Travel from Torrey to Green River, UT

We drove our coach 107 miles, about 2.5 hours, from Torrey, Utah to Green River, Utah.

Here’s the map, heading northeast:

Map route

Leaving the RV park:

Leaving the park

Driving through Torrey:

Torrey

Some road works on the road to Capitol Reef National Park:

Road works

Road works

Road

Entering Capitol Reef National Park in our coach, as our route takes us through the park:

Capitol Reef National Park

More road works:

Road works

Heading through the park:

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Road and river

A somewhat desolate area beyond the park:

Highway

Lots of interesting rocks, though:

Highway and rocks

Highway and rocks

Highway and rocks

Highway and rocks

Highway and rocks

Working on my laptop:

Laptop

Highway and rocks

Paladin sat on the back of Jenn’s chair for a bit:

Paladin and Jenn

Highway and river

Highway and rocks

Some dust storms in the distance:

View

Dusty

Exit towards Green River:

Exit to Green River

Paladin:

Paladin

Dusty:

Dusty

Dusty

Exit:

Exit

A somewhat low bridge; our coach is 12’ 7” high, so enough clearance:

Low bridge

Low bridge

Welcome to Green River:

Welcome to Green River

An interesting building façade:

Building

Green River would be more accurately called brown river:

Green River

Our destination, the Green River KOA Journey:

KOA Journey

Thousand Lakes RV Park

We stayed at Thousand Lakes RV Park in Torrey, Utah. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-05-08
  • Check out: 2022-05-11
  • 3 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging around 60°F, lows around 30°F
  • Sub-freezing overnight some nights
  • Very windy most afternoons, with gusts up to 60 MPH
  • We kept our slides in most of the time

Noise:

  • No road noise, no train noise
  • Quiet neighbors

Site:

  • #31, pull-through, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked next to coach
  • Smallish site: 55 feet long by about 25 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power conveniently located
    • Low water pressure, 30 PSI, conveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, conveniently located
    • Didn’t connect water or sewer other than to fill and dump, since it got below freezing
  • Picnic table and fire pit

Internet:

  • Campground Wi-Fi: available, not used
  • T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 27 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
  • AT&T: 8 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • Verizon: 16 Mbps down, 28 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used, since short stay

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins and dumpster
  • Small pool, not used
  • Nice store and BBQ restaurant

Here’s the review Jenn wrote on Campground Reviews:

Good base camp for Capitol Reef

Nice park with trees between each site and views of the surrounding red cliffs. Sites were a little on the small side for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle; we had to park the truck next to the rig, and the door hit our slide when getting in or out. Very conveniently located to Capitol Reef National Park, which is the main draw. Torrey has some good restaurants, and the onsite bbq was just so nice and close after a long day in the park. The shop had a great selection of souvenirs and basic necessities, as well. We camped at Thousand Lakes RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

Satellite map:

Thousand Lakes RV Park

A couple of GIFs of our coach leveling itself, captured by the truck dashcam:

Leveling

Leveling

Our site; it was so windy that we kept our slides in for most of the time:

Our site

Our site

Our site

A nice view of red cliffs beyond the park:

View

This is what our coach looks like inside with the slide-outs in; a bit cramped:

Slides in

Slides in

Slides in

Paladin sitting on the back of the driver chair:

Paladin

He was interested in jumping up to the top of the slide-out, though didn’t actually do so:

Paladin

As mentioned above, one nice thing about this park is that it has an on-site BBQ; here’s the menu:

BBQ menu

BBQ info:

BBQ info

The restaurant:

BBQ restaurant

BBQ dining room:

BBQ dining room

BBQ food:

BBQ food

They also have a nice gift shop and general store on site:

Gift shop

Gift shop

Gift shop

Gift shop

Let’s walk around. Here’s the entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Play area:

Play area

RV park store and gift shop:

Gift shop

Even a hair salon, apparently:

Gift shop

Some tent sites, populated by a group (who regretted their choices, being so windy):

Tent sites

RVs:

RVs

A small pool; we didn’t use it, since it wasn’t very warm:

Pool

Cabins:

Cabins

A nice view:

View

More RVs:

RVs

Cows:

Cows

Those sites along the back would have a great view, though were very small:

RVs

More cabins:

Cabins

A hall with seating:

Hall

Hall

Our site again, after we put out three of the four slides:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

 

Travel from Hatch to Torrey, UT

We drove our coach 124 miles, about 3 hours, from Hatch, Utah to Torrey, Utah.

Here’s the map, heading northeast:

Map route

Heading down the highway:

Road

Paladin spent much of the time in his safe space next to my chair, as usual:

Paladin in his safe space

Paladin in his safe space

Some nice old buildings in Panguitch (I’m going to try to take more pictures of interesting towns we pass through):

Panguitch

Nice houses:

Nice houses

I worked on my laptop while Jenn drove:

Laptop

Butch Cassidy’s childhood home:

Butch Cassidy's childhood home

An old building:

Old building

Junction, our turn:

Junction

Mountains:

Mountains

Interesting rocks:

Rocks

The Otter Creek Reservoir:

Water

Lots of straight portions of the highway:

Road

Which are a convenient and fairly safe time for me to get up and grab a snack from the fridge:

RV

RV

Mountains:

Road and mountains

Never Rip Overalls:

Never Rip Overalls

Some horses crossing the highway:

Horses

Horses

More road and mountains:

Road and mountains

Road and mountains

Curve

Up and down:

Up and down

Road and mountains

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Arriving at our destination for a few nights:

Arriving

Paladin on the dash while Jenn is checking in:

Paladin

Travel from Caliente, NV to Hatch, UT

We drove our coach 177 miles, 4.5 hours, from Caliente, Nevada to Hatch, Utah. Yay, another state!

Here’s the map, heading east:

Map route

An interesting point about this route is it isn’t the most direct route — that would be highway 14. However, as the map indicates, there is a portion with a too low clearance for our coach, plus that route is very twisty and across a mountaintop. We did drive that route in our truck later, and were very glad we didn’t try to take our coach that way. This is an important part of route planning; making sure it is feasible for our RV. The RV Life Trip Wizard really helps with this.

Anyway, on with the travel pics. Caliente is a fairly cute small town; here’s Company Row:

Caliente Company Row

Turning onto 319 East:

Turning onto 319 East

An interesting house in Panaca, and fellow RV traveler:

An interesting house in Panaca

A curvy highway:

Curvy highway

More curves

More curves

The GPS mirrored on the TV, approaching the Utah border, represented by the horizontal dotted line:

GPS approaching Utah border

Entering Utah:

Entering Utah

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Train:

Train

The clouds looked fake:

The clouds look fake

Utah highway:

Utah highway

Hey there Paladin:

Paladin

Snowy mountains:

Snowy mountains

Getting on to I-15:

Getting on to I-15

Where the speed limit was 80 MPH, not that we go that fast in our coach:

Speed limit 80 MPH

Paladin sleeping in his safe spot next to my chair:

Paladin

We didn’t really need fuel, but were concerned that truck stops would be less common out in the wilds of Utah, so stopped at T/A to top up:

Fuel stop at T/A

At the pump

We topped up the DEF, too:

DEF

A first for us, we parked with the trucks:

Parked with the trucks

And headed in to Subway for lunch:

Subway for lunch

A couple more Paladin pics:

Paladin

Paladin

I noticed a bunch of these interesting ramps along the freeway; presumably to let animals escape the road:

Ramp

Our exit:

Our exit

Cattle guard:

Cattle guard

Curvy road:

Curvy road

Highway leading to snowy hills:

Highway

Snow by the side of the road:

Snow

7,920 feet summit, with more curves and steep downhill ahead:

7920 feet summit

Sharp curve and mountain vista:

Sharp curve and mountain

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

“River”:

River

Arriving at our next destination:

Arriving

Paladin watching birds while Jenn checks in:

Paladin

Travel from Williams, AZ to Lake Mead, Boulder City, NV

We drove our coach 183 miles, 3.5 hours non-stop, from Williams, Arizona to Lake Mead, Boulder City, Nevada.

Here’s the map, going right to left (or heading west, if you prefer):

Map route

Maybe someone didn’t like their dog? Devil Dog Road:

Devil Dog Road

A view heading downhill:

View

A truck clipped our mirror, crossing the center line. Doesn’t seemed to have done more than scrape it, but it was rather disconcerting:

Truck clipped our mirror

Based on the their trailer, they may not be the best driver:

Truck

Paladin not looking impressed by a rough stretch of road:

Paladin

I put him on my lap for a bit:

Paladin and David

Passing a motorhome; hey fellow traveller:

Motorhome

This was a non-stop trip, so we had a lunch of chips and a sandwich while driving:

Chips and sandwich for lunch

Jenn eating chips while driving

Interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Another motorhome (a Thor Aria was one model we considered when shopping for an RV; Thor isn’t the best brand, but the Aria isn’t bad):

Motorhome

More interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Steep uphill:

Uphill

Travel trailer delivery:

Trailer delivery

A pickup with a camper, towing an interesting trailer; I’m guessing a contractor:

Interesting trailer

Approaching the exit from I-40:

Approaching our exit

Yet more interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Our exit:

Exit

A view (and yes, our windshield was getting rather dirty, from lots of bugs):

View

We encountered a motorcycle accident; the rider was on the ground, attended by several people. I hope they’re okay, but it didn’t look good:

Motorcycle accident

Paladin peeking:

Paladin

Last stop in Arizona:

Last stop

Info sign:

Info sign

Hey look, more interesting rocks:

Interesting rocks

Hilltop view:

View

Approaching Hoover Dam:

Approaching Hoover Dam

Approaching Hoover Dam

A glimpse of Hoover Dam from the center lane of the bridge next to the dam (when Jenn later saw the bridge from the dam, she said she was very glad she didn’t know how high it was when driving over it!):

Glimpse of Hoover Dam

Entering Nevada:

Entering Nevada

Our exit:

Exit

View of Lake Mead:

View of Lake Mead

Lake Mead National Recreation Area entry station:

Lake Mead National Recreation Area entry station

Jenn going to the RV park office to check in:

Jenn going to RV park office

Following a guide to our site:

Following guide to site

The timelapse video from this trip will be coming later today, and our review of the RV park tomorrow.

Travel from Verde Valley to Williams, AZ

We drove our coach 95 miles, a bit less than two hours, from Verde Valley to Williams, Arizona.

Here’s the route map, going from bottom to top:

Map route

Instead of the Thousand Trails park, we originally were going to stay at Verde Ranch RV Resort. But we were glad we changed it, not only because the TT was much cheaper, and with a great view, it was also much more quiet, instead of being right next to the freeway:

Verde Ranch RV Resort

Verde Ranch RV Resort

A cliff by I-17:

Cliff

A sign warning of elk:

Sign

Hey look, trees! Real pine trees! We’ve been in deserts for months, so haven’t seen real trees for ages:

Trees

Snowy mountains:

Snowy mountains

Arizona divide:

Arizona divide

Paladin was comfy in his safe space next to my chair:

Paladin

Snow by the side of the road:

Snow

Approaching Williams:

Williams sign

A sign for the Grand Canyon Railway depot:

Grand Canyon Railway depot sign

Williams arch, “gateway to the Grand Canyon”:

Williams arch

Our destination, the Grand Canyon Railway RV park:

Grand Canyon Railway sign

The timelapse video for this trip will be coming later today.

Travel from Tucson to Cottonwood, AZ

After the FMCA convention, we drove 237 miles, over four hours, from Pima County fairgrounds just south of Tucson, Arizona to Verde Valley, Cottonwood, Arizona.

A longer drive than we prefer, but not too bad. We try to keep drives to about 200 miles or three hours where feasible. We like to follow the 2/2/2 rule: drive no more than 200 miles in a day, arrive by 2 PM, stop every 2 hours, and stay for at least 2 nights (so the rule really should be 2/2/2/2, but some people omit one of the middle clauses). There’s also the 3/3/3 rule, with the obvious variations, but that seems a bit much to us.

Here’s the route map, going from bottom to top:

Map route

On departure day from the convention, there was a pretty constant stream of RVs leaving the fairgrounds. Here are two Tiffins departing:

Tiffins departing

We noticed once on the road that I had neglected to remove the Magne Shade from the small side window, so we pulled off on the side of a freeway onramp to remove it:

Magne Shade

Passing Picacho Peak again; such an interesting pointy bit:

Picacho Peak

A couple more Tiffins:

Tiffins

We liked the quote from the Lord of the Rings: “Not all who wander are lost”:

Not all who wander are lost

Since this was a long drive, we stopped at rest areas where available:

Rest area

Rest area

Paladin sitting between us:

Paladin

Passing by downtown Phoenix:

Phoenix

Overpasses

Overpass

Paladin in his dash bed, briefly; I still hope he’ll get comfortable enough with travel days to sit there while we drive:

Paladin

Cacti:

Cacti

Yay, gusty winds; super fun in a high-profile vehicle; fortunately not too bad:

Gusty

We passed through several hills, including this 5% downgrade:

5% downgrade

Hill

I was amused by the sign for Bumble Bee and Crown King:

Bumble Bee Crown King

Another hill:

Hill

Hill

A stop at Love’s for fuel:

Love's fuel

And DEF:

DEF

Chips and sandwich for travel lunch:

Lunch

On another hill, a runaway truck ramp; a deep gravel upward slope to stop a truck that loses its brakes:

Runaway truck ramp ahead

Runaway truck ramp

6% grade:

6% grade

Quite the view from the hill, though:

View

View

The Cottonwood exit:

Cottonwood exit

There were several traffic circles:

Traffic circles

Another nice view:

View

Our destination:

Destination

FMCA Tucson 2022: RV Driving School lessons

Around when we first bought our motorhome, we signed up for a couple of RV Driving School classes, held before the FMCA convention: the first on backing an RV, the second on driving an RV.

Of course, in the intervening months, we had plenty of practice in working together to back into sites, and Jenn had plenty of driving practice, so the lessons weren’t as useful as they would have been at the start, but we did pick up a few bits of information and techniques.

Outside the classroom:

RV driving school classroom

The backing class, a bit less than an hour:

RV driving school classroom

RV driving school classroom

Immediately after the classroom part, we did the practical, where we took our coach to a parking lot on the grounds, and did backing and parallel parking between cones, with Jenn driving and me directing, as usual:

RV driving school backing

Our instructor:

RV driving school backing

Perfect alignment; we didn’t hit any cones:

RV driving school backing

RV driving school backing

Paladin supervised from the back of Jenn’s chair:

Paladin

RV driving school backing

RV driving school backing

The next day, we did the driving classroom, a four hour lesson:

RV driving school driving class

Then the following day, the driving practical for four hours, with the same instructor:

RV driving school driving practical

Paladin on the desk, a little confused by me sitting in a living room chair opposite:

Paladin

We practiced navigating an empty church parking lot:

RV driving school driving practical

And a second church parking lot:

RV driving school driving practical

Paladin looking contented:

Paladin

Watching out the front:

Paladin

Cruising down the freeway:

RV driving school driving practical

Travel from Picacho to Tucson, AZ

We attended the FMCA “Sunsets + Saguaros” annual convention in Tucson, Arizona, so we drove 69 miles, just over an hour, from Picacho, Arizona to the Pima County fairgrounds just south of Tucson, Arizona.

Here’s the route map, going from top-left to bottom-right:

Map route

There was a tumbleweed by the side of the road, just before getting onto the freeway (made me think of CGP Grey’s excellent video on tumbleweeds):

Tumbleweed

Heading down I-10, with mountains in the distance:

I-10 and mountains

Picacho Peak:

Picacho Peak

Picacho Peak

Paladin squeaked once, then settled down in his safe space next to my chair (barely visible here):

Paladin

Trucks passing trucks passing trucks:

Trucks

I enjoyed the artwork on overpasses along this route:

Overpass artwork

Overpass artwork

Overpass artwork

Overpass artwork

Overpass artwork

Overpass artwork

Overpass artwork

Passing downtown Tucson:

Tucson

Tucson

Half of a manufactured house; we moved over to avoid the wide load:

House

Approaching Pima County Fairgrounds:

Pima County Fairgrounds

Our exit:

Our exit

The road to the fairgrounds:

Road to fairgrounds

RV driving school sign:

RV driving school sign

Arriving:

Arriving

Arriving

We dry camped here for the classes, before heading to our electric-only site for the convention. Stay tuned for more on the lessons and convention!

Travel from Surprise to Picacho, AZ

We picked up our coach from NIRVC in Surprise, Arizona, and drove 92 miles to Picacho, Arizona, a couple of hours drive.

Here’s the route map, going from top-left to bottom-right:

Map route

Paladin wasn’t having a good day, having endured a car trip from the Airbnb, then coach travel:

Paladin

Driving along I-10, past a stadium:

Stadium

A freeway tunnel under downtown Phoenix:

Tunnel

An interesting peak:

Interesting peak

We stopped for diesel at a Love’s:

Love's fuel stop

Hey, it’s hay:

Hay

Jenn filling the diesel via a pump that was falling apart; we haven’t been too impressed with the quality of Love’s stations of late:

Filling

Mountains:

Mountains

Picacho Peak:

Picacho Peak

An orchard:

Orchard

Our destination, a KOA:

KOA