Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Yosemite
PART 1: April 4 through ??
Our second big road trip in our 2020 Freedom Elite 28FE RV – Our Spring 2025 journey begins, as it always does, in Sonoma County California heading south this time to Santa Barbara, then east to Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Yosemite. Then we head west back home. The trip will be 1559 miles in 12 days.
April 4: Day 1
It’s Sunday morning and I feel like I can finally take a breath. Getting ready for big trips is always stressful. I often question why on Earth a person who is afraid of riding in cars would ever think it’s a good idea to buy an RV and travel around with her family. I’ll tell you why.. because it’s fun. I make no sense, but lets move on to the trip.
We had planned to leave around 1:30 Friday. Which of course means 2:15. We always set an time and then are late by an hour or so. I spent the whole morning loading food, double checking that I packed all the essential items, and making sure the garden was set up for automatic watering. I also cleaned the house pretty thoroughly so we could come home to a clean house. Fresh towels and bedding, clean kitchen, and dust free baseboards. I get a little crazy before a trip and for some reason the baseboards had to be spotless. I think it’s the nerves of riding in a car.
The kids arrived home from school around 1:45. We finished up the last of the To Do items, loaded up the family and were ready to leave by 2:15. Hubby in the drivers seat, my oldest riding shotgun, my youngest settled at the dinette already watching funny YouTube videos, and me on the couch right behind the drivers seat. I like to sit in the back so I don’t see the road and all the infinite ways we are going to get in an accident. Yet I like to be close enough so I can still yell BRAKES. Does my hubby need for me to yell breaks? No. I can’t stop myself. Leave me alone.. grrr.
We made it exactly two streets down from our house when the Check Engine light came on. Ugghhh. Just ignore. It is probably just a little glitch and will turn back off. We gotta beat Friday traffic. Our first stop is Buelton / Solvang, about 340 miles and around 7 hours.
Ew. Just ew. 7 hours of driving just sounds horrible. And it was. That Check Engine light did not turn off after a few minutes. In fact it decided to bring his friend the Wrench light. That was fun. Did it stop us? No. We continued on our trip puttering along. Sometimes it drove fine, other times the RV decided that it didn’t want to go over 55 miles per hours and it coughed and jerked a bit. Not enough to stop us, but enough to make us concerned. Hubby was bound and determined to make it to our first stop. Thankfully we did, at 10:15. An hour and a half late and now with three glowing light. We were out of gas. Whatever was going on with the engine also used up extra fuel. That tracks with us. We were so exhausted that we just did the absolute minimal set-up and went to bed. Any issues the RV has won’t be fixed in the dark at 10pm at night.
April 5: Day 2
I didn’t get out of bed until 7am, which is insane for me since I usually am up around 4:30. I made coffee and got to work on the Kindle email I put out every morning. Different from the Book Basset one most of you guys know about. Hubby woke up a few hours later. A nice quiet morning we both needed. It wasn’t long though before he was outside under the hood, elbow deep in the engine. He had a few theories and was testing each one out. I was sitting in the camp chair with the pups, Junebug and Casper. I had no idea what hubby was telling me about the engine, but I could tell he was hopeful. The sun was warm on my back and it was just a pleasant moment.
What would a trip for us be without a few trips to O’Reilly Auto Parts store? Ugh. It was .4 miles from the campground so that was cool. After he got the needed part, he was back under the hood putting everything back together. He started up the engine to test if the part worked, annnnnnd….. it didn’t. I think the Check Engine light and the Wrench light got brighter. Still halfway inside the engine hubby called a mobile RV repair guy. Not sure what magic took place, but the warning lights turned off. Hubby quickly closed the hood, and said lets get outta here and start our day.
Solvang – The first official stop of our trip was Solvang. Oh my gosh! SO CUTE! “known for its Danish-style architecture and many wineries.” Yes please. Well, not the wineries for us. We live in Sonoma County and we have plenty of wineries. First stop was food. I am not a foodie, but without a doubt The peasants FEAST on Atterdag Road was absolutely amazing. Fresh, delicious, and beautiful atmosphere. I could have sat there all day enjoy the view of the Danish buildings and horse drawn carriages walking by.
After filling our bellies with amazing food we decided to visit a few museums around town. Amazingly they had quite a number of them all within just a few minutes walk of each other. The first museum we visited was Elverhøj Museum of History and Art.
It’s a super small museum, but well worth the $5 entry fee. It only took us a few minutes and we really enjoyed traveling back in time to see what a Danish American home was like.
Now I wish I took more pictures. I was enjoying the museum and time with my family so much I didn’t bother to take out my phone for pictures. I don’t think pictures would do Solvang justice anyway. It’s a place you have to experience. One could easily spend all day walking through the quaint streets, visiting art galleries, museums, and of course pastry shops. So many delicious pastry shops.
4:30pm came fast and it was time to head home. The first days drive hit us all pretty hard and we didn’t want to burn out too quickly. Plus.. I so badly wanted to visit the Ostrich Farm!
Ostrichland USA! My gosh ostrich are HUGE! A small entrance fee of $7 each and $1 for a bowl of feed for the dinosaurs with feathers. The sign on the fence says to hold on tight to the bowl when you go to feed the Emus and Ostrich. They like to grab the bowls and throw them. By the looks of the many bowls scattered all around the other side of the fence, I think there are a lot of people who don’t read the sign. We made the mistake of using up all of our feed at the first fence. I had no idea there was a full other field around the corner.
After a fun visit with the dinosaurs we headed back to Flying Flags RV Resort and Campground. It was time to relax and enjoy a drink at the outdoor Fireside Lounge while listening to live music. A perfect way to wind down and take a break before the next big leg of our journey. If you are looking for a destination RV resort I highly suggest Flying Flags. We could very easily have spent a week enjoying all they have to offer. Perfect for couples, families or even very large groups.
April 6: Day 3
Packing up this morning I didn’t ask or say anything, but I really hoped the Check Engine light and wrench lights were still gone when we turned the engine on.
Hubby turned on the ignition and….. YES! No lights. FANTASTIC. Now just need to wash our hands and get going on the road. Whish whoosh.. putter putter. No water? Correct. Now the water pump is broken. Seriously?? Deep breath.
Originally our plan was to make our way to Joshua Tree down HWY 101 to the 5 with a slight detour up the 5 to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. But the broken water-pump in the motor home that serves the sinks and bathroom, needed to be addressed. Especially since we were going to the dessert. The water-pump meant instead of heading north on the 5 we needed to head south on HWY 5 to Camping World where we knew for sure they had the part. Not a big deal really. We called the poppy reserve hotline, and there weren’t any blooms at the time worth visiting.
After a few hours of driving we reached Camping World. Hubby did another test on the water-pump to be sure it was broken. DRAT! It works fine now. Really? Seriously? It’s not like we have never had a camper before. This is our third one. We have experience and knowledge. I think the universe is having a bit of fun with us. Please stop it Universe.
So now that the pump wasn’t an issue it was time for lunch. Cheese, crackers, and a selection of meats hit the spot perfectly. We were soon back on the road.
We arrived at our campsite in Joshua Tree around 5:15. It’s a very simple campground, but absolutely perfect for people who are just here to visit the park. We were greeted by the owner as soon as we arrived and he made sure we had everything we needed. After set-up was done we quickly made dinner and gobbled it down. We wanted to make it into the park in time to see the sunset at Keys View. It was one of the places where pets were allowed. After so many hours of driving I really wanted the pups to stretch their legs a bit. We went into the park’s west entrance and made our way through in our Honda Element that we tow behind the motor-home. I love driving through the park’s winding roads with amazing boulders and of course Joshua trees. It’s like being on a completely different planet.
We made it to Keys View just in time for the sunset.
We hung around and explored the area a bit, and took way too many pictures. We hopped in the car and continued to drive through the park towards the North entrance. The pups had had enough exploring and fell fast asleep in our laps.
April 7: Day 4
9am and its already 70 degrees outside. I’m updating you guys and hubby and the boys are making breakfast. Today we are going into Joshua Tree to get a full day of exploring in. We are hoping to visit Wall Street Stamp Mill, Barker Trail, Hidden Valley Trail, and Arch Rock. Wow.. I better pack a lunch.
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