Rock'N'Roll Trailer Adventures

Sam's Town RV Park : June 2019 Sam's Town is the Las Vegas KOA that's attached to Sam's Town Casino. It's quite a walk from the park to the casino, so we highly recommend getting a rideshare or driving.  It's pretty nice for Vegas. A little pricey, but you get all the KOA hospitality and cleanliness. Amenities are a little on the short side, but perfect for casino clientele. Don't let the pictures fool you on the site... Although very gorgeous, they were taken at perfect light time of day, with a full campground and during a season when the trees are plush. Any other time of year and this place looks desolate compared to the website pictures. The sites are very close together, unless you get an upgrade with patio area. The weekend we stayed happen to be when the locusts decided to swarm Las Vegas. It was 102 degrees at 2am. We walked from the gate of the park to our site through the swarm. I had grasshoppers finding their way into into my flip flops as I wal

There's an adventure to start all adventures. This particular adventure inspired this entire travel blog. So many things happened, that I really felt (minus the empty leash/collar off the bumper and the dead aunt on the roof of the car) that we were in a Vacation movie.  COVID quarantine was lightening up. All music gigs had been canceled with none to be rescheduled in the near future. I lost my job and was having a tough time finding a new one. I was also beginning a virtual professional portfolio, which takes SO MUCH time and felt like I was starting from the beginning. So... We decided to go to Colorado and Wyoming and Central California, with layovers in Nevada and Utah. All to see friends and family in the new socially distancing environment. We were going to stay in driveways and try to avoid people as much as possible.  We blasted out to our peeps that this was the plan and with their responses proceeded to plot our course for a three week road trip. The longest any of us ha

The Hitchin' Post RV Park : May 2020 What a cute and affordable little spot in Northern Las Vegas. They have a bar and a pool. But closed due to COVID at the time we visited. Luckily, we were just staying overnight and hitting the road in the AM. The drive from SoCal to Las Vegas always seems to go a little longer than expected and far less interesting than Bat Country in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. We always manage to get in later than expected, sometimes into the early AM. This time was no different, although faster than expected since EVERYTHING fun to look at on the way was COVID closed. The office closes at 9pm. We arrived at 9:08pm. But I had called ahead and the guy on duty was very sweet and very friendly and waited for us.  The park has a security gate, which is reassuring to anyone who has stayed off the strip. Vegas, very similar to SoCal, has a high homeless population. RV Parks tend to draw them in. And as a semi-solution to not becoming homeless, many families cal

  Grand Sierra Casino RV Park : June 2020 You know why there aren't ANY pictures of the RV Park at the Grand Sierra Casino & Resort? Because it IS NOT a pretty place. The place is all concrete. Ok, fine, there is a small hedge between each of the spots, but this is definitely not a GRAND experience. The spots are pricey and all the "amenities" are in the hotel, which is a five minute walk from the RV Park IF you are on the hotel side. A LONG AND HOT FIVE MINUTE WALK. NO SHADE. HOT RENO BREEZE. And the same price as a fraking hotel room AND resort fees. DO NOT stay here is you have kids. The hotel, sure. BUT not the RV Park. This place looks like it was a run down KOA (still featuring old KOA signage) that got bought out by the casino and instead of putting any work into it, they updated the office and let the rest as is. The WIFI blows. Apparently the laundry room is nice, according to Cabana Boy. Since I'm not a fan of taking Spawn into casinos if we don't ha

  Winnemuca RV Park : June 2020 Photo from Website Winnemuca is not one of those places I would really plan to stop in, but it fit our 300 mile limit for each drive day and had some open casinos, even with COVID going on. The website showed a lush for the desert location with amenities like a pool and playground. We got in too late to try the pool, but the playground was open, and right across from our site. Score! And the sites weren't really lush with greenery. There was a tree here and there, but a whole lot more gravel.  Speaking of arriving late, the lobby was closed, but left our reservation information under a rock by the door. Whew!I'm always afraid we'll arrive too late to check-in and then not have anywhere to stay. Not the case this time. Spawn enjoyed the playground. We enjoyed the benches in the playground. We all loved the teeter totter.  The price was right for the location and we were out of the city proper area enough to see an awesome starry night. If we r

  Salt Lake City KOA : June 2020 A little ways off the beaten path, but everything is easy to get to. It's also in a seemingly industrial area, which felt a little shady. All amenities were closed due to COVID while we were there. We needed to get some trailer work done and the staff was really nice about recommending some shops that were in the flyer portion of the site map. Not really helpful, but okay.  It was cold and rainy and even hailed. I think that with better weather and no pandemic, I still wouldn't be super impressed with this KOA. It felt very average to us.  It DID have a hell-of-a view of the snow capped mountains nearby. As long as we walked to the end of the road and peered between the tops of two trees. There is a yummy little Mexican joint on the corner. Thank the gods!  

You've been catching up on the "Roll" part of #rnrta. I'm sure you are wondering where the "Rock" part is. As we travel, we try to stay in places where Cabana Boy can get his music on. Difficult with COVID, as RV parks are afraid of being tagged with instigating a group gathering, so he's been setting up in backyards and mountain sides. Luckily, CB plays really loud, so everyone can stay put and enjoy in the comfort of their 12ft bubble. Shoshoni, WY Here is a very quick preview of his June 2020 performance in Shoshoni, WY. Big shout out to my Pops and the folks up at Flying Squirrel Ranch! If you like what you hear, check out The Anomaly's bandcamp page for his album.

Owning a travel trailer means maintaining it to keep it in top condition. The smallest thing can turn into the biggest nightmare in the blink of an eye. My biggest fear is LEAKING. If I leak, it's not good. If Spawn leaks, it's definitely an issue. If the trailer leaks, its going to cost a lot of money.  So, here is my maintenance plan. Ok, so there are more than TEN musts, but I wanted you to click on the blog link and TOP 10 is a magic topic. Thanks for clicking. Before Each Trip Check tire pressure : Our tires are optimal at 65 PSI (Pounds per Square Inch - I looked it up because fake news is a bad thing). We have those fun little pressure notice stem valve caps. But they are UN-RE-LIABLE. So, I got us a good pressure gauge and check each time we head out. Check propane levels : There are a few ways. Here's an informative video (I get a giggle whenever this guy says propane). I pour hot water on the outside of the tank. Cab

  Richfield KOA : July 2019 and May 2020 Richfield has always been one of those gas/pee stops on our way from Southern California to Colorado. Oh, and Subway. We always get a sandwich there and in Beaver. *tee hee* Ever since Spawn arrived and we have to travel in shorter spurts (versus the marathons "I DROVE THE WHOLE WAY!") and we got the trailer, we ventured into the very easy, and sometimes expensive world of KOA (Kampgrounds of America). F* Yeah! We went ahead and forked out the whole $30 for an annual membership, which has more than quadrupled it's worth already for us. Plus there are some perks. Here are those details if you are so inclined. Anywho... Richfield is a gorgeous stop along I-70 through the sometimes nothingness that can be Utah. Not that that's a bad thing. It's beautiful, until you realize you forgot to get gas at the last stop and now you are holding your breath and white knuckling the steering w

St. Vrain State Park , Longmont, Colorado: July 2019  I will open with "I grew up here." It's affordable and easy to get to. There are restaurants nearby and you can easily go into "town." Longmont is a small suburb of Denver at this point. St. Vrain has changed names over the years, but it has always been a local destination. Whether it was ghetto AF, or cleaned up fancy like, people have always gone here for R&R. We camped here for the first time over the 4th of July. We were right on the water, which meant lots of bugs. We soon learned that bugs are VERY attracted to blue light, which is exactly the color of our rigs outside lighting. UGH. We busted out the DEET and the tiki torches and that seemed to help. The space was large enough that we were able to have friends and family visit for a BBQ. Spawn loved playing in the dirt and with her new cousin friends. Great for a short weekend, or extended stay to vis

Lake Skinner State Park : April 2019 It was our first time out with the trailer, so we didn't want to venture too far from home. We also knew we were going to be in this little space with a toddler for an extended period of time and needed to go some place with a playground and pool. I didn't want to pay out the ass for what could very well turn into a short overnight stay.  The answer to the every day run of the mill RV Park in SoCal... A State Park . Navigating Reserve California can be a little daunting. Especially if you've never camped at a CA State Park before and have no idea what to expect from the campsite amenities. The majority of the parks don't have full hook ups, require rigs less than 45ft, and reservations up to 6 months in advance. Ah... I remember just loading up the truck and going somewhere on a whim. Not so easy these days. One more reason we like having the trailer. We can pretty much stay wherever.

Temecula KOA : July and August 2020 Nice site, but don’t go in the dead of summer, or on a holiday. The Yahoo and Weekend Warrior crowd grows exponentially, along with the fraternity type drunken shenanigans. Yes, I’m talking about YOU (the drunken idiot speeding through the campground in his golf cart at night with his kids loose in the open air backseat). I’m more of a punk rock drunken party type of gal, keeping my kid safe and on the ground. Ha! The cell service is squat for anyone without AT&T. The wifi is a JOKE unless you are at the café. The bar is awesome. Stiff drinks, but they are expensive. The store has a fun selection of all kinds of stuff and the café has decent food. The staff is VERY friendly, which kept us going on some days. Our neighbors tried calling a ride share to take them to a local winery, of which there are many in the area (Bonus for you winos out there). Great idea. But, without the service, the guy cou

  San Diego KOA : July 20 20 Why on earth would we stay in the same place we live, you may ask? Well, as most San Diegan's know, we can have great staycations here. That's the beauty of living in "America's Finest City." We actually had some visitors that needed to quarantine, so we loved having a place nearby to be able to take advantage of. Beautiful site, great location. And you pay for it. It’s on the pricey side, but they have lots going on, especially for the weekends. The pool has shade and COVID time slots are 2 hours of fun during busy periods. The store is little, but cute, the café has good food, and the staff is uber friendly. The park is close to a freeway, but you can't really hear it unless it's quiet in the park. The park does have a night time security gate, so that was a little bonus. Our particular spot (#2901) was a “premium*” drive-thru site, on the end. We had quite a bit of space

So, now you've taken a trip, or two, and are noticing little things like "I really don't need this and I really wish this wasn't there."  I got to that point the first night I was packing our brand new trailer. I got so tired of having to remove the cushions in the dinette to get to the storage spaces underneath.  So I took a hammer and smashed the panel out of the side of it. Now, not only do I have easy access under the seat, I just created a shoe nook! You have NO IDEA how fraking annoying it is to constantly trip over shoes in a tiny space. Other seat WITH panel   There are some panels that are clearly protecting something. Like drilling holes in the wall, I was too afraid to move these panels. Until one day, the panel under the sink broke. And low and behold, there was a MASSIVE amount of storage space under the stove!!! With a little more demo, I took out another panel using a flat head screwdriver to pry apart

So you have a new, or new to you, trailer and now you want to customize and upgrade a few things. Here are some ideas based on what we have done, along with what our learning curve was. Also, some might not be considered technical upgrades, but they definitely make life easier on the road.  Let’s play a game… How many face palm moments do we have below? Most face palms led to a much better idea for what we were trying to achieve, so here we go. Also, if you like what we had to say, click on the below links to help us pay for gas. If you are looking for more technical details to anything below, keep an eye on new posts, or leave a comment below. Even better, hit up our email group on the Contact Page .   1.        Dual Propane Tanks               Cabana Boy took on this challenge. We installed a conversion kit and dual propane valve and proceeded to strip the main nut that held on the tank brace. Face palm. The cover that we purcha