two trips planned now!

[DJ18]

We hope to do a short camping trip with friends and family in a week or so, then a road trip! I'm really excited about the road trip, almost all our long distance trips have been in the VW Rialta we used to drive around. Last year we took one trip to the West coast towing our 2016 AR 18 (starcraft) and it was pretty easy. The Avion will be longer, and we will be taking I8 into San Diego instead of our usual route toward LA and then North, so some bigger mountains. I'm not excited about towing the Avion in a big city, but am excited about a week on the beach in it!

[Razorback]

About towing in town: try to familiarize yourself with the route as much as you can. Maybe even use the street view to see the surroundings?

Otherwise, be careful, go slow, and don’t worry if other drivers get impatient..... most are ok.

[DJ18]

good advice! I've been looking at route on map apps and watching the line and the colored lines that indicate traffic. we are planning the best route as well as the best time to be there.

I also find using a navigation on my phone to be very helpful. in that kind of traffic, I need to know what lane I need to be in well before I need to be there!

we went to our daughter's house in LA in our vw vanagan. they are slow. I got a kick out of CA traffic in a VW van. more waves and smiles than any other vehicle I've driven there.

[KYAvion]

Your experience may be different, but for whatever it’s worth I’ve switched back to using printed directions when towing, especially in busy areas. I’ve found that printed directions allow me to know what’s up ahead (needed lane changes) further in advance. In an unfamiliar area, I can easily know what’s coming up literally miles ahead, and I may use my mileage trip monitor on the dash to track my distances. I’ve also found a combination of both GPS and printed directions is absolutely not helpful to me, but generally creates confusion instead.

[DJ18]

one trip down, one to go. We met family from Alaska and Deming (funny combo, I know) in the Chiricahua mountains. We squeaked into a site along a creek and had a blissful 5 days. the weather was beautiful except for the last day and then it was exciting. after 24 hours of rain, the creek begin to rise rather dramatically. we were planning to leave that day or the next, but the camp hosts helped us decide the sooner the wiser. we packed up in the rain. did something really stupid in forgetting to lock down the awning with the little wheels and lever, but were really lucky in that it didn't fly open. adding that to our list of things to double check! it was the first time we had used the awning while camping, and with the rush of packing up, I forgot.

we still have reservations for the CA trip, but those plans may change depending on our daughter's plans. If it were up to me, I'd head to a lake in the woods, but we will see.

[Razorback]

Sounds like a nice outing, and I am happy for you that your awning is intact!

It won’t take long, you’ll have a mental checklist to go through. I know that the rain made it more challenging, but I always make one last walk-around before hitting the road.... has saved a lot of heartache!

[DJ18]

just canceled our reservations for San Diego trip. sniff, sniff. we will go camping in a close national forest though.

[Razorback]

I hope that doesn't come down to camping in your driveway..........

[DJ18]

well, we do have a couple of pine trees.....