Home from Sequim

10 07 2024

We’ve crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and left the Olympic Peninsula, skirted south of the greater Seattle area and joined I-90 beginning our trip home. Our first night is in Easton, WA. Located at over 2000’ in elevation, Easton is surrounded by natural beauty of tall pine forests and picturesque lakes. We’re parked at Silver Ridge Ranch. With about 45 sites well spread out in the tall pines many of these sites provide horse corrals. Offering 30A and a water connection, site #11 is nice and private, but #10 would give better StarLink access.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge and Mt. Rainier

Silver Ridge Ranch, Easton, WA

The next day, we’re parked at the Pendleton KOA in Pendleton, Oregon. This is perhaps the tightest campground we’ve ever been in. Centrally located back-in sites (we’re in #37) are short and narrow. We pushed back all the way to the neighbors ladder, and are barely able to get steps down next to the truck. If there’s a next visit here, it needs to be one of the sites along the south side, #73-101. We had an excellent dinner at Mac’s Bar & Grill in downtown Pendleton, and would highly recommend any of the menu items here.

Pendleton KOA, Pendleton, OR

On Sunday, after a long day, we’ve arrived in Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho and are parked at the Three Island Crossing State Park. This is a beautiful state park! Nestled into a large bend in the Snake River, this Oregon Trail river crossing was famous for it’s treacherous and dangerous waters. Until, in 1869, when Gustavus Glenn opened his ferry service. Primarily for moving freight to and from the railroad town of Glenn’s Ferry, this ferry service was also used by emigrants. We’re parked in site #67 in the lower loop. Most of these lower sites are surrounded by tall cottonwood trees which give some relief in the 100+ degree heat “dome” that the western US is experiencing. Whew…it’s hot!

Three Island Crossing State Park, Glenn’s Ferry, ID

After relaxing an extra day in Glenn’s Ferry, we’re parked at Riverside RV Report in South Weber, UT – just a few miles north of Salt Lake City. This is a very nice, new park. However, located right next to Interstate 84, it suffers from a lot of highway noise. From South Weber we’re bound for a quick overnight at Green River, UT. We usually stay at the State Park here, but this time decided on the nearby KOA. This park is a typical “Journey”, offering a quiet place to park for a night or two. With temps again pushing into the triple digits, we’re especially pleased to have 50A service along with full hookups.

Riverside RV Resort, South Weber, UT

We’re looking forward to cooler Colorado mountain temperatures as we arrive to Mountain Landing Suites & RV Park in Pagosa Springs. Located at over 7000’ elevation, daytime highs are still warm, into the 90’s, but evenings cool quickly into the 40’s or 50’s! This is a very nice park located a few miles west of downtown! One of our favorite restaurants in Pagosa is Riff Raff on the Rio – a brewery of craft beers with some excellent food choices too.

Mountain Landing Suites & RV Park in Pagosa Springs, CO

After 42 nights on the road, and about 3200 miles, we’re ready for some downtime at home. But, only for 2 weeks – on July 20th we’ll depart for our annual visit to Cheyenne Frontier Days. More from Cheyenne!

 


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Categories : Summer Camping 2024

Spring Road Trip – off to Quartzsite, AZ

20 01 2023

Butterfield RV Resort & Observatory, Benson, AZ

We’ve opted for a due south departure route this year after cold temps followed us all the way through the south western corner of Colorado and into central Arizona last year.  Our first night will be in Albuquerque, at the Isleta Lakes and RV Park.  We’ve stayed at this park in the past.  It’s quite convenient to I-25 and nestled in a nice park-like setting around a couple of lakes along the banks of the Rio Grande.  There are two improvements to note since we last stayed here in 2019.  All of the sites to the south have been converted from their former gravel base to concrete pads next to a nice pavers patio.  The northern sites are still pull-through gravel sites.  Pick your option at check-in.  When we stayed the concrete sites were a $5 premium.  Also of note, the parks WiFi system has been upgraded.  Our tests showed the download runs along at well over 100MB and the upload at about 30MB.

From Albuquerque we’re headed to Las Cruces and one of our favorite KOA parks.  We’ve been in this park many times, however since new owners took over a few years ago, major improvements are always apparent.  Currently they are working on several new premium sites just at the front of the park.  They have also upgraded the office/store area and the WiFi.  They offer both a 2G network which struggles along from our site #19, and a 5G network which is capable of video streaming.  We spent 2 nights in Las Cruces, but wind and rain kept us indoors for much of our stay.

Butterfield RV Resort & Observatory, Benson, AZ

Leaving Las Cruces, we’re bound for Benson, AZ exactly 220 miles straight across I-10.  Setting the truck’s navigation system it says “make a left turn in 220 miles”!  We’re at the  Butterfield RV Resort in Benson, AZ.  This park reminds me of the Lost Alaskan in Alpine, TX with a pine tree at nearly every site.  Also rather unique, they have an observatory.  Unfortunately with heavy cloud cover, it’s doubtful that they will open this evening. Butterfield RV provide a outsourced WiFi service.  The “free service” includes up to 1MB speed and 2GB limit in any 7 day period.  The upgrade to “premium access” is $30/month, for a single device, regardless of how long you are staying.  In testing, we found 2.4 MB down and .8MB up.  And, with a single night stay, we didn’t come close to the 2GB limit. So, all in all it worked fine.  Most likely we’d have to upgrade to more bandwidth on a stay over 2 or 3 days.

Palm Creek RV Resort, Casa Grande, AZ

From Benson we’re headed to Casa Grande.  Before checking into Palm Creek RV Resort, we opt for a truck and trailer wash as the local Blue Beacon.  For around $65, Blue Beacon does a great job of washing the winter grime off the vehicles and their RainX treatment seems to help keep things clean.  We first visited Palm Creek in 2021 and met friends that were staying here last year.  We’re parked in site #56, a back-in on the far east side of the park overlooking a field and I-10.  This is a huge resort with over 2200 sites – both RVs and Park Models.  There’s nearly any amenity you can imagine, which come at a price – per night rates are from $87-$92.  Add about 11% sales and hotel tax and these sites are pushing close to $100/night.  However, book a month and the rates fall to around $45/night.  We enjoyed our 2 nights at Palm Creek, but to really take advantage of the amenities, you need to spend more time here.

Circling of the Montana’s – Quartzsite, AZ (Aerial Photography courtesy Scott Zenonian)

From Casa Grande we’re headed to our first scheduled destination, Quartzsite, AZ.  We’re meeting other members of the Montana Owners Club on the Plomosa Road BLM land for 4 days of dry camping.  At full capacity, our “Montana Circle” contained 21 rigs.  We enjoyed daily happy hours, a pot-luck dinner on Sunday and great conversation, knowledge sharing and fun around the campfire.  On Saturday we joined a group trip to the Desert Bar, aka Nellie E Saloon located just north of Parker, AZ.  This off-grid bar and grill is similar to the Bunker Bar we visited last year near Lake Havasu City.

Nellie E Saloon, Parker, AZ

Nellie E Saloon, Parker, AZ

On Sunday we walked the “big tent”, talked with some of the vendors on the midway and viewed a few new-model Montana and Grand Design RV’s.  From Quartzsite we’re headed to Havasu…more from there.


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2023

The Montana Loop – 2 KOA’s

25 06 2021

Livingston KOA Site Map

We’re parked at site #39 at the Livingston (Montana) KOA.  We’re here for an impromptu family reunion, with other family members in site #38, Cabins K13 & K21.  We also have other family members at two private AirBnB type residences.  Our sites are part of brand new upgraded deluxe patio sites.  #38, 39 & 41 will provide 3 sites, each with a large patio, a firepit and very nice patio furniture.  These 3 sites share a common area between them, thus making them perfect for groups traveling together.  The “outside” sites, #37, 40 & 41 would make great overflow sites for a larger group.  Or, since configured back-to-back, allow plenty of privacy if not part of the group.  The only down side to these new sites is a lack of shade.  All of the large trees were removed to make room for these 6 sites.  Other very nice sites are along the river, #58-#61 and these offer better shade.  Overall the park is in great shape, the staff is friendly and attentive.  We’d come back!

The 5 days in southern Montana are busy and a bit of a blur.  Some of the group spends time touring Yellowstone.  Others hit the golf links, some go horse back riding and some of us tour around Gardiner, the northern entrance to Yellowstone.  Needless to say, at the end of June, the area is very busy with RV and other Yellowstone visitors. We also spend an afternoon at the OTO Dude Ranch near Gardiner.

Sheridan KOA Site Map

After our stay in Livingston, we’re headed to Sheridan, WY and yet another KOA.  We’re parked in site #A25, on the far south side of the park.  Sites A21-A26 are tight, both in terms of nearby trees and actual site width.  Even though this is pull through site, trees at both ends make entry difficult.  We’re advised we should probably plan to back-in.  And, these sites are the closest to I-90, a very busy trucking corridor running from Seattle on the west to Boston on the east.

However, we’re happy to have this site.  Due to a big veterans rally in Sheridan, everything is sold out.  We initially were reserved for a dry-camping, “overflow” site in the tent section.  Fortunately with a cancellation we ended up grabbing this full hookup site.  With temps pushing triple digits, it’s great to have both AC’s running which helps drown out the traffic noise.

After a quick overnight in Livingston, we’re headed to Cheyenne, WY.  More from there…


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The Montana Loop – Carbondale/Crystal River KOA

11 06 2021

We’re parked in the KOA campground near Carbondale, CO along the beautiful Crystal River.  This park occupies a green oasis between Carbondale and historic Redstone along highway 133.  Along with friends, we’re in sites #12 & 13, in an awning to awning configuration.  These premium sites offer 50A electric service, water, and cement pads along with metal tables and chairs.

This location is a bit too far out of Carbondale for much on the cellular network, and unfortunately the campground WiFi is finicky at best.  But, it’s a fun area to explore – we’d probably come back.

Carbondale KOA Patio River Front Deluxe Site

Carbondale KOA Site Map


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Hanging out in San Antonio

28 03 2021

Good morning from site G2 at the KOA in San Antonio!

 

San Antonio KOA – Site G2

We like this campground – nestled in a gentle bend in Salado Creek, this KOA offers around 300 sites in a nicely wooded location just east of downtown San Antonio.  This “KOA Holiday”, with swimming pool, fishing pond, onsite Hunt’s Brothers Pizza, Fred’s Fixin’s Café serving breakfast and lunch, plenty of hiking along Salado Creek and great sites, cabins and other facilities.  The fancy KOA Patio sites go for upwards of $80/night, full hookup pull-throughs are $60/night and more basic, but with prime locations, are back-in water/electric for $50/night.

San Antonio KOA, Patio Site

San Antonio KOA, end sites (a bit tight)

Since departing Arizona, we’ve been on the lookout for possible Covid vaccination locations as we travel across Texas.  Prior to arriving in San Antonio, we’ve secure our first vaccination in Alice, TX.  Alice constantly comes up as an available Texas location, and it’s just about 2 hours south of San Antonio.  So, on Thursday we make the drive to Alice to receive our first jabs.  We’re scheduled for #2 back at Alice, but hopeful that we can move to a CVS on South Padre or closer in Brownsville or Harlingen.  We’ll see how things progress.

On Friday afternoon we head for the River Walk in search of a quiet outside table for a late lunch and a few beers.  However, things are a bit too busy and way too many maskless faces make our time on the River Walk short.  After a quick beer at the Little Rhein Prost Haus we head back to the KOA.

Little Rhein Prost Haus, San Antonio Riverwalk

After exploring possibilities off the busy River Walk, we discovered Black Laboratory Brewing just 3 miles from the KOA in the unique Dignowity Hill neighborhood. This area is one of the up and coming neighborhoods of inner San Antonio and boasts some beautiful old homes.  Black Laboratory Brewing has been in their east side location for about a year, opening just prior to the Covid shutdowns last March.  Fortunately with lots of creativity (and no doubt, lots of capital) the owners managed to stay in business and are today creating some very unique brews.  We enjoyed Mox’s IPA (named after the breweries dog mascot) and Grizzly Greg’s Mountain Ale, a great tasting amber brewed with Texas honey and juniper barriers.

Black Laboratory Brewery, San Antonio

Black Laboratory Brewing

With winds forecast to 45 MPH on Saturday, we opt to spend one more night at the San Antonio KOA.  On Sunday we made the transit to Rivera, TX – and another favorite park, SeaWind RV Park.  We’re in site 143, an interior back-in site that provides nice space and privacy. From Rivera we’ll continue into the Rio Grande Valley, and to Tropic Winds RV Resort in Harlingen before moving out to South Padre Island.  More from SPI…


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A Southern Colorado Loop

27 09 2020

Gunnison Pioneer Museum

We’re off to some of our favorite campgrounds in southern Colorado, starting with the Gunnison KOA.  This KOA is participating in the VKR Appreciation Weekend allowing Value Kard Members to book Friday, September 18th at regular rate and get Saturday, September 19th for free.

We’ve visited this KOA before: Gunnison KOA, August, 2019  This trip we’re parked in site #16 which is a standard back-in site on the western edge of the park.  During this visit we learned that odd numbered sites are pull-in, or what they call nose-in sites.  In some cases these odd/even sites share hookups, making them fairly close to each other.  We prefer the even numbers sites on the outer loop, #20-#40.  While in town, we enjoyed time at the Gunnison Pioneer Museum.

Gunnison KOA Park Map

From Gunnison we’re returning to Dolores River Campground.  We’re parked with friends in sites 39, 55 and 56.  These central sites are not nearly as roomy as site #14 back along the pond and river.  We visited Canyon of the Ancients National Monument on this visit.  Unfortunately the visitor center was closed due to Covid-19, however we enjoyed exploring the ruins at Lowry Pueblo.

Dolores River Campground

After our stay in the Four Corners area at Dolores, we’re headed to Alamosa where we’re back to Cool Sunshine RV Park.  Conveniently located in downtown Alamosa, the park provides an easy walk to places like the San Luis Valley Brewing Company.  We’re parked with friends in C6 & C8 and D3.  Either D3 or A9 provide nice private corner locations. From Alamosa we enjoyed an afternoon trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Cool Sunshine RV Park


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Devil’s Tower

28 07 2020

Belle Fourche, SD – Geographical Center of the Nation

After departing Deadwood, we’ve made a brief stop in Belle Fourche, SD to see the “Geographic Center of the Nation” monument.  While not quite the center (the actual point is on private property), the city of Belle Fourche has created a beautiful park for the carved granite monument and gift shop.

 

Belle Fourche, SD – Geographical Center of the US

 

Belle Fourche, SD – Geographical Center of the US

From Belle Fourche, it’s just a little over an hour along the scenic route of highway 34 (24 in Wyoming) to Devil’s Tower. We’re staying at the Devil’s Tower/Black Hills KOA.  This KOA is literally at the entrance to the National Monument, and provides a stunning view of the towering monolith.  With over 100 sites, this KOA has something for everyone. We’re parked in sites 162-164, 50A/water back-in sites with good shade on the edge of a central park area.  Beyond with no shade are large 50A full-hookup pull-through sites.  On the west side are some very nice premium back-in “view” sites.  On the north side of the property, along a gentle bend of the Belle Fourche river are beautiful tent sites, KOA Kabins and even 5 teepees.

Within the complex is a camp store for everything from RV supplies to beer, a gift shop for t’s and Indian crafts, a (closed) pool, nightly hayrides and a nightly presentation of Close Encounters of the Third Kind which was filmed in the campground and at other locations around Devil’s Tower.  Besides exploring the Tower Monument, some of our group visited the small town of Hulett and the slightly larger town of Sundance.

From Devil’s Tower we’re headed home with stops at the Douglas KOA, the Wellington KOA and Chatfield Lake State Park near Denver.  We were last at the Douglas KOA in 2017 for the solar eclipse. We’ve never stayed at the Wellington KOA before.  It’s a nice park off of I-25 just north of Ft. Collins that works great for a quick overnight.  However, during our stay it suffered from a strong manure (horses or cows or both) smell and lots and lots of pesky flies.  We doubt that we’d use this park again, the Ft. Collins/Lakeside KOA Holiday is much nicer.

Chatfield Lake State Park, site #36

Chatfield Lake State Park, site #34

At Chatfield we’re parked in site #34.  It’s a nice end site on the center A loop with lots of trees and privacy.  We’d stay here again, or at site #36 which offers a bit more late-day shade and just as much privacy.  This is our last stop on the Cheyenne Frontier Days and South Dakota trip.  We’re at home for a week before once again heading out – more from Mueller State Park!


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Gunnison KOA

19 09 2019

Gunnison KOA

We’ve just left the Gunnison KOA where we spent 1 night on the way to Palisade for the annual Winefest.  This KOA occupies a beautiful area near the Gunnison River just west of town.  The 75 spacious sites are set among a grove of large trees and lush green grass.  This is a “Journey”, complete with a playground, stocked trout pond and a paddle boat pond.  We parked in site #23, a very wide, deep back-in site to the rear of the property.  Just over a wire fence is menagerie of barnyard animals, Shetland ponies, a large Angus steer, several goats and a few pigs.  Apparently some of the animals have found their way into the campground where goats and a huge pig roamed free.  We’d stay here again – it would make a great place to explore Gunnison or perfect for an overnighter.

Gunnison KOA

Gunnison KOA


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Las Cruces & Albuquerque

15 05 2019

We’ve left Texas and the central time zone behind as we transit north of El Paso and into Las Cruces, NM. Here we’re parked in site #13, the same beautiful back-in premium view site we occupied 2 years ago.  This is one of our favorite KOA’s and we’ve been here 3 years in a row now.  And, just as last year we enjoy wandering around the old Square in Mesilla and a cocktail or two at the Imperial Bar at the Double Eagle.  Can anyone name this beautiful desert plant that was in full bloom in Las Cruces?

Beautiful Las Cruces Flower

From Las Cruces we’re headed north toward Albuquerque.  We’ll spend two nights at the Isleta Lakes & RV Park just south of town.  Isleta Pueblo, home of the native Tiwa people, occupies about 210,000 acres along the Rio Grande, 15 miles south of Albuquerque.  The RV park is next to two stocked fishing lakes and just across the street from the Isleta Casino.  Amenities at the park include a clean laundry room and a small bait/snack shop.  A new “yet-to-be-opened” club house promises free coffee and donuts on weekend, a small workout area and a couple large screen TVs.   Sites are gravel with full hookups and covered picnic tables for around $35/night.  The only downside of this park is the nearby rail line.  During the week, the commuter Rail Runner train calls on Isleta Pueblo 14 times, each time whistling it’s arrival and departure.  After dark, unknown number of long, fast freight trains use these rails as they rubble north or south along the Rio Grande.

From Albuquerque we’re headed home.  We’ve stayed at 12 different parks and resorts and covered about 2600 miles in 38 days.  As always, a great time with friends and family in some our favorite campgrounds and RV parks across New Mexico and Texas!

Spanish Peaks – Back Home!


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San Antonio KOA

13 04 2019

San Antonio KOA Holiday

After staying at Travelers World south of downtown San Antonio a few times, we opted for the KOA on the east side and were impressed.

With about 300 sites, this “Holiday” park was selected as the KOA Campground of the Year in 2015.  The wooded park-like setting alongside Salado Creek provides beautiful sites with many offering extra space, or grass/patio areas.  We’re parked at D-1, an end site with a large concrete patio complete with two Adirondack chairs, a fire pit, picnic table and large grassy area.

Prices at both Travelers World and the KOA are comparable with the upcoming “Fiesta” celebration set to kick-off next weekend.  The rate for our “patio” site was $78/night less our 10% “Value Kard” savings.  The park is about a 15 minute drive to the downtown River Walk area, or about a 30 minute ride on a city bus with a stop just outside the main gate.  There’s a made-to-order Hunts Brothers pizza onsite, as well as “Fred’s Fixins” breakfast cafe that’s open Wed-Sun.  And, unlike so many other KOAs the WiFi actually worked well here!

The River Walk has always been a favorite!  We enjoyed a boat tour on Sunday afternoon and a wonderful dinner at Rosario’s on Monday.  Tomorrow we’ll head south to the Rio Grande Valley, where we’ll spend a night or two and then cross the Isabella Causeway Bridge to South Padre Island.  More from Padre…

 


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