We took another step closer to So Cal today when we left Tucson in our rear-view monitor (LeuC does not have a rear view mirror since she does not have a rear window; instead she uses a camera to show what is behind her) and drove northwest to the Usery Mountains Regional Park, northeast of Mesa, Arizona. It was just a 2.5 hour drive which included a stop to pump in 57 gallons of diesel at the Pilot Triple J truck stop.
LeuC has been averaging about 8 to 9 miles a gallon which is not too bad since she is towing our little Fiat behind her. Towing a car drops one’s mileage by about 4 mpg due to the extra friction of its four wheels and added weight. We had been told that the Allegro Bus, with its 450 HP Cummings diesel engine, gets between 12 and 15 mpg without towing depending on how heavily loaded it is. Thus, we are getting the diesel mileage we had expected.
We have decided to stay put in this campsite for a few days, so we can rest up a bit before reaching So Cal. We will have one more stop, next to the AZ/CA border before we arrive at our Ronald W. Casper Wilderness Park near San Juan Capistrano in about a week.
So far, we have been able to find lots of campgrounds which can accommodate a 40 foot RV bus and which have electrical and water hookups. That was a concern to us before we started out. Initially, we had read that the bigger the RV, the fewer the options one has. However, as we did more research, we discovered that only 20% or so of the campgrounds around the US could not take us. So far, our length just has not been a significant issue regarding finding camping options. We just scratch our heads wondering why private RV parks are so popular. We have researched a number of them only to find that they typically cram the RVs in very close and yield little privacy. Plus, we have talked to a number of RVers who surprised us by saying that the people staying in RV parks tend not to be very social. I guess it is just a case of different strokes for different folks. I just prefer the more roomy and private camping sites that public campgrounds offer.
Here are some pictures of our campsite here at the Usery Mountains Regional Park just to show you what I mean regarding how much space we have.
Going Down The Road With The Leu's 