It’s been a while since we’ve blogged, because it has been a while since we’ve RV’ed — last summer’s trip to the Northeast, to be exact. We did take a (rare, non-RV) European river cruise in October, however … spending time in Prague, Czech Republic, then cruising seven days on the Danube River, then a few days in Budapest, Hungary. It was very enjoyable, but after 12 years of RV’ing, it was weird to be on somebody else’s itinerary, instead of our own.
In January, we took an easy weekend trip about an hour north of Phoenix, to Cave Creek Regional Park.
This was a special trip, because we took our 1-1/2-year-old grandson Graham, and his 3-1/2-year-old brother Connor, on their first RV trip without parents along. (The parents were pretty thrilled, too.)
CCRP is not far from city life, but a world apart in terms of tranquility and open skies. Hot air balloons frequently float above the surrounding open desert.
Horse stables, located within the park, take riders through the saguaro cacti and up small mountain peaks.
Popular hiking trails include some that end at the Nature Center, where the boys got to look at live snakes and touch a javelina pelt.
Most importantly, they got to be as dirty and sticky as humanly possible — a young person’s definition of heaven.
The park has water and electric hookups, plus a dump station. We were in Site 32. Some of the hiking trails lead right out from the campground, and some of the sites even have small horse corrals.
This weekend was certainly not “relaxing” but extremely enjoyable in its own special way. “Most” of the time…
Everyone played hard … and then crashed hard, when the sun went down. Especially Papa.
Back at home, we are now in the depths of wrapping up the details of our May-August 2025 RV trip plans. People are often shocked that we usually plan our trips a full year in advance. Here’s a recent article I wrote for RV America Magazine, exploring the benefits and drawbacks to “planning in advance” vs. “going with the flow.”
Our next trip in February will be five days in Kanab, Utah, for a small-ish hot air balloon festival. This time, only the older grandson Connor gets to go. We are encouraged by his excitement at taking yet another trip. Looks like somebody else has caught RV TRAVEL FEVER …. and he now even knows how to help dump the sewer! Score!
Those are two truly adorable little campers! Love the kid-size camp chairs and (tee-hee!) Papa’s concert! Tessa, I hope you and Philip enjoy every single one of your adventures in 2025! Plan on – or not! 😉