RV Park Mini-Reviews for December 2017

During December, we went from Nevada to Arizona to California.

After leaving Bullhead City, AZ, we drove to Pahrump, Nevada.

Pahrump, NV - Wine Ridge RV Park:  This is a nice, well kept RV Park, with great amenities and lots of activities.  We are not activity people, but there is plenty to do if you like that sort of thing.  Bonus points for the winery that is attached to the park! We spent our time in Pahrump relaxing and just driving around, checking things out.  I won $50 at Irene's Casino, which is a little hole in the wall place with a good restaurant, a bar and about 250 machines.  We also drove out to Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge, an oasis in the desert and worth the trip - we were only gone a few hours.  They have a nice visitors center and well informed rangers.

Las Vegas, NV - Thousand Trails Las Vegas:  There were a couple reasons we stopped here for a few days.  First was just to check it out.  People either love or hate this park, or they admit that it is primarily about location, location, location, plus a free place to park the rig if you are a Thousand Trails member.  I will say this is not my favorite, or even close to favorite park, but what it does have going for it, aside from the location aspect and as a base camp for exploring LV, is the staff.  All the rangers and staff we met were very friendly, helpful and on the job.  The spaces are tight, and it is basically a gravel parking lot, and not the type of campground where you sit outside and visit with people walking by.  

The other reason was to see our niece who lives in Summerlin, and whose sister was also visiting from Washington, so two nieces in one trip, and a wonderful late breakfast at the Peppermill.  That alone made the stay at this campground worthwhile!

Lake Havasu City, AZ - Lake Havasu State Park:  This park had been recommended to us over and over again.  Let's get the bad news out of the way first.  These sites are W and E only.  There is a dump station in the park.  Inconvenient, yes, but certainly doable.  We had a river front site, and the boats were loud.  I can't imagine what it is like during the summer.  Those are really minor gripes.  The big sites, the beautiful views, the trails, everything else - I loved this park and would highly recommend it.

Palm Desert, CA - Thousand Trails Palm Springs RV Resort:  Truth be told, we came to this resort expecting to just hate it.  It pretty much borders on a busy section of I-10 (there is a frontage road between the resort and the freeway).  Many reviews of this park were not good.  You will hear that the spaces are tight, it's too loud, there are trains at all hours, etc., etc., etc.  However, you will also hear the people that love it at this resort.  We decided to check it out for ourselves.  We were surprised how much we did like it.  There is a 50 amp section, which is tight - most spaces are between palm trees.  There is also a 30 amp section, where spots are much wider and bigger.  This is where we stayed.  There are lots of activities, again if you like that kind of thing.  While we were there, we encountered many friendly campers and people to chat with.  Kim joined in on the daily pool tournaments, and he really enjoyed that.  There are so many things to do and see around this area, even if you are not the touristy type - which describes us.  We did drive out to the Salton Sea, Slab City, East Jesus and through Joshua Tree National Park.  We will be going back because there was still so much we didn't do or see.  As Kim often reminds me, we are not on vacation.  We are full timing.  We don't have to do and see everything the first time there.  We know we will be back.

Menifee, CA - Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes:  This is a park where we had stayed about 7 years before.  At that time, there was a big dairy farm nearby, and you could smell it.  The dairy farm closed down but the property has remained agricultural, minus the smell.  We like this park.  The site spaces are big.  It is low key, but close to shopping.  Hemet, Temecula and Lake Elsinore are just 10-20 miles away plus you could easily make a visit to San Diego in a day trip.   This park also has plenty of activities, plus a separate family and adults only pool.  Kim enjoyed the daily pool tournaments here as well.  We have a number of friends in the area which is why we continue to come back.

RV Park Mini-Reviews for November 2017

Here are the parks where in stayed in November 2017.

Chehalis, WA - Thousand Trails:  Nice rural, forested park.  Space sites were good.

Creswell, OR - Meadowlark RV:  Right off I-5.  Traffic noise.  Employees with a great sense of humor.  Nothing special.

Grant's Pass, OR - Bridgeview RV:  Overnight spots are right on the river.  Other side of the river is the freeway, so there was noise.  Very nice and friendly owners/managers.  Easy on and off from freeway.  This was our view!

Redding, CA - JGW Park:  Stayed there before.  On the river.  Nice clean park.  Good laundry.  Easy on and off the freeway. With another great view!

Lodi, CA - Flag City RV:  Right off the freeway.  Nice clean park.  Manicured sites with cement pads.

Paicines, CA - San Benito Thousand Trails:  This park is out in the middle of nowhere -  about 15 miles from Hollister where there is major shopping, and then another 10 miles north is Gilroy.  What I loved about this park was the wildlife.  There are deer, fox, birds, and my favorite - the resident bobcat family!

Santa Barbara, CA - Rancho Oso Thousand Trails:  This Thousand Trails Park is also a working horse ranch, so one of the perks they offer is guided trail rides.  It is a rather nerve racking mile long drive into the park on a one lane road (once you turn off onto the park property from Paradise Road).  People either love or hate this park.  I was in the latter group, but that was mostly because cell, wifi and satellite service was iffy.  And the drive in terrified me.  That road is the reason there is an 11am check out and a 12pm check in time.

 Acton, CA - Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails:  Another rural park.  We were there during a time when it was warm and dry .... really dry and dusty.  Depending on where your site is within the park, you may or may not get cell, wifi or satellite.  Commuter trains and an occasional freight train run daily.  The park is showing its age, but the sales office and check in area have been updated.  The pool and clubhouse were fine.

Bullhead City, AZ - Mirage RV Park:  This is a nice residential park, with a few open spots for travelers.  The spaces are good sized, and paved.  Park residents are friendly.  We enjoyed our stay.  Lots of restaurant and shopping in Bullhead City.  We especially liked the Smith's Store for groceries.  Laughlin, NV with gambling and entertainment is on the other side of the Colorado River.  We took a side excursion to Oatman, AZ - about 40 miles.  This is an old ghost town where wild mules wander the streets.  It's a tourist thing, but worth the visit.

Thousand Trails, K/M Resorts, and RV Park Reviews

Yesterday I received a number of posts from a representative of K/M Resorts and other "anonymous" posters about an entry I had made a few years ago.  The posts I received yesterday addressed comments made from visitors to my blog about experiences with K/M Resorts as well as Thousand Trails resorts.

I'm not complaining as obviously people found their way to my blog and that is good.  (This blog is not a money earning venture - LOL - I think I have made about $25 total from two blogs since 2008.) What puzzles me is why they choose to respond to posts that are more than two years old.  They were not responding to me but to other people who had left comments.  It just struck me as odd.  Or were they just not paying attention to the dates.  Who knows, but I approved the posts because I like to share not only my own opinions, but those of others as well.  I just ask that the posts be kind and respectful.

Today I renewed our zone membership with Thousand Trails.  When we bought the TT Zone Pass last year, we took advantage of the "buy one zone, get one zone free" special.  When I called about renewing, I wanted to make sure I was getting the same deal.  I'm happy to say that I was.  We've looked at upgrading to a different plan.  I'm looking for those memberships that offer 2-3 weeks per park with no time out.  I'm not interested in the free rental cabins or free memberships with ROD or RPI.  We've been exploring buying a "used" membership.  If you are reading this and have any experience with it, I'd love to hear from you.  For this year anyway, our plans are to explore as many of the TT parks in Washington, Oregon, and California as we can.  If we enjoy those experiences, then maybe next year we will upgrade.  Time will tell.

For those K/M Resort fans, I'm thrilled for you if you like their parks.  I was not impressed, and there were not enough parks for the money I was paying.  That was the basis for my decision.  Nothing against K/M at all.  I just prefer the options that TT offered at this point.

Here's a question for you - When did RV Park Reviews change the look of their website?  I find it much more difficult to navigate now.  I'll get used to it, but sometimes I wonder if businesses shouldn't just hired "normal people" consultants to see what they like.  What seems like an improvement to a programmer may be just plain confusing for the normal Joe/Joanne.

And that's my two bits for the day.  Have a good one!