History and Upcoming

Hi there. Now that my retirement is officially here, I’d like to share a bit about our RV history, and the plan for our upcoming RV trip this summer. This will be the third summer road trip in our RV, and our fourth RV summer road trip in a row (we rented an RV for a trip the year before we purchased ours).

There is a lot info here to get you up to date on our adventures so far, so this blog post is a bit on the long side.

All the states we’ve visited in our RV in the first two and a half years

2021

In the summer of 2021, when vacation travel was still difficult due to Covid, my wife, Andrea, and I decided we would rent an RV, and go visit one of our sons, who was doing a field study research program near Las Cruces, New Mexico. We weren’t entirely new to the RV/Camper world, having owned a Lance Camper on a Ford F250 in the mid 1990s, with which we used to tow our jet ski to various lakes around California. We sold that camper when the kids were young, realizing it wasn’t a good size for a family of five.

We had previously discussed our interest in owning a RV after retirement, and using it to travel around, to see and experience new areas of the country. We figured that renting before buying was a good idea, so we could learn more about it, make sure it was something we could grow to enjoy, and learn to maintain, and try to figure out what style, size, and brand we should choose.

We weren’t new to RVing, but we certainly were novices when we were planning that first summer’s trip. Which is probably why we thought it was perfectly reasonable to try to do a 3000 mile loop in 13 nights, in an unfamiliar 24’ rental RV. I came up with a trip itinerary that included 9 stops, 5 of them one-night stays, and 4 of them 2 night stays.

At the Grand Canyon, the first night we stayed at a RV park right outside the national park, but we managed to get a spot inside the park for the second night (so 10 RV parks total), so we moved there instead.

We actually had one additional stop planned, which was Palm Desert for one night (between Tucson and Bonelli Bluffs). But 10 minutes after arriving at the RV park in Palm Desert, and stepping out into the 110F temperatures, we learned the important lesson of never staying in Palm Desert in August. So, we decided to push through to the next stop immediately (after calling ahead and confirming they could accommodate us early).

Besides the visit with our son in Las Cruces, we also wanted to see the Grand Canyon and Sedona in Arizona, and Angel Fire in New Mexico. Here’s what that trip looked like:

2021 - 13 nights 3000 miles in a rental RV

Rental RV - Rancho Sedona RV Park - Sedona, AZ - August 2021

Rental RV - Angel Fire RV Resort - Angel Fire, NM - August 2021

Here’s the list of RV parks we stayed in (Summer 2021):

Las Vegas, NV: Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

Canyon Village, AZ: Grand Canyon Camper Village

Canyon Village, AZ: Grand Canyon National Park Trailer Village

Sedona, AZ: Rancho Sedona

Santa Fe, NM: Los Suenos de Santa Fe RV Resort

Angel Fire, NM: Angel Fire RV Resort

Cloudcroft, NM: Sugar Pines RV Park

Tuscon, AZ: Sentinel Peak RV Park

San Dimas, CA: Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort

Morro Bay, CA: Morro Strand Campground

That first trip taught us a lot. We learned that trying to drive 400 (or even 500 miles) in a single day in an RV is crazy. These days, we always try to keep our driving down to less than 250 miles in a day (preferably under 200). Besides the fact that driving a large RV pulling a toad is more stressful than driving a regular car, we always want to ensure we have ample time when we arrive at new destinations to explore and experience our new surroundings. Isn’t that the whole reason we’re traveling by road in the first place?

We also learned that one-night stays (and the corresponding consecutive driving days) should also be kept to a minimum. Though they are sometimes necessary (especially given the per-day distance limits we impose on ourselves), we try to keep them few and far between.

We learned that we needed a much bigger RV than the 24’ Class-C we rented. Andrea and I love to do things together, but we definitely need time and space to do our own things as well. A large RV ensures there are separate spaces for each of us when we need it.

We learned that we needed a toad, a vehicle that we can use to get around when we get places. Some RV destinations are not always within walking/biking distance to the activities, restaurants, and shopping that we want/need to do. Not having a toad on that first summer RV road trip definitely made things more difficult. So, not only did we need to do the research to determine what RV we should eventually buy, but we also needed to find a vehicle that could be flat-towed, 4-wheels down, and get it modified to support towing and lighting and brake control. Turns out very few vehicles made today are flat towable. 4x4 trucks are (usually) the exception, which was good, because Andrea had always wanted a black 4x4 pick-up truck since she was in high school.

Most of all, we also learned that we loved RVing, and wanted to have more opportunities in the future to venture out, see more of the world around us, and have new adventures together. So, buying one seemed like it would be a good next step.

After a bunch of research, I finally decided I wanted a Renegade brand “Super-C” class RV, built on a Freightliner commercial truck chassis. That style RV has (almost) the same living space of a large class-A rig, but it drives like a truck instead of a bus (easier), and has the added safety feature of a big heavy engine between you and whatever you run into (though not something we ever intend to do). I chose Renegade, because I liked the idea of buying from a smaller luxury RV manufacturer, rather than the more mass production focused companies like Thor and Jayco. And Renegade had excellent on-line reviews, and what seemed like a great community of owners (and potential owners) in a Facebook group called the “Renegade Motorcoach Owners’ Group”, which we have really learned a lot from (and have contributed to as well).

We were lucky to find one that met our desired specifications from La Mesa RV in West Sacramento. That was in October 2021. I was surprised to find one readily available for purchase (the only one available at any dealer in California at that time, actually), especially given that we were still in Covid times with supply chain interruptions, and higher demand for RV travel. It was a Verona 36VSB model, which was number one on my interest list, and although it wasn’t the exact color that I would have chosen had we ordered directly from Renegade, and it had a washer & dryer (which wasn’t on my original options list, but we learned to love having that), it seemed like it was a good candidate to check out further. We drove to West Sacramento, so we could have an in person look. And, after seeing it, and comparing it to some of their other offerings, I knew it was the one for us. A few days later we put a deposit down, they drove it to RecVan in Fremont (a subsidiary), we closed the deal, and after a quick driving lesson from the dealer, we took it home (well, technically we took it to a temporary storage lot while we worked on enlarging the width of our driveway’s entrance. That is a story for another time).

The quick driving lesson by the dealer was barely sufficient for that first drive, and we knew it wasn’t enough. So we had Andrea’s boss, Carl (a retired battalion chief), who had driven large fire trucks and other heavy equipment in the past and is an excellent instructor, help us get more familiar with driving it, and maneuvering it in tight places. Carl gave us the confidence we needed to trust that we could handle any situation that could arise while on the road.

We did our first one week “shakeout” trip in mid November 2021, with 2 nights at Flying Flags RV Resort in Buellton, CA, 2 nights at Bella Vista by the Sea in Cayucos, CA, and 2 nights at Costanoa KOA in Pescadero, CA. We didn’t have our toad yet, so we did a lot of walking near the RV parks instead.

We then bought (and eventually modified) a toad, Andrea’s Ford Ranger Tremor 4x4 truck in December of that same year. And we found a great place in Watsonville, CA, “Street Scene” to do the work to make it towable, including providing a Roadmaster Nighthawk tow bar, and a Stay-IN-Play Duo braking system. That shop does excellent work, and their staff is knowledgable and friendly.

Our new Renegade Verona - Flying Flags RV Resort - Buellton, CA - November 2021

The inside of our new RV - Flying Flags RV Resort - Buellton, CA - November 2021

Roșie enjoying her first RV trip - Bella Vista by the Sea - Cayucos, CA - November 2021

January 2022

We started 2022 with a 15 night trip to Southern California in early January. This would be the beginning of a new family tradition of getting together in Palm Desert / Palm Springs in January (we’ve now done it three years in a row, and I hope it continues in the future). We can’t get all the way from Ben Lomond to Palm Desert in a single drive, so this year we stopped at the Sun Outdoors RV Resort in Goleta (across the street from El Capitan State Beach) for one night, before driving to our seven night stay at Emerald Desert RV Resort in Palm Desert (which we’ve now stayed at each year). We didn’t have the toad modified for towing at this point, so instead we decided that we would rent a car in Palm Desert, and keep it until we started heading north again. After Palm Desert, we stayed five nights at Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort in San Dimas, followed by two nights at Pismo Coast Village RV Resort in Pismo Beach.

This trip was mostly memorably for the fact that Andrea and I both got Covid for the first time (and only time so far, knock on wood). The symptoms weren’t too bad, and we still managed to have some fun at Pismo before heading home.

Emerald Desert RV Resort - Palm Desert, CA - January 2022

First dinner with my parents (and Jordan) in the RV - Palm Desert, CA - January 2022

Pismo Coast Village RV Resort - Pismo Beach, CA - January 2022

Having covid can put a damper on a fun RV trip - Pismo Beach, CA -

July 2022

July 2022 was the start of our first summer road trip in our RV. We did a four week loop, initially heading North to the Oregon coast, and then continuing on through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, before returning to California. The trip included stops visiting our friends in Billings, my son and his wife near Boulder, my parents, sister, and her husband in Salt Lake City, and my wife’s parents in Sacramento. We also stayed in some beautiful RV parks, such as Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort in Newport, OR, and Mountain Valley RV Resort in Heber City, Utah. And, we stayed at two Harvest Hosts, including an Alpaca Farm in Fallon, NV (the birth place of our little Rosie). All in all, it was 18 stops in 28 nights, with a total of about 3700 miles. Here’s what that trip looked like, and some of the many pictures we captured.

Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort - Newport, OR - July 2022

Columbia Sun RV Park - Kennewick, WA - July 2022

Billings KOA Holiday - Billings, MT - July 2022

Central City KOA Holiday - Central City, CO - July 2022

Mountain Valley RV Resort - Heber City, Utah - August 2022

Sawdust Alpaca Farm (Harvest Host) - Fallon, NV - August 2022

Here’s the list of RV parks we stayed in (Summer 2022):

Corning, CA: MoonBeam Farms Harvest Host

Medford, OR: Gold Hill / Medford KOA

Newport, OR: Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort

McMinnville, OR: Old Stone Village RV Resort

Kennewick, WA: Columbia Sun RV Park

Spokane, WA: Northern Quest RV Park

Missoula, MT: Missoula KOA Holiday

Bozeman, MT: Bear Canyon Campground

Billings, MT: Billings KOA Holiday

Casper, WY: Casper KOA Journey

Ft. Collins, CO: Fort Collins / Lakeside KOA Holiday

Central City, CO: Denver West / Central City KOA Holiday

Grand Junction, CO: Grand Junction KOA Holiday

Heber City, UT: Mountain Valley RV Resort

Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City KOA Holiday

Elko NV: Ironhorse RV Resort

Fallon, NV: Sawdust Alpaca Farm Harvest Host

Sacramento, CA: Sac-West RV Resort

Thanksgiving 2022

For Thanksgiving 2022, the plan was to take our RV to Manchester Beach, on the California coast a bit south of Mendocino, spend a week at the the Manchester Beach KOA, and have Thanksgiving dinner at Andrea’s brother’s house in Gualala. We did manage to get to the KOA, taking the narrow, winding highway 128 from Interstate 101, which was one of the most challenging drives we had done in the RV so far. The KOA there is really nice, though the trees prevented our Starlink satellite internet service from working. We did have a nice day trip to Mendocino, and that was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Covid ultimately canceled the planned Thanksgiving get together in Gualala, so instead we moved from Manchester Beach to Sacramento, and had Thanksgiving with Andrea’s mom there. One of the best things about RV life is the ease of calling these kind of “audibles” when life inevitably intervenes.

Manchester Beach KOA - Manchester Beach, CA - November 2022

Beautiful day along the Northern California coast. - November 2022

January 2023

For our second annual trek southwards in January, we started by repeating our stop at Sun Outdoors RV Resort in Goleta, and then Emerald Desert in Palm Desert for the family meet-up in Palm Springs. The plan was for a 15 night trip, spending the first half in Palm Desert, and the second half in Chula Vista (Sun Outdoors San Diego). But, early in the first week we decided to add a stop in Borrego Springs for the first half of the second week, and that turned out to be a great decision. The Springs at Borrego RV and Golf Resort is a beautiful place to stay in January, and we had a great time doing some off-roading in Andrea’s 4x4 truck during the days, and enjoying being in a “Dark Sky” community at night. When we did finally get to Sun Outdoors San Diego in Chula Vista, we found it to be a very nice, summer resort-like setting with accessible walking paths to the beach and marina, and a restaurant and bar on site. On the way home, we stopped at the Bakersfield KOA Journey, and then spent a night at the Corbin Cash Distillery (Harvest Host), in Atwater, for some boondocking and whiskey tasting.

Family get-together in Palm Springs, CA - January, 2023

The Springs at Borrego RV and Golf Resort - Borrego Springs, CA - January 2023

The view from one of our off-road adventures - Anza Borrego State Park - January 2023

Boondocking at Corbin Cash Distillery (Harvest Host) - Atwater, CA - January 2023

July 2023

For summer 2023, we chose to increase our planned road trip to five weeks, and we started by heading towards Las Vegas, with key destinations such as Lake Mead, Zion National Park, Lake Powell, Durango, CO, and Angel Fire, NM. Then, north to Colorado Springs, and Central City, CO, before heading back to California through Palisade, CO, Park City, UT, and Sparks, NV. This was our second time at Angel Fire RV Resort in New Mexico (the first time being in the rental in summer 2021), and I still think it’s probably my favorite RV resort so far. Highly recommend.

This was also the first trip where we had equipment failure that we had to deal with while on the road (thermostat failed in the AquaHot water heater). We managed to live without hot water for a couple days at Angel Fire RV Resort (they have really nice bathrooms there) , and then we got it fixed near our next stop in Colorado Springs, without too much trouble.

We had quite a range of weather on this trip. On the high side, multiple days in the triple digits including 116F around Lake Mead. Rain around Durango, CO, and I even got caught in a powerful sudden hail storm while out biking at 10,000ft elevation near Central City, CO.

Overall, this trip was about 3100 miles, which included 16 stops over 35 nights, so a bit slower pace than our previous trips. We got to visit with my friend, Chris, near Zion, my son and his wife near Boulder, my parents, sister, and her husband in Salt Lake City, and my wife’s parents in Sacramento. Here’s what that trip looked like, and a few of the hundreds of pictures we took along the way:

Zion River RV Resort - Virgin, UT - August 2023

Rosie taking a dip with mom in the Virgin River - Virgin, UT - August 2023

Snow Canyon, near St. George, UT - August 2023

Wahweap RV Campground at Lake Powell - Page, AZ - August 2023

Goulding’s RV Campground near Monument Valley, UT - August 2023

Angel Fire RV Resort - Angel Fire, NM - August 2023

Riding my foldable E-Bike in the hills around Angel Fire, NM - August 2023

Palisade Basecamp RV Resort (from high up on the Palisade) - Palisade, CO - August 2023

Sparks Marina RV Park - Sparks, NV - September 2023

Here’s the list of RV parks we stayed in (Summer 2023):

Bakersfield, CA: Bakersfield KOA Jorney

Yermo, CA: Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday

Boulder City, NV: Lake Mead RV Village

Virgin, UT: Zion River RV Resort

Page, AZ: Wahweap RV Campground

Monument Valley, UT: Goulding’s RV Campground

Durango, CO: Alpen Rose RV Park

Angel Fire, NM: Angel Fire RV Resort

Falcon, CO: Falcon / Colorado Springs NE KOA Holiday

Central City, CO: Denver West / Central City KOA Holiday

Palisade, CO: Palisade Basecamp RV Resort

Helper, UT: Castle Gate RV Resort

Park City, UT: Park City RV Resort

Elko, NV: Ironhorse RV Resort

Sparks, NV: Sparks Marina RV Park

Sacramento, CA: SacWest RV Park

Thanksgiving 2023

Thanksgiving 2023 we did finally make it to Andrea’s brother’s property in Gualala, CA. We decided to take the risk that we would be able to drive the rig (without toad) directly to their property, and maneuver through their gate, rather than booking a spot at the Manchester Beach KOA, as we had done the previous year. We drove up Highway 1 from Bodega Bay, which was actually easier (and shorter) than taking Highway 128 like we did when we stayed in Manchester Beach. At least we were on the inside lane while driving on the more harrowing cliffs section of the road. We managed to get there and park in a nice flat section of his property. We stayed there for four nights, before heading home via Highway 128 instead of heading down the coast. Will definitely come back again (if they’ll have us).

January 2024

In January 2024, we did our third annual trek down south, with week long stays at both Emerald Desert RV Resort in Palm Desert, and Sun Outdoors San Diego in Chula Vista. Our overnight stop on the way down was Flying Flags RV in Buellton, and on the way back it was Sun Outdoors Santa Barbara in Goleta. All four places we had stayed before.

We took our son, Ben, with us on the RV ride from home to Palm Desert, and then after the family weekend, he flew back from Palm Springs Airport to San Jose.

The family get together in Palm Springs was the biggest one yet, and our time together included hiking, shopping, eating, and taking lots of pictures. I brought my E-Bike with me, which allowed for some additional fun times, like when I biked from our RV in Palm Desert, to the VRBO house where the family was staying in Palm Springs. I also used my bike and the San Diego light rail one day to get from the RV in Chula Vista to the San Diego company office, where some of my employees worked.

Weather wise, it was cooler than previous trips down south, and we had some extreme rain and winds for a bit in Chula Vista (which turned out to be the sixth wettest day in San Diego history). At least we still had nice weather for our hikes and outdoor play earlier in the trip.

Speaking of work, on this trip, I was still “working remotely” instead of vacationing, for both weeks. There was a long weekend in the middle for MLK Day, which is the time we mostly spent with the family, but other than that, I was doing remote Webex meetings, and handling email and slack messages from the RV. This was the last RV road trip where I would still be doing company work while on the road (which I’m sure Andrea appreciates). Now any work I do on the road will be for myself.

Even with the need to work on this trip, I still really enjoyed it , especially the time we spent with family.

Family get-together in Palm Springs - January 2023

A rainy Sun Outdoors San Diego - Chula Vista, Ca - January 2023

Our plans for Summer 2024

Now you’re all caught up on our RV experiences to date. I left out a few shorter trips, like when we brought our RV back to Davis, CA for annual maintenance each year (staying in Sac West RV Park), or when we did spur-of-the moment, one or two night trips to Costa Noa, a local favorite of ours. All in all, we’ve spent 129 nights in our RV on the road in just two and a half years of ownership (not bad for still having a full time job the whole time).

Now that we’re both retired, the length and frequency of our RV road trips will hopefully increase. We have no intention of being “full timers”, since we love where we live, and still have some responsibilities and activities that require us to be home. But, we will try to set aside more time for when we can be on the road.

We’re going to start with a two night “shake-out” trip to Costa Noa next week, to make sure the RV is still OK after sitting since January’s trip. Then in early July, we start our longest RV trip yet, a 55 night 4200 mile trip, with 28 stops along the way, 11 that we have been to before, and 17 that our new to us. Here’s what the plans for that trip look like:

Our planned 55 night, summer 2024 road trip.

This trip is based around two big events, my dad’s 85th birthday at the end of July (Salt Lake City), and my mother-in-law’s 85th birthday over Labor Day weekend in Sacramento. We also added stops to visit my friend Chris again near Zion, visit my son Jeremy and his wife Erika again near Boulder, and visit our fiends the Solomons again in Billings. Also, it’s time I finally see Yosemite, especially since I’ve never been there after living in California for 40 years, so that’s our first stop. There are plenty of other national parks to see on this trip as well, including Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, and Yellowstone to name a few (which I have already been to at least once each). Overall, if things go as planned, it’s going to be the most epic RV trip yet, and I plan to take you all on the journey with us (at least via this blog, not in person of course).

These are our planned stops (summer 2024):

Groveland, CA: Thousand Trails Yosemite Lakes

Bakersfield, CA: Orange Grove RV Park

Yermo, CA: Barstow / Calico KOA Holiday

Las Vegas, NV: Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

Williams, AZ: Grand Canyon Railway RV Park

Sedona, AZ: Rancho Sedona RV Park

Page, AZ: Roam America Horseshoe Bend

Virgin, UT: Zion River RV Resort

Fillmore, UT: Fillmore KOA Journey

Heber City, UT: Mountain Valley RV Resort

Park City, UT: Park City RV Resort

Moab, UT: Portal RV Resort

Ouray, CO: Ouray Riverside Resort

Palisade, CO: Palisade Basecamp RV Resort

Breckenridge, CO: Tiger Run RV

Central City, CO: Central City KOA

Cheyenne, WY: Rjourney Cheyenne RV Resort

Bar Nunn, WY: Casper KOA Journey

Buffalo, WY: Buffalo KOA Journey

Billings, MT: Billings KOA

Livingston, MT: Yellowstone’s Edge RV Park

West Yellowstone, MT: Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park

Idaho Falls, ID: Idaho Falls Luxury RV Resort

Delco, ID: Village of the Trees RV

Wells, NV: Welcome Station RV

Winnemucca, NV: New Frontier RV Park

Sparks, NV: Sparks Marina RV

Sacramento, CA: SacWest RV

Final Thoughts

Hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about our RV adventures so far, and our upcoming planned trip happening soon. Thanks for making it to the end. I promise all future blog posts will be much shorter.