My Top Five

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

So we have spent the last two years selling our house in BC, moving to Ontario, fixing up a three season cottage to be a year round home (see that process HERE), and now have decided to sell it.

Our hope was to have our Ontario residence as a home base and travel in the winter but it hasn't worked out. The first winter we couldn't travel as we weren't allowed to leave the province for more than 30 days until we were residents for 6 months for our health care. The second winter we were still doing renovations and that second winter was brutal! So brutal in fact, we decided we can't bare to stay here another winter and listed the house for sale this Spring.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart" - Confucius

Selling leaves us with another choice...move back to BC to have a warmer winter home base for years when we can not travel for what ever reason or say to heck with a brick and motor house and just live life on the road. We home school our girls now so it wouldn't really affect them until later years and now would be as good as any of a time to try it. We loved our 4 1/2 month Maiden Voyage in 2011 and the travel bug is chattering away in my ear so I have been reminiscing about past travels and thinking about where we would go if we did hit the road this fall.

"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." - Rosalia de Castro

While reminiscing I stumbled upon THIS post entitled 'My Top Five' and since my thoughts seem to be all about past travels  lately I thought I'd do up my own top five list and continue down memory lane.

My top five places I have been to but want to go back to again are:

1) Assateague National Seashore (see our visit HERE):

me and my girls in front of a wild pony and her foal at Assateague National Seashore

I grew up reading the Marguerite Henry's books including Misty of Chincoteague and have always wanted to visit here since I was a child. We got to spend a few hours here one after noon as the camping spaces were all filled up. Since we normally boondock I had no idea you had to book so far in advance for a campsite.

Someday I will go back here again and I will capture more beautiful memories of these wonderful horses. My girls loved being able to be so close to them as well as they (and we) walked through the park. Hopefully when we have more time we may even get to see some on the beach.

2) Sedona (and nearby areas), Arizona (See my post HERE):

Both my husband and I loved Sedona. We loved the red rocks against the blue sky and there was really just something magical about the area.

Who wouldn't love camping for FREE near HERE.

Our actual camping spot had this same view in the background but looked more like this below from our vantage point.

Our girls were very young when we were there and we hope to do some exploring and hiking in and around Sedona the next time, now that they are older.

We did explore the Palatki Ruins and Slide Rock State Park nearby while in Sedona.

We also boondocked HERE which is still in the Coconino National Forest and is about 20-30 minutes (if my memory serves me correctly) away from Sedona but in the opposite direction (in case you don't want to take the back mountain entrance to get to the above mentioned camping place). We had no idea we were as close as we were, or we might have just stayed here. I am glad though that we got to see both places.

From here we visited Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well.

Sedona is one area I could spend a lot of time in walking more trails and soaking in all those beautiful red rock formations.

3) Goblin State Park (see my post HERE)
This was my children's favourite part of our trip I think. Sierra actually talks about it more than even visiting Walt Disney World.

They loved being able to climb on, over and through all the rock formations.

 I loved the camping area we boondocked at just a few minutes up the road and I'd love to go back and explore some of the trails I know are nearby.

5) Moab Area...we boondocked HERE.

I was able to do Delicate Arch quickly one night (it's at the end of the Goblin State park post above)

I had Aayla with me and it was windy and the trail was tricky carrying her part way so I left just before the sun set for both of our safety. I would love to go back again someday and stay for a full sunset.

The next day we all went to Arches National Park and did a little hiking but now that our girls are older I would love to go back and explore some more.

I also only did  a drive by for Canyonlands National Park as it was a rainy grey day and the girls were not interested in getting out of the truck this time so although we were here...I don't really feel like I was there!

5) The islands of Hawaii...I wasn't blogging when we went to Hawaii but it was amazing! We stayed in Oahu and travelled only this one island but loved each and every minute here. We rented a car as I knew I wanted to see as much of the island as we could...as many of these wonderful beaches as possible.

We stayed in Waikiki and had a good view of Diamond Head.

I Loved Hanuama Bay Nature Preserve

 We were able to see a couple sea turtles while snorkelling here.

We also got to see a couple sea turtles on turtle beach on the top of the island. I actually drove there twice as the first day there were no turtles present. I thought maybe I had my directions wrong. On our next try we saw three turtles in total. There are always people there guarding the turtles to make sure no one hurts them but you can get to within about 15 feet of them.

The Polynesian Cultural Centre was a lot of fun and the girls loved their outfits!

We tried swimming with dolphins and enjoyed the aquarium at Sea Life Park.

I hiked with the girls to Makapu`u Point Lighthouse... no one else wanted to go but I was determined...people thought I was crazy pushing a stroller up most of this trail with two young kids in it but it was oh so worth it!

Someday I will get back to these beaches... so my sand and surf loving girls and I can make some more glorious memories. Hopefully daddy will be able to join us longer too as at the time he could only meet us there for a couple days due to his work and we went with some friends instead for this trip.

Hawaii has some very beautiful sunsets too...

An expensive place to travel but one trip I loved and know I have to go back someday...if only we could get there by RV :)


As well here are 5 places on my bucket list...all involve places I want to capture in photos

1) I want to visit Stonehenge...someday and all the beautiful castles in that part of the world.

2) The Wave- one day I would love to win the lotto to be permitted to visit the Wave.

3) Zion National Park- we were short of time on our travels when wevisited the Grand Canyon (we boondocked HERE) and Bryce Canyon but skipped by Zion because our RV Truck combination is too long to go through the Carmel tunnel. Next time we are in the area we will be sure to allow more time to disconnect and explore. Yes it will be a bit extra gas to do a loop around to pick up the trailer but from everything I have read, every photo I have seen I know I have to visit here someday.

4) Joshua Tree National Park We haven't spent a lot of time in California and if we move back to the West coast that will definitely be easier to do. I hear so many mentions on other blogs about Joshua Tree that I can hardly wait to go.

5) Anywhere and everywhere else we haven't been...

What are your top five's? Care to share?

Have you heard of the Frugal RV Guides for boondocking?

I've spoken about Frugal RV guides in past posts as we had these four guides for our Maiden Voyage.

source Frugal RV

Since we purchased our guides they have written a California guide which had to be broken into two guides as the State was too vast to cram all the info into one guide. While purchasing these two guides the other day I noticed they had an affiliate program for recommending sales of their guides.

So please click on the link in my side bar or here:
 Click here to visit Frugal Shunpikers Guides to RV Boondocking.
and see what you think. If you are at all interested in boondocking in California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah or Arizona these guides will be a wealth of information and savings on camping fees. I haven't read through the California guides yet but if they are anything like the previous four they will be an amazing too!

Your purchase will benefit me but I offer it to you as an amazing resource. We have used these guides in the past. We will use them again in the future and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for wonderful bookdocking ideas as well as information on attractions, hikes etc near these boondocking areas.

Happy Travels everyone!

Don't forget to click the link to go to Frugal RV's site and learn more information about these wonderful guides. They also provide lots of other information on their site.

Lone Rock Camping REVIEW (Arizona/Utah)

Even though we had to pay for tonight it was only $10.00 for beach front Parking! Head North from Page on 89. You will pass the Dam, the marina and then you will pass the Welcome to Utah sign, and right after that you will see a small brown sign on the right hand side that says Lone Rock. Follow that into the pay station and then down to the beach.

Value 4.5/5
In order to enter Lone Rock Beach in the Glan Canyon Recreational Area you have to pay a $15 daily use fee but that price was covered by our America the Beautiful Pass. To camp here is $10.00 per night which includes RV dump and Water.

Site Quality 4/5
The beach is quite level but STAY ON the WET sand and rocky driving areas. You WILL get stuck in the  dry powdery sand. If you are at all unsure ask at the pay station or the camp host. (you can also camp on a hill over looking the lake if you don't want to chance the sand)

Facility Fun 5/5
There are hours and hours of fun nearby starting right at the lake! You can not launch a motorized boat from this beach, you must go to the marina just up the road. You can then drive your boat infront of your camping spo and keep it there. This lake is great for swimming, boating, fishing (if fishing here you must have an Arizona and a Utah fishing license as this lake is in both States) and more. You can also ride ATV's etc on the dunes surrounding the lake, go for a hike or take a trip into Page for many other adventurous activities or shopping etc. HorseshoeBend is also near by and worth the hike! (see my post HERE) You can also rent boats, canoes and jetskski's a he marina I believe.

Natural Surroundings 5/5
Beach, sand, sun, sand dunes, cliffs and canyons...Beautiful natural surroundings at the lake and nearby. As well the night sky is dark and full of many stars.

Bathrooms 4/5
The bathrooms are very clean and have a pay phone just outside. There are no showers but there are flush toilets in the main bathrooms. There are oher chemical toilets along the the beach.

Staff 5/5
This is the first year they have a camp host and he is super friendly. He drives around each evening saying hello to all the campers and was very helpful when we asked him quesions.

Location 5/5
This area is only a couple minutes from the main road, and about 10 minutes from Page. It is easy access and near many activities such as shopping (including Walmart), hiking, the marina, river rafting in the canyons, plane tours over Monument Valley and much more.

Overall 5/5
We really liked this spot and can see ourselves coming back here again if we are in this neck of the woods.

sign saying to turn to Lone Rock. Don't blink you might miss it

Lone Rock from the beach

Park back from the water but where the sand is still wet

The view beside us. Campers generally space themselves out

The skyline at dusk

Desert View Drive and onto Horseshoe Bend!

We left the Grand Canyon via Desert View Drive and got a neat little treat. We stopped at this view point:

We saw more elk on our way out

and in the distance saw a building up on the hill

so we drove on to see what it was. It was a neat little watch tower that you could climb up to the top. Sierra thought it was so fun!

The view from the tower

Our last look at he Grand Canyon...until next time...

From here we said goodbye to the Grand Canyon for the last time and headed towards Page Arizona and Horseshoe Bend.

I was very hot and really too difficult of a treck for the girls (if you have a 3 and a 4 year I don't recommend this treck). It's downhill on the way there but the path is deep sand and the sand was HOT.

The view of the bend from the distance

They did enjoy stacking stones



Found another HEART rock



but despite the whinning we finally made it to the look off and it was amazing!

Thankfully Daddy had enough energy to carry them both up the last bit of hill.

We then headed past Page to the Glen Canyon Recreation Area

to Lone Rock Beach to camp for the night. There is a $15 entrance fee to the park but it was free with our America the Beautiful Pass. To camp for the night it was $10.00. We paid for one night and headed straight for the beach. This is a wonderful spot for kids and adults. The water is fun for the girls and we enjoyed a peaceful evening sitting out under the stars, a nice warm night too!

Aayla was napping at this point and when I woke her up she was too groggy to enjoy the beach at this time.
We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and the night sky was amazing.



Ian pulling the pin on his Firestarter Vodka from Vegas




The night sky was beautiful

 Another beautiful day set in stone in our memories...

PS please pardon the lack of an occasional "t" in posts lately. My t on the laptop is acting up. I try o go back and fix them but I am sure some are slipping past me :)