Almost Home and Back in Utah

May 22-26

We left San Diego with the plan to drive directly to Phoenix in one day so we could pick up the Jeep first thing Monday morning. This didn't follow our slow pace mentality that we planned for our RV adventures. We want to pace our driving so we don't exceed 200-250 miles a day. Hey, being retired now we should have all the time to take things slow. The drive from San Diego to Phoenix is 344 miles and took us almost 6 hours. Sometimes circumstances will call for a change in our usual pace, and this was one of them. Even with some breaks it was still a lot of driving for Mike to do by himself in one day. I am not quite comfortable driving the RV yet but plan to take on the challenge as we start traveling more.

Our planned stop for 2 nights was at the Destiny RV Park http://destinyrv.com/phoenixrvresort/ in Goodyear, Arizona, which is on the west side of Phoenix. RV park choices in the Phoenix area are limited and you end up with more options in these outlying areas. It's easy to get space this time of year since most of the snowbirds have left town for cooler locations. A better than average park with an abundance of citrus trees. The streets are narrow but we had no problem pulling into our pull-thru site.

It was not far from I-10 but  far enough to not hear any freeway noise. We picked up the Jeep on Monday, did some shopping and packed up a few things that were left with family while we were in San Diego. We decided with the Jeep loaded with stuff and our plan to be home before Memorial Day we would make it a quick trip home and work on the slower pace on our next trip. The easiest route was to travel to Las Vegas, stay the night in Mesquite, and get to Salt Lake City on Wednesday.

Our free overnight stop Tuesday night was at the Eureka Casino in Mesquite Nevada. http://www.casinocamper.com/casinolocations/79-nevada/485-eureka-resort-and-casino
We left Mesquite the next morning and got within 20 miles of St. George when coming out of the Virgin River Gorge area we got the dreaded check engine warning. http://www.motorhome.com/rv-how-to/rv-tech-tips/check-engine-light/ We safely pulled over to a large pull out area to assess the codes that displayed. Fortunately, we had cell phone coverage and could call Newmar, our RV manufacturer, to talk with customer support and have them decipher the codes and give us a general idea what the problem was. The codes indicated we may have an EGR valve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhaust_gas_recirculation  issue and erratic numbers were being received by the on board computer which alerted us by the check engine warning. The RV was driving fine but we didn't know how long before it really was unhappy so we decided to stop in St. George where we could have somebody look at it before driving our final 280 miles. We were aware of a Freightliner location just outside of St. George in Washington, Utah and felt okay to drive a short distance if the RV was operating normally. We called Freightliner and they could get us in and do the diagnostic. This is a known complaint in the older RV's with the Cummins diesel engine and Mike was aware of it when we were considering buying an older RV. He budgeted for this repair but we didn't expect to have to do it in our 1st year. The RV passed emissions just this April so it must have just started to fail.
We pulled in, I unloaded myself and the dogs and went to wait in their customer service lounge while Mike stayed with the coach as they attached their computers to trouble shoot the codes. It took them 5 hours to confirm the initial assessment that the EGR valve was failing and should be replaced. They gave us a reasonable estimate for its replacement, however, they didn't have the part but could overnight it from Salt Lake City and have it arrive at 4am and could finish the job first thing in the morning. We decided, since we were there and they could get to the job quickly, to have them do the repair then wait until we got back to Salt Lake City. They set us up for the overnight outside the service bay and even connected us to fresh water and some electricity. We had plenty of food for dinner and breakfast and were able to open the bedroom slides to sleep comfortably.  Another free night on this trip. They would start the repair that afternoon and when they get the part in the morning they would install it first thing and get us on the road by 9am.

It was late afternoon and I didn't want to hang out in the service lounge any longer or the RV so I researched if there were any dog parks close by or in St. George.  I found a really nice, small dog park only 4 miles away. We loaded the dogs up and drove to the park so they could get some much needed playtime while they started the work on the RV.

Dog Town Dog Park, Washington Utah

We got back to the coach around 5:30; they were all done, shut down and most of the employees were gone. We settled into the coach for a quiet night. In the morning they finished the work on the coach while we were inside having our breakfast. When they were ready to start the engine and take it for a test drive I loaded up the dogs and went to wait in the service lounge. Everything tested perfectly and we were on the road by 10am. The trip back to Salt lake went smooth, we unloaded everything at the house and Mike moved Max (our newly named RV) to our local Walmart parking lot and stayed there for the night until he could move it into storage the next day.

Although this trip had its challenges it also gave us some valuable experiences along the way. We've had a lot of firsts on this trip. We learned how to boondock at free stops like casinos, repair shops and Walmart's. A smart budget for lodging will need to include some percentage of free nights. You don't realize your grey tank limitations until you boondock without hookups. It definitely puts limits on showers and using the dishwasher or washing machine. We had to become frugal with our water usage when running the faucets to wash hands or rinse dishes. We learned to be flexible in our planning, you never know when there will be another repair or some unexpected occurrence where we will need to change our route. I also got the oppourtunity to meet and talk with a lot of interesting people(truckers) while I was waiting in the service lounge. One older trucker was originally from the Ukraine and had immigrated here for a better life and to raise a family. He had an enormous knowledge of history and current events. That day I learned a lot about the Ukraine and their struggles. These are the types of experiences that will be remembered in our travels not the mishaps or repairs.

We get to settle now into our summer activities of hiking and mountain biking. We will also use this time to work on overdue projects around the house and finalize some plans for our upcoming trips in July and September.

Next up:
July-Kountry Klub Idaho State Rally in Cascade, Idaho
September- Kountry Klub International Rally in Pueblo, CO
October- Albuquerque International Balloon Festival

San Diego Part 2: Mission Bay, CA

May 15-22nd, 2016

Before checking in at Mission Bay we got a call that our car would be ready sooner then we expected. I called Mission Bay and they were very accommodating when I needed to change our reservation from 11 nights to 7 nights and refunded us for the other 4 nights. Something to keep in mind since this RV park charges you for your entire stay when you make your reservation. The website does say you can make changes to your reservation for a $10 fee or cancel a reservation at any time and get a full refund less $25 so I was comfortable when I made reservations knowing we may have to make changes. It may be harder if you had to make changes after your check-in so best to make sure you know your plans before making reservations. I did not see that they charged me for changing our reservation.

We arrived at Mission Bay RV Resort Park and found it to be an okay looking park, more of a parking lot with hookups and a few trees. So different then our last week at Chula Vista. I knew that it was not going to be great or compare, I did read the reviews and see pictures. The park is nothing to write home about, you are definitely paying for its location. Here is a good review from a fellow RV blogger I follow and I would agree with their impressions that this RV park is all about its location. http://wheelingit.us/2012/03/29/rv-park-review-mission-bay-rv-resort-san-diego-ca/

Let's start with when we arrived at our site #244. I had reserved one of their super sites thinking bigger is better when parking a rig of our size at 45 feet. Site was a back in, there are no pull through sites at this RV park. We tried several angles and failed getting in, luckily one of our neighbors in a large rig said he also had a hard time and since there was no RV in the site behind us we would have better luck pulling through into our site. May not be allowed but we did it anyway.  Our site was not level, higher in the back then front, our rig was able to level but our neighbor had a a harder time leveling his rig and had to put blocks under his front jacks.

Site #244 with our car rental

There is one other RV park on the bay called Campland by the Bay, it is more expensive and seemed busier than our park. We walked over there and although it did have more grass and more amenities like a pool, etc. it was noisier and more family oriented. Sites seemed closer together but they did have some pull through sites. Campland  has their own beach for launching water toys but it was crowded and noisy. Although my 1st impressions of our park wasn't great I am glad we chose this park over Campland.

 Mission Bay RV Park may have been better in its day but I read there are city renovations in this area called De Anza Park. It involves getting rid of the 2 mobile home parks surrounding the RV park. I read they are still planning to keep an RV park in the area but the project hasn't started and it looks like it may take awhile. Here is a link to the story if you want to read about it. http://www.sdnews.com/view/full_story/27176257/article-De-Anza-plans-progressing-for-Mission-Bay
Right now the area around the park looks shabby and many homes are abandoned, the RV park itself is ok but nothing to rave about. If what I have read is going to happen it may eventually be a nice area again.  The park is very secure; the complex has a fence around it with a 24 hour guard at the entrance gate and they drive around patrolling the place throughout the day. There is  a small beach accessible from outside the RV park entrance.

Beach on the bay 

The park and bike path near the RV park is part of Mission Bay and has rules regarding the doggies. This time of year no dogs allowed on the beach, park, or paths from 9am-6pm, but there is a small section just outside the park that is not part of Mission Bay but the RV/mobile home park that you can walk the dogs.

Walking path

Mission Bay Park

Some of the mobile homes still remaining

The location is why you want to stay here and is ideal for visiting SeaWorld, and all the other San Diego sites.

We have made it to all of our favorite Pacific Beach and La Jolla spots which included lots of morning trips with the dogs for pastry at The French Gourmet and then over to the Starbucks in Bird Rock. We had happy hours at PB Alehouse and had dinner at The Crabcatcher in La Jolla and PB Mika for sushi.

The beach air has been good for us, we are refreshed and ready to head back to Phoenix, pick up the Jeep and work our way back to Utah.  There looks like an unusual cool spell when we get back to Phoenix which will make the 2 night stay easier. We are getting close to the Memorial Day weekend where traveling and finding RV park space has been difficult so we will regroup and decide on our best route north to Salt Lake.

San Diego Part 1: Chula Vista, CA

May 8th-15th, 2016

With the Jeep being repaired from our mishap on our 1st day out of Salt Lake to Phoenix we became faced again with yet another complication that would force us to make more changes in our travel plans.
We were initially told our Jeep repair would take 2 weeks when we turned it in for the estimate, plenty of time since we weren't closing on the house for 2 weeks. One week later we checked on the status of the repairs and were told there were delays in getting all the parts and the car would not be ready until 5/26. Not the news we wanted to hear because we would be faced with more changes in our plans. We decided that staying in Phoenix for another 3 weeks where the temperatures were expected to be over 100 was not what we wanted so we began looking at options that would keep us close enough if the car was ready ahead of schedule and we had to return sooner and where the temps are cooler . We decided on a place we always enjoy spending time at, San Diego and the beach. I checked out the RV parks and Chula Vista RV Park had space for a week and then we could move over to Mission Bay RV park. We have visited Pacific Beach a number of times without the RV and stayed at VRBO properties in the area which is why we chose the Mission Bay RV Park. The park is right on the water at Mission Bay and a short, easy drive to Pacific Beach where we can park the car and walk to the ocean, the boardwalk and all our favorite spots to hang in Pacific Beach.

We wanted to practice our overnighting without hookups, so we spent the 1st night after getting the RV out of storage at Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler where we could stock up and prepare the coach for our trip. Not a bad place for an overnight, they are RV friendly, as most casinos, and had a large truck/RV area. While we were parked and setting up one of the security people came by and said we may want to move to a better area where there was still space that could accommodate our large rig and would be quieter then the truck area would be on a Friday night. We were already concerned about parking around all the trucks considering our recent encounter with a commercial truck so we jumped at the chance and moved. Our overnight was successful especially with the unexpected cool evening. We didn't even have to run the generator all night for the AC's, that was a nice surprise for May. Some things have been in our favor.

We left the following morning on to our next overnight casino stop just outside of San Diego called Golden Acorn Casino http://www.goldenacorncasino.com/. It is at an elevation of 4000 feet in the town of Campo, CA and about 50 miles from our destination. It's basically a large parking lot but it's right off I-8 and was an easy in and out. It was tucked behind a mountain that blocked a lot of the traffic nose from I-8 so it was a quiet evening. We woke up to a crisp 42 degrees, had breakfast and lingered until we could check in at our next stop Chula Vista RV park.

Chula Vista is south of San Diego and within 10 miles of the Mexico border. The RV park is right on San Diego Bay and  next to the Chula Vista Marina and Park. The RV park http://www.chulavistarv.com/ is a full resort park with nicely spaced spots and hedges between most of the spots. I couldn't get a pull through for the entire week and opted for a Deluxe back-in. The dimensions were 25 x 55 so our rig fit in nicely but it would have been tough to fit the Jeep in our spot with the rig. We did eventually rent a car when we got here and the Toyota Corolla fit okay in front.  It was quiet during the week but got really busy on the weekend. I would recommend  reservations if you need to stay over the weekend or need a pull through and didn't have a lot of flexibility.

Overall a nice RV park especially with the pool and they have a gym to work out in. There are activities like pool aerobics and line dance classes. There were a couple of happy hours during the week for a small charge of $1 for wine or beer and  $2 for wine margaritas or a bloody mary.
There was a nice walking path and park area outside the park that was dog friendly and made for nice daily walks with the fur kids.

 Cooper loved chasing the resident ducks.

Lots of boats, the RV park is right next to the marina.

We found excellent clam chowder at the Chula Vista Marina's restaurant http://thegalleyatthemarina.com/. It was so good that we went there twice for lunch.


I would definitely recommend this RV park if you are in the San Diego area and want to be close to the water, and still be near the San Diego attractions.