Day 4 - Bye Bye Luxury, Hello sweatbox!

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Day 4 - Las Vegas to Barstow, Distance Travelled 157 miles

So here we go, time to say goodbye to Las Vegas and luxury and hello to the good old 30 foot RV and back to basics...

It was an early start as we knew we had some distance to travel and we weren't sure how long everything would take. A 7:00 alarm call was a massive shock to the system after the previous evenings wine and late night gambling session. Breakfast consisted of 'as much coffee, orange juice and toast' that room service could deliver to the room on one of those silly little tables, but it did the trick. Suitably revived, we packed, cashed in the thousands of chips we had won over the weekend (no need to call securicor for that!) and picked up our transfer to Cruise America RV HQ about 20 minutes away.

At this point it became clear that the expensive decision of taking the 'earlybird' pickup option was a lifesaver as they were due to be renting about 35 RVs out that day alone and with only two staff on reception they were struggling. Luckily we were third in the queue....group one were a nice group of five Germans packing themselves into an RV smaller than ours that we had for 2!....Group 2 were another set of Germans with a big problem....daddy and mummy it appeared had already picked up the RV the day before and set off to pick up son from the airport...they parked their 12 foot 6inch high RV in the twelve foot high car park at the airport and managed to not only lose the a/c units off the roof but also turned it into a convertible as they opened the roof up like a sardine can....they didnt seem to be able to understand why they could not just swap their knackered RV for a new one as the queue behind them grew ever longer!

Our pickup processing eventually moved and after paperwork was done we were moved in to a small room to watch a video....panic started setting in as the video ran through (at high speed) how to connect/ disconnect water, electricity and sewage pipes, where trip switches were, how to run a/c, generators, gas fridges, gravity toilets, shower pumps etc etc. I ended up videoing the video with my iPhone to review again at leisure later. After the video and a wait for the Germans to be given a tarpaulin for the roof of their van for the night(no spares available!) we were shown round our 30 foot beast for 'familiarisation and signoff' and that was it....an hour and a half after arriving we were off, leaving a very large queue behind us!

Our smooth journey and issue free driving holiday lasted for a good 100 yards until it was time to turn into the petrol station next door to fill up the tank! Firstly I parked at the end pump, not realising that there was no way 30 foot of trailer could make the sharp turn out of the pump bay when we finished! Then we had to work out which coloured nozzle unleaded petrol came out of... Obviously it's the green one! Nope that's diesel in the US...luckily realised that just before hitting the trigger. Next we had to work out if unleaded is 'regular' 'super' or 'performance' as nothing says 'unleaded' anywhere. In the end we settled on regular, but after several attempts, no petrol came out, so we tried to use the swipe machine for credit cards on the pump in an effort to kickstart the process but both our cards got refused. At this point i had to give up my usual ' man' approach and actually went into the shop to askfor help only to be told you have to prepay, before pumping! No idea how much petrol the beast would take so opted for a round 100 dollars, about half what the Q7 takes at home....and finally we got gas! Then came the nerve wracking 'reverse out of the petrol station onto the highway manoeuvre', with Shas at the back waving her arms like an epileptic octopus...but we made it...next stop Walmart for groceries...another 200 yards away! God this was hard driving...

Trouble with a 30 foot RV, if you miss the entrance to Walmart you can't just swing a U turn, there are no roundabouts in the US, so you find yourself having to navigate a course 'around the block' to get back to where you started...so the second time we made the entrance!

Walmart is an amazing place, they literally have everything under one roof; food, clothes, electronics, camping and fishing, sports goods, pharmacy etc and my own particular favourite, the gun department! Imagine walking into Waitrose on a Monday morning and picking up a semi-automatic weapon and ammunition....and a bullet proof vest just in case!

Food bought and paid for and loaded into the RV, we were finally really and truly on the road only 4 hours after entering the RV rental place.

The drive was amazing, firstly skirting the outskirts of Las Vegas with a great view of all the hotels, then onto the I15 heading towards Los Angeles...our target was Barstow, and a campsite about halfway between LA and LV . The i15 travels through some amazing terrain, mostly desert and mountains where little rain falls. A large part of the drive was through the Mojave desert, which could have been the surface of Mars at times...quite inspiring. It is also hot, topping 100 degrees today and very grateful for the dashboard a/c throughout the trip.

There doesn't seem to be the same concept of service stations on the I15 as in the UK ...if you need gas or food then you pull off at well signposted exit into the nearest town/village. There are not many of them around in the Mojave desert and the three 'rest stops' that have been built to provide loos and views were all 'closed for repair'. In the end we pulled into a small town called Bakers for a pit stop at Burger King to give Shas one last 'proper toilet' before we camped for the night.

The RV is quite nippy and will easily do 70 at a cruise, even through the mountains. It took some time to get used to the four massive rear view mirrors and after a couple of hairy lane changes and overtaking manoeuvres I soon got the hang of it. The biggest problem with it, is the wind across the desert....it seems to be like a big sail and it takes a lot of strength and concentration to keep it in a dead straight line, especially with big rigs and coaches thundering past doing 80! By the time we stopped i had cramp in my hands from gripping the wheel so tightly. There were quite strong winds across the desert plains and at one point I panicked at what looked like a tornado tracking ahead of us, but it was only a smaller 'dust storm' spinning away across the desert and road in front of us and there were quite a few more throughout the day.

So after about 3 hours from leaving Las Vegas, we arrived at the KOA Barstow. KOA are a chain of independently run campgrounds across America and came highly recommended, we've booked at least 3 on this trip. If Barstow is anything to go by, we'll be fine. They have a small shop and reception area, a small swimming pool, pool tables, laundry, clean showers and toilets. Our allocated pull through site (no need to reverse) was large, gravelled with its own electricity, water and sewage to hook up to. Wifi is free (thank good as I'm taking a hammering on O2 roaming charges already) and there was a picnic table and barby as well.

We checked in and hooked up very easily, most of the rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking clothes and shopping and shoving them into any available cupboard. Most of it i doubt we will see again until LA in 2 weeks time. Then I got the barby on and we had a sumptuous feast of burgers and salad, sitting in our van (too hot outside, even at 8pm). Very different from 24 hours ago when we were eating steak and lobster overlooking the Bellagio fountains, but there are great views of the surrounding hills and desert from our windows. Once hooked up we can use the rooftop a/c unit but it is very noisy and struggles to keep the whole van cool, hopefully when we get out of the desert tomorrow things will be a lot cooler and by the time we hit San Francisco, it will be switched over to 'Heat'.

The RV is basic compared to ones I have seen in the Uk, floor space is good and shower and toilet surprisingly large but I could never see 7 people living in it as advertised. Wardrobe space is very limited...enough for about 6-7 full hangars...not at all Sharan friendly, so the spare double bed is now a ladies wardrobe as well. There is a fridge, freezer, microwave/oven and hob, but no dishwasher which is a disaster as Shas will have to wash up!;-) It also has some very glaring graphics on the outside, including a picture of two little girls in the window of the side door which keep freaking me out every time I turn round and see them. We've nicknamed them Kirsty and Grace as they remind us off the cheeky look on the Gaston girls back home!

Worst of all about the whole RV thing is the fact there is no TV on board...so that means we are going to have to talk to each other in the evenings, or failing that watch/listen to the assortment of iPhones and iPads we've brought with us!! Travel scrabble is therefore likely to get a hammering on this trip, as is this blog where wifi allows....so it's off for a first nights sleep in the desert sweat box... Tomorrow the mountains and lakes, and Shas is driving!

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Comments

[Dave]

Nice one
Next year you're driving our RV to Silverstone and I can sit in the back and have a beer. Enjoy.

[Mum]

Am I blogging?
Read every word of the trip so far....sounds great, hope you both manage to survive the heat and lack of TV, anyway now that all the games are finished tv is cr## apart from BBT XXXXXXX