With our new Thousand Trails pass in hand, we headed to our first stop in San Benito to spend Christmas. The campground was in the mountains and was going to be in the mid 50s. It was so nice getting back to warmer weather again and finally getting to a campground that was in the woods and not a parking lot style campground.

Tahoe was originally supposed to be our final destination. We were planning to set up camp there and spend the winter skiing/riding. After Vegas though, we were seriously doubting that was where we really wanted to be. However, we had plans to meet up with a few different people in the area so we planned to spend at least a week there.

The next stop on our adventure was Vegas with a quick stop at the Hoover Dam on the way. The dam was pretty cool, much cooler than I expected it to be – with the exception that they make RVs park all the way at the top of the hill and then don’t tell you until half way down the hill that dogs aren’t allowed on the dam. After bringing them back to the car, we made our way all the way down to the dam. The views were pretty cool but you can’t even enter any buildings but the gift shop without paying so we didn’t stay too long. We did get to drive our RV across the dam though.

Continuing on our journey, we left New Mexico and headed for Sedona, AZ. We weren’t sure exactly where we were going to camp for the night, but we knew you could camp anywhere on BLM land in AZ and had an email from my Dad with some recommendations on locations. They were only coordinates though and didn’t provide a lot of detail.

Our next move was to Albuquerque, NM. It wasn’t necessarily our first choice location to spend a few days, but it was the closest place we could drive to in one day that was going to stay above freezing. Cold weather and snow were headed to CO, so staying there was no longer an option.

With frozen pipes and a broken furnace, we drove to “warmer” weather in Boulder, CO. There, it was going to be 50 degrees during the day and 35 at night, plenty warm enough for us to thaw and figure out this whole running water thing.

We made it to CO on Thursday, December 1st. Callie, Farid and I were excited to see snow. Ziggy was not. We were planning to stay there for a few days to visit some friends and family. We had great times visiting with my parents, sister, and a friend of Farid’s, but Breck and it’s cold weather was a bit more cruel to us.

St. Louis was supposed to be the first place we stopped and stayed in for more than one night. We had plans to stay at a winery about an hour outside of the city the first night and then drive to an RV park closer to the city. This was also the first stop we had where we were going to spend a chunk of time working and doing some fun activities. Sadly, it was not as successful as we had hoped.

Our next stop on the journey was Maize Valley Winery in Hartville, OH. We started to learn just how long trips are with a giant RV. What was supposed to be a 6.5 hour drive to get there, took about 9-10 hours. We didn’t anticipate how long each stop would actually take. Having a diesel truck with a 13’2″ tall trailer attached, we primarily have to fill up at truck stops.