Sadly, it is time to head back to Tucson. School starts August 8 (Becca is off to seventh grade and Jay will be starting Kindergarten), and we want to give the kids a week at home to settle in before heading off to school.

Since it is difficult to find campsites on the weekend without a reservation, we decided to leave Oregon on a Wednesday and find a lovely campground enroute to spend the weekend, and then complete the drive to Tucson on Sunday and Monday.

Our first driving day was a long one …. thirteen hours! The kids did great, in part due to the ‘flying snack incentive program’. Before leaving Oregon we loaded up on lots of yummy snacks – things we do not normally buy. As we were driving, we would periodically toss the kids treats if they were behaving (i.e. no whining, no bickering).

We were hoping to find a camping spot in Lake Tahoe … but when we arrived there it was a zoo! Not only were there no camping spots, there were tons of people and cars parked everywhere. We reset the GPS and headed up to Mammoth Lakes, high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We anticipated cool temps and uncrowded mid-week campgrounds. We found neither. Pulling into town we went by several campgrounds that were full, before finally finding a spot at Old Shady Rest Campground for just one night. We settled in for a too warm night and then headed out in the Jetta in the morning to find a camping spot for the next three days. We visited five campgrounds and all were full. Back at our campground there was a spot available for two nights, and we appealed to the campground host to let us stay for three. We were apparently convincing enough (or more likely pathetic enough) that she agreed to let us take the spot until Sunday.

Our days at Shady Rest were lazy. Our only outings were to a great playground located half a mile away, with a paved bike path to get there. The kids had fun playing there and Becca was able to convince her brother to try some bicycle stunts in the skate park.

Sunday we got on the road at 6:00 a.m. After ten long hours of driving through the desert, and chucking snacks at the well behaved children, we arrived in Blythe. We camped at Mayflower County Park, and spent all of our time in the RV with the air conditioning set at max cooling.

Monday was another early start, but fortunately a shorter driving day. Even after being rerouted because of the closure of I-10, due to an accident, we still arrived home shortly after noon.

And here we are …

Until next time …..