We set off from White Sands without a definitive plan on how far we’d get. The big discussion was whether we’d get home on Monday night after two really long drives or on Tuesday night after three more civilized drives. We even talked about spending a few extra days in Arizona but all the nice state parks along the 10 were booked and we didn’t feel like we wanted to stretch out the trip just to keep staying at RV parks. So we drove and drove.
While we drove we also looked for a decent RV park located somewhere near our maximum driving range for the night, which we guessed would be just past Phoenix. We wanted an RV park rather than a gas station because we had work and school the next day. While we’ve spent a full school/work day in a gas station or Walmart before, it’s not comfortable.
Since we did decide we wanted to be home on Monday night we ended up driving about 600 miles to the Arizona Oasis RV park, which is right on the Colorado River, at the California/Arizona border. We weren’t sure they’d have a spot because their office was closed by the time we called, but we ended up getting lucky. Like many RV parks, they have a board by the office, that shows any available spots they have left after regular office hours. They had two left. By the time we parked it was about 2am.
It was nice to be in an RV rather than needing a hotel for the night. The boys had been sleeping for hours already on the fold out couch (buckled in). And once we parked we didn’t need to worry about checking in, moving luggage, and waking up grumpy kids. We just quickly parked, connected to water and electricity, walked Boomer, and went to sleep.
As far as RV parks go, Arizona Oasis is definitely a nice one. The RVs are still relatively close together, but our spot had room for a picnic table and built in BBQ. There was also a nice beach area along the river. I could see why people might want to spend a few days here, especially when the weather is hot enough to make jumping in a river seem like a good idea. All in all, it was definitely nicer than your average RV park, and much much nicer than a gas station.
After the kids were done with school we hit the road for our final nearly 600 mile stretch home. The drive was long but uneventful. After filling up right outside of the RV park, we only stopped once in Kettleman City to walk Boomer and make a few sandwiches for dinner. BTW, not that there’s anything wrong with PB&Js but eating one right next to an In-N-Out hurt my soul. We just didn’t want to spend the extra time waiting in line and ordering burgers though.
We ended up getting home around midnight. Even though we asked her not to wait up, Grandma was waiting for us with the backyard gate open. It was nice to be back home again.
There it is, the end of our second cross country adventure. I’ll make sure to right up another post with our final thoughts on this one.