Viva Las Vegas Trip Recap

Viva Las Vegas Trip Recap

Overview

Mileage: 2,475

Nights: 19

Desiel & Park Average Daily Cost: $84

 

Best Laid Plans

 

Ready, set, blast off for the new 2019 travel season. Boris, Natasha, Zoey, Ginny, and I hit the road. We were on a mission on our first trip, heading to Vegas to visit with family. The plan was to try and travel an hour or two longer daily and build in relaxation and downtime. We did increase our travel time between parks by approximately two hours. The downtime was not so good due to a variety of unexpected events. I will get into details in a bi

5 Hours Vs 7 Hours  

Typically we like a 5 hour drive day between stops. This would include, lunch, bathroom, and Zoey breaks. The Itinerary turned into a good 6 /12 to 7 hour drive day with all our stops. This proved to be a bit exhausting for me as the primary driver on certain legs of this Itinerary. A typical example of a bad 7-hour leg would be if our travel involved major metro travel as part of the trip. A good 7-hour segment included only highway, no major city traffic, etc. On our next itinerary, this will be taken into consideration.

Downtime 

Now for the downtime issues and problems. Coming out of the tunnel in downtown Mobile, AL an SUV pulled up beside us and began pointing at our rig and yelling. That in my book is never a good size and indeed it was not. We had a major tire blowout that did some serious damage to the rig. We spent a good 4 hours getting that straighten out before we could get back on our way. Here are the complete details of that experience: Blow Out

The damage included one of the Lippert Jacks in the rear of the rig. It was totally disabled and I soon found out that meant that I would now need to level the rig manually using 3 jacks. This called for a new learning curve that I was not getting right out the door. This created additional time delays as we tried to get moving from site to site. Couple that will yet another blow out when we arrived in Vegas and there you have the downtime eaters.

Itinerary

We visited some familiar 2018 locations for further exploration such as Milton, FL, Lafayette, LA, and San Antonio We added Tucson this trip and took a more southerly path across the county to Vegas. I will run down some our days trips this go around. You can find more by clicking on this page link – I-10 Corridor from our previous trip.

 

• The Woods RV and Campground – Montgomery, AL

  1. Overnite Stay
  2. Park Web Site; The Woods RV and Campground
  3. Overnight location – review coming
     • Quick on and off the I-65
     • Your choice of fast food locations within walking distance of the park.

• Gulf Pines KOA – Milton, FL

  1. 3 – Night Stay – Family Visit
  2. LTW – Park Review Gulf Pines KOA

Day Trip – Beaches, Attractions & Restaurants

 

Here are a few places I would highly recommend you visit while staying at this RV Park. You are approximately 45 mins from, Destin, Pensacola, or Navarre Beaches. Fort Walton or Navarre Beaches would be on my list from this Park due to the current construction going on in Destin. Pensacola Beach would be my third choice on the list due to city driving.

Now for a few fun things we did and of course in our case restaurants we visited.

Attractions

 

• • The National Naval Aviation Museum is the world’s largest Naval Aviation museum and one of the most-visited museums in the state of Florida. This museum is located in Pensacola and is about a 40 min ride from Gulf Pines RV park. Here are my take and some additional information about the museum.   Naval Aviation Museum 

The bonus here will be if the “Blue Angels” are in town and practicing. They fly from this Naval Base in the summer. Make time to see them.

 

 

 

Food

• • Joe Patti’s 524 South B Street Pensacola, FL 32502
    • A trip to Pensacola is not complete unless you stop by Joe Patti’s for some fresh seafood. This market has been around for decades and they are always packed. On your way back from the Navel Museum stop by Joe’s for your dinner seafood fixings. Joe’s is open 361 days a year and today you’ll find Frank Sr. at the helm. Sammy’s daughter Anna is in the wine shop, Aunt Arnetta is in the front office, great-grandson Michael in receiving, and sometimes you’ll see Joey stocking the shrimp display. You’ll always find them here sharing their philosophy with a staff of 100 plus.  MAP
      • Web Site:
  • Scooters Seafood Restaurant – 968 Highway 87, Navarre, FL 32566
    • Quick service and affordable fresh seafood. Fried and grilled dinners and sandwiches. They pack them in at this place so get there early for dinner. My favorite is the fried shrimp platter, with hush puppies, slaw, and cheese grits.  MAP
      • Web Site
  • Emerald Isle Seafood – 1260 S. Ferdon Blvd, Crestview, FL 32536
    • A short 35 min ride to the east from Milton and you’re in Crestville. This restaurant is family-run and serves straightforward seafood fare. I love their fish tacos. MAP

 

• Cajun Palms RV Resort – Breaux Bridge, LA

  • 2 – Night Stay
  • LTW – Updated Park Review Cajun Palms RV Resort

Day Trip – Attractions & Restaurants

 

• • Lake Martin, located in St. Martin Parish, What a treat this was to explore just a short distance from Cajun Palms Resort. This is a wildlife preserve and one of Louisiana’s swamplands. The swamplands are home to a few trails as well as many different kinds of animals such as herons, egrets, ibis, bullfrogs, cottonmouths, alligators, and coypu rats. Take your camera or phone, this is one of the most photographed spots in LA. Ginny and I choose to hike a bit around the lake and finish the rest of the lake via the truck. We did see a number of swamp tours that I would expect to take you to places that we could only catch a glimpse of.  MAP

 

• • The French Press -214 E Vermilion St Lafayette LA 70501  Is a casual dining restaurant holding the distinctions of being hailed as one of SAVEUR Magazine’s Top 100 Inspiring Places and Things to Eat and rated as one of Urban Spoon’s Top Breakfast Restaurants in the country, is located in downtown Lafayette, LA –  the heart of Cajun country. The restaurant, which offers brunch by day and fine dining by night, serves inventive versions of traditional Cajun and American cuisine with a focus on fresh, high-quality ingredients and rich flavors. James Beard-nominated, We stopped by on a Sunday midday and got seated right away. They are very busy at that time, I think we got lucky. I would recommend a reservation for a party any larger than two. Ginny loved the good vegetarian selection, me the chicken and waffles. MAP
    • Web site – The French Press

• • Pont Breaux Cajun Restaurant – 325 W Mills Ave, Breaux Bridge, LA 70517. I have to give this restaurant and music hall another shout-out. We arrived at Cajun Palms early in the evening after a tough day dealing with a blowout in Mobile. Being hungry and just plain tired we headed to Pont Breaux around 7 pm. The band was just getting started and the place was pretty full of the Friday nite regulars.

The food, service, and value have been great each time we visited. We both ordered our favorite, Shrimp En Brochette with Dirty Grits – Bacon wrapped shrimp, cajun sausage, trinity blend, and cheese grits with andouille cream reduction. MAP

 

 

• Travelers World RV Resort – San Antonio, TX

  1. 3 – Night Stay
  2. LTW – Park Review Travelers World RV Resort

Day Trips – Attractions & Restaurants

 

This was not our first rodeo in San Antonio. We visited the city last April at about the same time and fell in love with the city. This trip we were determined to explore another part of the city and attractions we missed the last go around. Check out our previous stay here: San Antonio

• • Brackenridge Park – 3700 N St Mary’s St, San Antonio, TX 78212 is a 343-acre public park in San Antonio, Texas, USA, on the city’s Broadway Corridor just north of downtown San Antonio. It was created in 1899 from land donated to the city by George Washington Brackenridge. Brackenridge Park also refers to the district of the city where the park is located. Here you will find the Botanical Gardens, Japanese Tea Garden, Zoo, and Witte Museum. Each of these is a must-see. We spend the entire day at the Gardens and went back the next to visit the Witte. If you have children, head to the Botanical Gardens, they have an entire portion of the park dedicated to them.  MAP     Web Site Brackenridge Park

• • Smoke Shack Smokehouse and Catering -3714 Broadway St, San Antonio, TX 78209 We stumbled onto this place as we made our way over to the Witte. I thought when in Texas get yourself some brisket and we did. Here is a review by Texas Monthly that says it all. MAP

 

• Van Horn RV Park – Van Horn, TX

  1. One Night
  2. New overnight location – review coming
  3. Park Web Site: Van Horn RV Park
  4. An on-site restaurant that serves a homestyle Breakfast and Dinner at a very reasonable price.

• Sentinel Peak RV Park – Tucson, AZ

  1. Two Nights
  2. LTW RV Park Review – Sentinal Peak RV Park
  3. Park Web Site: Sentinel Peak RV

• Tucson was a new destination for us that was recommended by a friend. We choose Sentinal Peak RV as it was located right off the highway and centrally positioned near the attractions we wanted to see.  Be warned this is an urban city location and might not be for everyone. With that said here were the highlights from our stop.

Day Trips – Attractions & Restaurants

 

• • Saguaro National Park – In one word “Amazing”. Saguaro is home to the nation’s largest cacti. The giant saguaro is the universal symbol of the American West. These majestic plants, found only in a small portion of the United States, are protected by Saguaro National Park, to the east and west of the modern city of Tucson. Here you have a chance to see these enormous cacti, silhouetted by the beauty of a magnificent desert sunset. Make time during the cool of the morning or evening and go. Web Site: Saguaro National Park

Ginny and I being the casual hikers managed the trails around the Bajada Scenic Loop with relative ease. There are plenty more for the avid hiker to explore.

• • Five Points Market and Restaurant – 756 S Stone Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701 Basically everything is right about this place. The room is attractive comfortable and there’s plenty of room between tables. Service is efficient and unobtrusive and that includes the maitre d station. The food is uniformly excellent with obvious care and attention made to details. The salad has a light dressing the salmon benedict I have was perfectly poached. Ginny had the Breakfast salad and loved every bite. The bread is high quality and the desserts looked delicious. Even the ice tea I had was excellent as is the coffee both hot or cold. MAP

 

• Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort – Las Vegas, NV

  1. Seven Nights
  2. LTW Park Review: Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort
  3. Park Web Site: Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort 

A note about Vegas, we traveled here to assist Ginny’s mom who is getting up there in age. We spent the majority of our time visiting with family and tackling jobs that needed to be done around her home. I even learned something new this trip, how to install carpet :). So I will not spend time reviewing all that you can do in Vegas and where you should plan to eat.