Day 34 (7/4/14): Heber City, UT | Las Vegas, NV
Our stay in Utah has finally reached its end. We left Heber City today. On the way out of town, there was a colorful display of hot air balloons in the sky. One of them dropped down right next to the road we were driving on, and itโs balloon happened to have stars and stripes, which was perfect considering that itโs the 4th of July. ๐ 
We really enjoyed our time in Utah. The Heber City valley was beautiful, and the campground we stayed at was the best one weโve been too yet (we didnโt want to leaveโฆhaha!). We camped at the Mountain Valley RV Resort. The manager, Cash, was extremely nice and helpful, and his crew was super friendly as well. They really made us feel welcome.
Justin had originally been trying to convince me to move to Salt Lake City, but ultimately, I convinced him not to move back. Iโm afraid itโs not green enough for what weโre looking for. And while I really liked Park City, Heber City, the east side of SLC, and the beautiful canyons, trees, forests, rivers and lakes surrounding the city, I couldnโt forget the fact that it snows in the winter. There are countless outdoor activities in the Salt Lake City area for both summer and winter, but I am not a winter activities type of person. Unfortunately, the enjoyable hikes and summer outdoor lifestyle couldnโt outweigh the sure misery I would experience in the winter. Sorry Utah! On to Las Vegas, NV.
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It's so crazy to look in the side mirror and see the trailer (our home) being towed by our truck
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Once we arrived in Vegas, we went straight to the Oasis RV Resort where we were planning to stay for the night. We dropped the trailer and headed to my Dadโs house to get together with my family for the 4th of July holiday. My dad grilled up his world-famous burgers (the BEST burgers ever!) while my nephews swam and everyone else took turns playing ping-pong.
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Best. Burger. EVER!!!
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Ping-Pong!
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My Dad & Sister
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Sisters!
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Nephews
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My youngest nephew
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Time for fireworks!
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My dadโs backyard had an incredible view of a fireworks display that went on for hours. It began to rain. Booming thunder and flashes of lightning in the sky competed with the fireworks. It was such a wonderfully happy 4th of July spent with family at my dadโs house! Family, burgers, fireworks and summer rain equaled a perfect night!
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Day 35 (7/5/14): Las Vegas, NV | Phoenix, AZ
Before departing from Las Vegas this morning, my family came over to where we were staying to check out our trailer and have breakfast with us. It was so nice having everyone over and showing them where weโre living while weโre on our journey.ย By 9:30am though, it started heating up.ย We took that as a sign to get going. We put everything away, got the trailer hooked up to the truck and were back on the road by 10:30am, heading to Arizona.
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Making breakfast!
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Family Portrait
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With our kids & the nephews
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Sisters!
Our plan was to spend a couple of days in the Phoenix area to visit Justinโs mom after Las Vegas, but we cut that down to just one night too due to the heat. We had dinner with Justinโs mom at our favorite restaurant there: Ah-So Sushi & Steak. They have the best fried rice! We then took Justinโs mom to our trailer to give her a tour of our house on wheels. It was still pretty hot in the trailer though, so we didnโt stay there long. We went back to Justinโs momโs house to spend more time with her, which also allowed us to take advantage of her air conditioning while we played Scrabble.
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The Colorado River
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Joshua Trees
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Justin & his Mom
Day 36 (7/6/14): Phoenix, AZ | Temecula, CA
We wasted no time packing up this morning to try to beat the Arizona heat and headed out first thing. We had made the long drive from Arizona to California many times in the past when we visited Justinโs family in AZ while we were living in SoCal. Hopefully this was the last time weโll have to make that drive. After arriving in California, we set up camp in Temecula at the Pechanga RV Resort and then made a beeline to In-N-Out for a late lunch/early dinner.
In-N-Out, how I’ve missed you!!!
In-N-Out is one of my all-time favorite restaurants and foods, and I hadnโt eaten any in over a month. Such a tragedy! I used to eat In-N-Out at least once a week (if not more frequently). I was thrilled to finally partake in an animal-style cheeseburger with fries and extra spread! After we ate, we went back to our trailer to get settled in and relax. With all the driving we had been doing the past few days, we were tired and extremely sore. A late-night swim in the pool and a soak in the jacuzzi were the perfect remedies.
Hi from your fellow campers at Mountain View Resort in Utah (the Guacamole Batemans)
Been thinking about your AC problem.ย We are actually going to get an extra air conditioning unit installed on our RV next week, which is about the same size as yours.ย We figure in really high temperatures one AC unit is not enough and can’t keep up.ย Also, noticed you guys have a ball hitch.ย For safety-sake look into getting a sway bar that will help keep your trailer in your lane when there is too much in wind, or wobbling around when you change lanes etc, and keep your from rolling over.ย I think the AC is around $600 and sway bar maybe around $400.ย We don’t need a sway bar on our new trailer but had one for our old one and it worked very well!
When you lived in Vegas did you go to the Hash House a go go for the chicken and waffles.ย OMG that is good!
Happy, safe travels to you,
ย Karen Bateman
Hi Karen! It’s good to hear from you! Thanks again for the guacamole. ๐ Can’t wait to try the recipe!
As for the AC, I wish we had 2 units, but we actually figured out what the issues were. The sun was shining directly into the window in the door and onto the thermostat. Therefore, the thermostat was reading 99 degrees, but it wasn’t actually that hot in the trailer. We got a reflective cover for the window from an RV store, and that helped a lot with keeping the heat out (all the other windows are tinted except for that one). Also, we noticed that the air coming out of the AC wasn’t blowing as hard as it had initially been blowing. So we cleaned the filter for the AC in soapy water, which made a huge difference. In addition to those changes, we kept the windows closed and the awning out to block the sun. With all of those tweaks, the AC did much better! We’ve been learning so much along the way with our trailer! It’s definitely a learning process! Haha!
We actually do have sway bars and LOVE them! I agree, they work really well and help a lot with towing. The reason you didn’t see ours is because we didn’t feel like going through the trouble of putting them on when we moved sites across the way at the RV resort. We had to move sites 3 times while we were there because we kept extending our stay.
Awwww…Hash House a go go how I miss you. Yes, I’ve been there many times. So good! Their portions are huge! Unfortunately we didn’t get to go while we were in Vegas recently, but I definitely recommend going for breakfast. ๐
Hope you enjoyed the rest of your vacation! Safe travels to you both as well!
Best,
Briana