Our Maiden Voyage in the new MH

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Campfire RV

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Posts
755
Location
Ridgecrest, CA
We will begin our maiden voyage in our new Thor Chateau 28Z MH tomorrow for northern California. I'll turn on the refrigerator when I get home this afternoon then off to the grocery to pick up last minute food items.

We will be visiting the following destinations:
  • Bakersfield RV Resort
  • 49er RV Ranch
  • Burney Falls Trailer Resort
  • Coloma Resort
  • Dry camping at Lake Isabella

Google Maps Itinerary:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=218167623325329569248.0004c23bbd438d4649796&msa=0&ll=37.142803,-119.992676&spn=13.158922,19.709473

Josh
 
Josh,

I hope you have a wonderful trip.  It's so exciting to be starting this chapter of you life!!
 
We started up the refrigerator and loaded the dry foods and snacks last night. My wife will finish loading the cold items today now that the ref and freezer are cold this morning. I will be home in a little over three hours then load up the family and last minute items and fill up the gas tank then on the road around noon today.
 
Wow!  Have an awesome time!  Can't wait to hear about it!
We've yet to make our maiden voyage but we'll have a test overnight in 1 week. Maiden voyage in a month.
 
First day of our Maiden Voyage

We left the Bakersfield RV Resort yesterday morning around 10am and arrived at the 49er RV Ranch around 2:30pm. The drive north on Hwy 99 was really quite bumpy and we had one of our kitchen cabinets come open during our transit, thankfully nothing fell out. Once we got off the 99 the drive was so golden with the tall golden grass in every direction we could see. The roads were all two lane roads in the golden back country roads with plenty beauty. It was tight driving through downtown Columbia because the street is very narrow and the cars are parked all along the street and it scared me on a few occasions when I though my mirror was going to hit a mirror on a couple trucks parked on the street. Unfortunately my GPS got me as close as 0.3 miles of the ranch, we ended up missing the turn and had to drive another half mile down the road and had the fun of turning around in someone?s driveway. We finally arrived at the Ranch and we were met immediately by a serious man at the entrance and he guided us to our space.

We checked in with the Registration desk and the lady at the front desk was a rough looking lady but turned out to be a great person and helpful with several questions we had. The temps here were about 100 degrees with high humidity and we have been sweating like crazy. We took our first walk around the ranch and we came within about 50 feet of a deer just starring at us, quite a site since we don?t have any deer in the desert. We have already met several of the other people staying here and they have all been very friendly and helpful. Well, it is time to prepare for bed and get ready for a busy day tomorrow. Good night everyone.
 
Second day

Today I woke up at 6:45 feeling fresh and ready for another fun and relaxing day. I started off the day eating pop tarts for breakfast, it has been more than 10 years since I ate pop tarts and they still tasted very good. Jayda was still sleeping so I took a walk down the hill to the town of Columbia. The walk was just a little over a half mile with nearly no traffic on the road, a slow flowing creek, and a deer grazing the grass just about 100 feet from me. When I got to the bottom of the hill they were hosting an antique car show so I had to stop by to check out the vintage vehicles. Shortly afterwards I began the walk up the steep hillside road for a good workout. This was the perfect start to such a beautiful day.

Once Jayda woke up we packed up the backpack and walked down the hillside road together. We had intended to walk the full 1.5 miles to the airport to watch the Father?s Day Fly In show then some new friends we met at the campground drove by and offered us a ride that was much appreciated. There was a multitude of old vintage airplanes participating in the show which was filled with plenty of different types of events throughout the day. Jayda didn?t seem to be very interested in the airplanes (maybe this is due to daddy working on a Naval Air Base) so she went to play in the bounce house. Some of the events of the show were flour bombing, place landing, corvette vs. racing plane, plane rides and so much more.

We departed the show via a trolley to visit the California Forestry & Fire Air Attack Base. We were able to view the firehouse, firetruck, helicopter, communications plane, and tanker plane. Just before we left they were called to a real fire near Mariposa so we were able to experience what really happens at the station as each of the firefighters dressed out and boarded each of the aircraft and departed within about 10 minutes after the call. It was quite impressive to see these guys in action and how effective they were at loading up and getting out.

We made it back to the old town of Columbia and we walked around the antique car show. Later Jayda spotted some horses pulling a carriage so we bought some tickets and rode the horse and carriage in the countryside of Columbia. We were attacked by bandits and they asked the women for rings, the men for Cuban cigars and the kids for candy. Somehow we escaped and no one lost anything during the tense moments.

Today has been a very fun day with the family and we had the chance to discover Columbia. Much of the town is still in the original condition with the saloons, old hotels, jail and so much more. If you want to experience a little of what the original gold rush days were like then Columbia is one place where you can see and experience some of the life during the rush.
 
Day Three

Well, yesterday was kind of a wasted day for us. We wanted to go to Railtown in Jamestown to ride the 1897 steam engine but found out that is only runs on the weekend. So, we decided to take the bus to Railtown anyway to check out the station and museum but discovered the bus took nearly two hours to get us there and Railtown was closing in 15 minutes when we arrived. We got back on the bus and rode it another hour to return back at the RV Ranch. For some weird reason the bus lines come out to Columbia then go to Sonora then to Jamestown, then Sonora then Jamestown, then Sonora and back to Columbia. The bus driver explained to me that the locals understand the route but visitors don't. :eek:

When we got back to the ranch there was a new RV family that showed up with 4 kids and my 4 y/o daughter was so excited. We all sat at the campfire roasting marshmallows, hotdogs and smores and just had a great time relaxing and telling stories to end the day on a positive note. I packed up the MH and had everything prepared for an early departure in the morning.
 
Day Four

Today was a long day in our trip but we have arrived at our farthest north destination tonight. We left Columbia at 8:30am and drove north on Hwy 49 and have some really terrific views. The drive on the 49 was quite beautiful and tense at some moments with some narrow areas in the road and I smacked a tree limb pretty good with my passenger side mirror when a semi came rolling down the hill and around the corner and I had nowhere to escape.

We drove Hwy 49 north to El Dorado then had to fill up the gas tanks. When I pulled out of the gas station I wasn't sure if my GPS was showing a left turn or right turn so I turned left then it began recalculating and told me to follow the road for 12 miles to Hwy 50. This was a back country farm road that was barely wide enough for two horse carriages, fortunately I didn't come across much traffic coming from the other direction. I did end up with a log truck streaking along from behind at a high rate of speed the he rode my bumber until I could finally turn off and let him by.

I decided to take the Fwy 99 NB which eventually turned in to a two lane road and traveled through many small towns and slow speed limits which seemed to take an eternity. Once we passed through Chico the traffic smoothed and I was able to kick in the cruise control all the way onto and up the I5 NB until we reached our exit towards Burney on the 299. We ran into one lane construction on the 299 where we were parked about 20 minutes so we took advantage by filling up our drinks and using the restroom then sat down and still waited about another 5 minutes before moving again. The drive to Burney was great with a few moments of the drive we could look to the north and see Mt. Shasta and see Mt. Lassen to the southeast and both still snow covered. We finally arrived at the Burney Falls Trailer Resort about 5 miles north of Burney at 6pm making the drive 9.5 hours which = Long Day.

Tomorrow we are planning to take a walk to Burney Falls and spend some time around the water and take in some of the sights. Well, it is late and we need to rest. Good night RV Forum.
 
mojavesky13 said:
We ran into one lane construction on the 299 where we were parked about 20 minutes so we took advantage by filling up our drinks and using the restroom then sat down and still waited about another 5 minutes before moving again.

Ah, you've discovered one of the joys of RV traveling. You come upon stopped traffic for road construction and you can take a break to fix drinks, use the facilities, adjust the GPS. Think of the poor schmucks in cars who have to cross their legs until they get thru the construction and find a rest stop :)
 
Wendy said:
Ah, you've discovered one of the joys of RV traveling. You come upon stopped traffic for road construction and you can take a break to fix drinks, use the facilities, adjust the GPS. Think of the poor schmucks in cars who have to cross their legs until they get thru the construction and find a rest stop :)

Wendy, I was thinking the same thing because I remember those days parked in the car for long waits and wondering how far till the next potty break or to get out of this cramped car burning up since the A/C doesn't work well in a car if it isn't driving. We were quite comfortable with our refreshing break, the generator running and the cool feeling A/C blowing down upon us.
 
mariekie4 said:
Josh, You write some very nice reports. I love reading it.

Mariekie

Mariekie, I'm glad you are enjoying reading them because I am enjoying the adventure and writing them each night (that is when I have Internet connection).
 
Day Five

My 4 y/o daughter woke up early this morning which was a good thing since we wanted to leave a little early anyway to head to Burney Falls State Park and spend the day. The drive took a whole whopping five minutes to get to the main entrance from our RV park. This was kind of funny because my daughter said "Daddy, that wasn't very long, I didn't see much scenery this time". All I could do was laugh.

I spoke with the Park Ranger at the Entrance and she asked me "Are you overnight camping or Day use only?" I said just Day use. Now the price for day use is $8 so I already had a $10 bill ready. Just as I was handing it to her she said it is $16 so I asked why, your board says $8, she says for cars but your ride will take up two parking spaces so it is doubled. Well, this was one of those times I wished I had a tow vehicle to get around with easier and cheaper.

We proceeded and found an RV parking space at the Visitor Center so we parked and walked to the top view of the water falls. We walked the Falls Loop to the bottom of the falls and the temperature felt like it dropped about 10-15 degrees which was very refreshing. My daughter and I walked out on the rocks and touched the water and it was freezing and my daughter asked if she could swim in it. I was mesmorized by the beauty of the falls and feeling the cool breeze coming from them. We stayed at the bottom for about an hour just admiring the scenery all around us and relaxing. We finally started hiking again around the loop which led us over an arched bridge where we could see a little more of how long the water flows were. The hike going back up was not too rough which made me happy because I was just waiting for the moment my daughter would ask me to carry her on my shoulders. Fortunately she never asked, she hiked the entire trail and never slowed or complained, she was just having so much fun. The trail was 1.2 miles around. When we arrived back at the Visitor Center I noticed a sign next to the RV parking space which I was parked in that said "RV parking for Visitor Center only" (Well, I'm glad I learned to read finally). We drove through the park and finally decided to back into a campsite with a picnic table which are suppose to only be used by overnight campers not Day Use. Well, we stayed there for the next three hours to eat lunch, walk around the campgroun and hike another trail. I guess they don't really check the sites too much.

We finally left the Burney Falls State Park and drove to Burney to replenish some groceries and gas. The town has plenty of large parking spaces so I had no problem parking my rig anywhere in town. While pumping gas an older man pulled up next to me to get gas, when he arrived I was already pumping then he finished and I was still pumping. When he finished, he looked over at me and asked how many gallons of gas does that beast take, I kindly replied 55 sir. He just looked at me and said, "I'm glad its you and not me, I couldn't handle standing there waiting that long to fill up."

Well, we finally arrived back at the RV park and hooked up again and ate a nice bbq chicken dinner. We laid down with my daughter at 9pm and she was asleep by 9:05pm, she was knocked out from all the excitement.

Tomorrow we are planning to go to Lassen Volcanic National Park and check out some trails and the lava tubes, it sounds like another great fun filled day ahead. I need to get ready for bed myself, good night.
 
Outstanding Narrative Josh!!! Love reading it, Feels like we are almost there with you.

Enjoy and keep smiling and having fun. Build some great memories for everyone.(Especially your Daughter)

Steve
 
California State Park campgrounds are mostly on reservations so unless / until the person who had that campsite reserved show up, you were probably ok. Maybe next time you should just stay at the state park campground? For the day use fee, if you plan on spending much time at California State Parks, they do sell an annual pass and you can get an oversized vehicle sticker for the pass. Not cheap but if you were going to visit them frequently it might be worth the cost.

Keep having fun.
Wendy
 
Well, we have arrived at Coloma Resort a couple hours ago and we have Internet connection today for the first time since Thursday so now I will continue with posting our trip report. We have added many more miles, adventures and memories along the way. Below are some of the events from Thursday June 21st. 

Day Six

When we woke up we decided to cut our stay at the Burney Falls Trailer Resort a few days short. We approached the owner of the park before leaving for Lassen Volcanic National Park in the morning. She was a really sweet lady and I felt bad cancelling three days with her but she was quite understanding and admitted that there really isn?t much we could get out and see without a tow vehicle. She gave us our money back for the three nights that we cancelled then we were one road for Lassen.

We arrived at the north entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park about 40 minutes after leaving the RV Park. The weather was absolutely beautiful when we arrived and there was just so much scenery to take in and unfortunately we didn?t have enough time to take it all in. We stopped at the Summit South Lake picnic area to eat lunch the hiked a short trail that went around the lake. From this point the road became very windy, narrow and a steep incline which seemed to take a lifetime to get any distance. We parked for a moment because we wanted to hike a trail to Cold Boiling Lake but the trail was closed due to the snow. We drove on down the road and finally met the highest point of the road in the park at 8512ft then came around the corner to a frozen Lake Helen. We parked and took several photos and we had some snowball fights which was a lot of fun in late June. We finally stopped at the start of the trail to Bumpass Hell, unfortunately it was closed as well due to the snow. Well, again we just had more fun having snow ball fights and making snow angels. This was definitely getting us out of the desert heat so it was worth every mile of the trip.

At this point it was approaching 5pm and we had at least a two hour drive to get back to the RV Park so we turned around and began descending down the mountain  and stopped at several vista viewpoints to take in some more of the natural beauty.

On our way back to the RV Park we stopped at the Subway Cave which is a lava tube. We pulled out the flashlights and warm weather clothing then walked the short trail to the entrance. The temperature dropped about twenty degrees about halfway down the steps before getting in the cave. We all put on our sweaters and jackets then turned on the flashlights. We walked down the cave about 300 feet and found ourselves in absolute darkness and a fork in the cave. Our flashlights weren?t very bright and it was getting close to being dark outside so we decided to go back out because we didn?t want to take a chance of getting lost in the dark.

Today was a wonderful day with different climates, altitudes, views and good hiking. Once again another great day of vacation.

 

Forum statistics

Threads
131,753
Posts
1,384,359
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom