is along the path it would be an honor to meet, if just for a quick handshake and visit. What a great group we have here. I've been on a few forums in the past few years but nothing like the respect and heart-felt buch of folks like we have here!! I value time like I do life itself and the time people have taken here to personally address this wealth of knowledge is 2nd to none!!
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