Now that we have the RV, it's time to put all those road trips I've planned, but haven't gone on, into reality.
Loaded up the RV and Cesar and I adventured out for what we were calling the WWTD First Annual Road Trip.
The RV worked perfectly, not just the driving part of it, but the fact that the only time we stopped was for gas. Everything else was done while on the move. Need a sandwich? Sure. Made it on the move. Need something to drink? Yep. Grabbed it on the move. Need to go to the bathroom? You get the point.
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| Cesar behind the wheel of the RV |
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| Not a ton to see on the drive |
We left Santa Clara at 8:30. Drove south on 101, crossed over at 152, then south on 5. We used the Waze app, and it showed the faster route in terms of time was to go around the LA area, through Barstow and Needles then drop down into the Phoenix area. So, that's what we took.
We dropped down into the Valley of the Sun around 8:00 p.m., and made our way to Gilbert where Jeff and his family live. We pulled into his driveway with the odometer reading 800.7 miles. That's a full day drive for sure, but it wasn't had. Cesar and I swapped driving every 300 miles or so, which really made it easy. Time wise it took just over 13 hours, so again, a full day for sure, but nothing too crazy.
We had a couple beers and watched the end of the Washington St. v USC game and saw Washington St. beat a top 5 team in Pullman for the first time ever, that was cool to see. Cesar and I crashed in the RV, which again worked out great.
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| Jeff &Todd |
Saturday we did what we usually did, went to youth sports, only this time it was in Arizona watching other kids. Even out of state, Saturdays seem to be reserved for kid sports. Then it was time to beat the nearly 100 degree heat and jump into Jeff's pool. They said it was a little cold for them, but I say they are soft, because it was very refreshing! Then we ventured over to TopGolf. I had heard plenty about it, but this was my first visit and it didn't disappoint. Plenty of good stories were told and plenty of bad swings were taken; but it was all for the fun.
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| Cesar & Todd |
Sunday was the main event, the reason we went down to watch the 49ers v Cardinals. We had purchased tickets off StubHub and that process was pretty easy. Got good tickets, lower level, about the 25 yard line, 14 rows up. But before the game we went to eat. The area surrounding the stadium is really well put together, tons of restaurants and open spaces. Lots of people moving around and partaking in all the things that the pregame festival atmosphere had to offer. We hit Yard House for a morning Mule, some food and to watch the early games. Then it was over to University of Phoenix Stadium, which was awesome if for only the fact when we walked in it was a relaxing 70 degrees with the dome roof closed.
Thanks to Cousin Steve we were able to get down on the field for pregame which is always a blast!
Couple notes about the stadium, wide open concourses, but no bars to have fans mingle at. No TVs along the walkways, so again, no need for fans to be anywhere but their seats. My guess was that about 25% of the stadium was 49er fans, so that was nice, and although we all wore our Niner gear, didn't get hassled at all.
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| Cesar & Todd, ready to play if needed |
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| On the field with Steve |
Thanks to Steve again, we found our way into the Club sections in the 200 level, and they are nothing compared to Levi's clubs. The seats themselves were nice, fully cushioned with a great view.
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| View from the tickets we got from StubHub, sec. 132, row 14 |
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| Club Seats for the 2nd half |
We watched eight FGs before the Cardinals used OT to get a TD and win the game. Bummer of a loss.
Steak dinner afterwards then back to Jeff's. It was still somewhat early, so Cesar and I thought it would be a great idea to jump in the RV and start our journey home, with a detour though Las Vegas. So we started the drive, filled up for gas and looked at the map. Only problem was that to get to Vegas we needed to take the highway we came in on, which was a two lane road, no lights, out in the desert, etc. So we made the decision to not go to Vegas and just jump on HWY 10 towards LA and get 300 miles closer to home for the final leg the next day. Turns out, that was a great decision.
The next day, after stopping at a rest stop and sleeping for a few hours, we woke up to the news that there was a mass shooting in Vegas. While we wouldn't have been there at the time of the shooting, not driving to a place that was in such chaos, even though we were unaware, turned out to be a good thing.
We made it back home, in under 13 hours, and only about 750 miles (the drive through Pasadena shaved 50 miles off, and a little time since we cruised through when there was very little traffic.).
It was a great road trip and hopefully one that turns into an annual event. I already can't wait to see the NFL schedule to see what trip might be next year. Maybe one that combines a big time college game. We'll have to wait and see.
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| Drinks at TopGolf |
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| Jeff, Todd, Cesar and Jason after the game |
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| Jeff, Cesar, some dude who crashed our photo, Todd & Jason |
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| First out of state road trip |
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