Destiny Phoenix RV Resort - Goodyear, AZ: We have stayed here before. It is just a few miles from where family lives, so it makes it very convenient. It is a little pricey for nightly or weekly stays, and caters primarily to long term snow birds. It's a very social place. I would recommend it for anyone who likes this type of camping. Next year, we will probably look at one of the county parks.
River Lodge RV Resort - Parker Dam, CA: We have been scoping this place out for years. You know how you build things up in your mind, and then the reality hits, and disappointment sinks in. Yep, well, that's what happened. Let me be clear. The place itself is fine. If you are a golfer, you will love it, because it has a 9 hole course, and it is free with your space rent. The RV sites are of decent size. We had excellent satellite reception for Direct TV. And the weather for the 9 days we were there was wonderful. Our huge problem is the total lack of cell and wifi service. That just did not work for us. We even purchased the park wifi package, but it was slow and sometimes it would not connect at all. For some people this might be okay, but for us, not so much. It is a very social group here among the long-term snowbirds. Everyone one was friendly, but we just did not fit in. It was too bad, because on the surface, this place ticked off most of our boxes. The other down size is that it is 12 miles into Parker - if you have a big ass truck that will not fit going over the Parker Dam Road.
Wilderness Lakes Thousand Trails - Menifee, CA: One of our favorite parks in the Thousand Trails system. Not sure why exactly. It is in the middle of some small farms as well as residential areas. There is close in shopping. The sites on the 30 amp side are of good size. There is a 50 amp area with sites a little closer together but not bad. If we were here in the summer and wanted to run AC units, we might consider that area. During this visit, we drove around, just exploring the area. We did take a trip up to the UC-Riverside Botanical gardens, which was a nice half day excursion. And the highlight was finally catching up with husband's aunt and uncle. We met for lunch and a stroll on the beach in Oceanside.
Orange Grove RV Park - Bakersfield, CA: I have read about this park for years, and we finally decided to give it a try. We left Menifee, CA and came up north on I-215 to I-15, cut off at Hwy 395, over to Hwy 58 and down into Bakersfield. The park is an easy exit off of 58, and I was surprised given how close we were that there was very little traffic noise. Check in was quick and easy. Orange trees by every site. You are free to pick the oranges and the park even provides the picking tools to reach the ones high up in the tree. The nightly cost came to about $40 and I thought was a fair price for FHUs, convenience and oranges! Unfortunately, I failed to take a photo of our site :(
