Friends have asked about where we will be going when we leave here and the answer is still west. Whether it’s south west, mid west or north west depends on the time of year we head out. That’s mostly because we want to go where nice weather is after being in the heat of the south these last few months. Our idea of nice weather is more on the cool side so the path is not determined yet but we know we want to see every state out west, so some planning is needed.
I’ve accumulated information and have narrowed down some of the things we want to see to these in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
Doesn’t mean we don’t want to visit other states in that area(North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska), just that I haven’t gotten that far in my research. Since we’ve been sitting pretty in our side yard for the last while, I’ve had time to dream of our out west adventures, so I started with these.
What I need now is input from you guys who have been to these places, or know of even more “must see” places in these states. Any recommendations about best times to go to a specific place (day of week, time of day), places to eat, side trips to take will be appreciated. We need all the help we can get since we’ve never been to most of these states (except for business trips flying in and out of a city). I’m sure I don’t have all the best places on my list and want to make sure when we do this, we do it right. We may be gone a year this time and are not even sure we will see everything we want to!
If you had a favorite RVing park please let us know that too. We’ll be trying to stay within our Coast to Coast RV park system with Passport America being our backup but it’s very helpful to hear from others who have stayed someplace specific. Also any RVillagers with experience in these states, please let us know your favorite parks and places to see!
Here’s our list – so far!
The Grand Canyon, Arizona
Wave in Coyote Buttes North of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona
Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon in northern Arizona
Tombstone, Arizona
Boot Hill Cemetery and the Bird Cage Theater, Arizona
Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum outside of Tucson, Arizona
Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona
Painted Desert, Arizona
Kartchner Caverns State Park, Arizona
Monument Valley, Arizona
Avenue of the Giants scenic road in Redwoods State and National Park, California
Death Valley and Dante’s View, California
Channel Islands National Park, California
Redwoods National Park, California
Yosemite National Park, California
Point Lobos State Reserve in Carmel, California
San Francisco’s Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz Island, California
San Diego Zoo, California
Getty Center in Los Angeles, California
Ghost town of Bodie now Bodie State Historic Park, California
Big Sur Coast Highway, California
Sequoia National Park, California
Western town of Ouray, Colorado
Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Colorado
“Old West” mining town of Silverton, in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
The Sawtooths, the Bitterroots, Craters of the Moon, Shoshone Falls, Idaho
Glacier National Park, Montana
Sun Highway in Glacier National Park a scenic drive, Montana
The Missouri Breaks, Montana
White Sands National Monument – New Mexico
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
Chaco Canyon New Mexico
Four Corners (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico)
Rhyolite, a ghost town, Nevada
Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
The Sierra Nevada’s, Nevada
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
Mount Hood, Oregon
Multnomah Falls, Oregon
Crater Lake, Oregon
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
Badlands, South Dakota
Bear Butte, Harney Peak, and the Black Hills, South Dakota
Arches National Park, Utah
Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Utah
The Cascades, including Rainier, and Mt St. Helens, Washington
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Grand Teton National Park and Hidden Falls in Grand Teton’s Cascade Canyon , Wyoming
Sand Creek and the Devils Tower, Wyoming
Wind River Range, Wyoming
RVillage has almost 10,000 members now! We are hoping 10,000 happens around Labor Day!
A series of books I’m reading right now is about time travel. I’ve read four of the books and am now reading book 5 of the 7 books in the Out of Time Series by Monique Martin. There’s romance, great writing and we’ve visited the 1850s, 1900s, 1920s in America and Europe. I read books 4-6 first and went back to get 1-3 and that worked quite well. I’m hooked and love seeing where Ms. Martin takes the adventures of Simon and Elizabeth next! They are cheaper in a box set of 3 and I got the second three for free through Book Bub. That offer’s over but if you’re a Book Bub follower look for it if they do it again!
This week is only starting but I pray it’s a great one for all of ya’ll!
Ya’ll come back now, ya’ hear!
BECAUSE HE LIVES 