RV Park Mini Reviews for February 2018

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 :(

Trip Planning and Packing

Well, I'd love to say I was already packing for our upcoming (fingers crossed) trip down to some warmer weather.  I'm just thinking about packing.  Because I have taken up painting, I now have an easel, paints, brushes and canvases to pack.  I've learned from many full-timers that if you take along something new, you have to leave behind things you've taken before.

I will be leaving behind some books to start.  Considering I have most of my books on my iPad, this is not a big deal really.  What I will have to watch is the hard cover/paper back books I usually carry around on the subject of writing fiction.  Somehow, I have collected quite a few of these books over the years, and I admit that I have really written very little since I started writing a mystery a few years ago.

I've learned I don't need to pack around every DVD I might want to watch.  I have no problem finding things to watch on TV.  We have only camped in a few spots where we could not pick up a satellite signal, and most of those spots had campground provided cable.  We will probably bring along the Boardwalk Empire series that we have yet to watch, and my personal favorite, West Wing.

I have a tendency to bring more pots, pans and kitchen gadgets that I have ever needed.  And more canned goods than necessary.  Therefore, I will be giving serious consideration to watch what makes its way from the house into the rig.  Honestly, we mostly grill our meat and steam our veggies for dinner.  I'm not inclined to try new recipes while on the road.  Seriously, how many pans do I really need.  I hate to cook in general, and I really don't like cooking on the gas stove in the rig.  I save my experimenting for at home.  And speaking of new recipes and experimenting, I posted a recipe for turkey, bean and corn stuffed peppers on my other blog, www.betsysblahblahblog.blogspot.com  I thought it was great.  Nothing I would make on the road, but pretty tasty.

However, my biggest category for overpacking is clothing.  I have always packed for every conceivable situation or weather condition.  But, just like at home, I wear the same favorite clothes, and the rest just hang in the closet.  Do I really need to pack funeral appropriate clothes or fancy occasion clothes in the RV?  If I should find myself needing them, it makes much more sense just to go buy something to wear.  My "northern" clothes consist of jeans or sweats, a tee shirt and sweater with crocs or sneakers.  My "southern" clothes are shorts and a tee shirt, or a sun dress, with flip-flops.  One fleece jacket, one rain jacket, and one pair of rain boots should be more than enough for emergency weather situations.  My husband will be so excited if I can accomplish this.  If I start now to think about what I really want to wear, and plan accordingly, this should be a goal I can easily reach.

All of this because I've taken up painting.  And speaking of painting, here's my most recent:

I think I've come up with the main stops for our trip this spring.  We will be spending a week at the Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes in Menifee, CA.  Then off to the River Lodge Resort in Parker Dam, CA.  The next stop will be the Wine Ridge Resort in Pahrump, NV.  And we will wind up the trip at Thousand Trails Palm Springs (fingers crossed we will be able to get reservations there).

When you head south from Washington, anytime between November and April, you just never know what the weather will be like.  The Siskiyous could be clear and dry, or covered in snow.  We won't know which route south (I-5 or 101) we will use until we leave.  I have stopping points planned for each route.  Our trip back north will be toward the end of April.  I'm hoping we will be able to explore some of the Thousand Trails campgrounds in northern California and in Oregon on the way home.  At some point, you just have to get home.  For us, it will be because of property taxes and yard work.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go as planned.  I've rescheduled this trip so many times.  It's not yet January 31st, so as our agreement goes, I am not yet able to nag my husband about when he will get to working on putting the rig back together.  Sometimes I just have to check to make sure my tongue is not bleeding.  Here's to an on-time departure!

Last Days At Wilderness Lakes TT Park; On To River Breeze In Ehrenburg, AZ

Our last days at Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes in Menifee, California were quiet.  Our major outing was into Temecula to have lunch with some dear friends.  We arrived at 11:30am at Mimi's Cafe and we didn't leave until 3:30pm!  I think we stayed through a shift change, and we are pretty lucky they did not ask us to leave.  We hadn't seen these friends in about 5 years and it was hard to say goodbye.  It was only as we were leaving that I remembered to get Kim to take a picture of me with my good friends Evie and Karen.

The food was excellent, by the way.  I had the Corned Beef Hash Eggs Benedict.  I was so focused on my food that I didn't pay attention to what everyone else ordered.  Just before we left, we decided a share a dessert sampler - brownies a la mode, bread pudding, and apple crisp.  I think I had larger shares that everyone else, and you will not hear an apology from me for being a pig.  A burp, perhaps, but no apology!

The other highlight of the day was finding diesel fuel at the Circle K in Menifee for $3.89 a gallon!

After last night's unimpressive viewing of The Wolf Of Wall Street, we decided to watch American Hustle. I gotta say, I was not very impressive.  I think for Sunday night we will stick with The Amazing Race and The Mentalist.

We were up this morning and on the road at 9:45am - Kim is still puzzled how I managed to be 15 minutes ahead of schedule.  This rarely happens.  Perhaps it was magic!

Our drive to the River Breeze RV Park in Ehrenburg, AZ was an easy 176 miles.  The only "excitement" was a crazy dust/sand storm as we drove through the Palm Springs area.

It went from this:

to this is quite a hurry.

Once we started climbing up to the Chiriaco Summit, the wind let up.  The ride down into Arizona was easy, if not boring from a visual standpoint.

We pulled in to the River Breeze RV Park.  The office was closed by our site information was written on the white board outside the office.  I had reserved a specific spot down by the river and that's what we got.

With the weather in the high 70s/low 80s, we strolled down to the river for a few pictures.

Tomorrow we plan to drive up the Arizona side to Lake Havasu City, and then back down the California side, to check out the various campgrounds.  Kim's aunt and uncle had camped at the Lake Havasu State Park and it looked fabulous.

Lazy Day in Menifee, CA

My first thought today had been about a visit to the Motte Historical Museum but unfortunately both Kim and I had headaches that were not resolving as quickly as we would have liked.  The antique/old cars will have to wait for another time.

My response was to take some ibuprofen, put my feet up and just rest.  Kim's response was to go change the oil in the truck.  I'm going to guess that makes sense to men, but it was beyond me.

Eventually the headaches faded, and we went for a walk-about around the Thousand Trails Wilderness Lakes park.

Saw a few things of interest......

Had never seen a pitched roof on a slide out.

Nor had I seen this type of class C style rig.

And I thought these planters hanging off the pin box were cute.

We found the family pool and lounge, the putt-putt golf course, the pickle ball and shuffleboard courts and the adult lounge.  We decided to sit and enjoy the sunshine by the adult pool, and spotted this hawk's nest.

If I'd had my reading glasses on, instead of my sunglasses, I might have captured the hawk in the picture as well.  I guess my aim was off.

Then near the canals that run through the property, we saw this other nest.  Not sure which kind of birds these are, but I'm pretty sure I saw them swimming.

We fired up the barbecue and enjoyed some brussel sprouts, carrots and onions, tossed with olive oil and vinegar that were cooked in a foil packet, along with a nice rib eye steak for dinner.

Not being basketball fans, we opted for a movie - The Wolf of Wall Street.  Leonardo DiCaprio played the part well, but the movie itself was rather boring.  So much so that when the rig started shaking, I assumed it was Kim jiggling my chair to wake me up.  I looked over at him, and he was wearing a puzzled looked.  We both said, "Earthquake?"  Yep, a 5.3 in LaHabra - about 60 miles west from here.  Checking Facebook, I noticed Kim's aunt and uncle felt it where they are camping in the Palm Springs area.  Friends in Orange and San Diego counties felt it as well.  That's it for Friday's excitement.

Thousand Trails Wilderness Lake Park in Menifee, CA

Such a long day on Wednesday!  We left Champagne Lakes in Escondido about 11:15 am.  By 12:15 pm, we were backed into Space #560 here at Wilderness Lakes, hooked up to electric, slides out, furnitures arranged, dishes unpacked, when we realized we were hungry.

We scored on finding this site, as I think it was the last site that backed onto an open field where I have a view south to some hills and a pasture of horses.  We haven't walked the park yet so I don't know what other options there might have been, but I'm thrilled about where we are!

Okay, I have to admit, one of the first things I decided I liked about this park was it's proximity to services.  Within 10 minutes, we were able to find a Super Target, Kohls, Lowes, Michaels, and every kind of restaurant you could imagine.  We opted for Panera Bread as I had never eaten at one, and everyone I know who has, loves them.  I've been missing my normal amount of veggies that I enjoy at home where my kitchen is big enough to have 2-3 servings with dinner plus salad.  Therefore, my choice was a shrimp salad with mixed greens, gorgonzola, almonds, and garlic infused chickpeas and butter beans, plus a cup of pesto and veggies soup.   Yum!

Kim opted for an oriental chicken salad and half of a turkey bacon sandwich, with a smoothie.

The rest of Wednesday was spent finishing getting set up, getting the water hooked up and the sewer connected.  For whatever reason, our DirecTV dish has been giving us a challenge.  It seems to take a few hours to get the adjustments right.  I say it is operator error; Kim insists it is the dish itself.  Either way, it finally locked on the signal and I was able to watch most of Survivor.  I was a happy camper, although (spoiler alert) I missed what happened when one person quit.

Tomorrow may be a lazy day.  I always say that and then we end up going off to do something, so we will see.

And We Are Off To Menifee - Thousand Trials Wilderness Lakes

Yesterday was our last full day here at Champagne Lakes RV Park in Escondido, CA.  It's been a nice park and we've had a good stay.   There are so many good things to say about this park - it's easy on and off I-15, but the noise from the freeway is not bad.  You are only 20-30 minutes away from services, Walmart, Costco, restaurants, and casinos.  The park is immaculate.  I've enjoyed the trees and watching the birds around our site and around the fishing ponds (catch and release only).  The bathrooms and laundries are kept very clean.  There are a number of full time residents, but the owner makes sure everyone keeps their sites clean and maintained.  My only complaint is that we are down in a dip and the cellphone service can be spotty.  If you stay long enough, you find your "sweet spots" and head there to use the phones.  Our Millenicom Mi-Fi would drop us or be very slow to load throughout the day.  It's not the park's fault (they do offer Tengonet for a fee but I'm not sure it would be any better); I'm sure it has to do with cell tower placement.  We had a challenge getting our DirecTV satellite to fix on a signal, but eventually we got it running with no problem.  If you are not a "working from the rig full timer" and you can put up with the dropped signals, I think this is a great park.

Today we head up to Menifee, just east of Lake Elsinore.  We are relatively new Thousand Trail members, so we will go check out this park for a few days.  Not sure what we will find to do there, but since it is only about 45 miles from where we are, I'm thinking if nothing else, I may talk Kim into going back to the Pechanga Casino.  My plans initially were to spend some time lounging by the pool, but it looks like Southern California will be getting some welcomed rain showers.  It may be time to catch up on some Netflix House of Cards episodes or a movie or two.  Ain't retirement grand!