Apache Junction & Tucson

17 03 2024

From Lake Havasu we’ve arrived in the Valley of the Sun, just east of downtown Phoenix in Apache Junction.  As last year, we’re parked at Campground USA for our 2 week visit.  This is one of the newest RV parks we’ve stayed at and it provides nice wide sites, full hookups, a great pool/hot tub area and a beautiful clubhouse.  However, with its location right next to highway 60, it does experience some highway noise, especially with a southern breeze.

Beautiful Superstitions from Apache Junction

As in past years, we planning to attend Rockies spring training games.  We have gorgeous weather for our first game on Sunday, Rockies against the Brewers, and totally enjoy our afternoon at Salt River Fields – we think one of the nicest Cactus League stadiums. On the following Friday we have tickets to the Rockies and the Rangers.  Unfortunately after arriving to cloudy skies, the rains begin and the game is cancelled only a few minutes after the 1st pitch.  Along with baseball, we enjoyed some of our favorite restaurants around Apache Junction along with a splurge at one of the top Phoenix restaurant, LONS’s at The Hermosa Inn.

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Scottsdale, AZ

After what seemed like a very quick 2 weeks, we’re on the road again, headed to Tucson.  We’ll be joining friends for the next 2 weeks at Rincon West RV Resort just south of Tucson.  Rincon is huge, with nearly 1200 sites, mostly park-models, this resort offers something for everyone.  A very unique feature is the “G-gage” model railroad just outside the main office and clubhouse.  Model railroaders were cleaning and working on the exhibit almost every day as well as watching their trains chug around the endless loops through model villages and mountain passes.  Other amenities include a beautiful pool area, tennis, pickleball, a woodworking shop, pottery studio, card room, billiards, several laundry facilities and of course pet parks!

Rincon West RV Resort, Tucson, AZ

Rincon West RV Resort, Tucson, AZ

With a lot of friends in the area, we saw much more of Tucson than we have on past trips.  Just after our arrival we spent an evening star gazing at the nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory.  Kitt Peak does an excellent job of their nighttime program which include learning to read star charts, viewing celestial objects in their small telescopes and the one we enjoy the most, laser pointer “mapping” of the constellations and planets overhead.  Another highlight was a beautiful and relaxing tram ride into Sabino Canyon.  And, we spent an afternoon at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  This place is huge, with both indoor and outdoor displays – much more than can be seen in a single visit!

Kitt Peak National Observatory

Sabino Canyon, Tucson, AZ

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ

After spending an afternoon wandering through the stalls at the Forth Avenue Street Fair, we returned a few nights later to check out restaurants.  We started at the unique Boxyard, a collection of stacked shipping containers with 3 pop-up type restaurants and a large outdoor bar area.  From the Boxyard, we moved onto appetizers at Ermano’s Bar, a beautifully remodeled historic building just down 4th Ave.  For dinner we enjoyed BOCA, by Chef Maria Mazon who prepares modern Mexican fare on a comfortable outdoor courtyard.  After dinner we found Corbett’s – self-proclaimed “restaurant with a beer garden, pickleball courts, live music and great provisions”.  Returning a few night later we agree – Corbett’s is loads of fun, great food with fun live music in the beer garden.

Ermano’s Bar, Tucson, AZ

 

We also enjoyed Oregano’s, “your neighborhood Italian joint” for pizza, and the Bashful Bandit Barbeque – with a welcoming outdoor patio where you can watch the smoke-masters in action. Their interesting  “Smoked Crack Pie” is an delicious gooey desert that might make you skip your entrée.   But, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their sliced brisket, green chili pulled pork, or chili relleno sausage, either by the pound, plate or  sandwiches.

From Tucson we’re off to the Texas Hill Country for the great solar eclipse of 2024.  More from Bandera, TX!


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2024

Across I-10

30 03 2023

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.

Van Horn RV Park, Van Horn, TX

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…


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2023

Yuma and Apache Junction

26 02 2023

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…

Off to Buenos Aires, Argentina

 


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Spring Baseball!

28 02 2021

Many Cactus League teams opened their spring season on February 28th.  Weeks before, we’ve tried for stadium tickets without any luck.  Finally on February 20th the Rockies opened ticket sales, and almost immediately all tickets for opening day and many other games sold out.  Luckily, friends were able to pick up 4 tickets for the Rangers/Royals open day at Surprise Stadium.  Tickets were sold in “pods” of 2, 4 or 6 with plenty of space between everyone, masks were still required except when enjoying a cold beer or a hot dog.

Surprise Stadium

On our way to Surprise, we stopped at White Tank Mountain Region Park.  We originally were going to spend 2 or 3 nights at White Tank on our way to Yuma.  However, with changed plans, we cancelled those reservations.  The park is similar to Lost Dutchman, except all the way to the west of the Phoenix metro area.  Set on nearly 30,000 acres, this is the largest park in the Maricopa Country system.   40 campsites all with water and power provide very scenic views of the White Tank Mountains and city lights to the east.  Most of the back-in sites are 45’ or more.  The only bad sites are the pull-throughs, many barely off the main roads.  We’d like to try White Tank Mountain next time in the Phoenix area. CampSitePhotos.com

White Tank Mountain Regional Park

White Tank Mountain Regional Park

White Tank Mountain Site #32


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Apache Junction / Mesa KOA

25 02 2018

Apache Junction / Mesa KOA

We’re parked at site #1 in the Apache Junction KOA, the first of our multi-days stay in the Phoenix area.  RV spots around Phoenix prove difficult to reserve this year – and unfortunately we won’t be back to our favorite, Lost Dutchman State Park.  Even here, the KOA can accommodate us only until the 1st when we have to vacate this spot.  Site #1 is located near the office/entrance and surrounded by KOA Kabin’s and a few tent locations.  This is a oversized spot, with full hookups (water, sewer port and 30A electric).  After calling to confirm they had only one spot open (#1), I reserved online noting we’d like site #1.  Upon arrival we were charged a $25 specific site reservation fee, in addition to the $47/night reservation fee (less our Value Kard discount)

The facilities at this KOA are well maintained.  The pool and recreation building seem to be constantly busy with social activities.  The sites are raked and manicured between each departure and arrival.  The laundry room is also busy – with 6 washers at $2/load and 3 over-sized commercial dryers that also run about $2 with a combined load.  With great cellular coverage (there is even some type of cellular “tree” right in the park) there’s not much need for the parks WiFi – which is good.  It’s as unreliable as any we’ve seen.  Even with an access point next to us in site #2 and within 300 of the transmitter on the office building, the network is weak and inadequate for nearly any use.

Here on the outskirts of Phoenix we have 50 or more OTA TV channels,  most of the nationals are duplicated from Phoenix and Tucson.  Located on the edge of Apache Junction, the park is sandwiched between Tomahawk Road and Old West Highway, about 1 mile north of Highway 60, the Superstition Highway.  There is some road noise from Old West Highway and it would be worse on northern edges in sites 39-50 and 120-124.  The southern sites are probably the quietest, but maybe not the most appealing since they look out over a junk yard.  However, #12-#15 might be the best since they have fairly large trees to the back of the sites.

On Thursday we’ll pack up and make the 5 mile trip from the KOA out to Canyon Vista’s RV resort in Gold Canyon.  More from there…

Apache Junction / Mesa KOA

Apache Junction / Mesa KOA

Apache Junction / Mesa KOA

Apache Junction / Mesa KOA


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Departing Lost Dutchman

8 03 2017

Lost Dutchman SP Site #93

We’ve spent 6 nights enjoying the warmth and quiet desert setting of Lost Dutchman.  After heavy rains in mid-February, the lush greenness of the park continues to amaze us.  In the 76-108 camping loop, there were daily arrivals and departures.  Only the pull-through site #94 next to us remained empty for an overnight or two.  Both of our sites (#88 & #93) were great back-in sites.  #93 was perhaps best because of the patio side late-day shade and the impressive view of the Superstitions at sunset.

On Friday we attended the Diamondbacks and Dodgers game at Walking Stick – a beautiful facility about 40 minutes from Lost Dutchman.  Saturday we explored the local area a bit with a trip out to Tortilla Flat and along Canyon Lake.  On Sunday we did the “tourist” thing, wandering around the nearby Goldfield Ghost Town and the Superstition Mountain Museum.

In between sightseeing we did manage to tour some of the additional facilities and sites in the park.  For electric/water sites, the back-in sites along the southern edge are nice sized and private – best would be  #29-#26  On the 76-108  “small” loop, sites #104 & #102 are back-ins very similar to #93.  #96 is a short pull-through with an awesome view of the mountain.

We’re currently enroute to Florence, AZ – just about an hour away, half way in between the Phoenix metro area and Tucson.  We’re going to spend 1 night at Desert Garden’s RV Resort where we’ll take the sales tour to see what the options and facts are behind purchasing an RV lot.  More from Florence…


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2017

Lost Dutchman State Park

2 03 2017

After discovering Lost Dutchman last year, we knew we wanted to spend more time in this beautiful Arizona State Park.  Arriving on Thursday, we’ll be in site #88 for 3 nights, then move to site #93 for 3 additional nights.  Both sites are in the smaller campground area, both are back-ins with electric and water.  All sites on this loop are paved and have a carefully manicured gravel area for a picnic table and fire ring.  There are also pull-through sites running down the center of the loop as well as circular pull-throughs on some of the outside locations.

For the first 4 nights we’ll have good friends from Conifer staying with us.  On Friday we’re going to attend an Arizona Diamondback baseball game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the spring training home for the D-backs and the Denver Rockies.  This beautiful facility is the first of its kind to be built on Native land, a cooperative venture of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and MLB.


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Lost Dutchman State Park, AZ

4 03 2016
Lost Dutchman State Park

Lost Dutchman State Park

Good Morning from the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.  We’re parked in site #85 at Lost Dutchman State Park, just east of the greater Phoenix metro area.  Named after the fabled lost gold mine and set at the base of the most visible of the Superstitions – the Flatiron, the campgrounds 130 sites are surrounded by natural desert shrubs and flowers along with towering Saguaro cactus.  Sites and internal roadways are paved and all sites on this loop (76-104) provide power and water.  Some of the sites on the main loop (1-58) have no services.  All sites are reservable except for the far loop (107-134) which has about 30 walk-up only sites with no services.  While we didn’t note specific sites because all have great views and space – the ones on the main (possibly the original) loop have the most space.  #42 is an awesome pull through site, on the more elevated side and potentially with valley light views.  CAMPGROUND MAP

It’s unfortunate that we’re only here for weekdays – where we spent most of the day time working.  There are hiking and biking trails throughout the park that we’d like to explore.  Weekends are also the time for park rangers presentations including Sunset Hikes, Nights Under the Stars, Birds of the Park and a Park Stroll. Next time, reservations and at least 1 weekend are required for this interesting park.

Departing on Friday, we’ll make our way to Yuma, AZ, about as far as you can go SW before crossing into Mexico.  More from Yuma!

Lost Dutchman State Park
Lost Dutchman State Park
Lost Dutchman State Park
Lost Dutchman State Park
Lost Dutchman State Park – Site #42


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Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016