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| Our spot at Val Vista Villages |
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| Our street at Val Vista Villages |
It was decided that we would bring the whole trailer to the tire center the next morning on our way out of town and replace all four tires. The Westlake tires that came with the trailer do not have a good reputation and we've read from other Grand Design owners that they had tire problems too. So we decided to replace all four tires with much better USA made tires.
After a few hours at the tire center, we were finally on our way to Wickenburg, Arizona. It was a short drive to a Harvest Hosts location. Harvest Hosts is an organization that has an annual membership and then offers free places to stay in over 700+ very unique locations such as wineries, museums, farms, golf courses, etc. Most of the time the stays are without hookups so it's necessary to be able to dry camp. The location we stayed in Wickenburg was our first Harvest Host stay and it was a golf course. I expected there to be others spending the night with us but we were all alone once the golfers went home for the day. It was just so nice to have peace and quiet and no road noise or sirens.
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| Our spot for the night at the Wickenburg Country Club |
Part of the deal with Harvest Hosts is to thank the hosts by buying something from their business. It's not required but a gesture of good will. Since we don't golf we went inside the club house and had a drink at their bar.
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| There was a nice garden outside the front door. |
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| Ah, life is good. We got four new tires on the trailer and set up at our Harvest Host location in Wickenburg. Enjoying the peace and quiet! |
The next night we made the short drive to the Kingman, Arizona area where we tried out another Boondockers Welcome host location. This organization also has a small annual fee and it provides locations where hosts have land that they offer to RVers to spend a night or two. This is our third time staying with Boondockers Welcome hosts and we had another good experience.
We stayed in the parking lot of a Distillery.
One of the owners gave us a tour and explained the process to distill spirits. She was very passionate about the business and answered all our questions.
Then she took us to the barrel room.
After our tour we did a tasting of their rum and vodka. We thought if we tried some good stuff, maybe we would like it but we were wrong. It's just not our thing but we can appreciate the effort they put in to making their products. We would recommend checking them out when you're in the Kingman area.
Here is where we spent the night in their parking lot. It works out for them too to have more people around to help protect their business and we got a free night's stay.
One of our friends from our church small group, Cathy Ryan, was heading back to California after visiting her kids in Colorado and our paths intersected in Kingman as we were coming from the south. Cathy came over for dinner in our trailer and we caught up on each other's activities. It was great to see Cathy again.
The next day we headed further north and saw snow in the mountains on our way towards Hoover Dam. We've done this portion of highway many times in the summer and there is definitely no snow visible at that time as the temperatures are usually well over 100!
Our last night stop before Utah was to spend the night at the Boulder City Elks RV park in Nevada. We've passed this Elks lodge many, many times on the way to Lake Mead for our water-skiing trips. It was nice to stop in now that Al is a member and check it out.
We met a real nice guy while having a couple of Cokes inside and Al and him talked baseball.
We stayed in the parking lot of a Distillery.
One of the owners gave us a tour and explained the process to distill spirits. She was very passionate about the business and answered all our questions.
Then she took us to the barrel room.
After our tour we did a tasting of their rum and vodka. We thought if we tried some good stuff, maybe we would like it but we were wrong. It's just not our thing but we can appreciate the effort they put in to making their products. We would recommend checking them out when you're in the Kingman area.
Here is where we spent the night in their parking lot. It works out for them too to have more people around to help protect their business and we got a free night's stay.
One of our friends from our church small group, Cathy Ryan, was heading back to California after visiting her kids in Colorado and our paths intersected in Kingman as we were coming from the south. Cathy came over for dinner in our trailer and we caught up on each other's activities. It was great to see Cathy again.
The next day we headed further north and saw snow in the mountains on our way towards Hoover Dam. We've done this portion of highway many times in the summer and there is definitely no snow visible at that time as the temperatures are usually well over 100!
Our last night stop before Utah was to spend the night at the Boulder City Elks RV park in Nevada. We've passed this Elks lodge many, many times on the way to Lake Mead for our water-skiing trips. It was nice to stop in now that Al is a member and check it out.
We met a real nice guy while having a couple of Cokes inside and Al and him talked baseball.
We can't say it enough how we've met the nicest people on this adventure!
Our next stop is Snow Canyon State Park just north of St. George in Utah where we'll be for two months while we are camp hosts.
Good move on the full tire swap out. We didn't wait too long before we bought a new set of tires, especially when a Big O tire salesman showed me the date of the tires (found on each tire in a rounded rectangle with week and year date) to be quite old - six years or so. Where I differ from most trailer owners is I purchase cheaper trailer tires versus the Michelins and Goodyears that most owners swear by. The salesman pointed out microfractures on my sidewalls and said they were due to sun exposure and that many tires blow out to due to these cracks. Since we don't bounce as much as a lot of other travelers, I figured our tires can be more prone to exposure while sitting at a location for months. So I bought some tire covers that are great for sidewall protection while parked, get decent but not the most expensive trailer tires with Load Range E, keep to 55-60 mph when towing, and swap out the entire set every three years no matter what. So far we've had good results on our second set.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to see you in Snow Canyon. When you think about it, our two meetings are amazing examples of serendipity; first Tustin and now Snow Canyon twice! Safe travels you two...and Go Blue!!!
Thanks for the update. It sounds like you two are really figuring out the life "on the road" .
ReplyDeleteNothing like sitting around at a tire shop to get new ones … and I guess because it is your home getting the tires, you have no choice but to wait!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you got new tires, that is always a good feeling knowing that you have thousands of miles ahead of you!
Glad you found peace and quite and a golf course is a good place to start with finding just that … Fore!
Oh me oh my, what are you two up to now?
Bars and distilleries … my oh my!
Sounds like it is a win/win for everyone, the business owner and the RV’ers.
Yikes, snow in the mountains!!!
Well you are after all heading to Snow Canyon State Park!!!
Thanks for letting me ride along … I am trying to catch up with you!