Whistle Stop California & Nevada RV Vacation Itinerary

Not too long a drive for your first day and hopefully you'll be at the Barstow/Calico KOA in time for tea.  Here you will be able to get used to your motorhome before setting off on tomorrow's drive to Disneyland!

You just want to get to Disneyland and should be there before lunch!  Go to www.disneyland.disney.go.com to find out everything that's available.  We suggest the Anaheim Harbor RV Park where you can check in, buy your Disney tickets and take the shuttle to Disneyland; it runs back and forth every 20 minutes.  It couldn't be easier to stay right in Mickey's back yard!

You'll probably spend most of today at Disneyland and where better to go next than a fabulous beach.  Malibu brings thoughts of romance and drama and our suggested campground, Malibu Beach RV Park certainly conjures up the magic for us.  You are now on the Pacific Coast Highway, which you will travel for the next few days, seeing the natural majesty of this wonderful coastal route.

Perhaps stop in Santa Barbara and walk the pathways through peaceful gardens at Old Mission Santa Barbara.  At Pismo Beach, paddle by rock arches and undulating kelp beds on guided kayak tours.  Stop at Morro Bay and visit Morro Bay Estuary, winter home for 70 bird species.   Then arrive at San Simeon State Park to overnight.

Explore miles of wave-thrashed coastline in possibly one of the most spectacular places in North America.  We suggest you stop on the way at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, just twelve miles south of your destination for tonight, to take in the beauty of a 60 foot waterfall cascading onto the beach.  Then get straight to the Big Sur Campground where we suggest you overnight.

Stop on the way at Carmel.  Tour the gardens and museums at San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission.  Take in the famous '17 Mile Drive', passing through Pebble Beach and then on around a spectacular coastline to Monterey.  Watch otters play at Cannery Row's Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Enjoy all the other attractions in the area where past and present alike influence the architecture, cuisine and attractions as Cannery Row continues to celebrate the unshakable spirit on which it was founded.  North of Monterey is Santa Cruz and we suggest you overnight at the end of this busy day at the Santa Cruz/Monterey KOA.

Set off early to spend as much time as you can in San Francisco - you may want more than the one night stay we show for all of our tours.  Check here for sightseeing ideas.

You will no doubt want to stop off at California's State Capital, Sacramento, en route to Lake Tahoe and our suggested campground, Historic Camp Richardson Resort & Marina, located on Lake Tahoe's Southwest Shore.  You'll have a great time at this year round resort where miles of sandy beaches await the summer visitor and where everything from Seadoo and power boat rentals, to paddle boat and kayaks are available.  Enjoy relaxing on the long stretch of beach, and enjoy the swimming area.  Still looking for ways to add excitement?  Try the Lake Tahoe Water-ski School, a sailing lesson, or soar 12,000 feet above the water while parasailing!

Almost 100 miles of today's journey will be on Hwy 395, classified as Historic Highway 395 and so famous they gave it it's own website!  It runs from Reno, Nevada in the north to Victorville, CA in the South.  Start early and be in Yosemite Village, in the heart of this amazing national park, in time for lunch.  There are several National Park campgrounds to choose from, and bookable online at www.recreation.gov.

Travel back along the Tioga Pass to Route 395 and then south to Bishop.  The limitless expanse surrounding Bishop will allow you the chance to find just the adventure you're looking for.  If you are a western buff, you will appreciate the historic murals found throughout Bishop, painted on the sides of buildings, which depict frontier life.  One of Bishop's favorite campsites is Browns, where you have a choice of three campgrounds. 

Just south of Bishop, head east into Nevada.  Pause at the town of Beatty, a picturesque desert town in the Amargosa River Valley, and the Nevada approach to Death Valley National Park, and, if you are travelling outside of the months where motorhomes are not allowed into the park (July & August), this is your opportunity to visit because Beatty is only a half-hour's drive from the valley floor.  Beatty is surrounded by 3 peaks: Bare Mountain, Sawtooth Mountain and Bullfrog Hills.  The town of Amargosa Valley, a small town on the southern Nevada-California border, is flanked by the Funeral Mountains to the west and Yucca Mountain and the Nellis Air Force Range to the east.  Interesting to today's travelers is that ancient campsites, dating back to the last Ice Age at least 10,000 years ago, suggest that an ancient people once inhabited this valley.  We suggest the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort be your home tonight for fun, Vegas style.

If you feel up to an early start, and you haven't visited before, a 1 hour 10 minute round trip will take you to Hoover Dam.  But don't forget, you have to return your vehicle, full of petrol, by 11:00am to the Las Vegas rv rental depot.