Las Vegas, Nevada to Utah

We loaded up and hit the open road headed for Utah. Took awhile to leave since he had to find a truck stop and check the tire pressure. The monitor he installed indicated 80psi and it is supposed to be 100. The hand held radios were not acting right so we tried to fix it. For sure need a better system since I am following behind the bus for the first time. His trucker gps routes him different ways than my car gps. The fear of being in the middle of nowhere and having a 5yo as your co-pilot is a little concerning.. although he did say “Mama if you fall asleep I can take over driving”- thanks for the offer bud.

How we plan where to stop is probably not the best method but it works for us. Take destination (our next one is 24hrs away) pick drive amount per day usually around 5 hours. 8 hour + days have happened but it is so tiring in a bus. My fitbit acts like I broke a record climbing stairs before. Drive days mainly occur on the weekends due to his remote work during the weekdays. Do not forget to factor in the terrain because an 8 to 10% road grade in a 40ft bus in the dark nah I’m good skipping that unless last resort. I look at google maps and see if any cool stuff is along the way and aim for that as the parameters.

Made it to Escalate Utah because everyone wanted to see parts of the Grand Staircase. I am from Mississippi and had only made a quick drive through Utah pretty sure just one other time. I knew it was gorgeous but that was a big understatement.

The high elevation and asthma didn’t mix well leaving me to feel even more out of shape than I am lol. Tons of hikers would gather in the small restaurants and you overhear all the details from their day. Wish I could be more outdoorsy I’m working on it. Devils garden was a perfect trip for the kids low key and high impact complete with a pit toilet.

Blm land spots are plentiful in Escalante depending on the road grade and steepness getting off the dirt road path. We have underbay storage on our bluebird skoolie and that makes the clearance low. All of that mentioned prior was enough of a risk but add in impending thunderstorm -no thanks. Aaron is very risk adverse to begin with and we didn’t want to get stuck far out where a tow would be hard. Rolling in a new town at dusk it isn’t a wise to start venturing too far when you don’t have coordinates and know the lay of the land on the Blm. We stayed at a RV park within walking distance to restaurants and coffee shops. Drank a lot of coffee and beer and talked with people about all the cool places to explore. Encountered some weird alcohol laws like 4%abv on draft. Then the outfitter store had the tiniest liquor store that you had to pay in cash due to law. Had a good visit for a week quite the detox from all the lights and Postmates opportunities of Vegas.

We met some awesome owners of a RV park that let us stay for free. Stayed up late talking all about solar, batteries, and buses. Kids played, did school work, explored around the area while he worked during the day. Visited historic sites and cleaned the bus- that is a never-ending thing in 320sqft space. Love making contacts and hearing other about other peoples lives. Hit the road to Springville Utah to restock our supplies- Idk how the kids go through 2 rolls of tp a day ?? Must be the cheap stuff (Scotts seem to be the best for the composting toilet in my opinion)

2 Replies to “Las Vegas, Nevada to Utah”

  1. Truly and well designed and executed “home” build. So did i understand right? You have a complete Leaf Gen 2 battery pack in that storage compartment? Your 2? inverters are they 5000 or 6000 watts each or bigger? You have about 3200 watts of solar? I am in the design and parts obtaining phase of a rv build.

    1. Aaron Bockelie says: Reply

      It’s two 3kva inverters, and 2750 rated watts of solar panels. The leaf battery is the entire pack plus one extra module to make an even group.

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