This year we decided to return to some of our favorite Colorado State Parks that we’ve stayed in over the years. Reservations are nearly impossible to get at some of these more urban parks, but fortunately on exactly the 6 month reservation window, we were able to snag some great sites. Thanks P&D for the online help!
Our first stop is Cheyenne Mountain, just outside of Colorado Springs. In our list of “best”, this State Park certainly ranks in the top-10. Beautiful views over Colorado Springs, excellent facilities, well maintained sites and miles and miles of hiking trails. And, it’s literally about a mile to entrance of the NORAD Installation deep within Cheyenne Mountain made famous by movies such as StarGate and War Games.
Cheyenne Mountain State Park
NORAD from War Games
From Cheyenne Mountain we’re off to Mueller State Park. Not as close to Colorado Springs, but still very busy – this park is located in the western shadow of Pikes Peak, between Divide and Cripple Creek. Campsites are Mueller are uniquely placed along the top of 4 mountain ridges. With over 35 miles of trails in the park, there’s plenty of places to find beautiful scenery and wildlife.
Mueller State Park, site #35
Mueller State Park, site #40
Mueller State Park, site #41
After a great stay in Mueller, we’re off to Chatfield State Park outside of Denver. Not necessarily one of our favorites, but this park provides easy access to all things that Denver offers. Tonight it’s a Brother’s Osborn concert at Fiddlers Green.
Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre, Greenwood Village, CO
From Chatfield we’re headed home for a weekend, then up to Lake Pueblo State Park, then to Cheyenne for the 127th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, carnival and concerts. More from Cheyenne…
After departing from our 7 night stay in Heber City, UT, we’re bound for Moab, UT. We tried to stay at Dead Horse Point State Park, but as expected, no availability. We also discussed dry camping on BLM land – there’s plenty in the area. However, with forecast temps pushing into the 90’s each day, we opted for a 2 night stay at Sun Outdoors, Canyonland Gateway.
This park, along with 3 others in the Moab area are now under the Sun Outdoors name. Sun Outdoors is aggressively acquiring parks & resorts all over the US – their website boasts 162 locations everywhere from Colorado to South Carolina. This RV park looks relatively unchanged since our last visit several years ago, with about 70 sites, all gravel, most with full hookups. The park Wi-Fi runs along about 5Mb. It’s relatively easy to find open sky in the park and our StarLink provided 20Mb or better of streaming speeds.
Sun Outdoors, Canyonland Gateway, Moab, UT
Sun Outdoors, Canyonland Gateway, Moab, UT
Sun Outdoors, Canyonland Gateway, Moab, UT
After Moab we’re parked in Bayfield, CO at Outdoorsy Bayfield. This is another recent park acquisition by Outdoorsy RV Rental company who has recently become interested in not only the RV rental business but also the RV park business. So far, this RV park business appears to be fairly limited, but expected to grow. In job postings, the Outdoorsy Destination Network is expected to expand to 50 locations by 2025 and 200 locations by 2028. This small Bayfield park is set alongside Los Pinos River, with several ponds and meandering creeks through the property. There are plenty of old cottonwood trees that need trimming or removed, but overall the grounds are lush, green and beautiful.
Outdoorsy RV Sites
Outdoorsy Luxury Tent Camping
Outdoorsy Bayfield, Bayfield, CO
From Bayfield, it’s a relatively short trip over Wolf Creek Pass, across the San Luis Valley and over La Veta Pass on our way home. Our next trip is in a week, when we begin our “Best of Colorado State Parks” visits. More from Cheyenne Mountain State Park where our ‘best of” begins…
We last drove through Heber City back in 2016 while traveling between Jordanelle State Park and Vernal, UT. We’re currently parked in site #S9 at the Mountain Valley RV Resort. We’re here for the next 7 nights along with about 70 other Montana RV Owners for our annual Western Regional gathering. This is a beautiful park of about 100 sites separated into two “phases”, with families in Phase 1 and adults only in Phase 2. Peak rates (April-November) run from about $65 to $90 per night. Tack on sales tax and Utah transient room tax and you’re around $600 for our 7 night stay. But, the facilities here are some of the best we’ve seen. Two clubhouses with kitchen areas, beautiful fireplaces and pool tables. 3 outdoor pools & hot tubs. Pickleball courts, a kids playground and dog run areas. The sites are all concrete, internal roadways are blacktop and there are trees, bushes and flowers everywhere you look. With nearly daily rain showers while we’re here, everything is green, lush and in full bloom – gorgeous!
Mountain Valley RV Resort, Heber City, UT
Mountain Valley RV Resort, Heber City, UT
Mountain Valley RV Resort, Heber City, UT
Mountain Valley RV Resort, Heber City, UT
Mountain Valley RV Resort, Heber City, UT
Our Montana clan has plenty of plans for our 7 nights here, from almost daily Happy Hour/ Hors D’oeuvres gatherings, an afternoon onboard the Heber Valley Railroad, daily Poker Walks, craft projects, a “Baggie Breakfast” and a Bingo/Cookie Munch party. The RV resort is providing a Movie Night for us to enjoy, Keystone RV is bringing in dinner one night and we’ll conclude the week with a Pot Luck Dinner and White Elephant exchange. But, these gatherings are more than just the fun – we also exchange tons of information about our travels, our rigs, and of course the coolest new floorplans and features released by the RV industry.
Heber Valley Railroad
Heber Valley Railroad
Heber Valley Railroad
From Heber City we’re headed to Bayfield, CO to meet up with friends for a few nights and then home. Our first night out will be Sun Outdoors Canyonland Gateway RV park just north of Moab. More from there…
After a “close call” for Jury Duty, I’ve been released on Friday and we’re going to head out tomorrow. The annual Western Regional Montana Owners Club rally starts next Wednesday in Heber City. This is the same rally that we attended for the first time last June in Dolores, CO. We’ve also met a smaller group of Montana Owners in Quartzite in January.
Gunnison KOA Journey
We’re going to visit friends in Montrose, but decide that nearly 5 hours is just a bit too far, so our first night is at the KOA Journey in Gunnison. This campground is more like a city park, lush green lawns, big trees and even a small fishing lake. We’re parked in site #48 which provides a very long back-in site with full hookups right behind the office. This site isn’t bad, but if the “Kottage” is occupied, you’ll share your patio area for their parking. We’d prefer to be further around the circle, site # 26, 28 or 16, 18.
Moochdocking in Montrose
From Gunnison it’s a relatively easy trip over to Montrose, including passing through the US 50 Little Blue Creek Canyon Improvement Project. In Montrose we enjoyed Colorado Boy Pizza and Beers on Sunday evening. On Monday evening we joined additional friends for an informal dinner of wonderful salads, beans and hot-dogs! Thanks M&D for letting us “camp” in your front yard.!
Green River State Park, Green River, Utah
From Montrose we’re headed to Green River State Park. We’ve stayed at Green River before, and have always noted their mosquito problem apparently due to overwatering of the lush grass. It’s not as bad in previous years, but the little nuisances are still obnoxious when walking through the grass or just after sunset. We’re parked in site #26, basically just a wide spot in the main road with hookups on the wrong side. Not optimal, but it’ll work for a quick overnight. We’d also note that it appears that the park is adding 10-20 new tent sites and at least 1 new shower house.
After Green River, we’ll be in Mountain Valley RV Resort in Heber City for 7 nights. More from Heber City…
After 6 nights and almost 900 miles, we’ve finally departed Texas – it’s a big state!
We’re meeting friends at Conchas Lake State Park just north of Tucumcari, NM. Here, we’ll be 3 nights in site B-19, a nice private back-in site with lake views in the Bell Point campground. As has been common all across the west, and especially at this time of year, the water level at Conchas appears to be down around 20 feet since our last visit. However, after our departure, the lake saw over 12 feet of elevation gain in just 1 week as winter runoff and the monsoons started.
Lake Conchas State Park, New Mexico
Between Covid and low water levels the marina and other local business have all closed. The nearest restaurants are back in Tucumcari, which is about 40 minutes away. However, these cliff side campsites provide great views of the lake, sunrises, sunsets and are peacefully quiet this time of year. And, with a nearby T-Mobile tower, our internet access provides work and streaming speeds.
Santa Fe Skies RV Park, Santa Fe, New Mexico
From Conchas, we’re headed to Santa Fe, and one of our favorite RV parks, Santa Fe Skies. The park provides about 100 sites south of town with great night lights views out over Santa Fe. We’re parked in site W3, a long, level pull through right next to the office. Friends are backed in next to the doggie park in Yucca #5.
Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen, Santa Fe, New Mexico
While in Santa Fe we nearly always enjoy the festive atmosphere of the farmers market and of course the cold brews at the Second Street Brewery in the Railyard. This trip we also found two new restaurants. We loved Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen on Cordova Road known for their homestyle Mexican food and over 100 varieties of margaritas. And, enjoyed our visit to La Boca, an excellent Spanish tapas restaurant just off the main plaza in old town.
2023 Spring Road Trip
After 2 nights in Santa Fe, we’re headed home from the 2023 Spring Road Trip adventure. We’ve traveled over 4000 miles and spent 103 nights in 25 different parks and RV resorts. During a trip “timeout”, we traveled to South America, over 10,000 air miles and cruised nearly 4000 nautical miles on our voyage around Cape Horn, from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Puerto Valparaiso, Chile. We’ll be home for about 2 weeks before departing for the Montana Owners Rally in Heber City, UT. More from Utah!
After arriving on April 1st, our first full weekend on South Padre Island falls during Holy Week and as expected, the crowds are large and it becomes difficult to get into restaurants or even drive around the island. We’re once again parked in premium sites S19 & S20 at Isla Blanca park, with perfect views of the Brownsville Ship Channel and beyond to Boca Chica where SpaceX is building Starbase.
With “rumors” about a possible SpaceX launch within the next few weeks, we opt to take a trip over to Boca Chica so that we can see the progress including a fully stacked Starship. The total configuration is nearly 400 feet tall, the Super Heavy Booster at 230 feet and the Starship at 160 feet. The booster combines 33 Raptor engines to produce more thrust than any other rocket ever built. And with 6 additional Raptors under Starship, this vehicle is being developed to fly to the moon, mars and possibly beyond.
Spaceport, Boca Chica, TX, Starship on launch pad
During the first two weeks of our stay on the Island, friends from Colorado joined us for lots of fun meals, cocktails and exploring. We had a great time BnB, hope we can do it again! Perhaps the highlight of these first two weeks were two terrific birthday dinners. We celebrated on Friday night the 7th at a favorite, Dirty Al’s at Pelican Station, across the causeway bridge in Port Isabel. And then on 14th, we celebrated another birthday at Viva’s, a new restaurant on the Island in the location of the former Painted Marlin. The Painted Marlin was always one of our favorites, and happy to report that Viva (same owners as Yummies Bistro) didn’t disappoint.
Isla Blanca RV Park, South Padre Island, TX
SpaceX finally confirms a possible launch window on the morning of April 17th. Roads are closed, airspace is regulated and a notice to mariners is issued for an area off the coast of Texas and Mexico as well as another area off the coast of Hawaii. If all goes as planned, the Super Heavy Booster will burn for about 4 minutes, separate from the Starship and make a non-recoverable splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, Starship will continue around the globe, with a planned reentry and non-recoverable splashdown off the north coast of Hawaii. However, just a few minutes prior to launch, this attempt is scrapped due to some type of valve issue.
SpaceX facilities from Isla Blanca, South Padre Island, TX
4/20, launch day!
Elon Musk has joked about a “4/20” launch for days, perhaps he’ll get his wish. On the 19th, it’s official – roads, airspace and marine areas are all once again ordered closed as SpaceX sets a launch date of 4/20/23. This time, at 8:33AM, the massive rocket roars to life and begins it’s trip to orbit. We’re exactly 5.1 miles due north of the launch pad, and it seems to take forever for the sound to catch up with the sight we’re seeing. However, once it arrives, it’s an earth shaking rumble like nothing we’ve ever experienced. It’s not all that loud, but you can tell immediately the beast has awakened and is slowly climbing into the Texas sky.
The ascent appears to go as planned, and in fact we lose sight of the rocket as it reaches nearly 25 miles high. But, in the next moment, two huge explosions are visible as the onboard Flight Termination System detonates, resulting in the famous SpaceX euphemism, “Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly” or RUD. As it turns out, the rocket had started end over end cartwheeling, the booster unable to separate from the Starship and losing control of trajectory management. So, just 4 minutes into the flight of the largest rocket ever launched, it’s turned into a pile of rubble at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. But, this is the way at SpaceX, Starship #25 and Booster #9 are already on site, ready to be stacked and hurtled toward space in the coming months.
Margaritaville, LandShark Bar and Grill, South Padre Island, TX
In addition to the excitement created by SpaceX, we’ve enjoyed a few new restaurants and of course returned to old favorites. Perhaps the nicest new place is at the Margaritaville Beach Resort in the former Pearl Hotel. The restaurant menu is filled with classic Jimmy Buffet favorites, and sits at the back of the resort with great indoor and outdoor beach side dining. We also visited Longboard Bar & Grill several times – we think their food and selections are getting even better! Meatballs Café for pizza and other Italian specialties was consistently great, as was Yummies Bistro – “the place” on the island for breakfast!
Longboard Bar & Grill, South Padre Island, TX
It’s now April 30th and we’re packing up and will be returning to Harlingen for 3 nights. On Wednesday we’ll head north, via Laredo, Del Rio, Big Spring and Amarillo. From Amarillo we’re meeting friends at Lake Conchas State Park and will travel with them to Santa Fe before arriving home on the 14th. More from New Mexico!
After our amazing 12-night cruise around Cape Horn, South America, we’ve arrived back to Phoenix exhausted after nearly 30 hours of traveling since our disembarkation in Valparaiso, Chile. We originally had planned to depart Apache Junction on Friday. However, after the long travel day including weather delays at DFW, we opted for dinner, hot showers and sleep. But, with 4 hours of jet lag, we were up bright and early the next morning and ready to hit the road. Unfortunately the next leg of the trip will be very quick, and all the way across I-10 from Phoenix to San Antonio, TX, a total of 981 miles!
Our first night is at Stagecoach RV Ranch in Deming, NM – 329 miles completed. In Deming, the only place we’ve ever stayed is at Rock Hound State Park. However, with this quick overnight, we didn’t want to drive all the way out to Rock Hound. Stagecoach RV Ranch is a small park, about 3 miles south of town, and we hoped, far enough off of I-10 to prevent the all-night traffic noise. Indeed, the park was quiet and dark – we enjoyed our stay here. There is no fee for an overnight stay, but they asked for a $20 donation. The facilities look new, the 50A, water and dump were convenient. And, an added bonus, their WiFi ran along at about 6Mb, plenty of bandwidth for streaming a few hours of TV. All in all, a great value!
Stagecoach RV Ranch, Deming, NM
Our next night found us at the Van Horn RV Park in Van Horn, TX – 551 miles completed. We’ve been at this RV park many times, it’s about the only game in town, and there aren’t many other towns in this part of West Texas. The old park is just as run down as before. From our site at E8, the cactus garden is dry and dusty, the onsite-café is closed due to inspection violations, the pool is drained and the WiFi is intermittent at best. We did manage to find a 5Ghz signal that would run along about 11Mb, for 30 minutes or so, then it disconnected and reconnected a few seconds later.
Our next stop is at Junction, TX – 868 miles completed. We’re at the North Llano River RV park, in site 48A. We were last here in 2020, but didn’t manage to get a review in the blog. This former KOA park of about 75 sites occupies a nicely wooded area along the North Llano River. Tent sites at $25/night have the premium views, right next to the river. RV sites, from standard with full hookups at around $50 to premium sites with pergolas and grills range up to $95. Even though the park is only about a ½ mile away from I-10, the road noise isn’t a distraction. The Wifi here ran along at around 6Mb, plenty for TV streaming.
North Llano River RV Park, Junction, TX
After Junction, we continued east on I-10 until Kerrville, only about 60 miles west of San Antonio. However, wanting to avoid downtown San Antonio, we detour south through Kerrville, Bandera, Hondo and arrive at Choke Canyon State Park, on the banks of Choke Canyon Reservoir. During check-in we’re notified that they have a water main break, and there is no water in the campground. Fortunately we’re able to fill our fresh water tank at their maintenance facility and continue to our site, #114. This back-in site is located at the end of the campground loop, and very private being completely surrounded by trees. With no park WiFi, we’re relying on our T-Mobile hotspot service. Our 5G phone ran along at streamable speeds. However the 4G network was very slow when we arrived, but was working just fine by the next morning.
Choke Canyon State Park, Calliham, TX
From Choke Canyon, we’ll make the relatively short drive south to the Rio Grande Valley. We’ll be in Harlingen for 2 days before moving out to South Padre Island on April 1st. More from SPI…
After leaving Lake Havasu, we spent 2 weeks at Cocopah RV & Golf Resort in Yuma. We were here in Yuma last year and we’ve returned to take advantage of dental care across the border in Los Algodones, MX. The small town of Algodones, an easy walk across the border from California, has the worlds largest concentration of dentists, with over 350 offices! We found Simply Dental last year based on good reviews and have returned this year for additional services.
While dental care took priority, we once again enjoyed the burgers and brews at Prison Hill Brewery, the wonderful breakfast at Broken Yoke and a new find – El Charro Café – an excellent choice for great, homemade Mexican food!
The Superstition Mountains, Apache Junction, AZ
After a bit of a “challenging” departure from Yuma due to a hydraulic leak, we have arrived at Campground USA in Apache Junction, outside of Phoenix. Campground USA is a newer park in Apache Junction with construction starting just 3 years ago, and the pool/clubhouse complex just completed last year. It provides nice wide sites, pull-throughs for “short term” visitors and back-in sites for longer stays. The pool and hot tub area is very nice along with one pickleball court. The clubhouse seems a bit stark, but well equipped with a kitchen area, a TV area with comfy couches and chairs and several game tables. Off the main room is a billiards room and a workout room with a weight machine and a treadmill. The laundry is modern and clean, 6 washers, 6 dryers, but 3 washers were out of service. $2.00 each. There’s no park WiFi, but the connection available in the clubhouse runs along about 70MB. This is a nice park, the only downside being it’s proximity to Highway 60 which contributes to the constant background noise of traffic – worse in the early mornings as the commuters head toward downtown Phoenix.
Snow! Campground USA, Apache Junction, AZ
Campground USA, Apache Junction, AZ
With a delayed arrival in Apache Junction due to our hydraulic problem, we’ll only be here 1 week before parking the camper at friends and flying to South America for a 12 night cruise aboard the Celebrity Infinity. We’re back to the Phoenix area near the end of March when we’ll hit the road for Texas. More from there…
Ah, the Islander! After enjoying 1 week here last year, we opted for another 2 week stay this year. We think this is the nicest RV resort in the Lake Havasu area, and we really enjoy staying here. We’re once again parked in site #160, a long, fairly wide pull-through that offers limited views of Lake Havasu and the rugged Whipple Mountains across the lake in California.
The Islander, Lake Havasu City, Arizona
We like the fact that park models are separated from RV sites at the Islander. For the most part, outside rows are reserved for park models, premium long-term sites are on a small peninsula overlooking the marina and harbor and known as “knob hill”, or as some residents say, “snob hill”. The short-term sites are right in the middle of the park, from site 158 through about 170. There are also some back-in short term sites that exist in the 107-210 row. ISLANDER MAP
During our 2 week stay we once again visited some favorite restaurants: The Boat House Grill, right onsite at the Islander, College Street Brewery and the off-grid desert watering hole, the Bunker Bar.
The Bunker Bar, Lake Havasu City, AZ
We also found great pizza delivery from Rosati’s Pizza. So good, we ordered their food 3 times during our stay! We also explored Barley Brothers Brewery and Javelina Cantina, both overlooking the water next to London Bridge. And we spent an afternoon and evening at Rickety Cricket Taproom followed by dinner at the Martini Bay located inside the London Bridge Resort. Thanks to our “tour-guide” Reese who we met bartending at the Boat House Grill.
The Islander RV Resort, site #160
On Saturday the 4th of February, Lake Havasu hosted Winterfest on Main Street. Over 200 vendors lined the street, with plenty of food, beer and unique items for sale. This street fair was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
From a connectivity perspective, one of the downsides to the Islander is no WiFi. They claim some is available, but we’ve never found evidence of that. However, our Verizon Hotspot worked fine, running along around 20MB. And, T-Mobile service for either voice or data worked great. From Lake Havasu we’re headed south to Yuma and Cocopah Bend RV & Golf Resort. More from there…
We’re parked in pull-through site #46 at Cattail Cove State Park. Our site offers 30A electric and water. A dump station is located along the main entrance road. Cattail is about 25 miles north of Parker and about 15 miles south of Lake Havasu City, along the southern end of Lake Havasu. This park of 62 RV camp sites also includes a beautiful beach area, cactus garden, a boat launch and a some boat-in campsites. Verizon speeds run along at 27MB down and 14 MB up. This signal must come from cell towers across the river in California because our phones are showing Pacific time. Our antenna found no OTA TV signals.
Cattail Cove State Park, site #46
All sites along the main entrance road are pull-throughs, the majority of the other site are back-in. The best sites on this upper loop are the even number pull-throughs 36-50. 53 is a nice private corner site, however apparently reserved for traveling park rangers or contractors. For beach views and access, sites 1-5 are perfect, with #5 probably being the longest and best. On the lower loop, even numbered sites 6-20 are excellent since there are no sites directly behind.
Cattail Cove State Park, site #53
Cattail Cove State Park, site #1
Cattail Cove State Park, site #4
Cattail Cove State Park, site #5
Cattail Cove State Park, site #6
Cattail Cove State Park, site #20
During our stay we also visited River Island State Park, about 12 miles south of Cattail Cove and Buckskin Mountain State Park, another 2 miles south. Both of these parks are beautiful parks, along the river (versus Lake Havasu). However, we think Cattail Cove is the most private, quiet and scenic. While exploring these parks, we crossed the river at the city of Parker and drove through some of the RV resorts on the California side. All of these resorts seem old and rundown. We crossed back over into Arizona via the massive Parker Dam which impounds the nearly 45 mile long Lake Havasu.
River Island State Park
Buckskin Mountain State Park
Parker Dam, Lake Havasu, Arizona
From Cattail Cove we’re headed to The Islander Resort in Lake Havasu City. More from there…
Small Home - Big Yard 