Tags
Adventure, Adventure Blog, Bryce Canyon, Camping With Coach-Net, Coach-Net Blog, Coach-Net Camping, RV Blog, Snow Canyon, Zion National Park
Kim Gregory, our VP of Sales, has been a faithful member of the Coach-Net family for 13 years. She, her husband, Jake, and their 5 children – yes, 5 – love to go camping. They recently took Coach-Net’s Entegra out west on their latest vacation. Want to hear about traveling with a set of toddler triplets? Read on!
Where did you go?
We spent 3 weeks traveling out west of Texas. We started in Santa Fe, New Mexico, then drove around the backend of the Grand Canyon to get to Zion National Park. Zion is my absolute favorite place to go. We stayed in Southern Utah for a week exploring Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Snow Canyon.
We did lots of hiking and exploring. Then we headed to Lake Havasu for a quick family visit. On the way, we drove through the Mead recreation area and stopped to explore and have lunch. Our final stop and my new favorite place was Tucson. We stayed at Cataline State Park where we hiked, horseback rode and watched the prairie dogs.
How long was your trip?/Was this your 1st time RVing?
We were on the road for 3 weeks in total. No, we have taken 3 other road trip prior to this one and have loved every one of them!
What’s the fondest memory of your trip?
My favorite part of the trip was watching my 5 kids disconnect from their electronics, explore together, laugh together, and try new things. It’s so fun to watch because everything is so new and exciting for them.
Did you find anything challenging about your RV trip?
Yes, we had some issues with the generator overheating and turning off. This means no AC in the back of the RV with 100+ temps outside. It was definitely hot, but we still made it fun.
Would you go again?
I would absolutely go again. I love RVing! I would go all the time if my family’s schedules would allow it.
Where would you like to go next?
I’d love to go to Idaho. It has such beautiful country that I have yet to explore. We want to go all the way to Coeur d’ Alene where we can hike, white water raft, zipline, kayak, and see the hot springs. That trip will also include visiting Shoshone Falls, Thousand Springs State Park, and Sun Valley.
Why do you love RVing?
There is nothing better than spending time outdoors with my family. I also love the spontaneity of it. You can go anywhere, change your plans, stay longer, or leave sooner. The trip is totally under your control. It’s the best part of RVing.
Taylor B. ~ “I’ve used other roadside service companies and never had a good experience. Coach-Net is great!! Completely different from other companies.”
Nothing quite so effectively displays Mother Nature’s beauty than a sunrise or sunset, those few moments each day when the world shines golden and with incredible serenity.
Day hikers can walk to one of the first spots where the sun touches America each morning via the South Ridge Trail in Maine’s Acadia National Park. The trail is a 7.2-miles round trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which is the highest summit on the Eastern seaboard. Though the hike would be done in the dark, with moonglow and flashlights, the trail is traversable. Acadia’s ancient granite peaks are among the first places in the United States where the sunrise can be seen. Be sure to bring a blanket to lay out on the cold rock and take a seat looking southeast.
Fairyland really does exist – it’s smack dab in south central Utah, where a maze of totem pole-like rock formations called hoodoos grace Bryce Canyon National Park. Hoodoos are unusual landforms in which a hard caprock slows the erosion of the softer mineral beneath it. The result is a variety of fantastical shapes. Take the Queens Garden Trail, which descends into the fantasyland of hoodoos. When hiking during the early morning, sunrise’s orange glow magically lights the trail’s contours.
About 1 million Mexican Freetail bats live in Carlsbad Caverns. During the day, they rest on the ceiling of Bat Cave, a passageway closed to the public. At sunset, to feed for the evening, the bats dramatically swarm out of the cave in a tornadic-like spiral, their silhouettes stretching into the distant horizon. An open-air amphitheater allows visitors to safely watch the bats’ departure in an event called The Night Flight. The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail, a half-mile loop, also allows you to watch the bats disperse across the New Mexican desert.
Among the Grand Canyon National Park’s most spectacular sights – sunrise and sunset – can be seen within walking distance of Grand Canyon Village in Arizona. While the South Rim Trail extends several miles along the canyon edge, you only have to walk to Mather Point, where views of the canyon shift like pictures in a marquee at both sunrise and sunset. Another great spot that’s a little less crowded is Ooh Ahh Point on the South Kaibab Trail, which is east of the village and south of Yaki Point. The aptly named Ooh Ahh Point is less than 200 feet below the rim.
You can enjoy views of sunrises and sunsets covering up to a hundred miles on the Clingmans Dome Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At 6625 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Tennessee and along the Appalachian Trail, as well as the third tallest east of the Mississippi. A half-mile trip leads to the summit. How incredible are the sunsets? They can be crowded, as those hoping to photograph the stunning scenery line up 45 minutes before the sun descends.
A full 95 percent of Florida’s Biscayne National Park sits underwater, a turquoise blue paradise laced with vividly colored coral reefs – and nothing quite says romance like a sunset over this tropical ocean. Adams Key offers a quarter-mile trail from the dock through the hardwood hammock on the island’s west side; most of the route skirts the beach, where the sunset can be enjoyed.
Clambering over boulders and ambling across strangely angled slickrock – and watching needles aglow at sunset – await on Canyonlands National Park’s Slickrock Trail in southeastern Utah. The 2.9-mile loop trail generally follows a mesa rim. Plan to walk the trail about an hour or so before sunset; on the final mile, tall thin rock formations called needles fill the horizon, glowing crimson as the sun sets.