2024 Johnson annual RV trip!

[RiverDave]

Entering Nevada and pulling into Jackpot NV! @pieyed recommended cactus Pete’s casino as they have an Rv park. If I didn’t have the dog I’d park the moho stay in the hotel and gamble all night.. lol.

Pretty basic park with 30 amp and these spots have full hookups. I set my shore controller to 30amp in the motorhome though and it’s running both AC’s no problem.

Should note it’s 15-20 degrees cooler here than it is further south! Should be high 50’s low 60’s tonight. So we will just run the roof vents and tomorrow I’ll fire up then AC’s on max as we run back into havasu.. .

I’ll grab a couple pics after a few beers.. I’m beat from driving all day.

Oh summer rate.. 24.00 a night.

 

[RiverDave]

For those following along we are now in Wells NV.. very pretty and relaxing drive from jackpot to here. Shocked at how many cows are out here.. hard to drive and take pics but I got a few

 

[JFMFG]

Pretty bummed this thread is coming to an end. I’ve enjoyed the ride. I wish I could take the time off to do this with my family but if I’m gone more than a week shit falls apart without me there and all my employees think it’s vacation for them too lol

 

[Meaney77]

I used it to fill up, before my RV broke. New Power Distribution Module is being ordered and I should be back to burning fuel in TBD.

OpenRoads saves you .25 to .40 a gallon. You just have to use certain fueling stations.

Open Roads

Open Roads is a fuel discount program open to anyone who purchases diesel fuel, whether it be a diesel pickup truck, RV, or a semi-truck.

myopenroads.com

Issues with your new motorhome?

 

[Singleton]

Issues with your new motorhome?

Yes.
The PDM (Power Distribution Module) was not installed correctly and I40 between Gallop, NM and Holbrook, AZ caused excessive vibration and one of the plugs broke.

Have been pending Freightliner Custom Chassis to release the part to Victory Truck Center in Flagstaff since Wednesday.

GM of Victory and the VP MFG @ Renegade have called Freightliner requesting the part be released ASAP. Waiting on Freightliner.

I am on the new generation S2RV chassis that started production in March 2023, so parts are not readily available yet.

Victory is going through the entire chassis to verify no other issues might show up.

 

[RiverDave]

Pretty bummed this thread is coming to an end. I’ve enjoyed the ride. I wish I could take the time off to do this with my family but if I’m gone more than a week shit falls apart without me there and all my employees think it’s vacation for them too lol

That’s why we are burning rubber home. lol. We spent way too much money and our little empire has slowed to a crawl because the cats away. Lol

Just stopped at the KOA in Eli NV (cool spot!). I’m gonna sleep for awhile and then run the next 400 miles home.

RD

 

[RCDave2]

Crossing rainbow bridge.. it’s a little narrow. Mike says “it always seems whatever size rig you are driving is the same size coming the other way”. lol. We got lucky I guess no semi’s it would be a tight squeeze for sure.

View attachment 1408569

I was a little scared the first time over it!!!

 

[Willie B]

I was a little scared the first time over it!!!

… Reminds me of driving through Feather River Canyon from Chico Cal to Quincy, Cal or vice versa… Couple of bridges and you got nervous as to what mght be coming the other way… Unfortunately, I was told…Feather River Canyon seems to be pretty much toast from fires and landslides

 

[phuggit]

That’s why we are burning rubber home. lol. We spent way too much money and our little empire has slowed to a crawl because the cats away. Lol

Just stopped at the KOA in Eli NV (cool spot!). I’m gonna sleep for awhile and then run the next 400 miles home.

RD

This was where we stayed going back and forth from Havasu to Idaho. Its right about midway between the two. Thanks for a great vacation thread. We leave for Yellowstone on Monday.

 

[RiverDave]

This was where we stayed going back and forth from Havasu to Idaho. Its right about midway between the two. Thanks for a great vacation thread. We leave for Yellowstone on Monday.

Post A thread with pics!! Good bad and middle!

When we are done I’ll leave this up for a few days and then move to the motorhome section for easier reference

RD

 

[callbob]

There’s a motorhome section?

 

[RiverDave]

There’s a motorhome section?

lol yes.. where do you think the other three epic Rv trips we have done are located?

 

[callbob]

Guess I should have put. J/K lol. But not a lot of current stuff there.

 

[RiverDave]

Guess I should have put. J/K lol. But not a lot of current stuff there.

We need to fix that

 

[DRYHEAT]

We need to fix that

RV Dave’s place.

 

[RiverDave]

RV Dave’s place.

Absolutely!!!

 

[TonyFanelli]

Actually, Dave. Finally saw a couple big boats today. There was a Outerlimits probably in the 38 to 42 foot range running around and a formula 35 Fastec.
Last summer, I saw a white 40 MTI I haven’t seen him this year.

That’s it

I saw him going through Polson on July 3rd...beautiful float!

 

[TonyFanelli]

View attachment 1402581 View attachment 1402582 View attachment 1402583 View attachment 1402584 View attachment 1402585 View attachment 1402586 View attachment 1402587 Coming down the backside and our first peek at St Mary’s.. you gotta drive all the way around this to exit on the east side. It’s a nice drive, but not near what the west side was..

To do it again I’d probably take @Sportin' Wood advice and enter from the east and exit to the west. We entered from the west because we arrived right at 3pm where you don’t need reservations anymore. On the east side I don’t believe you need them and can enter at anytime.

It would be better to drive down the road to the sun because most the look outs are on that side of the road anyways.

Looks like you timed it perfect! We went up the East side on June 30th. Drove in a cloud bank all the way down after Logan summit awesome thread! Thanks for the ride a long

 

[RiverDave]

lol Eli NV!

Joe Dirt!

 

[RiverDave]

Ran out of steam in Henderson.. I coulda made it but the freeway was closed down and detours etc.. said f it had some beers woke up at 7 and on the road..

 

[RiverDave]

Currently at Last Stop almost to kingman.. port of subs is actually pretty good for breakfast?

Next stop home in 1 hr!

 

[Andy B.]

Currently at Last Stop almost to kingman.. port of subs is actually pretty good for breakfast?

Next stop home in 1 hr!

View attachment 1409200

Curious on why you went thru Kingman instead of the 95? I thought the 95 to 40 was faster thru needles then the turn off to Havasu.

 

[DRYHEAT]

Currently at Last Stop almost to kingman.. port of subs is actually pretty good for breakfast?

Next stop home in 1 hr!

View attachment 1409200

One hour? That’s some serious optimism.

 

[DRYHEAT]

Curious on why you went thru Kingman instead of the 95? I thought the 95 to 40 was faster thru needles then the turn off to Havasu.

Almost the exact same distance and time. There’s more services and bathrooms going through Kingman.

 

[Andy B.]

Almost the exact same distance and time. There’s more services and bathrooms going through Kingman.

Gotcha.

 

[Tommy Gun Images]

Leaving Mike and Kandi’s

View attachment 1408564

When the camp car is a Ferrari you know you're camping with River Dave

 

[rivermobster]

Great pics and write up.

Thanks so much.

 

[SoCalDave]

Thanks for the ride along RD. Epic trip from my view.

 

[JB in so cal]

Great trip, it looks like. My best family memories involve either an RV of some kind and houseboats.

 

[RiverDave]

Curious on why you went thru Kingman instead of the 95? I thought the 95 to 40 was faster thru needles then the turn off to Havasu.

Just an easier drive.. I almost always go through kingman now.

 

[RiverDave]

One hour? That’s some serious optimism.

When I typed that we were in a different spot.. lol

Made it home this morning and passed out until now! Nice to be home. Motorhome is unloaded and that wraps this trip up!!

 

[angiebaby]

Glad you made it home safely. See you in October.

 

[RiverDave]

So in total.. the motorhome killed 5 birds on the road with one being an owl at night in the Nevada desert.

We have one fairly catastrophic scratch in Stacy’s car from a tree in one of the national parks, so it will be going to bodyline at some point.

I learned that drivers in Idaho are EXTREMELY aggressive as a whole in particular CDA.

Jeff taught me In Montana if you don’t have a phone number from there (whole state is one area code) they just won’t answer the phone. To the point they both had to had Montana phone numbers to get anyone to answer the phone, even people they know.

They don’t just hate Californians they hate everyone from outside of Montana. This includes Texans surprisingly enough. He said they speak in generations meaning they want to know how many generations your people have lived in the state. Anything under three is pretty much unacceptable and you are considered a transplant.

Weirdly I was talking to someone and they completely denied that and over a few beers I asked him “so who are your people out here?” And he quickly answered and started talking generationally. lol. Jeff was 100% right.

In Idaho they hate all the transplants and weekend money as well.. but they take the license plate game to a whole different level! Doesn’t matter if you have Idaho plates they can tell if you are a newbie.. and they can tell which part of Idaho you are from and how long you’ve been there.. transplant tip is to get personalized plates.. lol

Doesn’t matter where ya go up there there is some serious inconsistencies with regard to how cold they tell you the winter gets.. in one hour I heard it barely dips below freezing just for a bit… to -20/-30 degrees for weeks on end in the same town.. .

Bottom line is your skin is Snow White you can survive the winters.. if your a tan desert guy you want no part of any of these places in the winter.

During the summer while driving around every corner is just about the most beautiful breath taking scenery you can imagine.. rivers, rapids, meadows, mountains, farms, ranches…. Everything looks like it’s out of a brochure.

It’s almost hard to drive on some of the windy roads because your eyes are drawn to the rivers and landscape. With every corner you think I could setup shop right here and the kids could play in the river and expansive lands. With that would come with that I’d have to imagine would come with a lot of loneliness just because in some of these remote places you have no neighbors etc..

It’s an amazing experience that we enjoy immensely once a year for 3-4 weeks.. If you haven’t done it, you need to stop what you are doing click on this or one of the previous RV threads we have done and start making plans. You won’t regret it. If you aren’t retired by the time you get back your outlook on life will be different for awhile.

I had Stacy on Zillow the entire time looking up property values…. This is going to require another thread. Havasu is cheap comparatively speaking to everywhere we went on this trip.

RD

 

[TonyFanelli]

So in total.. the motorhome killed 5 birds on the road with one being an owl at night in the Nevada desert.

We have one fairly catastrophic scratch in Stacy’s car from a tree in one of the national parks, so it will be going to bodyline at some point.

I learned that drivers in Idaho are EXTREMELY aggressive as a whole in particular CDA.

Jeff taught me In Montana if you don’t have a phone number from there (whole state is one area code) they just won’t answer the phone. To the point they both had to had Montana phone numbers to get anyone to answer the phone, even people they know.

They don’t just hate Californians they hate everyone from outside of Montana. This includes Texans surprisingly enough. He said they speak in generations meaning they want to know how many generations your people have lived in the state. Anything under three is pretty much unacceptable and you are considered a transplant.

Weirdly I was talking to someone and they completely denied that and over a few beers I asked him “so who are your people out here?” And he quickly answered and started talking generationally. lol. Jeff was 100% right.

In Idaho they hate all the transplants and weekend money as well.. but they take the license plate game to a whole different level! Doesn’t matter if you have Idaho plates they can tell if you are a newbie.. and they can tell which part of Idaho you are from and how long you’ve been there.. transplant tip is to get personalized plates.. lol

Doesn’t matter where ya go up there there is some serious inconsistencies with regard to how cold they tell you the winter gets.. in one hour I heard it barely dips below freezing just for a bit… to -20/-30 degrees for weeks on end in the same town.. .

Bottom line is your skin is Snow White you can survive the winters.. if your a tan desert guy you want no part of any of these places in the winter.

During the summer while driving around every corner is just about the most beautiful breath taking scenery you can imagine.. rivers, rapids, meadows, mountains, farms, ranches…. Everything looks like it’s out of a brochure.

It’s almost hard to drive on some of the windy roads because your eyes are drawn to the rivers and landscape. With every corner you think I could setup shop right here and the kids could play in the river and expansive lands. With that would come with that I’d have to imagine would come with a lot of loneliness just because in some of these remote places you have no neighbors etc..

It’s an amazing experience that we enjoy immensely once a year for 3-4 weeks.. If you haven’t done it, you need to stop what you are doing click on this or one of the previous RV threads we have done and start making plans. You won’t regret it. If you aren’t retired by the time you get back your outlook on life will be different for awhile.

I had Stacy on Zillow the entire time looking up property values…. This is going to require another thread. Havasu is cheap comparatively speaking to everywhere we went on this trip.

RD

How many miles did you accumulate?

 

[Sportin' Wood]

Jeff taught me In Montana if you don’t have a phone number from there (whole state is one area code) they just won’t answer the phone. To the point they both had to had Montana phone numbers to get anyone to answer the phone, even people they know.

They don’t just hate Californians they hate everyone from outside of Montana. This includes Texans surprisingly enough. He said they speak in generations meaning they want to know how many generations your people have lived in the state. Anything under three is pretty much unacceptable and you are considered a transplant.

Weirdly I was talking to someone and they completely denied that and over a few beers I asked him “so who are your people out here?” And he quickly answered and started talking generationally. lol. Jeff was 100% right.

In Idaho they hate all the transplants and weekend money as well.. but they take the license plate game to a whole different level! Doesn’t matter if you have Idaho plates they can tell if you are a newbie.. and they can tell which part of Idaho you are from and how long you’ve been there.. transplant tip is to get personalized plates.. lol

Doesn’t matter where ya go up there there is some serious inconsistencies with regard to how cold they tell you the winter gets.. in one hour I heard it barely dips below freezing just for a bit… to -20/-30 degrees for weeks on end in the same town.. .



RD

Personalized plates are a must. The plate number has a county code. We even discriminate between counties. Angie quickly picked up this habit, she is funny. "Bless there hearts, they are from Missoula."

Subaru is another tip off of how people vote. Of course my MIL in North Idaho who is a rabid Conservative did not pay attention and bought a Subi. She also wears the wrong footwear so she gets all pissed off when people assume she is a Liberal. Super fun to tease her.

It is fully encouraged to drive old clapped out rusted junk with a flatbed. Extra points if it smokes and leaks some oil. Triple points for an old dog riding on the tool box. Universally accepted to have a cracked windshield and fender damage from hitting deer.

 

[Gramps]

RD...thanks for taking all of us along on the trip. This is one of the best threads I have followed.

 

[Badchoices03]

This is a great thread, thanks for taking us along.

What would be cool, is a simple post with where you stayed each stop, how long the drive was between stops, etc....I know its all posted throughout the thread, but a one pager would be cool...

 

[Hoodoo]

Personalized plates are a must. The plate number has a county code. We even discriminate between counties. Angie quickly picked up this habit, she is funny. "Bless there hearts, they are from Missoula."

Subaru is another tip off of how people vote. Of course my MIL in North Idaho who is a rabid Conservative did not pay attention and bought a Subi. She also wears the wrong footwear so she gets all pissed off when people assume she is a Liberal. Super fun to tease her.

It is fully encouraged to drive old clapped out rusted junk with a flatbed. Extra points if it smokes and leaks some oil. Triple points for an old dog riding on the tool box. Universally accepted to have a cracked windshield and fender damage from hitting deer.

 

[RiverDave]

How many miles did you accumulate?

I think the total is somewhere between 2800-3000 miles.

RD

 

[RiverDave]

This is a great thread, thanks for taking us along.

What would be cool, is a simple post with where you stayed each stop, how long the drive was between stops, etc....I know its all posted throughout the thread, but a one pager would be cool...

I have a rule that when we road trip we don’t do more than 5 hrs in a day +/- 1. Hr..

On the way home I did do like 400-500 miles in one day but we stopped at a campground and took a break for awhile. That’s burning rubber to get home though.

RD

 

[Joker]

I have a rule that when we road trip we don’t do more than 5 hrs in a day +/- 1. Hr..

On the way home I did do like 400-500 miles in one day but we stopped at a campground and took a break for awhile. That’s burning rubber to get home though.

RD

On our Rushmore trip, we figured 6 hours of driving per leg. When all was said and done we were on the road for a good 8 hours when you include the stops you never anticipated making. Glad you guys made it home safe.

 

[RiverDave]

On our Rushmore trip, we figured 6 hours of driving per leg. When all was said and done we were on the road for a good 8 hours when you include the stops you never anticipated making. Glad you guys made it home safe.

Yes every four hour drive ends up being a six hour drives by the time I take my union mandated smoke breaks. lol

RD

 

[fat rat]

After following this thread I feel I don’t need to see in person. Awesome trip!

 

[mjc]

I will be heading up through NV to reno for a few days and then over to OR and into WA. Will stay at my sons place where he put in an RV pad and tour the area.

 

[RiverDave]

I will be heading up through NV to reno for a few days and then over to OR and into WA. Will stay at my sons place where he put in an RV pad and tour the area.

Post a trip thread Mike!

 

[FasterBae]

Cool thread Dave, oddly enough we just returned from similar trip in our MH from Scottsdale to glacier. We took two weeks and was incredible, I can do eight hours a day driving with wife and three kids

 

[2Driver]

I have a rule that when we road trip we don’t do more than 5 hrs in a day +/- 1. Hr..

On the way home I did do like 400-500 miles in one day but we stopped at a campground and took a break for awhile. That’s burning rubber to get home though.

RD

Cool trip

Thats what we concluded after 9-11 hour days RT to Bend OR. My ass was kicked for 3 days after I got home.
Ive been drinking 5 hour energy and Mt Dew to achieve partial conciseness.

 

[RiverDave]

Cool trip

Thats what we concluded after 9-11 hour days RT to Bend OR. My ass was kicked for 3 days after I got home.
Ive been drinking 5 hour energy and Mt Dew to achieve partial conciseness.

If im in my truck with an I pad rolling on the dash on straight freeways 8-9 hrs no problem..

Motorhome sitting in a lazy boy after so many hrs you just want to fall asleep.. the problem is it’s too comfortable.

RD

 

[HTTP404]

Personalized plates are a must. The plate number has a county code. We even discriminate between counties. Angie quickly picked up this habit, she is funny. "Bless there hearts, they are from Missoula."

Subaru is another tip off of how people vote. Of course my MIL in North Idaho who is a rabid Conservative did not pay attention and bought a Subi. She also wears the wrong footwear so she gets all pissed off when people assume she is a Liberal. Super fun to tease her.

It is fully encouraged to drive old clapped out rusted junk with a flatbed. Extra points if it smokes and leaks some oil. Triple points for an old dog riding on the tool box. Universally accepted to have a cracked windshield and fender damage from hitting deer.

Everyone who lives there has a cracked windshield.

We were up there a couple years ago and completely obliterated a deer on 93. We had a newbie in the truck and it was a very funny welcome to Montana moment.

 

[dread Pirate]

Everyone who lives there has a cracked windshield.

We were up there a couple years ago and completely obliterated a deer on 93. We had a newbie in the truck and it was a very funny welcome to Montana moment.

My daughter nailed a deer 15 miles outside Columbia Falls when she moved up there. Sort of a welcoming gift I suppose?