Lake Havasu City, AZ

3 03 2024

We’re back to one of our favorite places in Arizona, along the Colorado River near Lake Havasu.  We’re parked at River Island State Park, about 2 miles south of Parker Dam.  This section of the river is impounded by the Headgate Rock Dam, just north of Parker which creates Moovalya Lake. It’s not as deep as Lake Havasu, but there’s plenty of bass boats and jets skis that put in right at the campground boat ramp.

River Island State Park, Parker, AZ

River Island State Park

River Island State Park, Parker, AZ

River Island State Park, Site #20

We’re parked in site #20, a long pull-through with water and electric.  None of the sites have dump ports, but there’s a convenient and free station in the park. There are a total of 29 sites, 1-4 back up to a tall rock wall, #4 would be furthest from traffic noise on highway 95.  Sites 24-29 are also back-in sites that back up to the boat ramp and parking, but most of the host sites are along this row.  We visited this park last year, but this was our first time staying here.  All of the Arizona park along this stretch of the river offer beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and river, but we think River Island suffers from a bit more road noise than Cattail Cove where we stayed last year.

River Island State Park, Site #4

One of the “excursions” with the Montana Owners group from Quartzsite that we missed was a trip to the Blue Water Grill at the Blue Water Casino in Parker, AZ.  On Thursday we decided to check it out – the casino is nice, but the dining wasn’t optimal.  We also visited the Black Pearl Restaurant at Pirates Den which we think is much better – waterside outdoor dining, great service and tasty food and drinks!

Pirates Den, Parker, AZ

From River Island we moved to one of our favorite parks, The Islander in Lake Havasu city.  This is one of 3 RV parks on the island, after you pass over London Bridge, and we think the best of the 3.  All sites are full-hookup,  graveled with a concrete patio.  All “transient” sites are pull-through along a central row in the park while most others are back-in.  All outer rows are park models, but this separation insures you are never parked between park models which we dislike in other parks.

Islander Resort, Lake Havasu

Islander Resort, Premium Coach Sites

Havasu continues to impress us with excellent restaurant choices – again this year we enjoyed great times at the Boathouse Grill with it’s convenient location right outside the RV park.  We also returned to College Street Brewery, the off-grid Bunker Bar and La Vita Dolce Italian Bistro.  And, of course ordered pizza from Rosati’s Pizza – the best pizza on the island!

The Bunker Bar, Lake Havasu City, AZ

From Lake Havasu we’re bound for the eastern side of Phoenix in Apache Junction.  More from AJ…


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2024

We’re off to Quartzsite!

20 01 2024

After delaying our departure due to extreme cold and snow, we’re finally headed south to Albuquerque on January 17th.  Our first night is at American RV Resort, just west of downtown Albuquerque.  The park is about as expected, and suffers from highway noise from nearby I-40.  From Albuquerque we’re headed to the KOA Journey in Holbrook.  Some sites here have been upgraded to KOA Patio sites with privacy fences and pergolas. But, located just off of I-40, again this park suffers from constant road noise. Our final night on the road to Quartzsite is at Verde Ranch RV Resort in Camp Verde, AZ.  This is a favorite park of ours with all the amenities of a nice RV resort.  From Camp Verde we transit around Phoenix and make the relatively short trip over to Quartzsite.

Holbrook, AZ KOA Journey

As we did last year, we’re in Quartzsite to meet other members of the Montana Owners Group. With our arrival there are 25 rigs in the “Circling of the Montana’s”.  The big RV show opens the day after our arrival and on Sunday we spend a few hours perusing the booths of RV suppliers from all of the US and touring some of the most recent floorplans in Montana and Brinkley 5th wheels.  Flooding rains moved into the Quartzsite area, so outside activities were cancelled on Sunday evening and again on Monday.  On Tuesday we pack up our muddy equipment and head towards Palm Springs where we’ll spend the next 8 nights.

February/March, Arizona and California

This will mark our first Spring Trip that includes stops in California.  In addition to Palm Springs we’ll visit Temecula and San Diego.  More from California!


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The Islander RV Resort, Lake Havasu City

25 01 2022

Greetings from the home of London Bridge and beautiful beaches of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, AZ

We’re parked in site #160 alongside friends in site #161.  These are basic pull-through gravel sites with water, 30/50A power and a sewer port. These 50’x36’ sites offer plenty of room for the patio slab and picnic table on the door side.  Coaches have a bit of an advantage in these sites, with great views across Lake Havasu to the Chemehuevi Mountain Range in southeastern California.  These pull-through sites start at $63/night.  Premium lake view sites start from $74/night and the ultimate, Lake View Motor Home sites start at $118/night.

Islander Resort, Lake Havasu City, Lake View Motor Home Sites

The Islander claims “unsurpassed amenities”, and they do offer a lot, especially if you are a boater including landing beaches for small boats and pontoons, a private boat ramp, private dock and a fish cleaning station.  They also have a beautiful pool/hot tub, pickleball courts, cornhole boards, bocce ball, shuffleboard, a small putting green, an extensive library, and two laundry facilities.

Islander Resort, Lake Havasu City, Boat Ramp

Islander Resort, Lake Havasu City, Pool

Much to our disappointment, the resort offers no WiFi service.  While they claim to have a 2-hour “free” Public WiFi, I could find no where in the park that provided access to this network.  However, both T-Mobile and Version hot spots worked well from our site.  And, the nearby Boathouse Grill is a winner for snacks, cocktails or beers and full dinner selections.

There are two other RV parks “on the island”, Sam’s Beachcomber, and Crazy Horse Campground.  Both of these parks are older, less modern, and most sites are on sand versus the Islanders gravel with cement pads.  We weren’t convinced either of these other parks are a better value, and have already reserved time at The Islander for 2023!

Crazy Horse Campground, Lake Havasu City, AZ

Crazy Horse Campground, Lake Havasu City, AZ

Sam’s Beachcomber, Lake Havasu City, AZ

Sam’s Beachcomber, Lake Havasu City, AZ

On Friday afternoon, we explored the Bunker Bar, an off-road, solar powered bar, grill, game & music venue just north of Lake Havasu City.  With a chilly breeze, the crowd was light, but the food and entertainment was enjoyable.

The Bunker Bar, Lake Havasu City, AZ

The Bunker Bar, Lake Havasu City, AZ


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2022

Leaving Arizona

11 03 2021

After departing Apache Junction on March 8th, we’ve met friends for 3 nights at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  Organ Pipe has become a favorite for us and, while we won’t be able to enjoy crossing over into Mexico this year, it’s still a great place to stay.  A beautiful campground, dark skies, quiet nights and some great hiking trails!

Organ Pipe Cactus Desert View Trail HIke

Organ Pipe Cactus Alamo Canyon Trail HIke

From Organ Pipe Cactus we’re bound for Sierra Vista RV Park for 4 nights.  This is a well maintained park on the outskirts of town.  However, probably the tightest site we’ve ever maneuvered into! Services are good, and the town of Sierra Vista provides unique dining opportunities including German, Mexican and Korean  – said to be enhanced by the local military presence at Ft. Huachuca.

Sierra Vista RV Park, site #17

Sierra Vista is convenient to Bisbee and Tombstone, and we plan to visit both.  In Bisbee we enjoyed a few beers on the patio of the Old Bisbee Brewing Company before taking a 30 minute town tour.  The tour was on a gas powered golf cart, and, while interesting – it was very tough to hear over the roar of the small engine as it struggled up the steep hills of Bisbee.  As an alternative, next time we’d check out Lavender Jeep Tours located in the Cooper Queen Hotel.

Overlooking Bisbee, AZ

As you’d expect in Tombstone, the on-street gunfights are the most common attraction.  And, we purchased a ticket for the shootout at the OK Corral.  The Corral shootout was nothing spectacular and as expected Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers were killed, but at least we can say we did it!  More satisfying after all the street killings were the cold beers on the patio of the Tombstone Brewing Company. Even the surly bartender couldn’t depreciate the nice Stouts, Ales and IPA’s.

After departing Sierra Vista, we’re headed to Las Cruces, NM.  More from there…


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2021

Queen Mine RV Park, Bisbee, AZ

11 03 2020

The Quarry Bisbee

Bisbee is THE small city to see in Arizona, so says Trip Advisor and Frommers.  So, instead of heading directly east as normal, we’ve detoured south from Tucson, through Tombstone and are parked in site #5 at the Queen Mine RV Park in Bisbee, just a little over 7 miles north of the Mexican border.

The 25 sites of Queen Mine RV are laid out in a circle, 1 through about 8 are up against a hillside, the next 8 or so overlook the huge Lavender Pit and the remaining sites overlook Old Bisbee.  The driveway to the campground is steep, but didn’t require any special maneuvering for jacks or truck clearance.  An approach from the west on highway 80 is best for taller rigs.  Coming in from the east will require a transit of a the 13’5” Main Street underpass, or a U-turn past the Main Street exit allowing an approach from the west.  Departures to either direction avoid the underpass.

Queen Mine RV Park, Bisbee, AZ

Our $35/night rate included 30Amp electric, water, sewer, WiFi and cable TV.  All sites are capable of satellite reception so we didn’t try the cable TV.  We did use the park WiFi – sometime with good success, sometimes with poor.  The T-Mobile signal was weak, but provided enough hotspot service to satisfy light browsing and email.

Queen Mine RV Park, Bisbee, AZ

Bisbee itself is very reminiscent of one of the old Colorado mining cities such as Cripple Creek.  Built along the hills & gulches above the open pit copper mines, early stories tell of frequent flooding, inadequate sewage facilities, garbage in the streets and over 50 saloons, gambling halls and of course houses of prostitution.  In addition, the huge smelting operations completely de-forested the nearby hillsides which were soon covered in iron-colored tailings from the many mines in the areas.  It must have been a horrific sight!

Lavender Pit next to Old Bisbee, AZ – Google Earth

Today, Old Bisbee boasts hundreds of carefully renovated buildings, a thriving art/music/hospitality scene, wonderful summertime festivals and a cool, mountain location. With an amazing number of dining options, we opted for The Quarry Bisbee on Brewery Ave.  Within a 5 or 10 minute walk of the RV park, the Quarry provides great comfort plates such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, patty melts and of course big juicy burgers.  We enjoyed our night out and will probably return for another visit to explore more of Bisbee.  From here we’re headed into New Mexico – more from along I-10.

 


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On to Camp Verde

11 02 2020

Welcome to Arizona!

In the past we’ve talked about the rough, crumbling roads in Colorado and Texas.  Today we learned that Arizona highways (at least I-40 & I-17) are even worse.  After 2 nights parked within sight of I-40, we can vouch for the extremely heavy truck traffic on the route between Albuquerque & Flagstaff.  In the 10 mile corridor that we could see from the campground, there always seemed to be at least 40 or 50 trucks traveling east and west.  Obviously all of this heavy traffic is causing our already old, crumbling infrastructure to fail even faster.  Huge pot holes (some poorly patched, some just gaping holes) are encountered at nearly every bridge crossing and turn in the road.  Sometimes long stretches of washboard concrete patches shake everything inside the truck, and undoubtedly rearrange things inside the RV too.

We last visited Camp Verde in mid-February 2018 when we stayed at Rancho Verde RV Park and Dead Horse Ranch State Park.  This time we’re parked at a relatively new park (Aug’2019), Verde Ranch RV Resort.  The new facilities at Verde Ranch are beautiful – from the manicured doggie “rest-areas” to the modern club house, outdoor pool and hot tubs – and even the laundry rooms.  Set along the Verde River at the junction of I-17 and AZ 260, it’s very convenient to Camp Verde, Sedona and Cottonwood.  Even Prescott is less than an hour away.  Some of the best river-side sites suffer from some highway noise, but the majority of the sites are far enough away, or behind a noise blocking hill.  The resort offers premium & standard pull-throughs, deluxe end/back-ins and standard back-in sites and even covered sites for use in the hot Arizona summer.  Along the river are 3 pickle ball courts as well as a couple shuffle board courts and a children’s play area.  With leaves, this lush green river valley will be a beautiful backdrop to the resort.

We’re parked in site 127, a standard pull-through site on the far North end of the property.  Sites provide 20/30/50 Amp electrical, water, sewer and cable TV.  Most of the sites are level gravel, but a few are still dirt, awaiting the daily loads of gravel that arrive at the resort. In early February, temperatures during our 4 night visit ranged from downright chilly 25 (snow on the higher peaks around town) to fairly pleasant 65.

After a fun evening out in Prescott (thanks Janice & Steve) and a quick exploration of the local brewery, we’re once again headed south to Lake Pleasant Regional Park & Campground – just on the northwest corner of the Phoenix metro area.  More from Lake Pleasant…

 


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Meteor Crater & RV Park

9 02 2020

Meteor Crater

Somehow we’ve managed to bypass Meteor Crater Natural Landmark on two other trips through northern Arizona.  But, with routing directly from Albuquerque to Flagstaff, we opt to spend 2 nights at what will probably be just a tourist trap.

Meteor Crater is at I-40 exit 233, about 20 miles west of Winslow, AZ, 5 hours west of Albuquerque and 1 hour east of Flagstaff.

Arriving at the Meteor Crater RV Park, we’re pleasantly surprised.  Located just south of I-40, without the nearly constant SW wind, the park would probably suffer from the relentless interstate noise.  The park offers about 70 mostly pull-through level, graveled sites, full hookup as well as water/electric only.  Sites are nicely separated by islands of pine and tall poplar trees  (still without leaves), but not to the detriment of easy satellite placement.  Water faucets are heated, and along with a heated hose, we’re ready for any potential cold weather.  As it turns out, it is chilly, falling just below freezing both nights.  And, on the morning of our departure, even a trace of snow in the campground.

Other facilities at the park include a nicely stocked convenience store, a laundry room and free WiFi – which for the most part was OK, running along at about 5Mb – but at other times refusing to connect at all. There’s also a gas/diesel station where you receive a $.05/gallon park guest discount.

At the Meteor Crater Visitors Center, we receive a 10% discount as an RV park guest on the $20 entrance fees.  The facility includes a 4D “crater experience”, an 80 seat auditorium with a movie about the creation of the crater, many interactive exhibits, and of course a gift shop.  At the upper level of the center are both inside and outside viewing decks at the edge of the massive crater.  Estimated to have been created 50,000 years ago by a 150 foot wide meteor, the crater is 4000 feet wide, nearly 2.5 miles in circumference and initially over 550 or about 60 stories deep.

Meteor Crater

Meteor Crater

After being discovered in late 1800’s the initial assumption was that the crater was volcanic.  It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that the crater’s origin was discovered as an impact caused by a meteor.  This knowledge, couple with the craters extremely good preservation led NASA to train early moon astronauts here, acquainting them with soil collection methods at the moon’s very similar impact fields.

All in all, both the RV park and the Creator exhibits were enjoyable – we’d recommend to anyone with an interest in natural history.  From here we’re headed across to Flagstaff before turning south to Camp Verde.  More from there…


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Roper Lake State Park, Arizona

8 03 2018

Roper Lake State Park, Site #5

Good Morning from Cactus Flat, AZ.

We’re parked in Site #5 at Roper Lake State Park, about 6 miles south of Safford, AZ.  The 45 electric and water sites are organized around two loops set on the banks of 30 acre Roper Lake which is stocked with largemouth bass, bluegill, catfish and rainbow trout.  The Hacienda loop sites provide 20/30A electric, water, fire rings and picnic tables.  The Cottonwood loop provides 20/30/50A service, water, fire rings and covered picnic tables.  Each loop also has a shower house providing hot showers.  There is a dump station near the park entrance.

Roper Lake State Park and Mount Graham

The drive across from Gold Canyon into the Gila River Valley along Highway 60 was impressive, both the beautiful landscapes as well as the immense copper mines around Globe.  A note for high profile rigs:  The Arizona Department of Transportation lists the Queen Creek Tunnel at 22 feet.  Recent lighting improvements have reduced the headroom to 13’6”.  This low clearance is not currently noted by RV navigation software.

Set at the base of snow covered 10,720 foot Mount Graham, this area of the Gila River Valley has long been known for substantial artesian waters.  Within the park the state has constructed a large concrete and stone hot tub that is constantly refilled by 100 degree water.

Satellite reception is good, but only 2 PBS channels are on the OTA lineup.  The park offers free WiFi and actually works quite well.  And the T-Mobile network offers full 4G LTE cellular service.

We’ll be here at Roper Lake two nights, and then onto Las Cruces.  More from there…


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Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas, Gold Canyon, AZ

5 03 2018

Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas

Located adjacent to Canyon Vistas RV Resort is Superstition Views, a 55+ luxury casita community that steps up the traditional park model into beautiful stucco homes with carports, RV ports and rooftop entertainment spaces.  Most of these casitas are small, around 700 square feet and typically feature a great room and a bedroom.  The RV port is optional, but with full hookups your RV can act as your master bedroom or a second bedroom when guests arrive.  These are prebuilt park models with added custom garage, carport, rooftop patio, RV carport and/or a combination of all built to your specifications. Then they stucco over the park model & the custom build so that they appear to be a single permanent structure on the lot. The lots are larger than the typical park model lots, allowing space for an RV in addition to the park model. The larger lots combined with the stucco finish give the neighborhood a much more upscale look than your typical park model community. It’s unclear if you own or lease the site, but “lifestyle fees” run around $500 per month which include many resort amenities, but no utilities.

Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas

Superstition Views at Canyon Vistas


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Fun in Gilbert Heritage District

4 03 2018

Joyride Taco House, Gilbert, AZ

While visiting last year,  friends introduced us to the very hip Gilbert Heritage district, with dinner at Joyride Taco House.

This year we enjoyed two new restaurants in Gilbert, Barrio Queen and Whiskey Row.  “The Queen” touts authentic Mexico City dishes and one of the largest selections of Tequilas in Arizona.  At our table we enjoyed  carne asada, sonoran style and chili verde, especial de la casa.  Both were served in sizzling cast iron skillets with sides of rice and black beans. We can certainly vouch for excellent food – and they make a pretty fine margarita too.  We’ll be back.

Barrio Queen, Gilbert, AZ

Barrio Queen, Gilbert, AZ

After attending the Rockies/D-backs game, we decided to check out Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, just across the street from Barrio Queen.  As the afternoon turned into evening, the live band cranked up the volume, the large garage doors opened the play area to people strolling along Gilbert Rd and the place got a bit more rowdy.  The bar height tables that occupy the dance floor are wheeled out and the line dancing begins.  We enjoyed a few cocktails and appetizers including Grilled Whiskey Wings – not impressed, Southern Fries – to die for, and one order of each sliders: Meatball, American, Blue Cheese & Bacon and Tennessee Hot – most very good.

Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, Gilbert, AZ

Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, Gilbert, AZ


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