Small Home – Big Yard

Summer at the RV Ranch, Clifton, CO

After finalizing the loading of all of the “freezables” on Saturday we were on the road by about 1PM.  With high winds forecast across South Park, we opted for travels across I-70 west from Denver.  It was a fairly long day, arriving at the RV Ranch in Clifton, CO – just outside of Grand Junction – around 5PM.  Here we de-winterized and got set-up for our first night of the 2018 season.  We’re parked in site #94, a 30A, full hookup for around $45/night. Most of these 30A sites are back-to-back sites where your neighbor will be sharing the electric pedestal and water connections.  With street side slides, space will get pretty tight across this shared utility island.  PARK MAP Located just off of the I-70 business loop, this park suffers from quite a lot of road noise.  Perhaps in the summer with green trees, lush lawns and the swimming pool, this park would be more attractive.  But, in mid-February with lots of bare trees, brown grass, some upgrade construction and lots of noise – this park would be tough to prefer over one of the nearby Colorado River campgrounds, either Island Acres or Fruita Section.  The only reason we’re not at one of these parks is that it wasn’t clear if water is still turned off for winter.  With another high wind forecast we’re back on the road continuing west across I-70 by about 10AM on Sunday.  By 11AM the winds are starting to get gusty from the south, but fortunately we’re now headed nearly due south to Moab, UT.

This morning, Presidents Day Monday, finds us parked at Spanish Trail RV Park just south of Moab, UT.  Located along highway 191, the park is convenient but like the RV Ranch, suffers from some road noise.  They are in process of major upgrades at this park with a new pool, hot tub and shower house building.  Again, with summer shade from dozens of trees, a small patch of lawn at each site and the soon to be completed pool, this will be a great place to home-base for Moab explorations.  Last time in the Moab area we spent time at the Portal RV Resort north of town. This park wasn’t certain to be open by this weekend, so we bypassed it.  However, set back a bit further from the highway, Portal RV is a quieter and also has a new pool and hot tub opening for the 2018 season. With excellent WiFi (4M down, Roku streaming works great) and even faster T-Mobile cellular service )12M/5M), this park provides a good “work” environment for us.  And, at only $35/night plus taxes, it’s a good value.  Summer rates start at $49/night and go as high as $69/night for larger sites on Holiday weekends.

Summer in Moab’s Spanish Travel RV park

Spanish Trail RV Park, Moab

Spanish Trail RV Park, Moab

The morning news from Salt Lake City shows freeways clogged with traffic fighting heavy snow and icy conditions.  Here, just 200 miles to the SE, we’re seeing temps in the low 50’s, cloudy with sun breaks and some light rain.  However, the forecast is for dropping temps this afternoon and evening with the possibility of a trace of snow and lows around 20 degrees.  At this point our plan is to move south to Monument Valley tomorrow.  But, with the potential of snow or icy roads, we’ll see what morning brings.