Thursday, June 5, 2014

The Summer Of A Thousand Trails

We purchased a Thousand Trails Zone Pass (offering a buy one zone, and get another zone for free) at the beginning of the year, knowing we would be traveling mostly in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada this year.  We stayed in the Wilderness Lakes Resort (Menifee, CA) and at Verde Valley (Cottonwood, AZ) this spring.  Those resorts/preserves lived up to my expectations for a Thousand Trails Resort.

This spring and summer we will be based out of our home in Snohomish, WA.  Our goal is to visit as many of the preserves in Washington and Oregon that we can.  If we enjoy those resorts, we will renew our membership, and possibly even upgrade.

My criteria includes clean sites (including those that are annually leased) with FHU, friendly staff, a pool is nice (although I have yet to go swimming when I had the opportunity, but I want the option), and I want to be away from the city, but not more than 20 miles from decent services.  I like green around me, and I prefer a decent view of trees and/or water.  Internet access (Millennium Wi-Fi) and DirecTV signals are important to me, but not necessarily a deal breaker on stays of less than a week.  I'm not a clubhouse type of person, so resort activities and programs don't interest me.

My husband and I are retired.  We do most of our "camping" (technically RVing - there's a difference in my mind) during the week.  It's more quiet for us old fogies so we have our  pick of sites, and it frees up spaces for families who can only make use of their memberships on the weekends.

I read lots of complaints about Thousand Trails resorts, especially after it's merge with Encore.  I am beginning to wonder if I am not as picky as others, or if it is just that I have a more realistic expectation of what to expect at a Thousand Trails resort.  I hope to provide some helpful reviews for those that might be interested.

First stop, Leavenworth, Washington.

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