4 months of indecisiveness led us here

When we set out for Season 4 of travels, we made note of our exit points in case we decided to return home. Having exit points is never a bad thing, even if full-timers are 100% committed to their travels. However, because we're gradually transitioning out of full-time RV life, we are being extra careful to listen to ourselves and determine how long we want to be on the road this year. Exit points are little gaps between plans where, when we look at our calendar, we see a natural break where heading back home to New England would be relatively easy. The points usually fall at times we don't have much more booked yet, or when what is booked is easily cancellable.

Back in December, we weren't sure if we would launch back on the road at all. We had recently bought land and realized a new dream of building a home-base. Then a month later, our cat Lily passed away, leaving a gaping void in our family unit. The decision to get back on the road was more based on logic than desire. Sure, were happy to get out of winter, have more adventures, and see more of the country, but we also had pressing matters to attend to. For several months, we had been dealing with axle issues on our trailer, and after many conversations with the manufacturer, we were convinced to make an appointment with them in Utah. While we were out there, we hoped to finally check off bucket list destinations that we had been patiently waiting to visit, like the Mighty 5 national parks and other parts of Red Rock Country.

This was how our main plan for Season 4 developed. We would head west, have our axle appointment, and then dive into our southern Utah adventures. We did exactly this, but it wasn't smooth sailing.

First, we went to Utah early because Tanner needed surgery.

Then, the outcome of our axle appointment left more questions than answers. As we hit the road for our Utah Redemption Tour, we discovered that our axle repairs were not enough, and our problems had returned.

Our Utah Redemption Tour was filled with beauty and adventure, just as we had hoped. We made some great travel memories. But, behind the scenes, we were thinking long and hard about our exit point. As soon as we made the decision to head out for the season, we expected to at least travel through April. This would get us through our axle appointment and give us the celebration of Utah's landscapes that we desperately wanted. After that, though, we had nothing set in stone. The post-Utah exit point hung over us like a big question mark for all those months. Would we keep traveling, or would we start heading back east right away?

Over the course of 4 months, whenever we'd bring up this exit point and wonder what we should do, we always said we didn't know and tabled the conversation. Before we knew it, we were at Zion National Park with only a few days left on our Utah Redemption Tour, and we were still unsure of our next move.

Of course, life happens, and so new factors did come into play. Because our problems with our axles continued, we expected to need to return to the manufacturer at some point. This meant we'd either need to stick around Utah for longer, or venture somewhere out west before returning to Utah. In a fleeting moment of wanderlust, I booked a couple of campsites that would take us back through Nevada and into California. If we were going to stay out west, there was one destination that was very special to us, that we hoped would boost our travel morale. But more on that in the next post.

I booked us a site in Red Rock Canyon just outside of Vegas, and an overnight in Bakersfield, CA. Both easily cancellable, but it felt good to have something booked just in case we decided to continue venturing.

So, as we approached the finish line of our Utah Redemption Tour, our big decision came down to this: Continue onto California, or stick around Utah for our axles, before heading back east? We tentatively made the decision to continue to California 3 days before leaving Zion. We questioned that decision all the way until our day of departure. An hour after leaving Zion, we'd hit I-15. We could either take it south towards Nevada and continue our journey into California, or we could take it north and use our exit point. We turned south.

Our reasons for turning south were threefold. First, we didn't have another axle appointment scheduled yet and didn't want to just sit around. Perhaps more miles traveled could mean more chances to observe what is going on. The goal would be to get just enough wear on the tires to have it visible, without it being so much wear that we'd need to replace our tires before the next axle appointment. A delicate balance, but one that could be reasonably achieved in our miles to and from California.

Second, we were craving a change of scenery. Utah is beautiful, but we had been in the state for 6.5 weeks. We had been in the red rocks and desert for most of our year so far.

Third, nostalgia was calling us. We were just days away from revisiting that favorite destination of ours in California, after having not gone for years. We didn't want to give up this chance.

But first, we needed to get there, and we had 580 miles to go. Leaving Zion, we had doubts as to whether or not we wanted to keep our site reservation at Red Rock Canyon. We had booked 2 nights, and both days would be in the high 80s. The sites there have no hookups. We've done the heat in Vegas thing, and given how exhausted we were after our Redemption Tour, we were not feeling good about the prospect of limited air conditioning. Now that we were on the road and committed to our westward journey, we figured we might as well just drive and see where we end up.

Sometimes, a drive day full of spontaneity is exactly what's needed. We had done so much planning for the Utah Redemption Tour that it felt good to just fly free for a while. We left Utah, passed through a little bit of Arizona, then Nevada, and finally, crossed the border into California.

Soon after we crossed the border, we began seeing billboards for the "best date shakes" and were intrigued. In our years of road tripping, we've become poster children for the effectiveness of billboard advertisements. We were in need of a pit stop, and this seemed like the perfect place. A quick street view glance showed us that the shakes were offered at a gas station, with plenty of truck parking across the street. It's not only a gas station, though. It's Cima Mining Company, which originated as a Stuckey's eatery that served railroad workers and miners in the mid-1900s. Now, the location houses a shell gas station, convenience store, and the Birdhouse, land of fried food and the reputedly famous milkshakes.

We ordered some food and each got a shake. Anthony ordered chocolate, but I felt the need to try the date shake, though I typically reserve dates as sweeteners for my morning protein smoothies.

For gas station food, everything was quite good. Beyond the Birdhouse, the convenience store goodies were nothing to squawk at either, selling tons of bulk candies, nuts, and fruits, including organic dates. Cima Mining Co boasts a huge selection of jerky, which we must say was almost Buc-ee's level impressive. There were also quite a few Historic Route 66 signs and souvenirs, despite Route 66 being on the other side of the Mojave Preserve. As for the date shake, it wasn't my preferred flavor and was quite sweet, but it was nice and creamy. If I were an actual fan of dates, I would have quite enjoyed it.

During our pit stop, we made a decision on where to hang our hats. We were soon approaching Barstow, one of the few towns with lots of options for campgrounds and overnights. Still on the hunt for full hookups, we booked 2 nights at the Barstow/Calico KOA. These nights took the place of what would have been our stay at Red Rock Canyon, and we were happy with our choice to fly by the seat of our pants. We were already way further along in our travels, so our next drive day would be relatively short. And until then, we'd be able to run our AC!

Only, basking in our full hookups wasn't as easy as we'd expected. Given the mediocre ratings on RV Life, we knew we weren't driving into the best KOA, but we struggled with literally every single hookup at our site. Our surge protector didn't like the electricity coming through the pedestal and refused it. As we demonstrated in the most blatant fashion a few years ago, we never forgo our surge protector. But, things have changed since then, and we now have an inverter that has a built-in surge protector, which means we have a backup. We decided to try the power without our Surge Guard to see if the inverter would allow it in. It did, and everything was fine for the couple of days. We don't know why our Surge Guard refused the current, but it's been working fine elsewhere, so we can assume something at the KOA was dirty.

It didn't stop there. When Anthony went to connect water, he first cleaned the spigot with a Clorox wipe, which is standard practice. Why? For times like this, when a bunch of murky green grossness came off on the wipe. It might have just been corrosion, but we weren't about to find out. We had enough water to get through the 2 nights, and so we decided to stay disconnected.

But wait, there's more! We had just come off 8 days without sewer hookups and needed to dump. It's always wonderfully convenient to be able to do this at our own site...except for when the sewer port is loose going into the ground. It started to leak mid-dump, but by that point, Anthony figured he might as well keep on going and clean the area afterwards, so that's what he did. At least we only needed to dump that one time!

As if the trifecta of hookup issues wasn't enough, when we checked in, the office alerted us that the cable was down, too. We don't use cable, so no big deal to us, but really? Issues with electric, water, sewer, and cable?! Suddenly, springing for the KOA seemed like a colossal waste of money.

On the upside, though, we had a fairly spacious campsite with no neighbs on our pleasure side, and plenty of places to sit. Like, a strangely large number of places.

Now that we'd be spending the entire next day here, we figured we should make the most of it. This area of California is pretty much in the boonies, but many of the towns used to be bustling with miners hoping to get their hands on some lucrative silver ore. The Cima Mining Co is not the only place paying homage to this industrious pastime. The town of Calico once housed over 60 mines and thousands of residents. The main minerals found here were silver and borax, with their mined totals reaching nearly $30 million. But, as the Silver Rush died, so did the town. It's now considered a "living ghost town," open to the public as a regional park. Many of the old buildings have been rebuilt and refurbished, and some are now shops, restaurants, and the park visitor center. When we went, park admission cost $8 for adults, but on May 12, the admission is changing to a per vehicle rate, which depends on if you are visiting on a weekend or weekday. Dogs are allowed inside the park and in many of the shops, and their admission technically costs $1, but we were not charged to bring Tanner along. The park also has an RV campground, which is rated worse than our KOA, but left us wondering if we should have given it a chance.

We took a walk through town, stopping into a couple of the shops and looking at some of the town mines and equipment.

Our main attraction, however, was the short train ride through some of the hills of Calico, where we'd see some mining sites and learn about the history. Poor Tanner has become victim to a strange imposition. We have determined that he loves trains, despite no evidence whatsoever to support it. Ever since he was little, we would force excitement when he'd go to pick Anthony or my brother up at the train station. Whenever we get stopped at a railroad crossing with Tanner in the car, we enthusiastically exclaim "Look, Tanny! It's a train!" In 2019, we took him on the Conway Scenic Railroad during my birthday trip to New Hampshire. My mom even made us t-shirts that said "Tanner on a train." Naturally, we felt a need to perpetuate the nonsense.

In reality, Tanner is a bit anxious around trains. We can't blame him. They're loud and smelly. But he's a good sport. We rewarded him with a stop to Dorseys Dog House, Calico's dog boutique, where we bought him a Calico Ghost Town bandana and some treats.

The desert sun was beating down pretty hot, so we quickly finished our walk up the hill, where there is a pavilion that overlooks the town. Then we brought Tanner back to the much needed air conditioning of the truck and headed back to the KOA.

We couldn't help but laugh at the circumstances that brought us to Calico Ghost Town, a place that would never be a destination for us, but has now been added to our travel memory book. After deciding against taking our post-Utah exit point, everything seemed up in the air. It was as though we blinked and were suddenly in California, soaking in new experiences during an unplanned part of our year.

The following day, we drove to our overnight in Bakersfield, a waypoint on our route to our next big stop. There was no denying it now. We were continuing our travels, and more California destinations were on the horizon.