RV Road Trippin’
San Diego -> Arches -> Grand Canyon -> Sedona -> Joshua Tree -> San Diego
The Ultimate RV Road Trip throughout the Southwest! I’ve been on a lot of road trips, but this was my first time road tripping in an RV! The RV added a whole other element of fun! Being able to stretch out on the couch, play card games, and have access to all our snacks while we were driving to our next destination was the best! Not to mention not having to worry about stopping to find a bathroom (as someone with a very small bladder this came in clutch for me!).
In 2020, a group of friends, Louie (the pup) and I piled into an RV for a 5 day road trip. This was a very spur of the moment decision for me to tag along and I’m so glad I did! We started out by driving all through the night from San Diego to Arches National Park in Utah (about an 11 hour drive). We made it just in time for sunrise and let me tell you it was so worth staying up all night!
After cooking some breakfast in the RV, we bundled up to hike the delicate arch trail. This was in December so it was COLD! I grew up in New Jersey, so I was accustomed to cold weather and snow, but after living in Florida for 4 years and then Southern California, I’m definitely a baby now when it comes to the cold! That being said, seeing the national park in the snow did not disappoint! We hiked through a dusting of snow to get there, which I loved because this was my first time seeing snow in a few years, the crowds were minimal, and the view was gorgeous!
The next day we drove to the Grand Canyon and it was a GRAND adventure! This was technically our third day of the trip since we left very late at night on day 1 and spent day 2 seeing Arches. I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon without snow, so maybe I’m biased, but with snow it is so pretty; I’m starting to think that national parks are just better with a layer of snow! We walked around the park and explored for a few hours before catching a spectacular sunset over the canyon. I don’t know about you but winter sunsets are my favorite - the colors always seem to show off!
Once we parked for the night, we made a campfire and hung out by the fire. The stars outside of the city were like nothing I’ve ever seen before (shoutout to Fabian for capturing the stars on his camera).
We woke up early the next morning to hike Devil’s Bridge in Sedona, Arizona. Despite us getting there early, the hike was pretty busy and we had to wait in line for a picture on the bridge. Again, I guess I’m more afraid of hikes than I realized because walking on the bridge freaked me out! Overall, the hike to the bridge was very scenic and we enjoyed ourselves.
Sunset was spent hiking Cathedral Rock in Sedona. If I’m being honest, I stayed in the RV during this hike. At the time I was in nursing school and had a final a few days away, so I needed to study. I 100% regret missing this hike! Everyone else in the group said this hike was their favorite part of the whole trip and with the pictures they showed me, I can see why!
I mean are you kidding me?? Look at these views! So if you’re ever in Sedona, do Cathedral Rock at sunset! After the day in Sedona and some fun hikes with amazing views, we drove to Joshua Tree National Park to spend the night. This was just a few hours from home for us, so we figured it was a great place to stop so we didn’t have to drive very far on our last day.
We spent the next morning exploring Joshua Tree and taking in the views. We were honestly all pretty beat from 5 days of driving and sharing such a small space with so many people, so we only stayed a short while before we piled back into the RV and made the journey home.
Thank you for reading!
P.S. Louie made himself right at home in the RV! :)
