Dear Road Trip

The Crater of Diamonds in Murphreesburough Arkansas is a must see with camp
grounds attached -
Easy to spend more than a whole day there -
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crater_of_Diamonds_State_Park
Enjoy

On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 2:57 PM Aristotle Sagan <killer.jupiter@gmail.com>
wrote:

North rim should be closed. I would spend some time going across New Mexico

(Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Taos ) to SE Utah, then down through the Monument

Valley, across to Flagstaff, then the South Rim. 10 days? Not unless you

are serious hikers. 2 days on the South Rim National park, a day or two in

the Indian reservation area to the west. A couple of days in Sedona area

including Camp Verde ( Cliff Dwellings). From there it is one day to the

Pacific coast. One long day.

Other points to look for...  Zion National Park in Utah but that would be a

bit out of your way..

tim in san jose

On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 1:35 PM, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>

wrote:

> It all depends on what you mean by "great places to camp," and what

> interests you.  Regarding Santa Barbara, California has a pretty good
state

> park system, and Ventura County has quite a few county parks with camping,

> some of which are nice (don't recall names right now, but Google has it

> all). Both include sea shore locations, and there is a sea shore National

> Recreation Area south of Ventura.  National Forest Service has lots of

> camping in the area, also.

>

> If headed to Death Valley from Santa Barbara, both I-20 and I-40 will take

> you to Mojave National Preserve.  It has most of what Joshua Tree National

> Park and Death Valley have, without the crowds, plus some interesting

> natural history that is absent from both.  At that point, you are only a

> couple of hours from Vegas.  Google for BLM campgrounds in the area, also.

>

> Joshua Tree National Park is amazing, but on our visit this winter was

> overwhelmed with huge crowds.

>

> If nature is your thing, though you can't camp in them, there are several

> really interesting National Wildlife Preserves in western Nevada, just

> check out the maps.  Ash Meadows is one of the best.  You could park you

> rig at a BLM campground, and day trip to one or more preserves.  Ash

> Meadows has a series of populations of pup fish, evolutionarily very

> interesting, exhibiting one of the classic species radiations.  One of
them

> is the famous Devil's Hole Pup Fish, with the smallest native range of any

> vertebrate world wide.  It lives only in a deep spring along a fault line,

> a few square feet in area.

>

> So far as how much time you need for the Grande Canyon, it depends on you.

> Most visits are for a day or so, but that just makes a point about

> Americans.  North Rim is less crowded than South Rim, and more

> interesting.  If you intend to venture into the canyon, you'll need a day

> minimum for the hike, and time to recover. Oops, just noticed that 5 year

> old.  Shorter (less elevation difference) from South Rim to the river than

> from North Rim, still tough for a kid.  I wouldn't attempt it with a 5
year

> old.  For Grande Canyon, if you want to camp in the park, make

> reservations.  If you are willing to boondock it outside the park on North

> Rim, there are beautiful locations with views of Marble Canyon, but your

> trailer might not make the roads (or it might even be restricted by the

> rental company from such).  You could spend a month and just get started

> with Grande Canyon.

>

> North Rim may be closed (or certainly iffy) for winter still, just noticed

> your dates.  Forest Service campgrounds I mentioned for Santa Barbara area

> may still be snowy, or closed for the season anyway.

>

> Death Valley and vicinity has had moisture this winter, so you may be in

> luck for the wildflower bloom.

>

> mcneely

>

> On Fri, Feb 3, 2017 at 12:43 PM, Ned Savoie <ned@harbourlight.com> wrote:

>

> > Hi all,

> >

> > My wife, 5 year old son and I are doing a road trip, and would love to

> get

> > some advice on places to see, time needed, and any other words of
wisdom.

> > Unfortunately the VW's are going to have to stay home for this one.

> >

> > We are picking up a 25' RV in Chicago and we will have it for about 18

> > days. We need to drop it off in Las Vegas. We are leaving Chicago on Feb

> > 16, probably in the later afternoon, so not sure how far we will get
that

> > first day.

> >

> > My first thought was to head down to Nashville, Memphis, and then head

> > towards Austin, but my wife thinks we may want to spend more time out in

> > Arizona and the Grand Canyon and that those few extra days would be

> better

> > spent further west.

> >

> > How long do you think we need at the Grand Canyon? Some itineraries say

> 10

> > days. Is it going to be too cold to do a lot? What are must see

> > attractions?

> >

> > From the GC we will head to Southern Cal to spend a few days with
family.

> > From there, my hope is to head north on RT 1 to Santa Barbara, and then

> > head east across Death Valley (and hope our timing is right for the

> > wildflower bloom). Finally, we'll head to Las Vegas to spend a day, and

> > then return the truck.

> >

> > Any great places to camp around Santa Barbara and Las Vegas? Any advice

> > will be greatly appreciated.

> >

> > Ned Savoie

> > Creative Director

> >

> > Harbour Light Strategic Marketing

> > Savvy Software, Inc.

> > 621A Islington Street

> > Portsmouth, NH 03801

> >

> > [Telephone] 603.427.2821 <(603)%20427-2821>

> > [Facsimile] 603.427.0938 <(603)%20427-0938>

> > [Mobile] 603.828.2400 <(603)%20828-2400>

> >

>

--

Where ever you are, there you be. Unless you're driving my van, in which

case, you ain't got there yet.