We departed the Thousand Trails in Palm Desert, California, and headed to Buckeye, Arizona.

Here’s the route map (left to right); 228 miles, a 4 hour drive in our coach:

I picked up Paladin; he looked mildly freaked out by the view out the windshield:

A slow crawl uphill through a pass:

We stopped at a rest stop for lunch:

We had a prefab meal for lunch; Jenn called it Lunchables for adults:

Back on the I-10 freeway:

Paladin snuck behind the driver seat and by Jenn’s feet, which is risky, so I made a barrier:

Date palms:

While on a freeway I use the iExit app to find upcoming rest areas. Here’s a screenshot of it while approaching the California/Arizona border, and the first rest area after the border:

About to cross into Arizona (again):

Welcome to Arizona:

We stopped at that rest area:

Continuing through some hills:

Interesting mountains in the distance:

Cacti:

Once again, Paladin settled down in the safe space next to my chair:

Another rest area exit; it’s good to take a break every hour or so on a long drive; we also stopped here to call our next destination:

Leaving the rest area (yes, we park with the big rigs):

Oh joy, road works:

Our final exit for this trip:

As always, the timelapse video of this trip will be coming tomorrow. Enjoy!

We departed Ocean Mesa RV Resort near Santa Barbara, California, and headed to a one-night pitstop at Rancho Jurupa Park.

Here’s the route map (left to right); 168 miles, a four hour drive in our coach:

Heading onto 101 south:

Paladin says “oh no, not again”:

He settled down in what is becoming a favorite safe space, next to my chair. He likes to be near us, but in a small space that can make him feel more secure:

There was quite a lot of road works; narrow lanes with barriers near the line can be nervous-making when one has a 101-inch wide coach that takes most of the lane:

Freeway driving:

Goodbye coast; not sure when we’ll see you next:

I was amused by the Telephone Road name:

There weren’t any rest stops on the route, so I prepared sandwiches and chips for lunch, so Jenn could eat while driving:

Up a steep hill:

The road name Mulholland Drive sounded familiar:

In California it is legal for motorcycles do lane splitting, i.e. riding along the line between lanes. Seems rather dangerous to me, though apparently some people think it is safer. Regardless, lane splitting next to our wide coach is a bad idea, but many did it (but not this example):

We also don’t like it when a travel trailer gets very close to us; that’s worse than a big rig, as TT drivers often aren’t as familiar with the width of their trailer, and they tend to sway quite a bit:

Heavy traffic:

Glendale city (part of greater LA):

Freeway sign:

Freeway bridge:

While driving, we had a Check Engine light come on, and the Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) gauge jumped from halfway to full. A lot of people have been having issues with the DEF sensors, so we had a fun new thing to be concerned about:

We decided to stop for diesel and DEF, to see if that’d help (our first time at a Flying J truck stop; we’d only done Love’s before this):

But after that, we had a Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) instead (the red one is the brake):

Concerning. Stay tuned for more on this story in a few days.

Back on the road, we noticed an elephant sculpture on a hillside:

Driving through Jurupa Valley towards our stop for the night:

Tomorrow, the usual timelapse video. Do you watch them? Are you enjoying them? Let me know!

We departed Catalina Spa and RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, California, and headed to a couple of weeks at Orangeland RV Park in Orange, California — conveniently located about 10 minutes from Disneyland. Yep, we spent five days at the Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks! You can bet there will be posts about those coming up soon.

Here’s the route map (right to left); 100 miles, about three hours drive in our coach. A non-stop drive, since California apparently doesn’t believe in rest areas (or road maintenance):

Paladin started on top of the kitchen counter; he complained a few times, but was quiet for most of the journey:

As always, Jenn drove our coach. She prefers to drive, and doesn’t enjoy being a passenger, and I feel the opposite, so that works out best for both of us:

It’s much more common for men to drive RVs than women, so people are sometimes surprised when they learn she is the driver. She’s a member of a Tiffin Lady Drivers Facebook group (with 824 members), for female drivers of Tiffin motorhomes.

The onramp to the I-10 freeway, with a snow-tipped mountain and wind turbines in the background:

Paladin used his top-entry litter box while in transit:

One area attraction we didn’t get to, but will in the future, are some big dinosaurs:

I have a phone holder to help me keep an eye on one of the RV-safe GPS apps; I have it mounted via a suction cup to a plate on the pull-out desk for the passenger chair (on which rests one of Paladin’s cardboard nests):

The shortest route, via CA-60, was closed for repairs, so we continued on I-10:

More freeway scenes:

Nearing our destination:

The entrance of Orangeland RV Park:

After unhooking our truck, I drove it following our coach to our site:

As usual, I’ll have a post about our experiences at this RV park after we’ve left it. And a timelapse video of the trip tomorrow. I still need more subscribers to the Sinclair Trails channel, so if you haven’t yet, please do so.