Some Major Modifications; the Final Plan

Sometimes I wish I were a spontaneous person. I have a friend who just jumps in her car and takes off, wherever the road may take her. Unfortunately, I'm just not built that way. I love to plan. To me, that's a big part of the fun of a trip.

April 1st was when I started making my reservations, early enough that I wouldn’t have any troubles finding openings. Seems I was the April Fool! Two of my intended destinations are already booked solid, one of which was Best Friends Animal Sanctuary - one of the principal "reasons" for my trip!

A hot debate had already gone on in my head about how a visit to Best Friends was going to work, because I would have the pups with me. Best Friends doesn't have kenneling facilities, so my choices would be to leave them locked up in the RV while I did a tour, or just camp on-site and cling to the fence, longingly looking in. Since Best Friends was full, the decision came easily. I’d skip that part of the trip this time around, and make plans to go another time, sans pups, with one of my friends who had expressed interest in going with me.

And now that Best Friends is no longer my principal destination, it looks like I’m going to get my kicks on Route 66! (Well, what used to be Route 66. It’s now mostly Route 40, I believe). The Mother Road has been on my "list" since the movie "Cars." I'd even bought a book about the whole experience. So, I’ll postpone one trip, and substitute another!

With Kanab no longer part of the equation and the Mother Road now part of it, I could accept the invitation of a long-time friend of mine who lives in Albuquerque. From Albuquerque, it's a hop, skip and a jump up to Raton, and then back through Denver, on to Ogallala, and then back home.

(I think this might be a good time and place for a plug for the Good Sam Club. If you ever decide to try Rving, I would highly recommend joining. The research available on their site is thorough, and members get discounts at every park. I have to admit, I was resistant to signing up. When I thought of the Good Sam Club, I thought of Wes, my boss when I worked for the IREA right out of high school. I can still see Wes, with his carefully combed and Brylcreemed steel-grey hair, deep tan, piercing dark eyes and cigarette stained fingers. He was a crabby, crusty old fart, and a hard-core Rver. He and his wife would start on their trips early in the Spring, and they were gone every weekend until it started getting cold - and then sometimes they’d pack things up and head out for a month to warmer climes. After Wes, I couldn’t help but link Good Sam with crabby old men.)

This past weekend, I finally finished making all my reservations. It was a lot like work, but today, I confirmed the last two reservations over the phone (the rest were over the Internet), and I’m really very happy.

Here’s a list of places I’m going to stay, in order (friends houses are not included):

Country View RV Park, Ogallala, NE
http://www.cvcampground.com/
(I’ll be staying here twice - once on the way out, and again on the way back)

Buckboard Crossing, Wyoming
http://www.recreation.gov/campgroundDetails.do?topTabIndex=CampingSpot&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70083

Double Dice RV Park in Elko, NV
http://doubledicervpark.com/

Coachland RV Park in Truckee, CA
http://www.coachlandrvpark.com/

Orange Grove RV Park in Bakersfield, CA
http://www.orangegrovervpark.com/

Canyon Gateway RV Park in Williams, AZ
http://www.grandcanyonrvparks.com/

I know - some of them look kind of "different." I don’t mind different; in fact, I really kind of like it. Anyway, I figure I’m only staying one night at each place. My criteria for the places I chose were that they had to be pet friendly, and they had to have some sort of hiking nearby - or at least what appeared to be a nice place to walk the dogs after a long day of driving. Internet access was a plus, too.

All of these seem to qualify. I’ll make reports on them while I’m on the road!