Avoid SFO Airport at all costs!

While the long-term parking run by New South Parking at San Francisco Airport seems to be RV friendly, they are to be avoided at all costs.

When planning our trip from SFO, I checked their website and saw long-term parking was listed as “$18 max per 24 hours”. There was no indication that RVs would be charged more. I actually called their customer service number and was told by the woman who answered the call that there was specifically not an extra charge for oversized vehicles. With that information, I made my plans to park at the airport.

Upon arriving at SFO, I was directed by an attendant not to park in the RV lot because it was full of cars. Instead I was told to park in Lot D. At Lot D I was further directed to park at the farthest reaches of the lot near bus stop 15 which we did.

Upon checking out three weeks later, we were told that the amount on the ticket did not apply because we were in two spots and it would be double.  I was required to pay double what I should have, or more than if I had left my RV in an RV park with full hookups. 

I feel this overcharging  is unfair and a deceptive business practice. I now have to try and fight through the corporate paperwork to try and get my money back.

I just wanted to warn the RV community that if they need to fly out of Northern California, don't choose SFO if you can avoid it.

The Animals We Saw In Alaska

Wood Bison

Black Bear

Moose

Beaver

Black Bear with Cub

Geese

Red Squirrel

Moose and Calf

Ptarmigan

Pinca

Dall Sheep

Bull Moose

Marmot

Wild Horse

Deer

.

Slug

Chipmonk

Pretty Bird

Brown Bear (Grizzly) with cub

Humpback Whiles

Sea Otters

Star Fish

Porcupine

Bat

Sea Lions

More Whales

Herd of Wood Bison

Cedar Point

The last stop of our trip was at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky OH. This park is known as the roller coaster capital of the world, with some of the top thrill rides available anywhere.

While the lines for the top rides were more than an hour at times, we had a fun day riding something other than the RV!

Some of our favorite rides include:

Magnum XL-200 - It's the coaster by which all others are measured. Magnum broke records when it opened in 1989. This is a true coaster legend.

Mantis - Real coaster thrills, loops and speed - all while standing up! Mantis is one of the tallest and fastest stand-up coasters in the world.

Raptor - You can't help but notice Raptor, standing guard near the Main Entrance. This was the first ride of the day.

Top Thrill Dragster - Top Thrill Dragster is one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. Race 420 feet into the sky at speeds of 120 mph on the world's first "Strata Coaster." Patrick and Keegan waited to experience this impressive ride


Millennium Force - The park's 310-foot-tall steel screamer, Millennium Force, was the coaster that we all enjoyed together – even Michelle.

The park is not all coasters. We also enjoyed getting wet on Thunder Canyon and the Snake River Falls. Good thing it was a nice hot sunny day.

The other thing the kids enjoyed was sending their mother to the “Guess your age” booth and walking away with boatloads of prizes when no one was even close.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

We pulled in to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore just in time to see sunset over Lake Superior. The boys went swimming in the warm lake water.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Porter Point is not RV friendly, with a very narrow parking lot difficult to get in and out of and a gate that closes at dusk.

Madison, WI

Passing through Wisconsin, we made a quick stop at the home of Margaret Bowman, a friend of Michelle’s from high school.

Back to Minnesota

We made an unscheduled stop to meet the newest member of the family, Addison Elise Hubert, the beautiful daughter of Matt and Kelly.

We went to their home near the twin cities for a BBQ before a quick stop at Steve and Sue Clark’s in Cannon Falls and ending the night in Rochester at the Hanlys.

The next morning after breakfast at Pannekoeken Restaurant, we hit the road one more time.

Badlands National Park

We spend a night camping at Badlands National Park, a beautiful background for a restful stop.

We had dinner at the lodge and ran into some people we knew from church in Simsbury. I would not recommend the restaurant at all.

That night we attended a ranger talk on star gazing that was very interesting. It was a beautiful night and we sat out under the stars and watched a meteor shower into the wee hours. Keegan and Sara slept outside on the roof of the RV.

The next day, the temperatures dropped into the 50’s from a high of 115 the day before we arrived. It seems like cool wet weather has just been following us all summer.

We enjoyed a short hike on the Notch trail where the kids spend more time off trail climbing the rock structures than on the trail.

After that we hit the road and made it to Chamberland, SD to a campground on the Missouri River for the night before heading into Minnesota.

South Dakota

We reenter the USA on Montana and drove through Wyoming to get to Custer, South Dakota, another family favorite from our 2005 adventure.

We stopped at the Crazy Horse Monument and visited the native America museum.

We did a drive by of Mt Rushmore, but did not want to fit the crowds enough to stop.

The most interesting thing about South Dakota was “2010 Sturgis Bike Week” were thousands of motorcycles from around the country converge on this small town and enjoy a week of music and merriment. Everywhere you turned there were groups of bikers and places to buy biker clothing. The roads and highways were also crammed with bikers riding alone and in groups of up to 30 or 40 riders.